Taste Supply founder and CEO George Inge. Inge’s online marketplace caters to small- and medium-sized food manufacturing businesses. (Jack Jacobs photo)
George Inge has been thinking about launching an online specialty grocery store for three decades.
Now, bolstered by pandemic-inspired retail trends, he has made his longtime dream a reality.
His Richmond-based company, Taste Supply Specialty Foods, recently unveiled its online marketplace where small food vendors can list and sell their products.
Inge said that while the pandemic made people more open to buying groceries online and helped set the stage for Taste Supply, the concept has long been on his mind.
In the late 1990s, while working as a financial advisor in New York City, Inge attended a Specialty Food Association trade show and was impressed by the variety he saw.
“When I walked in and saw that, I was blown away because the foods I saw in the grocery store were not these foods,” Inge said.
That event coincided with the rise of the internet and the infancy of e-commerce. Inge felt there was potential to sell food online. He quit his job at PaineWebber and started a website development company.
But his first foray into the digital side of the grocery business was short-lived. His first child had just been born and Inge said his stepfather motivated him to set the dream aside for a time and support his family by selling medical devices. Inge also noticed in the early 2000s that while products such as books and cosmetics were proving popular as online purchases, food wasn’t quite there.
Taste Supply’s website gives vendors a page to post company histories and images as a marketing tool, in addition to an avenue to sell products online. (Screenshot)
Twenty years later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and people became more comfortable with the idea of shopping for groceries online as they sought to avoid crowds. Similarly, food makers gained more familiarity with online sales after they turned to digital operations to keep their businesses going.
In 2022, he made his leap and founded Taste Supply. The company’s online marketplace launched in March of this year after two years of development.
“I kept watching and monitoring. To get back in one day was my dream,” Inge said.
Inge said Taste Supply had about 25 businesses selling products on the site as of early July, among them Richmond-based Zaatars Pita Chips, Hubbard Peanut Co. of Sedley, Virginia, and tomato sauce maker Nona’s Italian Cucina in Charlottesville, among others. Most of the vendors are based in Virginia, though Taste Supply also has vendors headquartered in other states.
Taste Supply pitches itself to vendors as an easy way to offer online sales and get the visibility they might not get in brick-and-mortar stores or on websites like Amazon. It encourages vendors to post videos, written narratives and photos on the website to introduce themselves and build relationships with customers. Vendors pay a commission to Taste Supply per item sold on the site.
“Instead of being a cold and boring marketplace, the (vendors) actually interact with customers and customers get to learn more about the (vendors),” Inge said. “A lot of people these days want to know who is making their food and how they are making the food and they want to support small- and medium-sized businesses that align with values and beliefs.”
As for customers, Taste Supply is trying to capture their attention by carving out a niche as a destination for people interested in food products made by small businesses.
“We feel people will want to go to one location on the internet to look for and find specialty foods,” Inge said.
Taste Supply started in Charlottesville, but Inge has relocated to the Richmond area and operates out of Startup Virginia, a business incubator in Capital One’s Michael Wassmer Innovation Center in Shockoe Bottom. Taste Supply currently has a five-person team, and in June announced it hired Guy Conte to serve as COO. Previously, Conte was a vice president at Tate’s Bake Shop and also had roles at Frito-Lay, The Coca-Cola Company and Procter & Gamble.
Inge said that in addition to growing the vendor roster, Taste Supply plans to further beef up its website with more social media-like features like customer profiles, reviews and a crowdfunding service for food manufacturers.
Inge said Taste Supply is intended for small, independent food makers, though there aren’t currently hard-and-fast rules about what companies can operate on the platform or what food products they can sell.
“We’re open to anybody that is small, medium and independent,” Inge said. “Food is like fashion. There are trends that come and go and it’s always evolving.”
Taste Supply founder and CEO George Inge. Inge’s online marketplace caters to small- and medium-sized food manufacturing businesses. (Jack Jacobs photo)
George Inge has been thinking about launching an online specialty grocery store for three decades.
Now, bolstered by pandemic-inspired retail trends, he has made his longtime dream a reality.
His Richmond-based company, Taste Supply Specialty Foods, recently unveiled its online marketplace where small food vendors can list and sell their products.
Inge said that while the pandemic made people more open to buying groceries online and helped set the stage for Taste Supply, the concept has long been on his mind.
In the late 1990s, while working as a financial advisor in New York City, Inge attended a Specialty Food Association trade show and was impressed by the variety he saw.
“When I walked in and saw that, I was blown away because the foods I saw in the grocery store were not these foods,” Inge said.
That event coincided with the rise of the internet and the infancy of e-commerce. Inge felt there was potential to sell food online. He quit his job at PaineWebber and started a website development company.
But his first foray into the digital side of the grocery business was short-lived. His first child had just been born and Inge said his stepfather motivated him to set the dream aside for a time and support his family by selling medical devices. Inge also noticed in the early 2000s that while products such as books and cosmetics were proving popular as online purchases, food wasn’t quite there.
Taste Supply’s website gives vendors a page to post company histories and images as a marketing tool, in addition to an avenue to sell products online. (Screenshot)
Twenty years later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and people became more comfortable with the idea of shopping for groceries online as they sought to avoid crowds. Similarly, food makers gained more familiarity with online sales after they turned to digital operations to keep their businesses going.
In 2022, he made his leap and founded Taste Supply. The company’s online marketplace launched in March of this year after two years of development.
“I kept watching and monitoring. To get back in one day was my dream,” Inge said.
Inge said Taste Supply had about 25 businesses selling products on the site as of early July, among them Richmond-based Zaatars Pita Chips, Hubbard Peanut Co. of Sedley, Virginia, and tomato sauce maker Nona’s Italian Cucina in Charlottesville, among others. Most of the vendors are based in Virginia, though Taste Supply also has vendors headquartered in other states.
Taste Supply pitches itself to vendors as an easy way to offer online sales and get the visibility they might not get in brick-and-mortar stores or on websites like Amazon. It encourages vendors to post videos, written narratives and photos on the website to introduce themselves and build relationships with customers. Vendors pay a commission to Taste Supply per item sold on the site.
“Instead of being a cold and boring marketplace, the (vendors) actually interact with customers and customers get to learn more about the (vendors),” Inge said. “A lot of people these days want to know who is making their food and how they are making the food and they want to support small- and medium-sized businesses that align with values and beliefs.”
As for customers, Taste Supply is trying to capture their attention by carving out a niche as a destination for people interested in food products made by small businesses.
“We feel people will want to go to one location on the internet to look for and find specialty foods,” Inge said.
Taste Supply started in Charlottesville, but Inge has relocated to the Richmond area and operates out of Startup Virginia, a business incubator in Capital One’s Michael Wassmer Innovation Center in Shockoe Bottom. Taste Supply currently has a five-person team, and in June announced it hired Guy Conte to serve as COO. Previously, Conte was a vice president at Tate’s Bake Shop and also had roles at Frito-Lay, The Coca-Cola Company and Procter & Gamble.
Inge said that in addition to growing the vendor roster, Taste Supply plans to further beef up its website with more social media-like features like customer profiles, reviews and a crowdfunding service for food manufacturers.
Inge said Taste Supply is intended for small, independent food makers, though there aren’t currently hard-and-fast rules about what companies can operate on the platform or what food products they can sell.
“We’re open to anybody that is small, medium and independent,” Inge said. “Food is like fashion. There are trends that come and go and it’s always evolving.”
George Inge! Looking good, Sir! Best of luck with this venture.
Cool concept and I always love the idea of supporting small businesses. I hope this business endeavor succeeds.