Let's make MORE food at R&D Foods!
Brooklyn-based specialty food shop seeks community crowd funds to expand our offerings, productivity and staff. Support our renovation!
Project Description
We are R&D Foods, a small, established specialty food shop in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn and we are looking to expand our food production facility and increase our offerings. Our devoted customers want more MORE MORE of all things R&D and we want to deliver. Help us renovate our decrepit basement, purchase new equipment and create space for more people to make more food!
Co-owned by old school shopkeepers, Ilene Rosen & Sara Dima, our five year-old shop is small but mighty. We sell made-to-order sandwiches, vegetable-driven prepared foods, grocery staples and specialties alike. Last year Ilene wrote a cookbook that just won a James Beard award. Things are going well, but . . .
We have hit max capacity! Sales of our prepared foods - the food we make HERE for you to eat at HOME - is the fastest growing part of our revenue. We must scale up our production to keep up with demand. Demand that is not only walking in the front door, but coming in via online orders, catering and third party portals.
Our opening in May of 2014 was funded via a traditional SBA loan plus owner equity (cash, blood, sweat AND tears). In a business of nickels and dimes, we have utilized every traditional funding method to get to where we are today - except crowdfunding. We are looking to our customers (yes, YOU!) - the ones who are here every day and every week - to take this next step with us.
Join us in renovating our unfinished basement. We need a mixer, new freezer, new fridge, ovens, worktables, griddle, etc plus electric and plumbing work. We have a contractor and a plan - we just need to crowdfund the funds. When the renovation is done we'll have the workspace to hire additional staff.
We know we can rely on our friends, families, neighbors and customers to support our community-minded small business. A contribution of ANY size is helpful as we work toward our goal. You will be rewarded with shout outs on social media, donuts, coffee, kale salad, cookbooks, catering platters and chef-prepared dinner parties - not to mention our undying appreciation.
See you at the shop! Thank you. - Ilene, Sara, & the staff of R&D Foods
P.S. If we exceed our goal, by at least $8K we will get you a proper sidewalk cafe (permitted by the city, with chairs and tables!) in front of the shop.
P.P.S Special thank you to our long-time staffer and talented photographer/videographer, Roque Nonini, for the time and patience on our video.
The Campaign FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Who owns R&D Foods? Ilene Rosen is a 2nd generation Brooklynite, the mother of grown twin daughters, and the wife of a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn. Her first cookbook, Saladish (Artisan), was published in March 2018 and features 100ish recipes tha "elevate salads from the quotidian to the thrilling" according to The New York Times food writer, Melissa Clark. She’s responsible for all things creative at R&D: food, design, otherwise. Before she began making kale salad for a generation of New Yorkers, she worked as an interior and furniture designer. Before R&D made her a slave to the donut robot, she served as the Savory Chef at The City Bakery for 15 years. Sara Dima is a 5th generation Texan, who has called New York home for 15 years, the mother of the store mascots, and the wife of a nice Irish-Italian boy from Brooklyn. She’s responsible for all the paperwork at R&D plus some customer service and lots of sandwich eating. Before she hustled donuts on Vanderbilt Avenue, she served alongside Ilene as the General Manager at The City Bakery and had a brief stint in publishing.
- Why are you crowdfunding your renovation? Running a high-end food business in NYC means nickel and dime margins (not dollars - contrary to popular belief). We have a traditional SBA loan that funded our opening capital needs but we can't take on more debt. So? We crowdfund.
- Why is your food so good? We source the best ingredients we can find and consistently put in ALL the love. "We are awesome because Ilene is crazy," Sara Dima.
Ilene's inscription in every copy of Saladish (Artisan, 2018) is "eat more vegetables!" Get a copy of her James Beard award-winning cookbook, inscribed to you, and an unpublished recipe PLUS a seasonal vegetable dish of YOUR choice, to serve 4 adults. Flip through your new book and pick your favorite dish! This reward is for LOCALS only.
Thanks in advance for an in-kind contribution of ANY amount.
You give us a nod ($10) and we'll give you a wink and a smile on IG or FB
Do you love donuts and coffee at R&D? Then pick me! Donuts and coffee for two (that's six donuts and two coffees). This reward is for LOCALS only and is redeemable at ANYTIME.
Get a copy of her James Beard award-winning cookbook, inscribed to you, and an unpublished recipe. And yes, her book includes recipes for many of your R&D favorites. This reward can be shipped in the USA.
If you love R&D Foods as much as we think you do - then show it! Sport ALL of our swag with this reward (or share it with an R&D-loving friend). Includes our beloved market tote, embroidered R&D ball cap, a signed copy of Saladish, and an unpublished recipe to make at home. This reward can be shipped in the USA.
