ABOUT US
It all started when I encountered spiced dishes while traveling abroad.
We share a common hobby of traveling abroad, and were impressed by the cuisine that uses various spices in the countries we visited, such as the United States, Mexico, Morocco, and Taiwan.After returning to Japan, we ordered various spices and taught ourselves how to make them at home. I was there.
I have always loved cooking and used to serve these dishes to friends and acquaintances at home parties where they were invited, but I wanted to acquire further skills and went to a spice cooking school to specialize in Indian cuisine. I learned cooking techniques and knowledge about spices.
Holding a pop-up event
After that, I wanted people to enjoy the spice cooking I had learned more widely, so in October 2019, I rented a rental kitchen in Shimokitazawa Railway Town and held a pop-up restaurant for three days serving spiced curry and homemade lemon sour. During the event period, information was spread through SNS mainly by acquaintances and friends, and the event was crowded with many customers every day.
Pop-up restaurants will also be held in places other than Shimokitazawa, such as Nakameguro and Fukuoka Hakata. In particular, Fukuoka was the first time the event was held outside of Tokyo, but everyone was able to freely interact with the locals and receive food from local farmers to cook during the event. The experience of being able to create a place for people to gather led me to realize the theme of "connecting with local communities."
“CARMA at home” started during the coronavirus pandemic
Through these pop-ups, I felt great joy and satisfaction in having people say my food was delicious, creating a place where people could gather, and introducing delicious local ingredients, and I was aiming to open a store. , was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that started in 2020.
However, as the demand for home cooking increases due to the coronavirus pandemic, we started selling online kits in April 2020 that allow anyone to easily make spice curry at home using existing cooking techniques. At the same time, we held a project called ``CARMA at Home'' on Instagram Live where everyone could make curry together, and I think we were able to create a place online where everyone could gather.
Start of sales at retail stores
After that, we started selling the spice kits not only online but also at retail stores. Sales will begin in July 2021 at "Today's Special," which is operated by Welcome Co., Ltd. and has six stores nationwide. On sale at several other retailers. I was also in charge of developing recipes using spices for special features linked to stores and online at Welcome Inc.
Initiatives with Setagaya Welfare Workshop
In addition, due to the influence of his parents who worked in the welfare field, Takuma's volunteer work at a facility for children with disabilities and his experience as a member of the executive committee of the Inclusion Festival held in September 2019 have shown that it is difficult for people with disabilities to After learning about the current situation where people are not able to get the jobs they want, they decided to start a business that would support employment for people with disabilities.
Ordered the packaging of spice kits for online and retail stores. In 2022, we are planning to OEM sweets using chai spices in collaboration with Setagaya Works, a facility for people with disabilities, and to sell them at cafes run by the same work place.
We are currently preparing to open a brick-and-mortar store with the aim of further business expansion, in order to create a place that connects people and the region and Tokyo, and to provide employment support for people with disabilities. We want our physical store to be a space where everyone can come together and have fun.