Apolonia Natural Dressing, the Michigan-made entrepreneurial endeavor of Etienne Farah, has made the leap from catering kitchen to store shelves.
Farah, the 31-year-old caterer and creator of Apolonia's four varieties of dressings (plus one reserve exclusively for restaurants and bars), officially launched in January 2011 after serving his homemade dressings for years through his Alia's Catering in Southfield.
Last month, just barely a year after the launch, the refrigerated, gluten-free, all-natural dressings hit the shelves of six Hillers' Markets, opening up the possibility of a widespread distribution of a product that's been on the back burner for years.
Farah had more reason to celebrate when the bottles' packaging, designed by Hadrout Advertising + Technologies, won a 2012 ADDY award for its designs. ADDYs recognize outstanding work in advertising and marketing.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity Hillers has given me. That they took us on, this could change everything," says Farah, who left law school to focus on food.
Apolonia Dressings- Pink, Oily, Buttermilk Ranch, Honey and the blue cheese port beer reserve - is also served at the newly opened John D Bistro in Ferndale, owned by Farah's brother, Eddie. Food is in the Farah family with the Farahs' father running Alia's restaurant in Southfield for more than 30 years.
Etienne Farah was in his early 20s when he took his father's restaurant into catering customized for the pharmaceutical industry. "We were grossing about $2 million a year," he recalls.
But when government regulations were placed on pharmaceutical companies expenditures, business trailed off. After a soul-searching trip to Australia Farah says he decided to change course. He knew the dressings were a hit through the catering business and "the idea of bottling had been in my pocket for quite sometime," he says. "After Australia, I decided to get serious, to focus, to stop going out so much, to accomplish this."
He decided to set his product apart by making them natural and with Michigan grown and made ingredients - such as the honey. He got his education in how to make the dressings healthier (through Whole Foods unacceptable ingredients list) and use "only the good stuff, "sea salt instead of table salt, nothing powered, artificial…" He worked with a local food lab on the recipes as well.
Farah still runs the Southfield catering business and the staff there helps make and distribute the dressings from a renovated kitchen. He has hired at least two full-time employees to research and market for Apolonia, he says.
The Farah brothers story will be part of a Young Entrepreneurs feature on the
Craig Fahle show on Monday, March 19th.
"This is a very exciting time in our lives," he says. "To have these good things happening to us at the same time, makes it even better."
Source: Etienne Farah, owner, Apolonia Natural Dressing
Writer: Kim North Shine
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