[00:00:00] SPEAKER_??: Bye!
[00:00:06] Ray Latif: Hey folks, I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of BevNET's Taste Radio podcast. And you're tuning into the latest episode of Elevator Talk, the series that profiles early stage and disruptive brands from across the food and beverage industry. Today's episode, we'll focus on three food brands whose entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to hear feedback and advice from our co-host for this episode. That's Caroline Grace, the founder of Product and Prosper. Caroline, it's so great to see you again.
[00:00:34] Caroline Grace: Likewise, Ray, I'm so excited to join you for, I think this is my third one. Isn't that crazy?
[00:00:40] Ray Latif: We are so honored for you to be joining us for Elevator Talk. Your first two episodes or the first two episodes that you joined us as a co-host were so amazing. And I'm like, can we just have Caroline just do this all the time? Cause she's so good. Always well prepared. The research you do on the brands ahead of time is so great. And you know, your experience in this industry is such that Early stage brands can learn a lot from your work with brands that you have helped scale. So I really appreciate you joining us. And it was so great meeting you a couple of days ago. Actually, was it yesterday or no, it was two days ago.
[00:01:16] Caroline Grace: I don't know. I can't remember.
[00:01:18] Ray Latif: We were both in San Diego for the Winter Fancy Fair, which I thought was a great show and a really good opportunity to meet a lot of founders and new brands that I was not familiar with. I assume you had a pretty similar experience.
[00:01:31] Caroline Grace: I totally agree. I think it was a very approachable show. The pace was, I know a lot of brands, the feedback that I heard was that the brands thought it was a little bit slow, but I thought it was a really, you could have longer conversations with buyers and other brands. And I liked it a lot. I thought it went well, but back to back to back podcast for you. Lots of talking, lots of pitching, lots of good things. It's been a busy, busy week.
[00:01:55] Ray Latif: It has, but I love Elevator Talk. This is probably one of my favorite things to do at BevNET. Meeting founders when they are brand new or maybe less than a year in gives me an opportunity to help people as much as we can as they're thinking about scaling their businesses. You know, it happens all the time where we have someone on Elevator Talk and the next thing you know, they're national at a major retailer or raised a ton of money. And I'm not saying it all happened because they were on the show, maybe a little bit. But, you know, being a small part of that journey where, you know, someone's starting out and then they are able to build their company such that they are now the ones that everyone's talking about, as opposed to, you know, one of the thousand new brands that launch every year. That's the goal. Yeah, absolutely. You know, for folks who aren't familiar with you or what you do and your support of early stage brands, just tell us a bit about your experience and history in the industry.
[00:02:56] Caroline Grace: Yeah, absolutely. I am the founder and CEO of an agency called Product and Prosper. I essentially own an ecosystem, a portfolio of brands, and a portfolio of agencies. What I really specialize in is building brands for omni-channel scaling, my backgrounds in retail sales and retail strategy, and I typically talk about three different or four different things. First is growth strategy, right? How do you grow a brand in this day and age? Second is independent retail. I'm a big, big fan of independent retail, especially through a platform called Fair. If you guys are not familiar with that, basically like wholesale, Amazon for wholesale. And then I also am a big, big proponent of feedback and iterative testing throughout building a brand. And then the third thing that I really love to talk about is building a a personal brand in connection with a product-based business. And I think that is so powerful in this day and age. And I think we just saw it so much at the Fancy Food Fair. The people that we connect with the businesses, especially the emerging products, I don't know if you saw anybody that you were really inspired by, but I remember I've seen a bunch of people that I know from LinkedIn and Instagram and even TikTok. I love being able to put a face to a lot of the brands that are out there. So a little bit about me, a little bit about my background. And I'm doing lots of fun, interesting things, but overarching me just really focus on how do we scale emerging brands to be sustainable? And how do I help more entrepreneurs become entrepreneurs within this industry?
[00:04:30] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's not just Elevator Talk where you can be as visible as you are. You have a great newsletter as well that a lot of people subscribe to. And in that newsletter, you share insights about what's happening on the ground and in the trenches for early stage brands. So just for some context and perspective, You know, whether it was at the Winter Fancy Fair or just in general terms, what are you hearing from entrepreneurs about what is most challenging right now here in January of 2026? Certainly, you know, last year, a lot of folks were talking about tariffs. I'm sure they're still talking about it this year. But from your perspective, are there one or two things that folks need most help with and how are you helping them address those challenges?
