Taylor spices up SAVORx with $13,000

Chef Pete Taylor has raised more than $13,000 to launch his spice business SAVORx, no tattoos required. Yet.

Taylor, chef at Cavanaugh’s Resort at Priest Lake, used the popular crowd source website Kickstarter to raise money for his spice business.

“It was probably the most intense 33 days of my life,” Taylor said.

The Kickstarter campaign netted $12,710. He was also given $610 in personal checks from donors who wanted him to have the money even if the online fundraising campaign failed. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing endeavor, so if fundraising falls short of goal the would-be entrepreneur receives nothing.

The idea behind SAVORx is to sell high-quality, pre-measured spices along with recipes and videos of Taylor making dishes. Taylor hopes to persuade home cooks to toss the tired spices in their cupboards and start using whole, fresh spices that they toast and grind themselves.

Kickstarter donors are promised incentives for giving money, and Taylor will be sending recipe spice packs to more than 130 people and hosting two different dinner parties. He offered to tattoo something on his body for a donation of $5,000 but no one took him up on the offer on Kickstarter. However, he said he’s still negotiating with a company that might still give $5,000 in exchange for some ink.

Taylor said he’s already in the process of overhauling the SAVORx website, savorx.com, and plans to add some new spice packs and videos, along with whole spices and spice grinding equipment. He hopes to have rewards to donors fulfilled by the end of March.

After that, he’s planning a trip to India with Austin Bishop of Sure Shot, the videographer who shot the cooking demonstrations and campaign videos for his new business. They hope to film a documentary about spices and find direct sources for importing spices. Taylor said he’s planning another Kickstarter campaign to fund the trip.