New York Post, December 10, 2001
Food For Thought
By Erika Welz Prafder

Still haven't done your holiday shopping? How about giving your loved ones a taste of knowledge creativity and culture? Precious gifts, yes - but affordable and digestible too, according to Heather McCartney, president of Ethnic Edibles, a company that produces multi-cultural cookies and cookie cutters.

Inspiration for her company came after a memorable trip to South Africa, during which McCartney picked up dozens of souvenirs, including tribal masks, "I intended to give them to my friends but kept them instead," she said.

To rid herself of selfish guilt, she experimented with cookie cutters and icing and replicated her cherished masks - as cookies. "I gave them out for Christmas and Kwanza. People didn't want to eat them, they looked so good, she said.

The compliments encouraged McCartney to think big, but without prior business experience, she had much groundwork to do.

To learn the ABCs of starting a business, she attended training programs and workshops offered, through the Service Corps of Retired Executives (www.score.org) and The Workshop in Business Opportunities, a Manhattan-based, non-profit group (Tel: 212-694-0854).

"I knew I couldn't get a traditional bank loan. This had to be a personally financed endeavor" said McCartney.

To afford the four-color printing she wanted for her kits' package designs, she secured a micro loan through Count-Me-In (www.count-me-in.org) The non-profit group matches women entrepreneurs with funding.

To gauge the demand for her product, McCartney distributed surveys among her friends, family and co-workers and talked to Manhattan subway ride.

While most of the feedback was positive, "I also learned from those who weren't in favor of it. The constructive criticism enabled me to figure out my target market."

"My typical customers are women aged 32-50, with children, who enjoy baking, but the kits are also popular with educators, travelers and African American women," she said.

During Black History month in 1999, McCartney sent press releases to newspapers and to B. Smith, the acclaimed restaurateur and media figure, to generate a buzz. "She featured me on her TV show and in the premiere issue of her magazine. Things snowballed after that exposure."

By far, McCartney's roughest challenge was, "Finding manufacturers and suppliers to work with me. Many require a minimum order of 1,200 pieces, but I needed more like 500," she said. Today, Ethnic Edibles has a flourishing client list of stores, catalogs and museum shops including the Smithsonian Institute.

All kits include four tin-plated cutters, instant chocolate cookie mix, an icing bag, recipes for sugar, chocolate and ginger cookies, decorating illustrations and labels explaining the history of each cutter's shape.

For example, the "Africa" kit includes the Ndebele doll and Djembe drum-shaped cutters, while the Puerto Rico-inspired line includes La Bandera (flag) and El Cuatro (guitar) cutter shapes.

This past September, McCartney quit her day job as a dance educator at an East Harlem public school.

"I'm a born educator. Now I've developed a way to teach about cultural heritages and traditions. People are hungry for a product like this- It's a natural," she said.

Inspiration for her company came after a memorable trip to South Africa, during which McCartney picked up dozens of souvenirs, including tribal masks, "I intended to give them to my friends but kept them instead," she said.

To rid herself of selfish guilt, she experimented with cookie cutters and icing and replicated her cherished masks - as cookies. "I gave them out for Christmas and Kwanza. People didn't want to eat them, they looked so good, she said.

The compliments encouraged McCartney to think big, but without prior business experience, she had much groundwork to do.

To learn the ABCs of starting a business, she attended training programs and workshops offered, through the Service Corps of Retired Executives (www.score.org) and The Workshop in Business Opportunities, a Manhattan-based, non-profit group (Tel: 212-694-0854).

"I knew I couldn't get a traditional bank loan. This had to be a personally financed endeavor" said McCartney.

To afford the four-color printing she wanted for her kits' package designs, she secured a micro loan through Count-Me-In (www.count-me-in.org) The non-profit group matches women entrepreneurs with funding.

To gauge the demand for her product, McCartney distributed surveys among her friends, family and co-workers and talked to Manhattan subway ride.

While most of the feedback was positive, "I also learned from those who weren't in favor of it. The constructive criticism enabled me to figure out my target market."

"My typical customers are women aged 32-50, with children, who enjoy baking, but the kits are also popular with educators, travelers and African American women," she said.

During Black History month in 1999, McCartney sent press releases to newspapers and to B. Smith, the acclaimed restaurateur and media figure, to generate a buzz. "She featured me on her TV show and in the premiere issue of her magazine. Things snowballed after that exposure."

By far, McCartney's roughest challenge was, "Finding manufacturers and suppliers to work with me. Many require a minimum order of 1,200 pieces, but I needed more like 500," she said. Today, Ethnic Edibles has a flourishing client list of stores, catalogs and museum shops including the Smithsonian Institute.

All kits include four tin-plated cutters, instant chocolate cookie mix, an icing bag, recipes for sugar, chocolate and ginger cookies, decorating illustrations and labels explaining the history of each cutter's shape.

For example, the "Africa" kit includes the Ndebele doll and Djembe drum-shaped cutters, while the Puerto Rico-inspired line includes La Bandera (flag) and El Cuatro (guitar) cutter shapes.

This past September, McCartney quit her day job as a dance educator at an East Harlem public school.

"I'm a born educator. Now I've developed a way to teach about cultural heritages and traditions. People are hungry for a product like this- It's a natural," she said.

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