[00:05:13] Caroline Grace: That's a really good question. Right. We're very shortly into 2026. So I don't know if I have a fully formed answer quite yet. But I've actually seen a lot more return to DTC. I think that I'm starting to see a lot of TikTok shop conversation happening. And a lot of There's a lot of conversation, especially in early brands around UGC and content. I mean, we've been looking, we've been watching AI created content for a very long time. How is that going to interact with things like TikTok shop, like UGC, that sort of thing. So actually over the last few years, I've been watching kind of this return to retail conversation that's been happening. Every brand wants to get into retail, and I think retail is incredibly important, especially for early stage brands, both from a discovery standpoint, but also for a market validation standpoint as well. Plus, it exponentially kind of grows your business across multiple different channels, if you can sustain within retail. But now moving into 2026, I think because maybe a reaction to the tariffs and the impact of tariffs on margin, there's actually been a lot more conversation recently in my circles with my friends and clients that I see around DTC and DTC level strategies, even paid ads, and a move back to kind of e-commerce level iterations of growth.
[00:06:34] Ray Latif: Isn't that interesting? It feels pretty cyclical in that in 2020 and 2021, everyone was talking about D2C and e-commerce and here we are in 2026. And for different reasons, people are looking at those opportunities as real ways to scale and grow your business. Certainly brick and mortar and traditional retail is still out there and it'll always be out there. But for early stage brands, testing and learning online seems like a pretty good strategy at this point. And I know we're going to be talking about it with our entrepreneurs in this episode. We have three really amazing brands and founders behind them. Are you ready to meet the first?
[00:07:15] Caroline Grace: Of course I am. I'm so excited.
[00:07:17] Ray Latif: Outstanding. Let's get to that person. She is War Warren Sandpulsop, who is the chief commercial officer of Green and Sunny. War Warren, thanks so much for joining us.
[00:07:29] Caroline Grace: Thank you for having me Ray. Thank you.
[00:07:31] Ray Latif: Coming in all the way from Thailand. Is that correct?
[00:07:35] Caroline Grace: Yes, that's correct. I'm based in Thailand.
[00:07:38] Ray Latif: Okay. So it's a, it's one o'clock here in Boston. What time is it there?
[00:07:42] Caroline Grace: It's one o'clock in the morning.
[00:07:47] Ray Latif: Well, I hope you're a night owl because otherwise you're going to have to get some extra sleep whenever you hang up on me. Green and Sunny, I love the name and I think what you're doing is pretty amazing from a product standpoint. Tell us all about what you do.
[00:08:04] Caroline Grace: My name is Warawarin and I'm the Chief Commercial Officer of Bono Thailand. I've been working with the company for 15 years, growing alongside the business and helping shape how Thai food reach global consumers. Buono is actually based in Thailand and we have over 20 years of experience in food manufacturing. Since 2004, we have been stocking American grocery aisles through private label Thai food products. But now we are stepping out from behind the curtain with our own brand, Green & Sunny, a more adventurous range of frozen ready-to-eat meals and snacks inspired by Thailand. And our mission is simple. We want to bring authentic Thai food to global tables using our local ingredients sourced by farmers who are in Thailand and using the traditional Thai recipe and craft it to taste just like fashion-cooked Thai food. And we also want to introduce a lesser-known Thai dishes, the food that Thai people actually eat at home to the U.S. market and the world.
[00:09:14] Ray Latif: I love everything that you're doing and I'm a huge fan of Thai food. What's really interesting is that some of the products that I'm looking at on your website aren't necessarily products that I've seen before in Thai restaurants. They seem a bit more authentic to what Thai food truly is. A Thai coconut pancake? What is that?
[00:09:34] Caroline Grace: It's basically a dessert that we usually have on the street. Nobody will cook it at home. It's this particular oven to use that. And the ingredient, the main ingredient is coconut and some rice flour. Yes. And we kind of like cook it in a very special stove top.
[00:09:56] Ray Latif: Very cool. How many products do you sell at this point?
[00:09:59] Caroline Grace: Actually, we have market worldwide. U.S. is one of the biggest markets. So in the U.S., we have pad thai. Under Green & Sunny brand, we have pad thai and we have the snack called Mi Krob, which is basically a Thai-style crispy rice cracker snack in sweet and sour sauce.
[00:10:17] Ray Latif: Very cool. Caroline, you know, this is a great time to be an American consumer because I feel like the global flavors, the ethnic cuisine that we're seeing come to market and in a really convenient form is just, it's happening everywhere. It's fantastic.
