business

FEAST Detroit
helps local food
entrepreneurs grow.

Closing A Gap

CHERYL WEISS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

F

TOP: Jordan and Michal Nodel
and Marcia Nodel.

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December 28 • 2017

jn

EAST Detroit, a new co-packing produc-
tion company in Inkster designed to help
local food entrepreneurs grow their busi-
nesses and boost production, opened in October.
FEAST (Food Entrepreneur Accelerator And
Start Up Terminal) was developed by Eastern
Market, the 14,500-square-foot facility was
donated by Garden Fresh Gourmet Founder Jack
Aronson, and it is co-owned by three local busi-
nesses, including Marcia Nodel and Michal Nodel
of Marcia’s Munchies.
Marcia and Michal, both of Birmingham, did
not originally intend to become business co-
owners. Michal, 35, is Marcia’s daughter-in-law
(married to Jordan Nodel) and moved here five
years ago. She was born in Israel, lived there
until she was 10, moved to Atlanta, Ga., and later
lived in New York. She worked in technology and
startups most of her career, and spent some time
as a producer of video games.
In 2013, Marcia, then 63, was pondering what
to do now that her kids were grown, graduated,
married and having children of their own. She
knew she would never be the type to just sit
around and play cards all day. She was involved
with the ADL. However, her favorite hobby
was cooking; her family and friends loved her
gourmet treats, especially her Sweet and Sassy

Pickles, and Marcia loved to make them. “I had
no plan to go into this; it was just a hobby,” she
said. “It grew into a business.”
Marcia’s Munchies quickly grew into a success-
ful award-winning business with five products.
Less than a year after starting the business,
Marcia’s Munchies won the prestigious Good
Food Award in 2014. She won the Good Food
Award again in 2016, and demand for her prod-
ucts increased.
As Marcia’s Munchies grew, Marcia and Michal
realized they were outgrowing the facility where
they were making their pickles. “We had called
pretty much every production facility we could
find, locally and around the country, and it was
very difficult to find a co-packer,” Michal said.
“Many co-packers have minimums that were out
of reach for a company like ours. Co-packing is
primarily set up for larger producers.”
Co-packing is commonly used in the food
industry; a facility will make the product from
the business owner’s recipe and package it for
them. That gives the business owner time to
focus on other elements of the business.
Around the end of 2015, Marcia and Michal
started having conversations about co-packing
with Eastern Market, an excellent resource for
food entrepreneurs. “They brought us together