Byrne Pelofsky is excited to spotlight Kanbe’s Markets, a local organization working to alleviate food insecurity in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. For the past twelve months, Byrne Pelofsky has been supporting Kanbe’s capacity building efforts through grant writing services and guidance around a strategic three-year growth campaign.
Kanbe’s Story
Long before he started Kanbe’s Markets in 2016, Founder & CEO Max Kaniger saw the striking disparity between his Brookside neighborhood and the food desert neighborhoods to the east. He was determined to create a sustainable, scalable model that’s more efficient and more equitable, providing healthy food access for all of Kansas City, particularly marginalized communities. Through innovative delivery systems that are more inclusive, enrich businesses and empower individuals to make healthy choices, the Kanbe’s Markets team is getting closer toward an equitable future for our KC communities.
How do they do it?
Kanbe’s Markets provides consistent access to fresh, healthy and affordable foods in the areas of Kansas City designated by the USDA as “food deserts.” Kanbe’s works to alleviate food insecurity by making deliveries (5x per week) of fresh produce to small business convenience stores in food deserts across Kansas City, Missouri and Jackson County through the Healthy Corner Stores (HCS) program. The HCS program supplements the existing staple food items sold at the corner stores by supplying fresh produce, which creates a more well-rounded grocery experience in a community that lacks reasonable access to conventional grocery stores. The goal is to eliminate food insecurity by providing an innovative food delivery system that is more inclusive, enhances small businesses, and improves communities one neighborhood at a time. Kanbe’s is currently partnering with 42 neighborhood stores – predominantly BIPOC-owned – located in or within ½ mile proximity to 38 USDA food desert census tracts in Jackson County, Missouri.
The Future
Kanbe’s Markets is at a pivotal moment in their growth and impact. Byrne Pelofsky is delighted to be assisting Kanbe’s with a strategic growth campaign that aims to expand the Healthy Corner Store impact and drastically reduce food insecurity levels in Kansas City.
Fore more information on Kanbe’s Markets, visit their website, and for more information on Byrne Pelofsky’s capacity building services, get in touch with us at 816.237.1999 or info@byrnepelofsky.com.