Press release
Inaugural "Stacy's Rise Project" Unveils Five Finalists, Kicks Off Executive Mentorship Phase of Program in Quest to Advance Female Food & Beverage Entrepreneurs
PLANO, Texas, July 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Since May, more than 400 businesswomen in the food and beverage industry have been sharing their creative ideas
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[{"type":"text","content":" PLANO, Texas, July 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Since May, more than 400 businesswomen in the food and beverage industry have been sharing their creative ideas and business aspirations as applicants of the inaugural Stacy's Rise Project, all hoping to become the next \"Stacy,\" the trailblazing entrepreneur Stacy Madison who has become a household name thanks to Stacy's Pita Chips. \nIn its mission to help women rise, the Stacy's Rise Project today announced that group has been narrowed down to five finalists eligible for its grand prize of $100,000 (to be awarded in November), all of whom will immediately receive a $20,000 grant and partake in a three-month executive mentorship program to advance their business plan.\nPadma Lakshmi – entrepreneur, food expert, actress, and best-selling author – helped select the five finalists, including: \nHannah Dehradunwala, New York City, N.Y., who built Transfernation as the first technology-based, on-demand food rescue service, allowing food providers to request pickups for untouched extra food to be taken to local homeless shelters or food banks. Pilar Gonzalez, Mission, Texas, who started Habibi Gourmet in her home kitchen to create preservative-free dips in a variety of flavors and textures. Kate Holby, Upper Black Eddy, Pa., whose Ajiri Tea employs women in western Kenya to make the packaging for the tea and coffee boxes and donates 100 percent of the profits to the Ajiri Foundation to pay school fees for orphans. The tea is handpicked on small-scale farms in western Kenya. Hannah Hong, Los Angeles, Calif., who founded Hakuna Brands, a plant-based line of frozen desserts featuring real fruit rather than refined sugar. Michele Liddle, Victor, N.Y., who started Perfect Granola on the foundation of giving back, hiring at-risk youth and sharing five percent of profits with homeless shelters, outreach centers and food banks.\"Each of the finalists have seamlessly blended innovation, business acumen and a commitment to philanthropy, and the results are highly-successful enterprises poised for even more greatness,\" said Lakshmi. \"By championing these five women, we are opening up the dialogue to the larger systemic issue surrounding the funding gap for female-founded businesses in hopes that we can help to create parity and a more inclusive environment for business owners.\" \nThe judging pan...