Join our club of in-the-know customers who pre-order our sought-after prepared foods (delivered right to their door!). This reward includes four (4!) Fill Your Fridge orders valued at $50/each delivered to your home/apartment here in Brooklyn.
You can take up to a year to redeem them but please not more than one redemption per month. Don't need to FILL YOUR FRIDGE but you'd like to feed a friend? We're happy to gift your redemptions for you. The possibilities are endless . . .
Ilene & Sara will show up in your kitchen with dinner, wine, and a R&D tote bag of new pantry staples. We'll tidy, talk, eat and organize - leaving you with ideas and ingredients for night after night of delicious dinner making. Your cupboard and refrigerator door will feel like new. This reward is for LOCALS only.
Combine the best of both worlds. Our food delivered to your home (6x) AND Ilene & Sara in your kitchen to talk condiments and dinner shortcuts. This reward combines the $500 FILL YOUR FRIDGE reward with the $1,500 Pantry Takeover reward. It's for die hard R&D fans. This reward is for LOCALS only.
FILL YOUR FRIDGE Join our club of in-the-know customers who pre-order our sought-after prepared foods (delivered right to their door!). This reward includes six (6!) Fill Your Fridge orders valued at $50/each delivered to your home/apartment here in Brooklyn.You can take up to a year to redeem them but please not more than one redemption per month. Don't need to FILL YOUR FRIDGE but you'd like to feed a friend? We're happy to gift your redemptions for you. The possibilities are endless . . .
PANTRY TAKEOVER Ilene & Sara will show up in your kitchen with dinner, wine, and bag full of new pantry staples. We'll tidy, talk, eat and organize leaving you with ideas and ingredients for night after night of delicious dinner making. Your cupboard and refrigerator door will feel like new.
Rewards
Ilene's inscription in every copy of Saladish (Artisan, 2018) is "eat more vegetables!" Get a copy of her James Beard award-winning cookbook, inscribed to you, and an unpublished recipe PLUS a seasonal vegetable dish of YOUR choice, to serve 4 adults. Flip through your new book and pick your favorite dish! This reward is for LOCALS only.
Thanks in advance for an in-kind contribution of ANY amount.
You give us a nod ($10) and we'll give you a wink and a smile on IG or FB
Do you love donuts and coffee at R&D? Then pick me! Donuts and coffee for two (that's six donuts and two coffees). This reward is for LOCALS only and is redeemable at ANYTIME.
Get a copy of her James Beard award-winning cookbook, inscribed to you, and an unpublished recipe. And yes, her book includes recipes for many of your R&D favorites. This reward can be shipped in the USA.
If you love R&D Foods as much as we think you do - then show it! Sport ALL of our swag with this reward (or share it with an R&D-loving friend). Includes our beloved market tote, embroidered R&D ball cap, a signed copy of Saladish, and an unpublished recipe to make at home. This reward can be shipped in the USA.
Join our club of in-the-know customers who pre-order our sought-after prepared foods (delivered right to their door!). This reward includes four (4!) Fill Your Fridge orders valued at $50/each delivered to your home/apartment here in Brooklyn.
You can take up to a year to redeem them but please not more than one redemption per month. Don't need to FILL YOUR FRIDGE but you'd like to feed a friend? We're happy to gift your redemptions for you. The possibilities are endless . . .
Ilene & Sara will show up in your kitchen with dinner, wine, and a R&D tote bag of new pantry staples. We'll tidy, talk, eat and organize - leaving you with ideas and ingredients for night after night of delicious dinner making. Your cupboard and refrigerator door will feel like new. This reward is for LOCALS only.
Combine the best of both worlds. Our food delivered to your home (6x) AND Ilene & Sara in your kitchen to talk condiments and dinner shortcuts. This reward combines the $500 FILL YOUR FRIDGE reward with the $1,500 Pantry Takeover reward. It's for die hard R&D fans. This reward is for LOCALS only.
FILL YOUR FRIDGE Join our club of in-the-know customers who pre-order our sought-after prepared foods (delivered right to their door!). This reward includes six (6!) Fill Your Fridge orders valued at $50/each delivered to your home/apartment here in Brooklyn.You can take up to a year to redeem them but please not more than one redemption per month. Don't need to FILL YOUR FRIDGE but you'd like to feed a friend? We're happy to gift your redemptions for you. The possibilities are endless . . .
PANTRY TAKEOVER Ilene & Sara will show up in your kitchen with dinner, wine, and bag full of new pantry staples. We'll tidy, talk, eat and organize leaving you with ideas and ingredients for night after night of delicious dinner making. Your cupboard and refrigerator door will feel like new.