A St. Paul-based startup that seeks to make healthy foods accessible and appealing recently installed its first-ever vending machine filled with women- or BIPOC-owned brands.
NoshPosh, a cohort company of Lunar Startups, a St. Paul-based accelerator focused on minority, LGBTQ, women and non-binary founders, planted its first machine at The Wilderness Fitness and Coworking space in Minneapolis this week and intends to grow the business over the next year, founder and CEO Tatiana Freeman told the Business Journal.
The company started in early 2021 as Freeman saw a need for easy access to healthy meals and snacks, especially as a busy mother herself. NoshPosh, which identifies as a health-conscious convenience store, sources products solely from women- and BIPOC-owned brands for its vending machines, subscription snack boxes and, and in the future, brick-and-mortar storefront.
“Being able to connect people with products that are sourced from diverse suppliers that taste good I think is super exciting,” she said.
To kick-off the business, Freeman began sampling products and became a vendor at community events and farmers markets. But people wanted to be able to access the products regularly, prompting Freeman to create a snack subscription box. The first box came out in late December.
In addition to the boxes, Freeman sought to install vending machines to allow people to access healthy foods on-demand, such as at coworking spaces or recreation centers, she said.
“The fresh-food vending machines for me were always a natural extension of the brand,” she said.
The vending machines feature sourced products like Ka-Pop! Snacks’ popped puffs, Kibo lentil chips, Karma Nuts cashews and drinks.
People often want to find products that are a healthy alternative to products they already enjoy, such as Doritos or Cheetos, Freeman said. NoshPosh has such products, like Pipcorn Heirloom Snacks, which have similar, cheesy flavors, she said as an example.
NoshPosh is part of Lunar Startups fifth cohort, which includes 14 other companies chosen out of an applicant pool of 90, according to a press release when the cohort was announced in March. The program started in April and runs through September.
Alumni companies of Lunar Startups have created $294 million in economic impact for the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas since its inception, the press release said.
Through participation in the program, connecting and learning from mentors and like-minded entrepreneurs has been helpful, Freeman said.
NoshPosh has not sought funding yet but plans to do so within the next six to 12 months, she said.
The company also intends to install two additional vending machines at other locations by the end of the year as well as strengthen its connections with corporate clients for subscription boxes or in-office snack orders, Freeman said. Clients can make a one-time order for events or have them delivered on a regular basis, she said.