[00:10:37] Caroline Grace: Absolutely agree. I am so curious. You said that previously you guys were a co-manufacturer, right? For brands in the US, is that correct? Or you did private label for them? I'm curious about, as you move into your own brand and expanding your own brand globally, what's been the easiest part about it and what have been the hardest parts about expanding globally with your own brand? Of course, the harder part is about how to build the brand awareness to American consumers and worldwide consumer actually. Because like I mentioned before, we create the lesser known Thai dishes. So that's where we need to focus on educate the consumer of the product that they are less familiar. We currently use a simple storytelling to explain where the dish come from and how Thai people enjoy it. And we also do kind of like sampling and tasting in store as well. So there's a lot of marketing activities in place that we have to implement when we launching product under our brands. But on the other hand, on private labels, it's more words about the formulation, the pricing, and how to make it work. to the retailer. And you said that there's only a limited number of SKUs within the U.S. market right now, right? Is there any sort of plan of action? Because I want to find these in my own grocery store, my local grocery store. What is the plan over 2026 to expand the SKU count within the U.S. market? So, looking ahead into 2026, we focus in expanding both SKU cult and product categories to better represent our range. On the range to eat meal, we plan to introduce more iconic Thai dishes. For example, pad see ew. I don't know whether your family have eaten pad see ew or the item like khao soi, which I believe that would allow a consumer to experience well-loved Thai dish. in a convenient way. And we looking to expand more range to frozen appetizer as well. Ray has mentioned condom coke, which is a dessert, but for Thai people, we have a lot of appetizer. For example, the corn fritter, we serving together with tamarind sauce. And we also plan to introduce like sweet potato balls. Yes, that is very, very beloved by the local Thai people. Oh my goodness, I'm hungry. Ray, how does this happen every time we do this?
[00:13:22] Ray Latif: I know, my mouth is watering and I feel like we need to take a break just to go get some green and sunny.
[00:13:30] Caroline Grace: I know, right? It's curious because I think, you know, I hear about a lot of brands looking to expand from the U.S. into global markets or vice versa, from a senior market outside of the U.S. into the U.S. market. What are some of the differences between U.S. retail and the U.S. market versus some of the other markets that you're currently in globally? I think each market is very unique in terms of consumer preference. For example, U.S. market, for me, is an early adopter of any kind of Thai products, which when we go to the European market or Australian market, is usually about three to five years behind the U.S. So U.S. is kind of like our pirate run for testing the water, testing the market, We're pretty much confident in bringing the most adventurous range to the U.S. first because we believe that the customers are more open and very adaptive to the new concept and new ideas. Interesting. And I'm curious within the U.S. market, just generally about your strategy, how much time and even spend are you focusing on D to C versus retail expansion? And are you focusing by region? How are you breaking down your strategy for U.S. market expansion? So right now, well, actually we are available in Costco, which has been a great platform for us to introduce green incentive to a wide audience. But looking ahead, we plan to expand beyond Costco and into regional supermarket chains. So I believe this will take around 6 to 12 months time in order to expand our distribution and our channel beyond Costco? So it sounds like it's primarily retail focused right now within Costco? Yes, correct. I got it. Are you on any other channels within the US market? At the moment, no. Okay, interesting. I'm curious, what are the general goals for 2026? General goal for 2026 is to expanding both SKU count and product categories for us. And yes, well, we are lucky to have a strong innovation pipeline behind us. So we have lots of ideas that we already developed and we are ready to just launch it in a very short time. Got it. I think, and Ray might agree with me, I think one of the greatest things about the CPG industry is how much people want to help each other. I think it's quite unique to this industry. What are you looking for help with that maybe Ray or I can connect you with or support you with? Basically, like I mentioned, it's about the education that we, I think it's a challenge for us at the moment because, for example, the item that I mentioned about the corn feeder, most of the audience, they maybe don't understand. So I think the area that you can advise or help us with is how to educate the U.S. consumer to to open or to adapt with the new concept of Thai products? Yeah, I mean, I think demos are one of the first places to start, especially within Costco. But I think that this is where a DTC omni-channel strategy and an omni-channel marketing strategy really comes into play. I mean, ads are always one of the best ways to educate a consumer. You have to show a consumer that four times for them to understand a product. I think through micro influencers, through TikTok and Instagram, That's a very nice way to educate. And I think also coming on shows like this, there's not just the D2C level consumer, there's also the industry consumer, which I like to talk a lot about. And those are really truly the first movers within CPG who, if you can get the industry to understand and to get excited about what you're building, I think it very easily translates to the D2C side as well, or the consumer side as well. Yes, that's a very good advice. Thank you.
