RENO, NV — With a combined 50 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Tony and Birdie Harthono of Pink Elephant Kitchen are expanding their footprint in Northern Nevada’s local food network. Building upon their established presence at local farmers markets and co-ops, the couple is expanding their authentic, clean-label, scratch-made Thai curry sauce business into retail stores across the region.
In 2021, the Harthonos began packaging their signature frozen curries for resale, with the busy, health-conscious, time-crunched home cook in mind. The sauces are thoughtfully crafted to offer authentic flavor, clean-label and allergy-friendly ingredients, and are made in small batches with locally sourced ingredients. As a 100% family-owned and operated business, the Harthonos needed to address key limitations in storage and processing capacity in order to grow into new markets.
With a grant through the Southwest Regional Food Business Center, they invested in additional cold storage which enabled the purchase of larger quantities of raw ingredients at lower price points; a critical step in scaling production. The funding also supported improvements to their labeling systems: increasing flexibility to test new product lines and enabling higher-volume printing – which ultimately reduced costs by more than 25 cents per label. Additional investments in processing equipment will continue to save time and reduce food waste as production grows.
With community at the heart of their business model, the Harthonos are invested in building partnerships that strengthen food businesses throughout the Reno-Tahoe region. In their leased space at West Street Market in downtown Reno, they partner with neighboring food entrepreneurs to share kitchen space for cooking the curries. They are also committed to incorporating locally grown ingredients into their recipes, sourcing from producers and food organizations that are local to the Reno-Tahoe region, such as Prema Farm, Reno Food Systems and more.
According to Birdie, her childhood memories of helping her father cook – and how those meals cooked with love brought the family together – have inspired her brand.
“The communal experience and homestyle flavors of my childhood in Bangkok is what we hope to give our customers”
Today, shoppers can find Pink Elephant Kitchen’s premium curries at community collectives and grocery stores throughout the Reno and Tahoe regions and as far as San Francisco, California.
University of Nevada, Reno Extension is proud to be part of this transformative initiative, supporting food and farm businesses and helping build a more resilient, diverse, and competitive regional food system.