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Interview Transcription

Jasna Burza 0:00
Peter, welcome to Business Spotlight.

Peter Smith 0:04
Thank you,

Jasna Burza 0:05
thank you a pleasure, as always, per usual to feature great businesses, especially businesses with heart. So heart like, like, it’s really big, it is such an important aspect of what we do. There are so many entrepreneurs and businesses who are really in the community. And when they do something, they do it with so much meaning and gusto, you and your wife are the owners of mini real market, and I’m just gonna read this and you say, we believe that by changing a small part of your food consumption, you can make a large impact on your community. We simplify the shop the shop, the shopping local experience by providing an assortment of local, ethically sourced products on a small scale space and friendly staff make it feel like home and you’re in Hopkins, Minnesota. So tell us about miniature market, how did you get started in, in why such commitment to locally sourced food and really educating others about the importance of it?

Peter Smith 1:13
Right, right. Um, well, the start, is, uh, it’s been a long journey for me, I’ve been with food my entire career, and I’ve always had in the back of my mind, a want or desire to create something of my own. So, you know, I’ve kind of designed it in my head over the years and, and dreams, if you will about it, the actual real start of many real market didn’t come out until after the pandemic. And so, like many people, my job completely changed when the pandemic happened, and I stuck with it for a while. And it kind of became obvious that the things that I liked about it were going to be less important and the things that I didn’t like about it, were going to become more important and our lives at home as well were flipped upside down. And so my wife and I kind of had a little soul searching and decided, you know, what do we need for ourselves, we’re young, we still got years of work ahead of us. And we wanted to just kind of make our careers the be meaningful, if you will. And so, you know, I was the one who had the culinary dream and the vision behind the store. She’s a marketing genius, and light and our PR person. So she was happy with me choosing the medium to create the store. And then she can create the content around that. So we put our together our two skill sets and backgrounds, and develop this idea. And the local side of it kind of came out throughout that communication and throughout the struggles that we saw people having been having during the pandemic. And there there were certain people, certain industries and companies that were doing very well, making lots of money during the pandemic, and there was a lot of main street businesses that were really struggling to make it. And we didn’t think that was fair. And we wanted to see if there was something, you know, our little store could make an impact on that.

Jasna Burza 3:32
I love that. It’s such an it’s a beautiful story. And I loved seeing images of you and your wife and your family on the on the website is like there’s, I think that we’re moving in this world of if we’re going to do something, it has to mean something, it has to matter otherwise, what’s the point and I think that we are also showing to others that we can create livelihoods and, you know, support our families by doing something good for the community in the world, and to support others as well. So is mineral market a place that be I know that you have meal kits, which we’re going to be talking about if people can just pick up? Is it a place that because I have not been able to see come in and see for myself yet place where people can hang out? Or is it just where they come and they really want to buy something on the go or order for it?

Peter Smith 4:25
Right? Well we’re we are adapting as the times change and as the world changes around us, so we have we are a deli. We have seating, people can grab a sandwich, wrap salad soup, and sit in one of our comfortable chairs and

Jasna Burza 4:50
so good it’s such a pleasure to meet you as well. So everyone listening right now this is Dana, the partner of Peter Isn’t the co founder of media or market as?

Dana Smith 5:03
Yeah, very good. Yeah. So yeah, like you said, we, we have have all those options and the deli and the prepared food for become more popular now that some pandemic, you know, are lifting and people are getting back out. So so we’re leaning into that a little bit. The market side is always going to be part of our mission. And we do highlight unique products from around this Twin Cities, and even some from Wisconsin. But yeah, we still stuck around a local and ethically sourced mission as well. So So tell

Jasna Burza 5:45
me a little bit about what ethically sourced meat and so there’s been a huge awareness about really understanding where our food comes from, and becoming part of the change that we all we need to be part of. But there are a lot of people who may be listening to this and say, I don’t know what that means, and why does it matter? So what does it mean? And why does it matter?

Peter Smith 6:09
Right? Right. So we’ve defined it, as, you know, we’re searched for companies that are aware of their social, economical and environmental impact on the community, and then strive to make that a positive impact. Because every business, especially in the food is going to have have an impact that downstream and upstream impact on all three of those factors that I mentioned. And they can make choices on whether the, you know, they’re going to consciously minimize that impact, or use the profits to counteract some of their, their impact. And so we try to find companies that, that have an underlining mission. And the great thing about that is, in doing that, we can kind of encompass all sorts of missions out there, everybody has their own personal beliefs or their personal like, values, yeah, values. And lots of times entrepreneurs bring those personal values into their company. And so we can partner with dog dog tree company that really just value is bringing high quality ingredients to dog food. And that’s, that’s great. So we can we can work with them and showcase their mission and help push their cause.