[00:17:49] Ray Latif: 100% would agree. And I think sticking with the authentic angle and sticking with, you know, taste as your primary reason why people are buying and trying your products is the way to go. You know, there's a lot of new ethnic food brands that are launching in the United States of late, and some of them are a little bit more on the health or functional focus side of things as opposed to the taste side of things. And I think what Green and Sunny represents just in the conversation that we've had so far is really about authentic taste and quality. So from my perspective, that's what really is driving me and driving my interest for this brand. And I can't wait to see it in Costco stores near me. Where in the U.S. are your Costco stores located?
[00:18:39] Caroline Grace: Midwest, Northeast, and Bay Area.
[00:18:42] Ray Latif: Okay, so Northeast is coming soon. Okay. Yes. Great. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us Wara Wara. And I feel like this has been a long time coming. We've been in touch with Adrienne, who I know you work with on a PR level for some time. And so I'm really, really glad that we had this opportunity to sit down. Please, please stay in touch. Let us know if we can help in any way.
[00:19:05] Caroline Grace: Yes. Thank you very much, Ray and Caroline. Thank you. I will do. I will stay in touch. Yeah.
[00:19:10] Ray Latif: Thank you very much.
[00:19:11] Caroline Grace: Thank you.
[00:19:15] Ray Latif: Let's move on to our next guest for this episode of Elevator Talk. His name is Raghut Bala. He's the founder of The Cumin Club. Raghut, it's great to see you.
[00:19:25] SPEAKER_01: Likewise, Ray. Thank you for the opportunity and nice to meet you, Caroline.
[00:19:31] Caroline Grace: Likewise.
[00:19:32] Ray Latif: So the Cumin Club is a brand that I have really been interested in for a while. The business itself is pretty remarkable in that you do a couple different things, actually probably more than a couple different things in how you get these products out to consumers. Tell us all about what you do and your route to market.
[00:19:53] SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Ray. We are the Cumin Club. I'm one of the co-founders and CEO. We are a better for you Indian food brand. We make Indian curries, lentils, rice dishes, simmer sauces. And what differentiates us is the packaging is freeze-dried. So we cook it, freeze dry it, which is the best way to preserve any food, just like fruits, vegetables, miso soups, and smoothies. We are bringing a superior food preservation technology to something near and dear to us, which is Indian food. So once it's packaged, it's shelf stable and it's super light. Just add water and cook for five minutes, restaurant quality Indian food at home. and we hope that everyone has a cumin club in their pantry and the day when you don't know what to cook or what to eat, you know, you can just whip up a pack, add water, cook for five minutes, add your own ingredients, make it your own as well. We started the cumin club four years ago. We have been focusing primarily on direct-to-consumer. And about a year ago, we started an omnichannel approach, Amazon, some retail stores, and we are quite lucky to be in sprouts nationwide as of two months ago. And Caroline, I'm looking forward to talking to you about all the omni-channel questions and confusions and strategies that would help us grow from here. You're also in Walmart too, aren't you? We are in 270 Walmart stores as part of a test.
[00:21:38] Ray Latif: Okay. So Caroline, I think I just need to take a backseat on this one and let you go at it.
[00:21:45] Caroline Grace: I'm actually quite familiar with the Kuming Club. I remember, I think you guys were looking into retail strategy about two years ago and I chatted with you guys very, very briefly. And so it's wonderful to hear that Sprout has taken you on nationwide. I would assume that's through an innovation set and then you went into the main shelves.
[00:22:02] SPEAKER_01: We pitched for both the lines and we got placed in the main line.
[00:22:08] Caroline Grace: Got it. Got it. Congratulations. That's amazing. And Walmart, very different target markets, very different channels, right? One conventional with Walmart and one much more natural premium. And I'm also seeing on your website as a direct to consumer first brand, you have quite an alternative business model for a direct consumer brand, because you're focusing on meal kits and meal delivery services as kind of your primary offering on DTC, what was the thoughts around that, the strategy, how has that worked? And just to start on the DTC side, are most of your consumers subscription-based now, or are most of them still first-order consumers?
