Lifelong Best Friends Found Sustainable Sandwich Shop in Seattle
Founded in March 2009 by two 23 year-old childhood best friends (Ben Friedman and Brad Gillis), Homegrown Sustainable Sandwich Shop is changing how people look at and consume food. Their sandwich shop is built upon transparent sourcing of organic and local ingredients and a profound love of sandwiches, Homegrown’s goal is not only to create sandwiches out of sustainable ingredients but also to make sandwich creation sustainable itself.
These 2 friends had both navigated the traditional summer intern route throughout their college years to set them up for a job post-grad, but when it got closer to graduation, they decided to pass-up the corporate world and start their own company back home in Seattle.
Top Quality Sandwiches And Ingredients
They describe their restaurant as an experience (almost like an art-form in sandwich creation) and target the foodie-type consumer who
appreciates and values the quality and creativity that goes into every single ingredient of their sandwiches. When buying local or organic produce, meats, cheeses and bread, the real cost is covered by the restaurant and the consumer, and this type of food is extremely expensive – compared to less-expensive conventional and commodity foods where the real cost of the food is incurred by the environment, the animals and your health. Their biggest obstacle has been consumer education about why they choose to make the sandwiches with these types of ingredients and how great their impact is in the agricultural community when they partner with likeminded suppliers. They have effectively overcome this challenge with smart communications efforts that demonstrate their honesty and transparency about every ingredient on their sandwiches and the real environmental and health impacts of their food system.
appreciates and values the quality and creativity that goes into every single ingredient of their sandwiches. When buying local or organic produce, meats, cheeses and bread, the real cost is covered by the restaurant and the consumer, and this type of food is extremely expensive – compared to less-expensive conventional and commodity foods where the real cost of the food is incurred by the environment, the animals and your health. Their biggest obstacle has been consumer education about why they choose to make the sandwiches with these types of ingredients and how great their impact is in the agricultural community when they partner with likeminded suppliers. They have effectively overcome this challenge with smart communications efforts that demonstrate their honesty and transparency about every ingredient on their sandwiches and the real environmental and health impacts of their food system.What do you all like most about being entrepreneurs ?
BEN – Obviously entrepreneurship poses many challenges but the fun part for us is getting to create something tangible and getting to see brand and product development at every stage of the process. In small start-ups, everyone wears a lot of hats and its really rewarding to refine your skill set so broadly.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
BRAD - Both of us enjoy the outdoors. Seattle is an awesome place to live because we have easy access to any outdoor activity you might want to do, whether its sea-kayaking, climbing or skiing – you can leave after breakfast and be home for dinner.
Who do you consider your competition, and how do you all do things differently than typical sandwich shops?
BEN – We see our competition as the 5 or so other gourmet sandwich shops around Seattle. We have a foodie vibe with unique ingredients and flavors that make our recipes special but what really differentiates us is our steadfast commitment to sourcing sustainable ingredients.
What does a typical day look like for you guys from the time you wake-up until the time you go to bed?
BRAD -Both of us have home offices so we generally roll out of bed straight into the office. By around 10am it we have had our fill of pushing paper and we head out to deal with specific issues at any of the 3 stores or the central kitchen. Then return home to finish off the day in the office. Somewhere in there we usually have meeting over coffee or a sandwich. We like to stay in tune with what other restaurants are doing.
Do you have any expansion plans outside of Seattle in the future?
BEN – We’ve talked a lot about opening up stores outside of Seattle, but at the moment we’re really focussing on our hometown and making sure our concept is tight. We grew from zero to three stores in under a year and half and now we’re looking back to refine our customer experience before we look to move into other markets.
What is something cool you have learned building your own business that you would like to share with other entrepreneurs?
BRAD - I think that the biggest thing we have learned about building a business is how important it is to stick with it, and maintain the mission you set out to do in the first place. There have definitely been times that have left us deliberating on what to do next but generally, the answer lies in what we initially set out to do.
