Wild Indigo Catering plans to open Brevard’s first food truck

PRESS RELEASE from Wild Indigo Catering

BREVARD, NC (June 9, 2014) – Chef Anne Somich, owner of Wild Indigo Catering, has a plan to bring Brevard its first food truck and she is using the popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter to turn that plan into a reality.

Crowdfunding is the collection of finance from backers — the “crowd” — to fund an initiative and usually occurs on Internet platforms. It has become a popular way to raise money for large projects. Kickstarter’s mission is to help bring creative projects to life and through their program, films, music, food-related projects and more are funded. People from near and far can financially back a project and are offered tangible rewards and special experiences in exchange for their pledges. This model traces its roots to subscription model of arts patronage, where artists would go directly to their audiences to fund their work.

In Somich’s case, Wild Indigo Catering has set up a campaign to raise the $50,000 they will need to purchase and outfit a food truck. Funds received will also pay for permitting, licensing, insurance, and to hire a local artist to paint the truck with Wild Indigo’s logo and design. To thank their contributors, who can pledge from $10 to $5,000, Wild Indigo is offering a wide variety of rewards. Food vouchers, t-shirts, boxes of baked goods, baskets of locally-produced delights, a customized picnic for two, cooking classes, private nutrition sessions, custom square foot garden boxes, and private catered dinner parties are just some of the delicious treats available to those who back the project.

Somich, who started Wild Indigo Catering seven years ago and whose mission has always been to serve local, seasonal, organic foods in Transylvania County, plans to continue that model once she goes mobile. “This food truck is going to allow us to really expand our offerings,” Somich says. “We can add new tasty breakfast items at the Transylvania Farmers Market, we will be able to be more creative and efficient at festivals like Mountain Song, we can set up faster and serve larger crowds at events like the many bike races we cater, and the truck will allow us to bring our food to more remote venues outside the city. We have so many outdoor events in our county and this truck would allow us to showcase all the amazing food that western North Carolina has to offer—trout, grass-fed beef, goat cheese, organic fruits and veggies. I really do believe that if someone is visiting our area for its beauty, they should experience the area’s beautiful food as well.”

Another goal that Somich, along with staff member and Registered Dietitian Kate Renner have is to make their truck accessible to food deserts—areas that lack quality food options. “Living in a county where a third of its residents are food insecure, this food truck would have the potential to aid in the ongoing effort to address hunger and poor nutrition in rural mountain communities here in Transylvania County,” says Renner. “We could offer healthy cooking demonstrations and partner with local organizations that promote wellness and/or food security initiatives through the open doors of our mobile kitchen.”

It would appear that many share these goals as Wild Indigo Catering has already received a lot of love in the form of pledges, from local fans, friends and family, and complete strangers. Just a few days into the project, they have raised nearly $6,000, been a “staff pick” on Kickstarter, and they still have until noon on July 10th to fund the project.

But with Kickstarter, there is a catch. “It’s all or nothing,” says Somich. “If we don’t raise the $50,000, we don’t get a penny.” So she and her staff plan to spend the next month campaigning for their cause— connecting local farmers with the local community by means of fresh food options, prepared to order, and, as Somich says, “promised to make your belly and soul full of happiness.”

To learn more about or participate in the Wild Indigo Catering Kickstarter Campaign, visit http://

kck.st/ScPYeL or search “Wild Indigo” at kickstarter.com.

About Wild Indigo Catering – Based in Brevard and owned by Chef Anne Somich, Wild Indigo Catering offers local, organic and seasonal catering in the most sustainable way possible. Learn more at wildindigocatering.com.

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