[00:22:49] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sorry, to start with your question about the offering, in retail, direct to consumer, it's actually the exact same products. So it is, we call it a meal kit, mainly because we also offer cumin rice and, you know, the condiments that go with the meal. So you can make a complete meal out of our website. And of course, in retail, we always have to start with few SKUs and try to build our way to you know, having a bigger shelf presence. So when we started during pandemic, it made a lot of sense to offer a subscription and focus on subscriptions. Everyone's working from home, everyone's looking for a quick meal solution. We also started with the Indian diaspora. When we started the brand, we had a very clear hypothesis. We want to build a global brand for Indian food. And this is my favorite exercise, Ray and Caroline, I'll give you five seconds. Can you think of one Indian food brand that comes to mind? There is usually not. And, you know, we think there can be a global brand for Indian food. And, you know, we wanted to start with the diaspora and get their seal of approval. We did that, you know, over the last three, four years, we have slowly started seeing more and more non-Indian customers coming to the cumin club and enjoying the cumin club. It also gives us confidence to go into retail where we are targeting the larger population. So Caroline, long story short, it made sense to start with subscription and online business because we focused on Diaspora and now we are moving into an omni-channel approach to target the larger population.
[00:24:47] Caroline Grace: Got it, got it, got it. I think it's super smart. And I mean, I was going to say the Kuming Club when you asked me, because you're right here, of course. I'm curious, as you were looking to expand into Sprouts and Walmart and bigger retail chains, how long did you spend building in independent retail and alternative retail? Did you start in in places like Indian grocery stores? And did you get through those distributors? What was the strategy as you were building up into Sprouts and Walmart?
[00:25:18] SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. We started with fair.com and a couple of local Chicago retailers where we can go meet them and have a longer conversation with. That helped us iterate on the packaging. Coming from a direct-to-consumer business where we have 30 seconds of ads to tell the story, to talk about why we are different. And then when you go into retail, it's just packaging. We do not get to make a second impression. We don't get to storytell. So packaging we knew was very important going into retail and the smaller and boutique retailers helped us a lot. The one thing I really love is how we can call them and they would take the time to talk to us. Some of them have tried the product themselves before putting on the shelf. So a lot of good feedback came out of it. And we are a big proponent of pair.com as well. So yeah, we started with Boutique and three to four months later, we started pitching to more retailers. And then we signed up with Kehi to distribute.
[00:26:30] Caroline Grace: I love that trajectory. I mean, that's kind of the playbook, right? That's the playbook that I like to talk through and talk about. What was the most surprising thing about launching into Sprouts and into Walmart coming from boutique independent retailers?
[00:26:46] SPEAKER_01: Yes, we always wanted to be in Sprouts, Whole Foods, Wegmans, and the retail, the natural ecosystem where we think we, you know, we get to build some traction, prove the value, et cetera. But at the same time, Walmart, is seeing in their data that South Asian is one of the fastest growing subcategories. And they had put together a search for South Asian brands, about 40 of us got a chance to go to Bentonville and pitch to all Walmart buyers. And long story from my past life, I was a consultant for Walmart working at Bentonville, Arkansas. So we saw this opportunity come our way and we wanted to take it, test it, and it with 270 stores. It's about figuring out what differences exist. It's about understanding what mass market retail or larger retailers can look like a few years down the line. So we look at it as an experiment.
[00:27:58] Caroline Grace: I love that. And oh my goodness, you've been on both sides of the aisle here, basically. What is the plan for 2026? Is it expanding velocity through the current stores or is it focusing on new account acquisition and new bigger retail acquisition?
[00:28:15] SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. Starting with direct-to-consumer, that's still a big part of the business and it's growing up about 50% year over year. So a lot of focus and energy go into it. And Kellan, you mentioned TikTok shop, that's another channel we're adding on. So at this point we are on, retail, we are in D2C, Amazon.com, Walmart.com. So it's a lot of channel management. While we do that, we are also looking to increase velocity at Sprouts by doing more demos, and also looking to add about 1000 more stores in the natural space. And using the same distribution we already have. Kehi has opened up about 10 VCs for us and we want to be able to pick up more stores in those VCs.
[00:29:07] Caroline Grace: Wow, there's so much on the plan. What are you looking for help with that either Ray and I can help with or connect to you with someone in our network who can't?
[00:29:16] SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. One thing we are, being a D2C first business, we're always looking to refine our storytelling to show how direct-to-consumer, we have sold 3 million packs online, and we want that to count when we talk to retailers. And the data we have to date from Sprouts is still early. We've been on the shelf for just two months. So crafting that story using the D2C success to go to more retailers is something we are always looking for more inputs on. And I would love to reach out to you offline.
