Kingston’s own Edenesque nut milk was named among 20 finalists in Grow-NY, a global food and agricultural business competition. The artisanal plant-based milk company, one of 385 applications from 52 countries, will compete for a combined $3 million in prize money.

“I don't think it's really hit me yet,” said Leslie Woodward, Edenesque owner and chef. “I think I'm just excited to see that there's opportunity for our company.”

Woodward has just embarked on a 10-week business development phase for the contest. After working with a mentor from Grow-NY, touring other businesses and meeting regional leaders, she will pitch her business plan alongside the other finalists at the Grow-NY and AG Summit in Syracuse in November. The competition, aimed at enhancing the state’s food and agricultural sector, requires the winner to “make a positive impact” in the Grow-NY region, which consists of 22 counties in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier. According to the state, Grow-NY will award $1 million to the first-place business, followed by $500,000 for two second-ranking businesses and $250,000 for four more.

Before founding Edenesque, Woodward attended the Florida branch of famed French cooking school Le Cordon Bleu and was chef at the Columbia University President’s House.

“It's always been my food philosophy to have food that was delicious, and yet nutritious as well,” she said.

While still at Columbia, Woodward began experimenting in the beverage world with juices and nut milks almost 10 years ago. She eventually turned her attention full-time to the milks, crafting a variety of nut and oat-based beverages in blasts of flavor, from honey vanilla almond milk to carob date maple cashew milk. Woodward’s beverages are 40 percent nuts, compared to the percent she said most milk substitutes contain, with thickeners and preservatives making up the difference.

“I always felt that we have a lot of preservatives and additives in our food, and I think that's problematic,” she said. “It’s leading to poor health outcomes.”

Woodward saw an opportunity in the nut milks to both provide healthy options for and give back to communities. In 2018, Edenesque found a home in the Hudson Valley at the Cornell Creative Business and Arts Center (CCBAC), a longtime promoter of business engagement in the community. Edenesque gives its nut meal to Kingston’s Solid Ground Farm to compost, grows its oats in partnership with Wild Hive Farm in Clinton Corners, and sources its honey from Bee Hollow Farm in Schodack Landing. Woodward recently toured a local farm with the hopes to develop a milk from its hickory trees.

“Our brand is about nourishing the user with a nutrient-dense product, and it's about nourishing the community — however we show up and do that — and then the environment too,” she said. “We're all connected.”

In the past few years, the brand has found its way to health food markets across the region, as well as New York City and the Berkshires. Having outgrown the CCBAC space, Edenesque recently moved to 906 Route 28 on the Kingston/Woodstock border. Despite extensive construction work on the building, which has been “a challenge,” the company’s team of three has been able to set up their plant-based milk-making operation in the basement to pump out approximately 200 32-ounce bottles a day.

“It's sort of like I'm at that adolescent phase, that in-between space,” Woodward said. “The business is bigger than me now.”

Enter Grow-NY. Several months ago, Woodward applied to the competition, now in its fourth year, at the suggestion of a community member at a Wild Hive Farms event. As a finalist, Woodward has been meeting regularly with her mentor from Grow-NY to discuss business initiatives and planning. She is also looking forward to meeting representatives from Empire State Development and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement.

“Whether we win or not, I've already won, by having this level of access,” she said.

Woodward’s aspiring business plan is to expand enough to hire more employees, preferably underserved members of the community, including incarcerated individuals, immigrants and domestic violence survivors. She also hopes to develop a sustainability plan for the company and eventually contribute a portion of Edenesque revenue to an organization serving underprivileged communities

Edenesque milks can be found at local health food stores, including Mother Earth’s Storehouse and the Sunflower Market in Woodstock, or ordered online.