April 18, 2023 – Charlotte Douglas International Airport is giving some Carolinas entrepreneurs the chance to showcase their goodies in one of the busiest airports in the world.
Last fall, the Airport’s Aviation Department and food and beverage partner, HMSHost, held a Shark Tank-style contest called the Snack Food Showdown. The winner would get temporary product placement in the terminal.
The judges were wowed by the contestants, and decided they were all winners. Passengers can now find Gullah Pop, Eli’s Lemonade and Sips & Sweets in CLT’s concessions. Tastebuds Popcorn is coming soon to the terminal.
The contest is a part of CLT’s commitment to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program. It is designed to give small businesses owned and operated by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a fair opportunity to participate in airport concessions.
The ACDBE program is a federal requirement for all commercial airports. But for CLT Office of Civil Rights Manager Jasmyne Turman, it’s much more than that.
“It’s important to the Airport,” Turman said. “We want the residents of Charlotte to know that we value doing business with minority and women business owners. That they can have their products in this large hub airport.”
Standing beside Eli’s Lemonade, Gullah Pop and Sips & Sweets during every step on this journey at CLT is Jonathan Coleman. He is the ACDBE liaison and director of partner relations at HMSHost.
Coleman helped these small businesses get their products into the Airport after the Snack Food Showdown. He’s also helping them get the certifications they need to gain permanent placement at places like CLT.
Let’s meet the winners.
Eli’s Lemonade
The co-owner of Eli’s Lemonade wants to scale his business to go international. He studies marketing, showcases his product at trade shows and still gets his homework done.
Eli Leach is 13 years old and in the eighth grade.
“My friends think it’s cool that I have my own lemonade company,” Eli said.
He and his dad LaMor started Eli’s Lemonade when Eli was just 7. It began with a stand at the NoDa Farmer’s Market in east Charlotte to keep busy and learn some valuable life skills.
Customers loved the not-too-sweet, not-too-sour concoction that Eli and LaMor created. Their little weekend project soon progressed into booths at festivals, local events and eventually big-time concerts like Jimmy Buffett, Post Malone and Kenny Chesney.
“At events, I step back and let him express himself, be the superstar,” said LaMar. “I let him shine, and I work on the back end.”
But Eli’s Lemonade fans demanded more. They wanted to buy the drink in stores.
LaMor, drawing on his background in marketing and brand management, put together a team to make and package Eli’s Lemonade for distribution without compromising quality. They source high-quality lemon juice concentrate from Florida and combine it with real cane sugar and natural flavors, nothing artificial.
Eli’s Lemonade is on the shelves in at least 15 mom-and-pop stores in the Carolinas. Now, they can add Charlotte Douglas International Airport and its 53.4 million annual passengers to the list.
CLT’s first order sold out in about two weeks.
So, what’s next for Eli’s Lemonade? HMSHost has placed more orders. Eli and LaMor are working on new flavors and have their eyes set on food and beverage trade shows in Miami and Chicago next year.
“I keep Eli involved in the process and teach him along the way, but I’m not overwhelming him with the business side of it,” LaMor said.
“It’s really cool working with my dad,” Eli said. “I can talk to him about my business without being shy. He’s my biggest fan.”
Someday, Eli hopes to have a family of his own and pass down his business to the next generation.
For now, he’s looking forward to starting high school next year.
Gullah Pop
With names like Ho-Lotta Hissy Fit, Haut Pimento Cheese and Lemon Peppa, Gullah Pop popcorn stands out on a shelf full of snacks.
Gullah Pop is made by Lillie’s of Charleston, a condiment company founded by two sisters who wanted to honor their father, Hank Tisdale. He owned a popular restaurant in the 1980s and his recipes were legendary.
“People always wanted extra sauce,” said Lillie’s of Charleston Co-founder and CEO Tracey Richardson. “They wanted to buy more to take home.”
Years after the restaurant closed, people were still asking for sauce. That’s when Richardson and her sister Kellye Wicker took their dad’s condiment recipes and founded Lillie’s of Charleston.
Gullah Pop was born when the sisters were looking for an alternative way to let people taste the company’s spices. The spices are commonly used on chicken and seafood, but grilling meat wasn’t ideal for their indoor space at a big festival.
“My husband, Jamel is always putting spices on popcorn,” said Richardson. “We first tried it at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) and people loved it.”
People loved it so much, they not only wanted to buy the spices, but they also wanted to buy ready-made spiced popcorn.
Gullah Pop has been so popular, Richardson had to find a second manufacturer to keep up with demand.
CLT sells the spicy snack at Midwood Smokehouse To Go. When the Richardsons visited their product on site, restaurant employees were arguing about which Gullah Pop flavor is best, Lemon Peppa or Haut Pimento Cheese.
Either way, Richardson is proud of what she has created. The spices honor her father. The name honors their ancestors and the Gullah culture.
From the Carolinas’ coast down to Florida is the Gullah Geechee corridor. The area was populated people from west Africa who came over during slavery. They passed on their traditions and recipes.
Today, many of those dishes like She-crab soup and shrimp and grits are considered southern cuisine staples.
Gullah Pop was recently named a top-10 finalist in SNAC International’s emerging snack contest.
What’s next? A new spicy caramel flavored popcorn is in development and the Richardsons are looking at ways to introduce their products to the west coast.
Sips & Sweets
Crystal Rudisill wants to make the world a more cheerful place, one sweet slice of cake at a time.
“After COVID, I noticed that people were yearning to be happier,” she said. “Desserts in general go hand in hand with happiness. It brings back that childhood joy.”
That’s how the idea for Sips & Sweets came about.
Rudisill started the desserts-on-the-go company in the summer of 2022. She takes her sweets out into the community, selling them at various events, festivals and parades.
Sips & Sweets also visits veteran’s clinics in Columbia and Greenville, S.C., once a week, offering a variety of baked goods in the cafeteria. Rudisill sells out every single time.
She brought brownies to the Snack Food Showdown at CLT last fall.
“It was exciting to introduce my baby to everyone,” Rudisill said. “The best part was seeing the judges’ faces when they took their first bite.”
Now, several Sips & Sweets desserts are sold at Brookwood Farms Carolina Pit BBQ in the Atrium, including lemon cake, strawberry cake, caramel cake and those decadent brownies.
When Rudisill delivers the goodies to the Airport, she says she feels like she’s dropping off her child on the first day of kindergarten; she’s excited and proud. And her “baby” is proving to be pretty popular.
“The employees overwhelm me on delivery day. ‘You’re the cake lady!’ They tell me how much they love the lemon cake or that the caramel cake reminds them of their grandmother’s desserts. It is so heartwarming to hear,” Rudisill said.
Her baby is growing up fast. Rudisill just signed a lease for a space in downtown Gastonia. She’s working on fixing it up and hopes to be open this summer.
Smashing Success
Since the first Snack Food Showdown was such a success, CLT and HMSHost are working on similar future events to give more small businesses a chance to get their feet in the door.
To learn more about CLT’s business diversity programs, visit the airport website.