[00:29:58] Ray Latif: I mean, I think as part of that message and as part of that communication strategy, you have to figure out why people are most interested in buying your products. And I think you probably have enough data to know why people are excited about the cumin club. From my perspective, I mean, I love when I can open my pantry. not know what I'm going to have for dinner and say, OK, great, I have white rice and I can just make some, you know, quality, authentic Indian food and have the whole meal done under under 10 minutes. How much does convenience play into that messaging strategy? I was scrolling through your Instagram page and there's one post that about you can have dinner ready in five minutes or five ish minutes. But for the most part, most of your posts are about the food itself and how high quality is and how delicious it is. So where does convenience fit into that message?
[00:30:45] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. So convenience is, we think of it as the gatekeeper. If we have the most authentic food, but it takes two hours to make it, it's going to be a problem. So Ray, in a lot of our ads, we talk about convenience and just being able to sit in the pantry. We like to call it ramen, but Indian. You know, it's dry, it's in the pantry, and the best part, you can add more ingredients and make it your own, right? So we talk a lot about convenience in our ads, but I think for our Instagram followers or customers, the taste is ultimately the reason why they're coming back. and something that we are extremely proud of because freeze-drying technology does wonders when it comes to preserving the quality of spices. It's not sitting in a liquid pouch and degrading over time. It's just going to give you a punch right in the first spoon and it's a very well-rounded spice profile.
[00:31:49] Ray Latif: Yeah, I think the other question that I had was, and this is actually more for Caroline, it feels like the human club has really reached this inflection point right now where there's a lot of opportunity and you're attacking that opportunity or at least going after that opportunity in natural retail and in mass retail, obviously D to C. But, you know, Caroline, I'm, you know, having seen brands at this stage of their journey, I wonder about whether you have any insight on pressing the gas. I know Rogo talked about being in another thousand stores versus sort of pulling back on the reins and I guess knowing how fast and how quickly you should be moving at this point in their journey.
[00:32:38] Caroline Grace: Yeah, right. It's a really good question. I think when I hear brands launching into bigger retailers like Sprouts, like Walmart, typically my first reaction is to build velocity within those accounts first before expanding to other chain retailers. But when we're thinking about overall growth strategy when it comes to omni-channel and especially within retail, you always want to think too around rounding out your entire, like it's a balloon basically that we're building, that we're blowing up to expand the market reach and the market presence of the Kuomint Club within the U.S. market. I'm curious if actually focusing more on an alternative retail chain like or retailer or wholesale distribution network, excuse me, like universities, especially combined with your TikTok shop push might be a really interesting strategy for 2026 while focusing on building velocity within Sprouts and within Walmart primarily, and kind of, in my opinion, increasing that first before expanding further into retail.
[00:33:43] SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. Find unique channels where we can have a more straightforward path, right? Yeah.
[00:33:49] Ray Latif: And I think stand out in store. I think Caroline, that's a really good point because, you know, you think about a Walmart and you think about a Sprouts and you think about just how many brands and products there are in those stores and how easy it is to maybe get lost. And, you know, when I visit a smaller retailer with a curated selection, it feels like, okay, they brought this in for a specific reason. They vetted this product. It's a product that speaks to me because they know who I am as a customer of that store. So I love that. I think we could talk for another two hours, three hours or so, but I've really appreciated this time with you. Thank you so much for joining us on Elevator Talk. Definitely want to stay in touch and know that you have big fans here at BevNET. Anytime we get a sample of your product or someone sees your product in stores, they're just like, oh, Cuban Club, we love this. We love what this brand is doing.
[00:34:42] SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Ray. Thank you, Caroline.
[00:34:47] Ray Latif: Wow. Two for two. Let's go three for three with our final guest for this episode of Elevator Talk, Natasha Brau, who is the founder of Shuka Sauce. Natasha, it's great to see you.
[00:34:57] SPEAKER_00: Hi, Ray. It's great to see you again so soon and nice to see you for the first time, Caroline. Happy to be here.
[00:35:03] Ray Latif: Three times, I think, in about a month's period, because we saw you at Nosh Live, where you participated in the Nosh Pitch Slam, and it was fantastic. And you blew me away, and you blew everyone else away. Your presence on stage, the way you talked about sugar sauce, the opportunity, the product itself was just so incredible. And then I got to see you at the Fancy Food Show as well, and was tasting some of your product, in particular, your spicy variety. I can't speak, my mouth is, my tongue is on the floor right now. It was really, really impressive. So ShukaSauce, please give us the short version of what you're all about and then we'll go to Caroline and talk all about what she thinks about the brand.
