I know I'm a week behind, but in the spirit of the jet lag Jenny and I have been fighting, better late than never! During this season of thanks, I wanted to share my gratitude for the IZOLA community - our guests, our team members past and present, our investors, our business partners, our city and county officials, and our families. Just over three years ago when I decided to start a little bakery selling sourdough bread, little did I know what lay ahead. We continue to be completely humbled by the groundswell of love and support we've received from our community. We've made a lot of mistakes and will continue to fail as we try new things and push ourselves to do better each and every day. And I am so thankful that this community gives us the grace to do so. Thank you.
Speaking of failure, here was my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner! 🤣 Rhodes rolls are a tradition in the Brown family and my over-proofed, then overbaked rolls definitely were NOT like mom's this year!
EXTENDED!
The close of Round 3 of our equity raise has been extended! Originally set to close at midnight on November 30th, we will now be closing on December 20th.
We have set an ambitious goal to raise an additional $75,000 before the close.
Why? Well, if you've been following along on our journey, we're on a mission to change the way Americans experience sourdough and croissants. To do this, we are developing processes to scale our production without sacrificing on quality or flavor. But IZOLA is more than just about the food, it's also about the feeling that you get when you step into the bakeshop - where we hope you feel welcome and in a space where you can linger and enjoy the company of the community around you.
Scaling our production while improving our quality is not an easy task, but even more so, it's an expensive one...But if we're successful in executing this, it will pay off for many years to come, and have a direct impact on our team - improving our product margins means we'll be able to reinvest in the team. Continuing to make each and every item by hand just doesn't provide the same scale of opportunity for our team members.
Join us for an upcoming Investor Conversation on Google Meet to learn more about our plans, like the material handling system above, and how these plans will also help reduce our impact on the environment.
Believe in what we do? Join us. Never invested before? Not to worry! It's super simple and takes only minutes! *Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER ROUND OF TESTING!
The IZOLA Core team continues to be super busy running tests. We're so stoked about the new flavors we're developing!
The team has run over 65 taste tests in these past 4 weeks and we currently have 1 new approved sourdough and 2 new croissant flavors. These new menu items are out of this world...We know we've got a winner when the team is bagging all leftovers to take home!
This week they're working on refining and re-testing 23 additional sourdough and croissant items, so we anticipate this list of new items to grow.
We're also running tests on how to improve our existing items, like our Almond Croissant, and collecting data to hone in on what elements will help create the loftiest, tastiest almond croissant we can.
RENO UPDATES
As the team's plate stays full with new recipe development, I've been heads down on finalizing plans for our 13th Street renovation. I'm doing my best to try and accelerate the timeline during this closure, but most days it feels like moving a boulder up the hill (some days it rolls down the hill and I get squashed before I get back up again! 😉)...There are so many interdependencies involved and timelines beyond our control.
At this point, we are still at least 60 days out from re-opening. You'll be the first to hear as soon as construction begins and we can share a more firm re-opening date!