Latest / Cut the BS, Your Health, Your Choice / Season 3, Ep. 4-Eight Fold Farms DC: Vertical Vitality
Transcript
- Marcia Lee: Welcome to the latest episode of Cut the BS, Your Health, Your Choice, where we talk about facts, not fluff. Today's guest is Calvin J.R., finally known as he is a native Southeast Washingtonian with 27 years of hospitality experience. He's also the founder and CEO of Eightfold Food Group and Eightfold Farms DC. His career ranges from managing premier DC restaurants and earning a certified Psalm, that's short for the wine expert, credential, to mastering urban agriculture and mushroom cultivation. Dedicated to tackling food apartheid, Calvin serves on the DC Food Policy Council's urban agricultural working group. He is also an Echoing Green Fellowship Foundist. And an alumnus of both UDC Agricultural Training and the Johns Hopkins Ward Eight Infinity Social Entrepreneurial Ship Accelerator. So welcome, JR. I'm so glad to have you today. Thank you for inviting me. My pleasure. So let's talk about A4 Farms. mushrooms, I've always been no one just go to the store and just get the bellas. I didn't know it was so many varieties of mushrooms. So you wanna talk about this whole journey? Yeah. So I mean a lot of people don't understand that there are multiple varietals of mushrooms. but they're just like wine. I know in the introduction you you mentioned that I'm a certified Psalm or Samuel. the worlds are parallel because you have multiple varietals of mushrooms and multiple varietals of grapes. but I guess if you really want to know the history to go to backtrack a little bit, everything started in twenty seventeen after we bought our house and I got sick of making a four mile trip to go get groceries. So th I tell people all the time this was a very selfish endeavor because I wanted to put in a grocery store in the neighborhood so I didn't have to go so far. So that's where it all started. But then I started doing some research and what I did was I looked at Ward Seven and Ward Eight like a small country and I wanted to look for international initiatives that would cover food access and also stimulate the local economy and everything just pointed to agriculture, urban agriculture. So I looked at places like Cuba, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Nepal. and it all just pointed to to agriculture. mushrooms in particular came from a foundation, foundation of hope in Zimbabwe, where the young lady was able to teach mushroom cultivation. and then she put in I think twenty or thirty communities these mushroom farms and then she was able to strike up a agreement with one of the biggest grocers in Zimbabwe. And so that way she was able to teach a a skill and then she also you know made entrepreneurs and business owners out of these d you know people that started these mushroom farms. So that's very interesting. So when you got back you said, this is what I wanna do when I grow up or How'd you pivot from just working in restaurants to deciding that you want to become your own entrepreneur? I always wanted to open up my own business. So that since a kid I I've always had the entrepreneurial spirit. Like I remember my mom was a nurse and she would bring like these f type of forms or something for us to like draw and scribble on when I was a kid. And what I would do is I would make contracts with my brother and sister to do chores. So like I always had that entrepreneurial spirit when I as a kid. if you were to ask me what I'd be doing, what I'm doing exactly right now, probably not, but the pivot really came out of necessity because the the community needed, D C needed it, Ward eight and Ward seven really needed it, so So you wanna talk about the food insecurity issues in Ward Seventy Eight. And for those who don't know what Ward Seventy Eight, Washington DC is broken up into eight wards. So Ward Seventy Eight is east of the Anacostia River and we have a life expectancy of fifteen years less than other parts of the city. that's a direct result of lack of food access, years and years and years of mumbo sauce and wing. culture even though I love I love a good wing and mumbo sauce from time to time, but you know, anything in excess is is not good for you. But we are the the poorest and the blackest wards in the city and literally have were cut off from everywhere else. So the river is a divider for us and what I have found just in my research even going back to twenty seventeen I wanted to figure out how we were all corralled into Ward 7 and Ward 8. So I did a a huge research in into the history. but ward seven and ward eight at the time, there was only three grocery stores to service both wards. So it's about a hundred and fifty thousand people roughly at that time as compared to across the river. it seems like there's a grocery store on almost every corner. So that's where the disparity lies, not only with access to grocery stores, is really the ability to afford the groceries. and that's why I started the farm