[00:35:45] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely. So shuka is a Mediterranean spiced tomato sauce based on a dish called shakshuka. If anybody doesn't know what shakshuka is, it's a Mediterranean brunch dish that has poached eggs right in a bell pepper, chunky tomato sauce with garlic, onion, and spices. It's usually served in a pan with cheese and herbs on top and crusty bread so everybody can scrape the pan clean and get all those flavors. And I started the company about a year and a half ago while I was in grad school in upstate New York. I just recently moved home and brought the business with me. So I'm excited for people to be able to make shakshuka in 8 to 10 minutes. Shuka is just the sauce. You add the eggs. Or you can do what I like to call mix it up and shuka your way by adding sausage in the pan first, other things like beans, potatoes, lots of different cheese, herbs, and your favorite bread. But not just, you know, getting to share this with people and have them make shakshuka if they've never been able to make it before, But also this is a really fantastic product that's seed oil free, preservative free, and an elevated tomato and bell pepper flavor that can be a really good replacement for basic tomato sauce.
[00:37:00] Ray Latif: Okay. Two things. One, did you have any prior experience in public speaking or present? I mean, you're just such a natural at it.
[00:37:09] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much. Um, yeah, I mean, I used to be a performer. So I started I was a dancer when I was younger, and in like the creative arts. So that was number one stage presence. And then number two, in school, I did a lot of presenting because I did design. So I was always presenting design work, communicating ideas in a visual way. And then also pitching, I did a lot of business pitches in college. So, um, Yeah, I love to just communicate challenging ideas in a really clear, concise and memorable way. And that's why I love doing, I love like starting my own brand and CPG.
[00:37:45] Ray Latif: Okay, so listeners and viewers, please understand that presenting is a very valuable skill. Second, where are you sold right now? What's your price point for sugar sauce?
[00:37:56] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so because I just moved back to Los Angeles, Scott started here with a new co-manufacturer. My first amazing store in Los Angeles is Monsieur Marcel at the Farmer's Market, The Grove in Los Angeles. They're a fantastic grocer that, like you were talking about before, curates their products and vets them, makes sure that they're really confident in what they're selling. So it's been amazing working with them. In specialty stores off of FAIR, which is our major wholesale specialty channel, we're $14.99 SRP. And so there's four servings in a jar. If you're making it for yourself, you can get about three meals out of it, three to four meals. And then if you're having people over, you can get about six to eight eggs in a pan with one jar. they are selling it for a little bit higher because it's a specialty store and it's tending to do really well there. I think when people are really looking for an experience and something that's elevated and new, it can tend to do well. And also, I think the through line that we've been talking about today is cultural convenience and discovery. So stores that focus on that, we see a lot of success there as well.
[00:39:12] Ray Latif: So Caroline, when I saw you at the Winter Fancy Fair, I was like, oh yeah, there's this brand, there's this brand. You gotta go check out Shuka Sauce, especially because Natasha's gonna be on the show on Wednesday. And I hope you did. I hope you got a chance to try the product because again, of the two SKUs, both are great, but the spicy one in particular, I just started thinking about it in a completely different way and the versatility of what you could do with this sauce as well. I'm going to shut up and find out whether or not you actually tried the product.
[00:39:44] Caroline Grace: Of course I did. It was actually yesterday I was looking for any sort of like lunch sort of snack and I went over to your booth and I met your lovely colleague who was running the booth. and the product is absolutely delicious. I don't know why I didn't really connect it at the time. I guess maybe too many fluorescent lights, but I didn't connect it with the shichigo dish. I am so curious because this is quite a niche dish. It's a specialty product. What is your expansion strategy? How do you imagine expanding the SKU count you know, are you going to go laterally? Are you going to go horizontally? And like, how are you going to build this as you get into more retailers to kind of expand the entire brand?
[00:40:26] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. So somebody who grew up kind of in branding first before going into CPG, I've put a lot of thought into that. And that's a question I would get at a really early stage when starting to. So I think expanding horizontally first before going vertically is what my plan is, because Shakshuka, you know, the reason why I saw that there was an opportunity to not only share Shakshuka with people, but also share the conversation about why this dish is so amazing. It exists in almost every country around the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, and it's different everywhere you go based on who's making it, where they grew up, what cultural differences they have in them, how their parents grew up. It can be different everywhere you go. And it means all mixed up in Arabic. So for me, shakshuka itself is a symbol for cultural cooking creativity. What we're trying to do is engage in the conversation that we can celebrate that. And we don't have to shy away from being so specific when making this dish. And we can celebrate mixing and melding cultural flavors. So our product line expansion will reflect that. And some of our flavors will be really experimental and reflect celebrating different cultural flavors. So yes, Spicy is our second SKU. We're just almost launching it. We debuted it at Fancy Fair. And those next flavors will be a little bit more experimental, like I said, before we start doing some different format products.
