Los Angeles, like many huge cities, has its share of issues. Considered one of them is entry to wholesome meals. This can be a critical socio-economic subject and, sadly, lower-income neighborhoods are particularly weak to it.
When former baristas Michelle Johnson and Ezra Baker, and their third co-founder, Eric J. Grimm, launched Ghost Town Oats in Los Angeles in June 2022, they weren’t solely introducing one other oat milk model—they had been addressing a vital hole within the plant-based beverage market. Oat milk is usually served in wealthier elements of city, and accessible within the communities that need it, not essentially within the communities that may have an unknown want for it. In response to Harvard Medical Faculty, 65% of Black folks have a point of lactose intolerance, whereas most Caucasians (80%) have a gene that preserves the power to provide lactase into maturity.
Beginning with simply two distributors in Los Angeles and one in Chicago, Ghost City Oats proved there was pent-up demand for his or her product. What was meant to be six months of stock bought out in simply eight weeks. Throughout the first 10 months of enterprise, the workforce reached $1 million in income, and at this time may be discovered in additional than 500 espresso outlets throughout the US and in Toronto, Canada.



Michelle and her cofounders knew they wished Ghost City Oats to point out up in espresso outlets first, so the neighborhood may check out their product in a setting the place it may shine. From their years within the trade, the Ghost City Oats workforce knew they might leverage their trade connections and experience to construct their model forward of selling to broader retail channels.
Now, Ghost City Oats is revolutionizing the plant-based milk trade with a community-first strategy. Uncover the system for launching a mission-driven model that’s fueled by neighborhood help.

Beginning with an underserved market want
The thought for Ghost City Oats emerged throughout a consulting venture in 2020, when Michelle seen a vital oversight within the plant-based milk trade. “I don’t see anybody speaking about how Black folks and other people of shade are extra lactose illiberal than anyone else. That’s like, to me, such low hanging fruit for a demographic you can promote to,” Michelle explains. This perception, mixed with Michelle’s childhood experiences of meals insecurity in Washington DC, formed the workforce’s mission to create an accessible, premium product. Ezra tapped into his years of expertise as a barista and his trade information as a licensed Q Grader—a skilled and licensed skilled who can consider espresso on all sensory ranges, to curate the best-tasting oat milk mix. The workforce ran style checks by transport the samples forwards and backwards till touchdown on the right system.
Recalling lengthy walks to grocery shops from her childhood, Michelle makes certain Ghost City Oats’ advertising technique targets espresso outlets close to public transportation routes, making the product extra accessible to these with out private autos. She suggests entrepreneurs take note of the wants of their neighborhood. Search for underserved markets, and discover a area of interest the place the issue isn’t shopper willingness to spend, however an absence of entry to merchandise.
Constructing authenticity by means of private expertise
Integrating private experiences into your model story may also help you create a deeper connection along with your neighborhood. Michelle’s background deeply influenced Ghost City Oats’ mission. Rising up beneath the poverty line in DC, she skilled firsthand the challenges of meals accessibility—strolling lengthy distances to grocery shops, together with counting on meals containers from church donations, and sometimes having to buy at comfort shops with restricted contemporary choices.
Due to these monetary constraints, Michelle applied a coverage permitting smaller retailers to position decrease amount orders initially and provide versatile fee phrases. This helps native shops inventory Ghost City Oats with out dealing with upfront prices they’ll’t afford. She additionally personally scouts places that remind her of the comfort shops she relied on as a toddler, making certain their product reaches communities that want it most.
Since Michelle was unaware of the more healthy options as a toddler, she now spearheads neighborhood workshops and in-store demos. These alternatives educate shoppers in regards to the well being advantages of plant-based milk and how one can incorporate it into their diets, addressing the hole of data she skilled rising up.
Tapping into fairness crowdfunding OR Creating community-centered financing
In late 2021, slightly than pursuing conventional enterprise capital, Ghost City Oats partnered with WeFunder to permit investments as little as $100. Their equity crowdfunding marketing campaign democratized entry to possession of their firm. It allowed different baristas or neighborhood members, who wouldn’t qualify as accredited buyers, to spend money on their firm.
This technique:
- Raised $250,000 in simply 4 days
- Attracted high-profile buyers, like NBA star Jimmy Butler
- Created a neighborhood of invested supporters, together with baristas and occasional store homeowners
“We wished to construct that neighborhood first as a result of that neighborhood, particularly early on pre-product, was the traction,” Michelle explains.
Leveraging trade experience
The founders’ intensive expertise as baristas in specialty espresso outlets formed their product improvement course of. As a licensed Q Grader, Ezra performed exhaustive style checks of each oat milk accessible. He notes, “It means extra to our friends within the espresso trade that we made the milk versus like anybody else.”

These shut knit relationships opened the door to conversations and so they started stocking fashionable cafés like Sip and Sonder in Inglewood and Downtown LA. They weren’t afraid to lean on their connections and depend on their expertise to construct credibility.
Ghost City Oats demonstrates that lifting up your neighborhood and constructing a profitable enterprise aren’t mutually unique. The workforce created a mannequin different mission-driven entrepreneurs can comply with that features encouraging monetary funding, genuine storytelling, and strategic progress.
When combining social affect with high quality merchandise and community-centered methods, manufacturers can join deeply with their prospects. Tune in to the total Shopify Masters episode on YouTube and listen to how Michelle and Ezra are getting ready for his or her subsequent part of progress—together with plans for nationwide distribution and retail growth.