EGBF Newsletter - March 2015

The Month of March has sped right by us at Eleanor’s Garden Baby Food, with the coming of spring and the nice weather work crews were able to get back to the factory site and continue their work.  It has been exciting to see the progress of the water, electricity and fire departments all hooking up their needed pipes and equipment.  Sadly that progress has not carried over to our main contractor.  He continues to struggle with a cash flow issue, which is becoming critical as some of the unfinished tasks are threatening to hold up our progress. We feel like we have a good relationship with him, and do feel for him in his financial troubles, which are not all his doing. Please pray with us that he would feel an urge to finish the project soon and well, and that we would continue having opportunities to speak to him about Kingdom principles.

 

 

Even Eleanor herself stopped by the factory this month to see how the progress was coming along.  She tested out the pouch filling machine and jumped in to help with some of the cleanup. 

All food products in this country must first get QS (Quality Standard) certification from the government.  We have spent time researching the application process, and have even met neighbours who are employed at the relevant bureaus.  This month we have spent hours and hours writing and designing systems for our factory as a part of the application process: systems for purchasing, deliveries, equipment maintenance, lab testing, customer complaints, major food recalls and so much more. Our factory’s interior contractor is trying to push us to get our QS application in by the end of the month, and for good reason.  Come April 1st the government bureau responsible for issuing QS statutes will switch from the Quality inspection bureau to the Food and Drug Administration.  We are unsure of what this change will mean, how long the handover will take, or how different the requirements will be.  Please join us in asking Father for wisdom on how we should proceed in this.

We are continuing to pursue leads with investors and potential strategic partners.  In the next few weeks an associate of ours will be sharing both our business plan, and our heart’s for this place with several influential businessmen. We are not only looking for financial commitments, but colleagues with skills in Marketing and franchising knowledge.  Please be praying for these meetings that God would provide us with some valuable contacts.