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Luma Pastry Cafe

A seasonal pastry box club, as a proof of concept for a refined, brick-and-mortar patisserie-cafe in Ada, Michigan.
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About this idea
Luma Pastry Cafe will be a neighborhood bakery and café in the village of Ada, celebrating the simple joy of good pastry, good coffee, and good company. The menu will center on finely crafted pastries like flaky croissants, silky custards, and bright seasonal tarts, along with breads, light meals, and espresso drinks served in a calm, beautiful space designed for lingering. To begin bringing that vision to life, Luma is launching the Pastry Club: a short-term monthly subscription of seasonal pastries produced in a licensed commercial kitchen and packaged with the same care planned for the café. The boxes will introduce Luma’s quality and style, build early community connections, create professional brand assets, and demonstrate real-world demand to help secure a future brick-and-mortar space.
Impact
Luma aims to enrich the local food and social landscape by creating a welcoming space where people can gather around carefully crafted pastries and beverages. The café will model people-centered employment, offering meaningful, respectful work in a craft-focused environment. Luma Pastry Club introduces these values now, connecting with the Ada community and providing a taste of Luma’s quality and care, laying the foundation for a café that nurtures both people and place.
What I'll do with $5,000
Funds will support the first three-month season of the pastry club and help to build a lasting, refined brand. This short-term subscription will generate customer data, visual assets, and early traction to demonstrate to lenders and landlords that Luma Pastry Cafe is a credible, community-minded, and carefully executed venture. Commercial kitchen rental and ingredients – $1,200 Covers kitchen rental, packaging, and seasonal ingredients for the first production season. Compact pastry laminator – $1,200 A small commercial laminator that can be used in the rental kitchen and later in the café, improving efficiency and consistency for laminated doughs. Professional photography – $900 High-quality product photography to communicate Luma’s craft and create lasting brand assets for future marketing. Brand identity and print materials – $600 Logo design by a professional designer, along with printed inserts and packaging elements for a cohesive presentation. Equipment and smallwares – $650 Reusable pans, trays, storage tubs, and specialty tools for production in a shared commercial kitchen. Retail food licensing and insurance – $450 Required to operate legally and safely outside cottage food restrictions, including a $1M liability policy.
Quick Bio
I’m Rachael McQuater, a lifelong baker committed to craft, precision, and thoughtful food. My obsession with baked goods and my hope for a more human, grounded future led me to envision Luma.
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