Today we’d like to introduce you to Preya Patel Bhakta.
Meet Preya & Sachin Bhakta – a couple of foodies that went from being newlyweds to food entrepreneurs to now launching a fresh foods home delivery company. SoCal Milk Drop was founded with a simple solution of offering super fresh foods through a resilient local eco-system that brings producers together and gives people a better option. We’re a colorful, creative, and passionate group of entrepreneurs that produce better-for-you foods, but all face similar struggles as the grocery industry is dominated by large CPG corporations, which focuses primarily on the bottom line rather than giving their customers the best options. There are so many great foods being produced all around us as California is the largest food-producing state in the US, but why aren’t these foods available at the stores? Why can’t we go right to the source and have fresh options that support our local producers and helps our local economy thrive. Well, now we can. We created SoCal Milk Drop to give people that option. Rather than be limited to the faux-fresh foods that pass through multiple warehouses, distribution centers, and freight trucks before they even reach the grocery store.
We bring you super fresh foods directly from the source, eliminating the need for numerous middlemen and lowering our carbon footprint. This allows us to deliver the highest quality and freshest foods. Simple fact, eating fresh foods is better for your health. Our produce is picked ripe and delivered the very same day. Our breads, bakery items, and fresh pastas are made to order. Our milks and juices are bottled just days before delivering to homes. We believe that grocery shopping should be fresh, local, convenient, and an enjoyable experience. We believe that everyone should have equal access to nutritious foods. 1 in 9 people in SoCal are food insecure – this amounts to over 2 million people that are living without constant access to food. Families are having to make tough decisions between groceries or rent, seniors having to choose between food or medicine, parents and children skipping meals and going to bed hungry. We’re committed to making nutritious foods accessible to everyone. Partnering with Food Forward to fight hunger and reduce food waste across all eight counties in SoCal. For every single order we receive, we’re donating 10lbs of produce to communities in need.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Having been a food manufacturer ourselves for the past eight years, we’ve faced first-hand all of the obstacles and challenges in working with grocery retailers. The list is too long to list here! But when you think about fresh foods, like those found at farmer’s markets, they’re super fresh and made with local ingredients and taste amazing. When you try to commercialize these types of foods for grocery stores, the products start to change; they need preservatives added to extend their shelf life, cheaper ingredients to have a competitive retail, shortcuts in the production process to gain efficiencies, etc. We believe that fresh foods should remain fresh and unadulterated. We feel that our journey for the past eight years learning the ins and outs of grocery retail has prepared us to launch SoCal Milk Drop. We’re all about supporting our local producers with fresh home deliveries across SoCal weekly. And being able to give back to our local communities that are food insecure. We believe that we are all stronger together! We’re only eight months young, but are adding new products weekly and working on expanding our delivery zones as well.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We make it super simple for food producers to focus on what they love doing most, making delicious products! Whether it’s a small producer just starting out, or a large established producer, our support has no limits. We’re here to make it easy and convenient for families across SoCal to receive fresh deliveries and enjoy all that our local producers have to offer. If you have fresh products that you’d like to list with us, fill out the form on our website. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Since our products are delivering to customers straight from the source, there’s no distributors, grocery stores, or 3rd parties in the middle. This means customers get the freshest products! Milks and juices are bottled fresh, breads and bakery items are baked to order, produce is picked ripe daily, etc. It doesn’t get fresher than this!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.socalmilkdrop.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/socalmilkdrop
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/socalmilkdrop
Image Credits
SoCal Milk Drop