in itself and not just the grocery store because people have tried to come in and put grocery stores before, but it's that's more of a It's an amenity. You have to be able to have people afford the groceries to be able to afford housing and all these things. So for me it was more of a economic approach. Yeah, we grow food, we have food access too, but another part of that is also creating or stimulating the the local economy to make sure that the residents can afford to stay there, and to be able to have access to food as well. Thank you. So you wanna talk about how you came up with doing mushrooms in a house? our model is based off of a satellite system, which I copied from Curtis Stone, who's in Canada, and he was able to farm up to like a acre of land, but he was doing it in people's lawns. So I said, Well, how can I replicate this but do it using modular systems to do mushroom growing. And at first we were gonna do shipping containers and then I came across, you know, this, you know, tiny home. And it fits together like Legos and they come in different dimensions. So it doesn't take that long to put them up. they're wired. We did have to do some modifications in our in our cube. but for the most part is pretty easy and simple and you can get them in different dimensions. So our goal is to have a satellite system where at the center there is a production, distribution, and storage, and then we'll have other grow rooms around. Around that that center and then we're able to plot these satellites in different neighborhoods within ward seven and ward eight. you are plan planning on expanding beyond your tiny house? yeah, one thousand percent. So we what what you see on Elvins Road right now is a proof of concept. last year was our full year of operations in twenty twenty five. we made some small tweaks. and this year, right now we're sixty percent above revenue from last year. So we're we're scaling, we scale production, you wanna talk about the good and the bad, Well, the most important thing, people think that this is just you wake up and it's easy and I can just open up a business or start a business and that is not the case. what makes What separates people is is gonna be at least for me, I'm willing to do the things that no one else is willing to do. So I'm gonna take it further than you will. And you have to have that type of grit and mentality, opening up a business, I don't care what it is. and really have the the discipline to do those things. waking up early, staying up late, working, you know, sixteen, eighteen, twenty hour days sometimes. So it's not all glitz and glamour. Yeah, you might see us on on a lovely podcast like this or on interviews, but behind it it's a lot of grit. So anybody that wants to be an entrepreneur, d really have a passion for what you're what you're building. and then really think about it too because y y you have to do the research behind it, to make sure there's a you know a fit for whatever product that you have. So you might have a great idea, but it might not fit the market that you're in. So it's a lot of research and you have to be willing to to go places that other people won't. Thanks for that. But also, JR, people don't realize it takes money. It takes financing. I know that you've won quite a few pitch competitions, but it goes beyond pitch competitions. So did you want to talk about how did you secure financing, how'd you reach out in addition to the pitch competition? Yes. I mean finance is definitely it plays a role, but I mean there are businesses that start with little to to nothing. it ju really depends on the idea and how large you want to do it. for me I put in my own funds that I saved. there's grants that, you know, I've written and then of course the pitch competitions as well. and Going into next year I am contemplating whether or not I want to take out a loan. I would like to stay debt free. but in order to scale that does take take money. So you know, bringing on a couple of full time employees and and looking to build another girl room. So those are decisions that we're gonna have to make later on this year, probably in quarter four. Okay. And the good part about having a tiny house is that you're able to grow mostly year round, is that correct? yeah, we can grow all year round. The it everything is climate controlled, so we c we control the temperature, the relative humidity, the lighting, everything so we can grow. as long as we can get to the to the cube and we have energy in the batteries and we're good to go. We can grow. then you wanna talk about where you selling where you're selling your mushrooms. I know you sell two businesses and now you're doing more farmers markets. You wanna talk about what you're doing with in that arena? right now we're in five or six farmers markets. We do direct to consumer sales and then we're all we have a wholesale side of the business too, so We have an online store. We have a CSA program, which is a community supported agriculture. it's