French Toast Bites’ creator and her daughter appear on NBC’s ‘Today’ show for a Mother’s Day segment

The mother-daughter bond was the theme Friday on NBC’s a pre-Mother’s Day Today show.

Producers chose Charisse McGill of Aldan, Delaware County, creator of the popular French Toast Bites snacks, and her daughter, Madison, 17, for a four-minute national TV appearance.

They collaborated on Lokal Artisan Foods, their snack business, now at Cherry Street Pier and Spruce Street Harbor Park in Philadelphia, as well as the Pennsylvania Convention Center and seasonal appearances at the Christmas Village and Eastern State Penitentiary.

McGill, 41, was director of special events at Valley Forge Military Academy and on the side organized the Lansdale Farmers’ Market. Inspired by the vendors, some of whom were making six figures, she sought to start her own food business. She decided to serve sweet hunks of French toast, keeping her concept simple, focused, and easy to replicate.

Around the same time, Madison told her that she wanted to open her own business, perhaps a lemonade stand, in the farmers’ market. When Charisse reminded Madison that lemons are not local, Madison told her she would source other fruit and herbs from the farmers at the market to put a local spin on it.

It was an instant hit. Madison made $6,000 in two weeks. “That gave me more of a drive to start my own business,” said Charisse McGill.

She quit VFMA and founded Lokal Artisan Foods in 2018 with a pop-up near City Hall during the holiday season. Madison, then 12, was her investor. The McGills began bottling the French toast spice and introduced that in 2019 as a line extension

That led to stands at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Montgomery County, followed by the Bronx Night Market in New York, and a return to the holiday market. All the while, Charisse McGill taught entrepreneurship classes at Montgomery County Community College.

Charisse McGill set up a takeout and delivery business out of the Northeast Philadelphia location of the Better Box, also a Black-owned food business. She became the first paid vendor on the Black and Mobile delivery service. From there, she was one of 60 recipients of a grant from Black People Eats, raised her funding goal through a community Kiva loan, and was awarded a Magic Johnson forgivable loan. McGill also won a grant from the Pennsylvania30 Day Fund and most recently was selected a recipient of the Sixers’ Buy Black Program.

McGill has since added beer in a partnership with Yards Brewing Co. and coffee with Bean2Bean Roasters.

Though French toast — with toppings such as bacon and whipped cream — is a breakfast food by tradition, Charisse McGill told the camera: “In Philly, we sell more French toast bites at night when the sun goes down.”

“It’s pretty fun having my mom as a coworker because I can kind of tell her what to do,” Madison told the show.