Jasna Burza 7:36
I love that I’m such a big fan of the this is in my own journey. 12 years ago, I had experience in fertility and change my entire life. You know, it wasn’t, it’s not sometimes until moments hit you in the head where you reevaluate everything. But until then I really didn’t care what I was eating. And I know it sounds awful, right? But I was not really aware. So there was this big push with my husband and I to change what we’re eating because food is our medicine. It carries physical ingredients that nourish us, but also energetic traces, right? All these things matter. And I think supporting those that the creator for there’s just so powerful, and I’m just so glad that you’re part of the mission. Thank you. Thank you. So I know that you know, you also have meal kits that are online that people can you know, for families, he’s like, I have no time to cook dinner tonight. And I really need something on the go. How did that come about in 2020 Because I feel like so many businesses have just kind of moved in this like or just the need for people just want something to pick up really, really quickly.

Peter Smith 8:45
Right? Right. So meal kits were definitely part of our mission from the beginning and something we we we tried to develop and really push it’s not something that has that has taken off as far as our customer base. So they have taken a little bit of a back. Backseat as of recent, however the we are showcasing more like combinations of products that you can add together to make a really simple meal or elevate a like a storebought meal that you have at home. I did a demo at a local garlic festival recently and showcase how you can take like a store bought tomato soup and add a couple of local ingredients that we carry here in the store and elevate it to something a little bit more. Maybe something you would serve to some guests as opposed to just microwave when you’re hungry at home by yourself typing

Jasna Burza 9:48
I love that or just for us I always say don’t keep your china for gas. In German food. Foodies unite i right Yeah,

Dana Smith 10:00
oh yeah, I wanted to add to for the meal kits, we’ll still do our like holiday meal kits. So we have like a Thanksgiving meal kit of Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve, so we’re still gonna push those and Mother’s Day, those got a lot of traction. And what we hear the feedback we hear is, they don’t want those to go away. So if we could figure out a way to maybe monthly meal kits, or maybe just four times a year, well, you know, we’re still figuring it out as we go. So yeah,

Jasna Burza 10:27
I love that, you know, there’s such a push, even with these subscriptions, where people want like a former Friday night, I don’t want to think about I don’t want to have to go somewhere I just want to be able to have a family of four for dinner delivered to my doorstep and not have to worry about it. So maybe that’s maybe that’s in the in the works. But do you I know that people can clearly come in there’s, there’s it is a you are a source of education and inspiration around food, which is I think this again, this emergence of our connection, where our food comes from and enjoying it, and really not just eating for the sake of eating but enjoying the process of eating the flavor. When you also work with companies correct? And do you do cater? What are some of the other services that people can keep in mind as they think of mineral market?

Peter Smith 11:21
Um, yeah, that’s a great question. We, we, I love educating people around food. A little bit of a, I have a chef training and background. And part of what I’ve always liked is working with people and develop their skills. So we have lots of customers that will come in and just kind of ask questions about how maybe your product would be prepared. Or maybe they’re interested in trying a product, I had a customer a couple months back who’s been a vegetarian for many years, but is interested in and putting some animal protein back in her diet and just kind of have some questions around like the sourcing of it, because like you said, a lot of what we know about our food is is hidden to us. So she was very concerned about you know, if she is going to start what type of treatment these animals had and where they came from. And if there’s way to trace that back to them. And so we like to be an education as well as just provide the product itself.

Jasna Burza 12:28
I love that go ahead. Then I also

Peter Smith 12:31
want to add, we’re trying to get into events, so highlighting different vendors in our market and invite them to our store and kind of bring their audience to our store and kind of do a cross word is but build a build upon together and touch each customer base to so we’re looking to do more of that in the future as well.

Jasna Burza 12:52
Oh, I love that. Well, Jenna. And I, like I mentioned we’re going to start by one of our co working collab days, hopefully in the coming next coming week or two. And hopefully we’ll get a chance to meet you and then do some some reels on Sunday. I Jenna does all this amazing work. So we’re going to do our best to continue to support you. i Is there anything else that you would like to share and it’s really important, we’re going to add your location and your address if people can come and check you out. Any parting words for for people listening?

Peter Smith 13:26
I, you know, I just think somewhat selfishly, but also to anybody else out there that has a local store that they that they patron in their mind, just be conscious about how important that is to those entrepreneurs. We really value each and every one of our customers, and we understand everybody has their lives and everybody has maybe be getting back to their lives back to their offices, lives are changing. But we’re still here. And we still love to see every one of our customers and new ones too.

Jasna Burza 14:00
I love that. Well, you just go on you and I can’t wait to come in and meet you. Thank you so much for coming to talk to me, I really appreciate it. And these beautiful these conversations have turned from just like let’s feature and spotlight to business to like, oh my goodness, these are people in our community like they’re so real and there’s this connections are being built, and your spirit, what you stand for what you have created is to me incredibly beautiful. And I highly recommend and encourage everyone listening to this to come and check you out and try your food and be part of that incredible experience that you have created. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure. Thank you for taking the time. And we will we’ll put all the information above below to the site wherever this content is going to go. And I look forward to meeting you in person or good. We’ll see you soon. Yeah, bye bye.