Families from across the world gather at Memorial Mall every Thursday to share their passions and culture with the students and residents of West Lafayette.
For some of these vendors, money is secondary. Instead, family, health and community drive these vendors for their daily operations.
Temet Jewelry
Hamaeane Ittifi poses behind his family's business, Temet Jewelery. The family-owned business sells handmade goods from Niger.
Hamaeane Ittifi sets up his shop, Temet Jewelry, every week to sell his family's hand-made goods.
“I think it is very good help for them,†Ittifi said. “I do as much as I can.â€
The money Ittifi gets from Temet Jewelry helps support his family by paying for them to live and to eat, said the local business owner.
Ittifi's family lives in the west African country of Niger. It is here where they make everything Ittifi sells at his Greater Lafayette based business.
“I go (to Niger) every winter and work with them for three months,†Ittifi said. “Then I come back and sell everything for them.â€
Ittifi said everyone who is capable works for the business, but not everyone makes the same thing. They make a variety of different Nigerien goods such as baskets, leather animals and sterling silver jewelry.
The last of which is what Ittifi makes when he's home in Africa.
“(All the sterling silver jewelry) is made by hand,†Ittifi said. “I have to sit down on the ground with tools. It's very hard work.â€
The jewelry must be made in Africa, said the Nigerien. It takes too long to make the sterling silver and would be too expensive to spend that time in America.
The family-owned business used to have a shop on Main Street in Lafayette, but Ittifi had to close his shop during the pandemic. Now, the vendor exclusively relies on farmers markets to sell his family's goods.
“I'm so grateful I am here. (There's lots of) very nice people (who) give a lot of support,†Ittifi said.
Hartley's Harvest
Patrisha Hartley, a full-time employee of Hartley Harvest, poses behind the family-owned business stand during Thursday's weekly farmers market at Memorial Mall.
Patrisha Hartley said the idea to sell mushrooms at the market didn't originate as a business idea.
“My brother started this as a hobby, and he grew (mushrooms) because he liked the process,†The Hartley's Harvest employee said. “They grow very quickly once you're able to cut them open; you'll see them grow from the beginning of the day to the end of the day.â€
Hartley sees her brother's mushroom business as an opportunity to provide students with fresh produce, something the employee said is rare at Purdue's market.
“I was always in an apartment,†Hartley, a Purdue alumna, said. “It was nice to be able to get produce when there were a few vendors that had it.â€
The family business was started in 2020 by John Hartley, Patrisha Hartley's brother. Since then, Hartley's Harvest has expanded to four different grocery stores and multiple weekly farmers markets.
The mushroom business grows six different varieties of mushrooms, all indoors, and sells dehydrated mushrooms, mushroom seasoning, ground up lion's mane and dehydrated cream of mushroom.
For the Hartleys, natural ingredients are a big part of the family-owned business. Hartley's Harvest doesn't use any pesticides, preservatives or chemicals, according to the Hartley's Harvest website.
“We like to know where our food comes from,†Hartley said. “We try to simplify the ingredients of common things like cream of mushroom.â€
Caressa's Kitchen
Hannah Linson and Caressa Oorloff, an employee and the owner of Caressa's Kitchen respectively, pose behind a table.
The smell of Sri Lankan chicken biryani and butter chicken fills the air on a weekly basis when Caressa's Kitchen serves food to its customers, something owner Caressa Oorloff is passionate about.
“I love making food, serving people and feeding people,†Oorloff said. “My helper, Hannah, tells people it's my love language.â€
The West Lafayette based business owner came to Purdue for graduate school, but said having kids was a reason she needed to make money while staying home.
Her ability to work from home isn't the motivating force behind her work, however.
“A big driving factor for me during the markets, more than money, more than staying home, is community,†Oorloff said.
In addition to selling food at farmers markets, the full-time cook and mother caters and teaches cooking classes. Oorloff says her business is a great way for her to combine making money with something she's passionate about.
Oorloff uses her now-seven-year-old business as an opportunity to share her Sri Lankan background.
“(The food) is all Sri Lankan food,†Oorloff said. “It's a mix between Indian and Thai food.â€
The origin of the food naturally provides plenty of vegan options to the vendor's customers, but Oorloff says the butter chicken combo is a student favorite.
The combo comes with a side of chickpea salad, homemade banana bread as well as the main dish itself. Oorloff said the motivation behind the combo was to offer Purdue students a full meal all at one place.
“As a parent, if my kid was out there, I'd want them to get a nutritious, tasty, balanced plate of food that was also affordable,†Oorloff said.
