Market Expansion Boosts Community with Kitchen and International Goods

Muju Market serves the Mohawk Valley’s immigrant and foodie populations with unique international goods, fresh cooked food, and community events. They aimed to expand their food offerings and open their kitchen to local makers. With help from SBDC advisor Sharrone Sofer and Mohawk Valley EDGE, they secured a $15,000 grant and a $73,000 loan for kitchen upgrades. This expansion increases revenue, community involvement, and partnerships.

Assistance Provided

SBDC Advisor:
Sharrone Sofer

Muju Market is a grocery store specializing in international goods and serving the greater Mohawk Valley area’s immigrant and foodie populations with both fresh and packaged goods that are unavailable elsewhere in the community. Muju market additionally offers freshly cooked food to-go and for delivery and hosts a number of different events focused on developing the local international community into a cohesive whole.

Muju Market wanted to expand its fresh and hot food offerings in-house and additionally open their kitchen and production facility to local makers to develop CPG lines and be utilized as a commissary kitchen. This would increase revenue and allow for additional community involvement for the market, potentially forging important partnerships and expanding reach. Funding was needed for this expansion to bring everything to the point where it fulfilled the necessary codes for the Department of Ag and Markets and the Oneida County Health Department.

Mohawk Valley SBDC advisor Sharrone Sofer worked with Mohawk Valley EDGE and the client, Ujjwal Rai, to foster Ujj’s entrepreneurial education and insure eligibility for local grant programs. Additionally, advisor Sofer helped the client develop financial projections to aid in the acquisition of a loan from Mohawk Valley Economic Development District.

Ujj and Muju Market were awarded a $15,000 reimbursement grant from EDGE that will be used to update the kitchen. Additionally, advisor Sofer and Ujjwal developed a schema and heuristic to help determine potential client eligibility for commercial kitchen or co-packing access. During this process, they came upon a concept that Ujjwal would later put into practice involving the sale of local food among local citizens using Muju Market as a central hub. Additionally, the MVEDD loan was a success and Muju Market was able to secure additional funding of $73,000 for the purchase of equipment.

** Our success stories focus on the work the SBDC has done with our small business clients and does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement by the NYSBDC of the company and/or their products and services.