Ghetto Gastro Makes Breakfast Fun Again With Latest Target Collection
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Photo courtesy of Target/Ghetto Gastro
Over the past decade, Ghetto Gastro has challenged the culinary industry by infusing authentic Bronx-bred food culture and the art of cooking with culture as a platform to speak about food insecurity, inequity and other important topics. The collective (comprised of Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao and Lester Walker) continues to expand its reach by teaming up with Target to release a line of breakfast foods. The new line (which follows the CRUXGG line of kitchen essentials) hit Target shelves (a notable 1,900 Target stores as well as being available online) on July 30.
The new line is a mix of nostalgic favorites that are both health-conscious and delicious: Pancake & Waffle Mix (Original, Strawberry and Sweet Potato), Maple Syrup (Maple Cider and Spicy. It includes antioxidants and minerals like zinc and potassium) and Toaster Pastries filled with real fruit (Maple Apple Cinnamon, Strawberry, PB&J, and Chocolate Raspberry).
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"I like that we’re hitting Target nationwide. It's 1900 stores where people can come out and run it up with the gang. It's gonna be fun and we're just excited for this journey because we're focused on being Inclusive with a capital 'I' and not exclusive with a capital 'E'," Jon Gray tells EDITION. "I want to bring everybody along for the journey to hopefully change some outcomes in our communities and bring pleasure and joy to people and their families. So that's what it's all about."
Below, Jon Gray discusses the journey of making the new breakfast products, putting health forward and what's to come for Ghetto Gastro.
I’d love to know how the collaboration came about. Because I know you guys already worked with Target for the Black Power Kitchen book. So did this new collaboration stem from that first collab?
Our initial interaction with Target snowballed off at appliances that we did for the CruXGG collection about two years ago. So that was our first foray into Target. And then we got connected to the food and beverage team to the divisor after crying out loud time. We met the SVP of the food and beverage unit early last year. We just got into the lab and imagined what it could be like to do things together. They also supported the Black Power Kitchen book, so it has been a great partnership and I'm excited for this next chapter.
READ MORE: Ghetto Gastro’s Debut Book ‘Black Power Kitchen’ Serves Up Culinary Empowerment
Where did the inspiration behind this new line come from? Did it stem from childhood favorites?
Yeah, definitely. So we were [selling] the pancakes, waffles and syrup online, like direct to consumer before we took it to Target. We have new formulations for Target. But the Ghetto Gastro story is deeply rooted in waffles, syrup, and toaster pastries. So we’re really bringing that nostalgia to people from our community.
I also like that your take on the new products is more health-conscious. Can you discuss the importance of prioritizing nutrition?
Just because you're having an indulgent moment doesn't mean that you need to put garbage in your body, right? So we’re just making sure we're doing everything all natural. I like to say “all killer, no filler”. So using good grains, all-natural fruit in our jams for the toaster pastries and all organic ingredients when we can. So it’s making sure everything is made well for people to enjoy, but flavor is first. Because no matter how nutritious it is, if it’s not tasting good, nobody cares. So we really wanted to start with flavor first and use that as our beacon, but just make everything is better for you.
How long did this process take? When did you all first start testing and all of that?
Well, we started doing packaged food products in 2021. But we started working on the formulations for the new products — we have the sweet potato pancake and waffle mix, the strawberry pancake and waffle mix and our OG original flavor — in early 2022. To really nail it and to get the flavors right, get the right ingredients, sources, and the right partners from the manufacturer takes time to dial it in. For me, coming from a different background like fashion and used to being able to print a t-shirt quickly, this was definitely a long haul.
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Ghetto Gastro founders Pierro Serrao, Jon Gray and Lester Walker. Photo by Joshua Woods
I’d like to discuss the ease factor of these products. We’re all so busy and sometimes don’t have time to make a full breakfast. So these products remind me of popping a pastry in the toaster before school, just to have something quick to eat.
When we make products, we make them for ourselves and we just hope people want to come along for the ride because it's hard to design products for people that do not. So we think about our lives. We're super busy; you want to snack on the go and have something tasty in the morning. Some people pop them in a toaster, some put them in the freezer, and some eat them fresh out the pack. I usually enjoy it fresh out the pack. So it's thinking about something that can be quick and delicious. So that's how we approach it. Even with the pancake and waffles, you just add water and a little bit of oil and you’re good to go.
READ MORE: Ghetto Gastro Is Delivering Good Food and Social Awareness
I know you all collaborated with the likes of William Sonoma in the past, but I like that you're continuing to collaborate with Target because it's accessible for any price bracket.
Yeah, it's important for us. One segment of our business when we're doing a lot of experiences or doing fashion collabs, that stuff is luxury. Sometimes that can be out of reach. Target is for everybody. Everybody shops at Target, whether you're Rihanna, or whether you're my grandmother. So it's being able to reach the masses and really impact the culture in a real way. I can't think of many people that do better than Target.
Aside from these new products, do you have anything else in the works?
We got some work coming in store with the fashion game. So some stuff with some of our Japanese partners coming out this fall. We're also opening our new laboratory on Water Street this fall. So that's going to be our test kitchen where we make a lot of media and create dope videos and tutorials. And then there’s more products in store. We’re just working on the flavors and expanding the line. We're hitting Target with nine products. The toaster pastries, we call them “Bop Tarts”: Black-owned Pastry. A burst of power and a bite of pleasure, or however you want to flip it. We launched with strawberry and we put flavor in the crust. So it's not a bland or ashy crust. We got PB&J, Maple Apple Cinnamon (aka “Return of the Mac”) and then we got chocolate raspberry. So just more flavor for the people. We love the people, so we feed the people. You feel me?
