NeverMeasure: Making Soul Food History!
NeverMeasure is a mission based, Black woman founded supper club offering bi-monthly dinner parties as an ode to African Diasporic cuisine.
Project Description
- What is the mission of your company or project?
- Our mission is to provide community offerings centered around African diasporic cuisine and to spread awareness amongst the Black community about what eating what your ancestors ate as well as for your blood type can do for your physical, mental, and spiritual health.
- Describe the problem you are solving.
- Soul Food is viewed as a taboo in today's culture and has been viewed as such for quite some time, due to an association with 'health concerns'. It's frowned upon to eat so often when in all actuality it should be uplifted and revered as a classic case of brilliant innovation. When you understand where you come from and who you are, it changes your approach to your everyday life and food is more often times than not at the center of that focus. Then, they were given scraps. Today we have access to better produce and even have the opportunity to get our ingredients straight from the source if we're willing to get our hands dirty. Here, we are venerating and honoring our ancestors through the act of preparing a meal that will sustain the soul for a lifetime.
- What is the market size/opportunity?
- It was said in 2015 that 53% of millennials go out to eat once a week and the taste for exquisite dining experiences has increased since. We are lucky to have a supper club rather than a brick and mortar because we are able to cut costs from several angles, eventually taking in more profit and adding that to our expansion goals. NeverMeasure has the potential to become a multi-million dollar company, like DinnerLab and many others, and we're excited to do just that.
- What is your company/product about and how does it solve the problem?
- Our company is providing an elevated community experience that is shifting what luxury looks like for and within the Black community, primarily Black younger adults within the age demographic of 22-40, while also educating our viewers on the benefits of knowing where you came from so you can understand where you are going, what the different elements of fine dining cuisine consist of, and how Soul Food can fit into that.
- Why are you seeking funding and how will you spend the funding?
- Quality ingredients straight from the source, living wages for staff members, supplies, venues, storage space!
The main choice for pursuing funding is to ensure we are sourcing quality ingredients from local producers and farmers in order to present a farm to table experience and also emphasize the importance of that. In order to run a successful community event, it is important to have a solid team and we are dedicated to being able to pay our staff living wages. We are interested in providing the community an elevated experience food wise and it is much easier to do so when we have the supplies we need most and are able to pay for a storage space to house those supplies which is something that most chefs have access to. Lastly, we're currently hosting our supper club in the lovely backyard of our sponsor because it's summertime - but summer will be ending soon and in order to continue our food adventure with the community, we want to ensure that we have funding for indoor venues, along with our goal of expanding NeverMeasure to all of America.
- Quality ingredients straight from the source, living wages for staff members, supplies, venues, storage space!
- Who is on your team?
- The NeverMeasure team consists of the founders, co-owners, and sisters TaMara and Cydney Johnson along with our photographer Nandi, Jonathan Anderson our event producer, and our in house bar team Young & Co. Libations founded by Alana and Johnnie Young.
- Thank your backers and make them feel appreciated!
- Number one, a huge shoutout to Barrie Schwartz and the MyHouse Events team. Barrie is the founder of MHE and she's committed to providing new opportunities for up and coming chefs within the BIPOC community. They've really taken us under their wings to show us the potential of NeverMeasure and also confirm for us that we can have the support we're looking for. Thank you SO MUCH to DJ Chinua out of Los Angeles for connecting us not only to Barrie, but also to one of our beverage sponsors, Fierce & Kind. The owners are Cyndi and Basem and they have created a delicious vodka and bourbon and have also taken a huge chance on us by allowing us to have a hand in growing their audience via our events. Lastly, thank you so much to Martha Stoumen, the founder of a deliciously inspirational wine company, and Imane Hanine, the Martha Stoumen Wines sales manager. Without these guys, the flow of the process of our vision for NeverMeasure may not be so graceful and generous.
Updates
The Campaign FAQs
What is a supper club?
- A supper club is an organization led by [an] event planners and or chefs who curate menus, often times with a theme, and sell tickets to friends, family, and all those curious with an opportunity to be a part of a beautiful and unique dining experience. When you become a member of a supper club, you step into someone's story.
Why 'Never Measure'?
- There is a tale within the African Diasporic community that we do not measure our food, we feel it. The tale is tried and true! When we watched our grandparents cook, we rarely saw them measure and when they were coaching us through a recipe, grandma and grandpa always reminded us to feel into our food. If they never measured their food, why would we?
Where are you located?
- NeverMeasure is based and located in Los Angeles, CA, but we are excited to make our supper club a national phenomenon.
How often are events hosted?
- We host our parties bi-monthly, however, pause production at the end of September to take the remainder of the year off to be with family during the holiday season.
How can I keep up with you?
- Stay updated by following us on Instagram @nevermeasuretc and stay tuned for our website, coming soon!
Thank you for donating!
Now, you'll be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a free supper party ticket, valued at $150. Good luck!
*Keep in mind that the NeverMeasure supper club is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
Thank you so much for donating!
With your $50+ donation, you'll be entered into our raffle for a free ticket to our next supper party and for any additional tickets, you'll be receiving a 50% off promo code. We really appreciate your support and trust in our vision and we look forward to hosting you soon.
Thank you so much for donating!
With your $100+ donation, you'll be entered into our raffle for a free ticket to our next supper party, for any additional tickets, you'll be receiving a 50% off promo code, and lastly standby for a tasty package from our sponsors. We really appreciate your support and trust in our vision and we look forward to hosting you soon.
*Keep in mind that the NeverMeasure Supper Club is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
Rewards
Thank you for donating!
Now, you'll be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a free supper party ticket, valued at $150. Good luck!
*Keep in mind that the NeverMeasure supper club is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.
Thank you so much for donating!
With your $50+ donation, you'll be entered into our raffle for a free ticket to our next supper party and for any additional tickets, you'll be receiving a 50% off promo code. We really appreciate your support and trust in our vision and we look forward to hosting you soon.
Thank you so much for donating!
With your $100+ donation, you'll be entered into our raffle for a free ticket to our next supper party, for any additional tickets, you'll be receiving a 50% off promo code, and lastly standby for a tasty package from our sponsors. We really appreciate your support and trust in our vision and we look forward to hosting you soon.
*Keep in mind that the NeverMeasure Supper Club is currently based in Los Angeles, CA.