Lindsay Leiva of Green Bay describes “grazing” as relaxed social dining; an interactive way of enjoying food where guests can eat, return for more, and connect throughout an event. She also says that it is a relatively new concept that she is bringing to the area as owner of Joyful Grazing.
Even the Brown County Health Department had a difficult time determining the correct category for licensing.
Leiva said, “There is some competition in Appleton and Milwaukee, but when I checked out the competition around here, that was it. It is a new model for this area. When I was working on licensing, the health department hadn’t had a business like this before.”
Despite being new, Leiva credits the health department with being an incredible help as she completed county and state licensing requirements. She carefully followed necessary steps to put together a legitimate business. That meant becoming Food Manager Certified, forming an LLC, securing business insurance, writing a business plan, and finding a commissary kitchen to prepare food.
“It is essential to be fully licensed and insured to give you, your clients, and their guests the confidence that you are coming to them with a professional business,” she said. “If you come across another business that is doing something like this, make sure they are certified so that your guests are safe and the food is healthy.”
With myriad details in setting up a business behind her, Leiva now looks to one of her biggest challenges – explaining what she is.
Joyful Grazing isn’t a food truck or a traditional caterer. It is a food cart that she learned about after school.
Leiva graduated from Ashwaubenon High School before moving to Minnesota for college. As a teenager, she worked in a variety of food service jobs; that continued in college. After graduation, her career was varied. She worked in college admissions offices in Minnesota and California, and served in an urban youth ministry in South Los Angeles. While living in California, she noted a new type of business.
“There is a huge food cart culture in Los Angeles. There are taco stands, fruit stands, and parties where people bring in catering on a cart. The idea for Joyful Grazing wasn’t out of the box – it was something I had seen before, but after moving back to the area in 2022, I saw it as an opportunity here. I thought it would be a fun and unique way to serve the community,” she said.
And just as she had to define the concept to the health department, Leiva does the same when marketing the business.
She said, “It is new here and the first hurdle is educating people to what it is. It is such a new business model and people ask, ‘What is a grazing cart?’ It is a conversation to understand what it is. But once people experience it, they are sold on it. It is a new way to serve food and cater for this area.”
The cart is custom built with a dozen compartments for food. She holds transient and catering licenses and prepares food at the commissary kitchen she leases, and has everything set up and ready to go for events.
The menus are varied. The most popular one is charcuterie and it is allergy friendly, customizable, and a good fit for most events. The selections are set up in the compartments and guests are able to walk up and custom order what they want from an assortment of meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits, and other items. The food is placed on a small tray and handed to the guest.
Depending on the event and what the client orders, the guest can come up once or many times. Leiva stressed the flexibility of options. Other menus include something as unique as a cannoli cart, s’mores, pancakes, fruit, snacks, brunch, candy, or seasonal experiences. If there is something a customer has in mind, it is likely that Leiva will be able to do it.
She has been open for less than a year, but is already finding success. Much of that is due to her marketing experience. She designed her website and social media pages, participates in bridal shows and other expos, and takes part in special events at places like the Green Bay Botanical Garden. She said that being out in the public as much as possible is the best advertising. People who experience it tell other people, and the business builds.
Leiva said, “It has been ‘build the plane as you fly it.’ I have done it all myself and it is a lot of effort. Starting a legitimate business is an investment. You have to get your name out there and let people know you’re in the community.”
Her first event was a big step in that direction. A client of Lux Life Chiropractic in De Pere shared a post with the founder and owner, Dr. Sadey Broecker, and late last year Joyful Grazing was booked to serve 300 people at the clinic’s grand opening.
“It was trial by fire having that many to serve for my first major event,” Leiva said. “I served a charcuterie menu that was allergy friendly, customizable, and perfect for a first go at it. Dr. Sadey is very supportive of entrepreneurs and wants to see them succeed. She was great to work with.”
In addtion to going off without a hitch, the event also resulted in other bookings. Leiva said she will do almost any type of event including graduations, corporate events, showers, family reunions, birthday parties, celebrations of life, community events, and the like. And if she has any questions as she develops the business, she leans on the advice received from her mentors.
She credits the Karen Semien-McBride, CEO of the MKCircle CEO Institute in California, for her mentorship and business coaching. Locally, the owner of her commissary kitchen, Amy Gajeski of Meals Prepped by Amy, has been a great help when she needs advice.
“I am also building a network of other cart owners across the country, and since it is such a niche model, that really helps,” she said. “I did a lot of research before writing my business plan to figure those pieces out. I looked at some pricing models and based some of mine off of that and what is a reasonable price for this area. I wanted to make sure I was competitive, but not under or over pricing.”
The connections help as she continues to grow the business. She described herself as living the “mompreneur life.” She does the prep cooking, marketing, food and supplies purchasing, cart setup, and serving of guests. Her husband, who works full time as a copier tech, takes care of their two children when she has events. But it can get hard to manage alone and she is now at the point when she is adding help as independent contractors.
“I’ve learned that time really is money whether it is time with my family or something else,” she said. “It makes more sense to bring people alongside of me. That’s been a big lesson. I want to see more bookings and growth, and help is essential as I move forward.”
Part of the goal to move forward can be summarized by Leiva’s sales pitch of what Joyful Grazing can bring to an event.
“It is all turnkey. You don’t have to lift a finger. I do everything including setup and cleanup, and the service is great. All you need to do is tell me what you want. It is all done with care and it is a memorable, exciting, and different way to serve the community,” she said.
Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.