About Abundance Cafe
Namaste.
I am Erin Meadows, the founder, and owner of Abundance Cafe. My dream to open a healthy cafe was conceived when I was a stay-at-home mom to my three young children.
I aspired to own my own business and a health-focused cafe was a natural fit given my growing passion for creating nutritious meals and a need for healthier options in the area. Fast forward to May 2016 – I established Abundance Cafe LLC and became licensed and insured.
I rented the incubator kitchen at the Allen Neighborhood Center and started making granola and soup to sell at local farmers’ markets. I started making salads the following year for the warmer months, (although I eventually discontinued due to a decrease in profit).
Knowing that local farmers have the freshest, healthiest produce available, I was inspired to become a farm-to-table venue and I started buying some of my ingredients at the markets.
I learned a lot and gained many valuable customers throughout the years at the markets. In October 2019 I held my first pop-up cafe at the Old Town Marquee where I prepared the food in a commercial kitchen and set up and ran a lunch cafe on two days. In January 2020 I had two more pop-up cafes. They were fun and successful, establishing more regular customers seeking delicious and nutritious food. The Old Town Marquee was an event venue that my bosses, mentors, and friends Beth and John Morton owned and operated. I was also preparing Abundance Café food at their catering kitchen, on my off hours. I am eternally grateful for their help and advice on my journey!
In late 2020, during the Covid pandemic, I started holding 4 popups a week at the same location. This went well for 2 weeks and then dining areas were shut down by the government for the 2nd time. I was determined to get healthy food to customers when they needed it most and so started offering weekly food orders with delivery and pickup options. This system has been the most successful part of my business and continues to this day.
In 2023 I had some health concerns that had my body and doctor urging me to drastically reduce stress in my life. At that time I released and grieved my previous goal of owning a brick and mortar café. I realize now what a blessing this was, as I long for freedom that owning a restaurant would not be conducive to.
I now regularly prepare my delicious food out of a commercial kitchen at All Saints Episcopal Church, in East Lansing. I have a team of wonderful volunteers who help me prep on Mondays in exchange for healthy food. On Tuesdays customers can pick up at the church or at Apple Blossom Kombucha. We also offer delivery right to your home or workplace. In addition to the weekly orders, I cater soup and salad for groups up to about 30 people and cold appetizer trays for up to 150 people.
Many of our dishes are vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free (could be trace amounts). All our items are free from preservatives, soy, refined sugar and salt. We have developed recipes that are delicious AND nutritious for our customers to feel satisfied, energized, and well-nourished.
Our meal prep service makes it easy to have ready to heat-and-eat meals throughout the week, giving hardworking customers a little more time to relax in their lives. I am grateful to be of service in this way!