Our Story
We created Hibisbloom to share our traditional West African food culture with the rest of the world for a blissful traditional experience with a glass hibiscus flower sip commonly known as Bissap. In Ivory Coast, like in most West African countries, it is the must have drink refresher after a long day of work, with a meal, at special occasions, happy-hours or for kid’s snack time popsicle.
In West Africa, Hibiscus Flower tea brew is a cornerstone of every family and social events. If the Bissap is missing from your party you can be guaranteed that your guests will put in a request. Not only is the tea of the hibiscus flower very nutritious but it is packed with flavor you can’t get enough.
Affouet Price, Founder
Affouet Price is a young entrepreneur based out of Portland, Oregon. She is passionate about food and drink culture from all over the world. Her passion began in childhood, learning how to prepare the traditional recipes of her native Ivory Coast from her mother and grandmother. Her greatest joys in cooking are the storied history of traditional recipes, and the connections that she sees people make when they enjoy those recipes together.
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Affouet also founded La Casserole Gourmet, a food and beverage social media presence meant to promote West African Cuisine. La Casserole Gourmet began in 2016 as a small food and beverage themed instagram account. Photos of her original recipes became popular quickly. In 2017, she debuted her first full menu for a home-chef network called Josephine Cooks. Her menu of original West African recipes was a huge success and often sold out. She felt an overwhelming wave of support from her customer base for more. Affouet hopes to bring many West African creations to American markets and kitchens for all to enjoy and experience. Her love of food, tradition, and community are all blended into the stories of every recipe she creates. She dreams of people connecting and sharing in the sublimity of her West African Inspired creations.
In 2018, Affouet realized another of her life long dreams. After great trials, she and her husband became first time parents through the miracle of modern science and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Motherhood inspired her passion. After months of training, and preparing she presented her dream on stage at the Oregon Entrepreneur Network (OEN) for The 2019 Angel Food Conference to an audience of A-List food and beverage guests, other local startups. Her concept was rated among the Top Six. Hibisbloom was Born.
Affouet has since been developing and scaling Hibisbloom with the love and support of her mother, Mama Pauline. Affouet and Mama Pauline have built hibisbloom as a family and work on every aspect as a team. Mama Pauline could have never dreamed what seeds she was planting all those years ago when she first began teaching her daughter how to cook the same recipes her mother taught her!
Special thanks to all of our customers/followers and big thank you to our mentors and coaches who are always there to help and guide. Thank you all so very much.