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Mandoo: Korean Dumpling

We serve authentic, local, and handmade dumplings from the kitchen in South Korea to communities of Michigan!
https://koreandumpling.com/
5×5 Night at Start Garden
Voting Closes:

October 21, 2024 11:59 pm

About this idea
I had a chance to visit my home country for the first time in 18 years 2 years ago since I landed here in the United States. There I met my aunt who was doing well with a restaurant of her own selling! Mandoo (korean dumpling) She was selling one of the best dumplings Iā€™ve ever had. The last time that I saw my aunt was when I was 9 years old and the first question that she asked me when I met her was, ė°„ėعģ—ˆģ–“?ā€œdid you eat?ā€ This question is a common greeting because of our history of poverty. You see, food is not just food for us. Food is social, communal, meant to be shared. Food is love. Interesting thing about dumplings - If you eat a couple, itā€™s an appetizer - If you eat a bit more, its a meal - If you eat it late at night, it's a snack. Dumplings are eaten from early morning to late night. Dumplings are sold from the delicious street vendors of Korea to one of the most expensive and high-end restaurants. Dumplings can be eaten at any time and anywhere. Here I am, two years later. Iā€™ve received my auntā€™s recipe to bring it here in the states. We have been operating since last July and had significant growth from the beginning. Last year, I was only able to operate on a part-time basis, but I am planning to go full-time. We were already accepted to large markets in Michigan from Ann Arbor, East Lansing, and to Grand Rapids.
Impact
Consumers are able to experience the streets of South Korea through Mandoo. Furthermore, my motto in building this business is to grow together with those whom I work with. This year, I have partnered up with a 19-year-old Cuban native to expand and experience the business together. I firmly believe this year is going to be a first stepping stone in seeing the growth of Mandoo. We were accepted to Christkindl market which averaged $150,000 for RTE food vendors in the span of 5 weeks. As the business grows, I hope to make significant impact and opportunity to those who I work with. I also believe, I can provide authentic South Korean experience to the communities of Michiganders!
What I'll do with $5,000
$5000 will be used in two ways. 1) I was able to pay off partial vending fees for large events this summer and winter. Large portion of $5000 will be used to pay rest of the vendor fee in order to provide this company with an opportunity to scale. This is a crucial need for the business. 2) As we are going to be operating at a larger scale, the cost of ingredients as well as new equipment's such as additional burner/pan/steamer will be needed. $5000 will be used to purchase the following. The true potential of what $5000 can cause for this business is immense. I firmly believe we can quadruple the sales from last year smoothly through the $5000 investment.
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