Mercado

Marketplace for local, artisanal food and drink

3 followers

Marketplace for local, artisanal food and drink

3 followers

Mercado is a marketplace for local, artisanal food and drink. We help customers purchase from and support locals near them - local shops, independent sellers, food hobbiests. Sellers can easily join our no fee platform and set up preorders and curbside pickup.

Launch tags:iOS•Marketing•Delivery

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Mercado

Maker

Hi everyone! I'm Rahul, co-founder of Mercado! Mercado is a marketplace for local food and drink. We realized that because of coronavirus, independent sellers and small businesses have been hit hard by the lack of farmers markets and foot traffic that drive their businesses. Mercado gives customers a one-stop-shop for all local food, and gives sellers an easy, reliable space to sell their food. We focus on preordering and curbside pickup to help restaurants keep contact and waste to a minimum. During coronavirus, we are completely free for all! We live by the Ratatouille mantra that anyone can cook, so selling on Mercado is fast and easy! Mercado is the place to go for food from chefs like you, near you! Who are we currently helping? Bellflower Chocolate in Seattle, The Hub in Memphis, and many home cooks! If you have any feedback on Mercado, know a local seller near you that could benefit from our free platform, or have any questions, feel free to drop a comment or contact us (info below)! Thanks! The Mercado Team - Rahul, Luis, Taabish hello@onemercado.com https://www.onemercado.com

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6yr ago

Spory

Hey @Rahul, nice idea. I wanted to ask what about the government rules, does it allow anyone to sell cooked food or you need to have some requirements to fill?

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6yr ago

@rahul @metinferatii Hi Metin, great question! Short answer - It depends on your state laws. Sellers will have to abide by their state's cottage food laws, and cook and sell what is allowed. Some counties in states like California allow all food to be sold from home, but there are restrictions on how much you can make, packaging, etc. Others are more restrictive and say you can only sell baked goods or dry foods. If you do have the proper permits and cooking space (like some small shops and cooks do), you're free to sell anything :). Mercado instructs all sellers to check and follow their cottage food laws before selling. Right now, we are notifying sellers if their food item violates their state's cottage food laws. Hopefully we can have a more scalable solution soon!

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6yr ago

Love the idea and use case! Since a community platform like this is faces a chicken/egg scenario, do you have any ideas on how to get it out there and get people using it? Here in the states (Portland, OR) I’ve seen vendors using Nextdoor app to get orders/sell because the community already exists there, but as a platform it’s not built for that so the experience as a buyer is always janky. I hope this takes off 🙌

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6yr ago

Mercado

Maker

@roowilliams Thanks Roo! That's definitely something that we're working to figure out. Right now we do manual outreach to different potential sellers in every area, as well as online advertising. We've been looking at Nextdoor as an option, but are blocked since you usually need to prove that you live there before posting. If you have any advice on how to get over this hurdle would love to hear it!

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6yr ago

Any plans for a website option? Would be nice to preview what's available before downloading an app and location isn't available.

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6yr ago

that was my dream app project for 2 years !!! I'm sorry to see someone made it while I'm still thinking about it, but also very happy to see it's fulfilled. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

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6yr ago

Nice idea and timing is spot on!

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6yr ago

Mercado

Maker

@jason_ford1

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6yr ago

Little Places

@rajmera this looks great!

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6yr ago

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