just a subscription. So if you wanted your mushrooms dropped off weekly, we can do that for you. and then we have the the farmers markets where you can come and see us. We're in UDC at Lamont Riggs campus on Fridays and then on Saturdays we have Chevy Chase alternating Saturdays, Durwood Market in Rockville. those are alternating Saturdays as well. And then every Saturday you can catch us at Mount Vernon Triangle. in Mount Vernon Triangle. So it's right there fifth and mass northwest. not too far away from Chinatown. And then every third Saturday, we're gonna be at Walker Mill Park, out in PG County. and then on Sundays we're we're at Bowie, Buoy High School. So we're at the Buoy's farmers market. And then on the wholesale side we we sell to you know restaurants like Oyster Oyster, which is a Michelin star restaurant. it's one of considered one of the best restaurants in the world. we Have recently taken on Realm rooftop. they are featuring our mushrooms in their one of their dishes. and then we have Sonoma, restaurant, wine bar, Dreaming Out Loud, a couple of other places that we wholesale to, the people's market as well. yes, I know that I've seen you at the people's market, circle back to the to the business part of it. Because people think that they could quit their job and you wanna you know, they talk about well, I wanna do my business, I'm just gonna quit so and I know you didn't quit your job. You wanna go into that a little bit. No, you definitely wanna You you definitely wanna hang on to your job until the business is able to sustain itself and you're able to to, you know, meet your basic needs. and a lot of times your nine to five is gonna be the funding for your business. I save money that way and put money aside to make sure I that I could fund the business stuff that I needed to be built. I went out on the weekends into the restaurants and and bust my butt for for the weekends and then live well below my means and put everything that I had into the business. So definitely do not quit until you know you start seeing profit from your business and you you can realistically sustain your basic needs. You have, you know, food in your belly, shelter, clothing. So the funny part about the whole mushroom thing, like I said, I love all your mushrooms now. So you always give me great recipes. But how do you get the people to come out of their comfort zone? I give out free samples, man. Maybe I shouldn't s say this on a podcast 'cause there already some cover bags for free stuff. But no, I like if people are curious they come up, during the the markets and you know, we'll strike up a conversation and they might go, I don't really like mushrooms, I don't know what to do with it. I say here, take a little bit, I'll give little bit just to try, tell you know, simple saute. And I would say at this point, maybe ninety nine point nine percent of the time they come back and they're like, I I like it and I wanna buy this from you now. So it's just really a large part of what I do is education. And just teaching people. And now that we're talking about education, you wanna talk about what you do with the youth. yeah, yeah, yeah. We we're starting our farm to table program. We've partnered with DC public school system, to teach mushroom cultivation and business and financial literacy to children at Ambier's Elementary School. And we're gonna do I think what, three cohorts? Within the next two years, maybe six, I can't remember all. In total it's gonna be a hundred and twenty students that we we teach. But each cohort will be twelve weeks and the children will learn mushroom cultivation. We're gonna build a mushroom farm for them on campus and they'll learn how to make the substrate and all that stuff and we'll bring in chefs and medical professionals to talk about nutrients and and and different things and we'll also have business professionals come in as well as far as the the business side. So we'll do things like do a stock simulator. I'll have someone from either hopefully Wells Fargo or MNT Bank or you know some a local bank that'll come in and and talk about budgeting and stuff like that. So the goal is to not only teach them mushroom cultivation but also to teach them responsibility of money and how to use money as a tool and also teach entrepreneurship as well. This is what it is about, sustainable health when they're young. I mean, because a lot of times you try to teach older people like myself and other people like how to be sustainable and people are not buying it, and not buying their tours, I think, when you're young, because children s absorb things like a sponge. And this is when they can go and share with the with their mothers, their relatives. Oh, look what I learned today from Mr. J.R.'s farm and we could do this too at home. And also it would give the parents an opportunity to try something out of their comfort zone. Right. Because how many people you know do a mushroom gist f like for real in Ward Seven to eight? Like