PSA: We'll miss you at AAFM Aug 10th 2024 :(
A little context behind this tough decision
Greetings everyone,
Thanks for giving us time to share more context behind our recent sporadic absences at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. Many compounding factors caused our lack of attendance but it ultimately boils down to having reliable kitchen availability.
Marupo’s humble beginnings started by operating out of commissary kitchens. In exchange for being more affordable, these kitchens required tenants to pre-schedule their desired rental times while working around the schedule of more established anchor tenants (it takes time to receive approval from the landlord and anchor tenants). While this has served us well since we started last year, as Marupo continued to mature, we began searching for kitchen space that would provide us more flexibility (i.e. 24/7 access). Thus upon several referrals from our customers and community members, we decided to begin subletting from Q Bakehouse around February of this year.
Meeting Rachel and her team has been one of the greatest gifts we’ve gotten this year. Not only do they serve as mentors and role models for running an efficient business loved by their community, but they also were extremely supportive and accommodating to our needs. Our symbiotic relationship continues to grow, with conversations around March/April about having Marupo products sold in Q’s store.
But then, around May… we hit a snag. This saga has gone on for several months, so to avoid repeating the entire journey here, Rachel has written 2 blog posts detailing some of the complications we faced (here and here). If I was to summarize how my team and I felt… Here are 2 memes I made.
And shield us Q did. Despite Q temporarily closing their storefront back in May, Marupo continued operating as a subletter during this time… that is until shortly after Q re-opened. Here’s a brief recount of some of the notable events that happened since then:
July 20st: Marupo’s first debut day at Saturday Eastern Market in Detroit as a temporary rotating vendor - sold out midway through the market. Simultaneously serving AAFM same day.
July 22nd: Marupo received a request for a list of items created at the Q kitchen, since there was a (new) assertion made that Marupo’s items were causing issues with the neighbors' air quality. When I heard this, I was honestly slightly surprised, since unlike Q, we don’t use any spicy or pungent ingredients in our current offerings (no chili oil, no green onions etc). At most, we use ground pepper in our spring rolls.
Regardless… Marupo agreed to temporarily pause production of our spring rolls and siu mai at Q, to avoid exacerbating an already delicate situation. This was followed by several hours of equipment and ingredient hauling to our commissary kitchen (the food hub), along with asking all the partner tenants for permission to request additional hours.
July 27th: Marupo’s second Saturday at Eastern Market. Also fully sold out. Simultaneously serving AAFM same day.
July 30th: Q purchases and installs a ventless hood system with a carbon filter, in order to address neighbor’s complaints
July 31st: Received notice that there is hesitance in re-approving Marupo and Q’s sublease arrangement. Marupo was instructed to stop operations effective immediately. We moved out the remainder of smallware and ingredients to the commissary kitchen. Internal communications were sent to Marupo kitchen crew to operate future shifts at commissary kitchen until further notice; another request was made to partner tenants at commissary kitchen for additional hours of usage.
Aug 2nd: Update received from Q after attempting to discuss solutions with the property manager/owner. Outcome: Marupo was allowed to operate out of the kitchen as a subcontractor of Q Bakehouse on a temporary basis, and create products exclusively for sale at Q’s location. Q considered hiring contractors to build out a full ventilation fixture to the space (fully at Q’s expense) as part of negotiation to re-allow Marupo/Q sublease arrangement.
Aug 2nd-4th: Marupo attends “Buy Michigan Now” Fest, an annual festival featuring Michigan made products in Northville to support local businesses. Simultaneously continue to serve on Saturday Eastern Market (as part of being a rotating/trial vendor). Absent from AAFM on Sat Aug 3rd.
Aug 3rd: Q commits to building out a full ventilation fixture at own cost (~$40k+). Contractor to start work immediately, taking about 7-10 days to complete.
Aug 7th: Update received from Q reaffirming Marupo’s subcontracting operation (for creating products exclusive for sale at Q) is permitted, but approval for full-operation under sublease to be determined after confirmed improvement of complaint situation after vent installation.
Aug 9th (date of post): After taking stock of our product stockpile, a difficult decision was made: it is not feasible to service Ann Arbor Farmers Market this week.
So that’s the jist of the past few weeks. As a fledgling business, I know how critical it is for us to be consistent. Consistent not just in the quality of our products, but where we sell and when customers can buy from us.
It is for this reason that Marupo typically plans for a 2-week buffer of WIP products, so we can keep on selling when unexpected hiccups hit us…
Yet despite our best efforts, this buffer was used up faster than anticipated. After letting our home customer base down from being absent last week (due to BMN Fest), I desperately scrambled to think of ways to return to AAFM this week… Sadly, even though our team was willing to work the extra hours to rebuild our stock, we’re ultimately faced with a brick wall in the absence of a kitchen to operate out of without conditional restraints.
While it breaks my heart to let my loyal customers down… I’m hoping that given time (and creative logistical planning), we can resume servicing AAFM as soon as possible. In the meantime, I’m sure you may have plenty of questions, so please find some of my pre-emptive answers in Q&A format below:
Q1: Why did you make this post?
A1: Honestly I hesitated a lot about whether to post or not. However, this is the first time Marupo has ever been absent for 2 weeks in a row at our home market (AAFM). As such, I feel obligated to shed some light on this disruption to our loyal customers and supporters for disappointing them.
Q1: Does Q Bakehouse/Rachel know you are posting about this?
A2: Yup… I sent her a preview and got her OK before publishing.
Q3: When will you be back at AAFM?
A3: We’re not sure… but hopefully next week (Aug 17th)
Q4: Are you closed this week then?
A4: Not exactly, we’re still selling at Eastern Market Detroit this Saturday
Q5: If you’re picking one market, why are you picking Eastern Market (Detroit) instead of AAFM?
A5: Marupo is currently a trial/temporary vendor at Eastern. We’re being assessed for consistency and customers’ receptiveness to our products during this trial period. At the end of this trial, there’s a potential for us to become a regular weekly vendor. At this junction, having this additional revenue stream would significantly help Marupo’s growth… Thus we have to prioritize honoring this trial period.
Q6: What are you doing to mitigate situations like this in the future?
A6: Honestly, it’s hard to predict the future. We have done the following to alleviate the issue:
temporarily paused our ad-hoc pop-ups (like those at Sweetwaters and Argus) to stabilize production for farmers’ markets.
while we are hopeful the situation with our sublease at Q will improve, we are also looking at other kitchen options or leases as insurance if all else fails
continue ramping up our kitchen team so we can accomplish more in the same amount of limited rental time we have at our commissary kitchen.
Q7: How can we help?
A7: Really appreciate your thoughtfulness. And while I did not make this PSA intending to rally people or solicit any specific reaction… For those inclined read on.
There is a link to show support and endorsement for Marupo to become a regular vendor at Eastern Market through email.
Your continued patronage at our pop-ups and engagement on our substack do wonders for our morale, knowing we’re creating happy memories and experiences for you all.
Keep an eye out for when we start selling pre-packaged offerings at Q Bakehouse, and buy/eat what you fancy 🙂
We also have a few job postings for kitchen and sales positions, if anyone you know may be interested.
We also accept general donations on our website
If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out directly to me by email: marupo@marupo-eats.com
Thanks again for taking the time to read this.
Until next time.
-Marupo