Jenna Bacon, Campus Carrier asst. arts and living editor
Berry College encourages students to celebrate and utilize their creative ideas inside and outside the classroom. From hosting events like the annual Student Business Pitch Competition to forming Student Enterprises, Berry offers many opportunities for students to pursue their entrepreneurial interests. One Berry student who is choosing to make the most of these opportunities is senior Josh Robinson, who has taken on the challenge of starting his own business.
Robinson has started a catering company called Ruckerz Soul Food, which offers delivery and catering services to the community. The business serves southern style menu items with charming names like “Aunt Ruth’s Chicken Pot Pie” and “Momma Dot’s Candy Yamz”. Robinson said that the names of the menu items have a significant meaning to him.
“Each of my menu items are kind of dedicated in honor of a member of my family and their signature dishes,” Robinson said. “For my grandmother, Momma Dot, her candied yams are amazing. That’s the name of the yams on the actual menu.”
Starting a food catering business has always been one of Robinson’s longtime goals. However, it wasn’t until he needed to think of a business venture for his Design Project Capstone class that Ruckerz Soul Food became a reality. A senior capstone project is an all-encompassing project that gives seniors a chance to apply all the skills and knowledge they’ve gained at Berry. The projects can vary depending on one’s major. Each student in the class was required to create their own small business and work on it throughout the school year. Senior Darren Agyeman, who is also taking the class, is the owner of a multimedia video and photo production company called Shot by Aygi. Agyeman said that by running his own small business, he’s learned that people value high quality service, and that Ruckerz Soul Food provides that.
“So, with Ruckerz it’s like, okay customers want to get home cooked food that’s cheap, easily accessible to them and they don’t want to go off campus or really go out of their way to get it,” said Agyeman. “For me, he’s giving people a high-quality customer service that’s a custom-tailored thing for whatever they need.”
A good meal can have a very positive impact on someone’s day in more ways than one. Food has always had a way of bringing people together. Trying new dishes can start conversations and be the cause of fun shared experiences. Eating food one usually wouldn’t choose can help expand horizons and introduce new cultures. Robinson said that one of the reasons he was inspired to create Ruckerz Soul Food was because his family had always bonded over food.
“My whole restaurant and idea is all family based whether it’s actual blood family or not,” said Robinson. “Nobody’s perfect. Every family has their flaws, their arguments and things like that. But one thing that my family has always been able to do is sit down and eat together.”
Part of what makes Berry so unique is the culture of belonging that’s been established here and the tight knit community that the students have formed throughout the years. As a community, it’s important that we continually show support for one another and lift one another up. One way to do that is to support student businesses. Senior Matthew Davila is a friend of Robinson’s and has supported Ruckerz Soul Food from the very beginning. Davila said that it’s even more important to support student businesses that are new and starting from scratch.
“It’s because this is a community at the end of the day,” Davila said. “If you started a company, you would want people around you and people in your space, your culture, your community to help you out.”
Ruckerz Soul Food will be having an event at the Hackberry Lab this evening from 7-9 PM. They will be serving baked spaghetti, roasted brussel sprouts, and candied yams. It’s $15 for a plate and you can sign up for a plate by filling out a google form on the company’s Instagram which is @ruc.kerz.