seriously. Nobody. Nobody. We're we're the first. up I mean, we've also partnered with Lyft, which is a a non profit in DC too that teaches financial literacy to the parents. So we have a wraparound service as well. have five slots for them. So yeah, it's definitely teaching you want to get people out of the com comfort zone. And for us, you know, introducing a new industry into Ward Seven and Eight. the goal for the farm the table program is to really supply the labor force for this new industry that we're we're creating. So whether it be people that come and they eventually work for us or they become the competition. So that's that's really the goal in making this this program. And I know that you want to keep higher DC residents. So how how has the staffing process been going? 'Cause I know it's always good and bad in staffing too. Yeah, it's been it's it's been interesting. so we we had a ward seven resident that was our farm technician Now we have a new farm technician. She is from Bowie, and then we have another farmers market coordinator who is from DC. so we're getting there. We're getting there. The more we scale, the faster we scale, the bigger we scale, the more we're able to reach out to our neighbors to to hire. exactly what do they do? So the farm technician is I am grooming them to become the farm manager. So they would make the substrate blocks, do all the day to day operations on the farm, look out for any contamination, do all the cleaning. They would basically run the farm itself. The the farmers market coordinator is the person that's responsible for our market division. So anything to do with our farmers market from scheduling to training to finding new markets to go into, anything that has to do with our direct to consumer sales as far as the farmers markets are concerned, that's what that person handles. And wrapping up, this is you've talked about so much, but what are your plans for expansion within one to maybe three years, like going to other products? I know you do mushrooms, I know you do the line's main honey, but what else do you plan on expanding? So the end of this year we're gonna start experimenting with mushroom coffee. People keep asking me about it, so you know, we're gonna we're gonna try our hand at it. I'm not gonna name the products, but they've had different coffees and it doesn't taste great. So with my background and food and beverage, the goal is to make something that's gonna be functional, delicious, and really, really good for you. you have to be very careful of the things that you're you know, imbibing into your or, you know, eating, drinking. 'cause a lot of these places they're using fillers. They're not using a hundred percent fruit bodies in their products. So we wanna make sure we're using the best products 'cause we make the best products, but it also tastes good too. I know when people go to the farmers markets I always hear. my god, they're so expensive. But again, it's a lot of moving parts. I think we're reasonably priced. last year, we actually took a loss, 'cause we were priced way under than what we should have been and we made some adjustments this year and there hasn't been any pushback. but I think we're we're right in in line with our competition. So yeah as far as a business owner it you know you definitely want to make sure you do your your math and that's market research to see what that ceiling is. Are you a luxury brand? Are you a premium brand? Are you you know a affordable brand, like you have to figure those things out and if that functions or works within your business. For us we're right at the premium line. We're not a luxury brand but we're we're premium. You know you're gonna get solid quality and consistency all the time. Like that. So when you come up with your mushroom coffee, would you be having a focus group for people to sample it? We're gonna have some guinea pigs. Yes, because you know coffee is so good and I like to try different things and again I've been to places where I've had the mushroom coffee. some places are not bad. Right. which is good and then are you planning on doing the the liquid versions of Lyme's main like the tinctures we may do something towards the end of the year, but we'll see. We'll see how the process goes. We wanna test it and make sure everything is is right before we we roll out with something so for sure. So if you wanna book JR or if you want to order from J R everything would be right there. we're easy to find if you Google Eightfold Farms D C. you spell out the number so E I G H T Fold Farms DC. that's our handle for all of our social media. we're gonna be doing some YouTube stuff soon. our website is the same thing, eightfoldfarms DC dot com. you can reach out to us, send me an email. I would like to thank JR for taking time out of his busy schedule to have this interview today. Thank you for having me. My pleasure. So until next time for another episode of Cut the BS, Your Health, Your Choice. Be fabulous. Take care everybody.