[00:42:03] Caroline Grace: Ooh, that's so exciting. I actually didn't know that about Shakshuka. I just didn't know. Do you see food service as a key path to expansion? Because it seems like whenever I experience Shakshuka, it's really in a brunch restaurant. It's usually when I'm going out on Sunday with friends. Do you see food service, especially in LA, would be wonderful as an expansion opportunity?
[00:42:28] SPEAKER_00: I do. I think in the same way that customers have seen this dish before and maybe it's been a little daunting for them to make because they know how long it takes to make good tomato sauce and get all of the ingredients. I think restaurants also see that this is a really popular, you know, new experience that customers want to have at a restaurant. restaurants are already doing it. And it can be a very, very helpful thing in restaurants if they already have the sauce, because just like customers can make it in eight to 10 minutes, it can streamline restaurants process making the dish as well. And I got a lot of inquiries about food service at Fancy Fair. And it is something that I've been thinking about. So I You know, it would be amazing to have Xuca kind of be a name in food service as your go-to shakshuka sauce to get started. And we've seen shakshuka on various brunch menus. We even saw it on airlines. United Airlines was serving it for like four years on their menu before people kind of even really started getting interested. So I definitely think it's in the pipeline.
[00:43:39] Caroline Grace: I love that. What are the goals for 2026?
[00:43:43] SPEAKER_00: For 2026, it's definitely expanding our retail footprint on the West Coast and up the West Coast and expanding in business too. So I want to make sure that as I'm getting into retail, I'm doing it sustainably in a way where I can grow with those partners and be successful doing so. So that's my major goal, kind of growing the team a little bit and getting some more things done.
[00:44:09] Caroline Grace: I love it. Um, and then final question I've asked everybody, what do you what are you looking for help with that either Ray and I can connect you with or support with.
[00:44:17] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just that I mean I think a lot of these CPG founders are either solo or really small and there's a lot to do. and we see that our idea is catching on, it has a lot of interest, and we want to make sure that we can do it in a way where we continue to stay successful and also capitalize on the momentum that we have going. So I think help in just that, like making sure that my retail accounts are really strong, I'm growing sustainably, making sure operations fit that, which I just got a new co-man, so we've got a lot to make sure it can hold up. And I'm really excited.
[00:44:57] Ray Latif: Clearly, I'm a big fan. I should be more objective about how I talked about brands. But I think shuka is a really interesting opportunity for consumers to experience shakshuka in a really convenient way and sort of a modern way too. I mean, there are other brands out there that make a shakshuka sauce. I think the way you're approaching this food is a really approachable and modern way. The one question that I have about shakshuka in general is that it is, I think Caroline's mentioned this word, kind of a niche opportunity. And when I see your jar, I almost think versatility is the, you know, the BHAG, right, for this brand, you know, how can I use this product in different ways? Can I use it as a, you know, as a tomato sauce for pasta? Can I use it as a dip? I think I mentioned to you at the Winter Fancy Fair, I was like, I would eat this as a salsa. I know that's sort of taking your eye off the ball because, you know, this is a pretty straightforward thing. Just use it, just add eggs. It says it right on the front of your pack, but I mean, are you thinking about the potential for shuka to be something more than just a base, a foundation for the shakshuka dish?
[00:46:16] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. And that's why when I created the brand, and I'm not sure if I noticed, but because I went to design school, I decided to take on the challenge of doing all of our branding myself with a lot of input and with a lot of research. But that's why I did name it Mediterranean Spice Tomato Sauce as our descriptor instead of Shakshuka Sauce, because I felt that saying Shakshuka Sauce If you don't know what it is, it immediately deters you from discovering if those people aren't looking for that. So it is inspired by shakshuka, meant to use for shakshuka, but also meant to be your new household tomato sauce that exposes you to new cultural flavors. And for me, I don't want people to just make shakshuka, but I want them to use this as their sauce. So we love putting it on other things. I make shakshuka pizza with it for fall. I made pumpkin spiced ravioli with the sauce with pumpkin puree and cream. My dad's Italian. He just puts it on his pasta sauce. He can't help it. And we even dip things in it. So I've dipped like chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks. I collabed with a great vegan brand, Sunday Supper, and we dipped their mozzarella sticks in it at one of the events. And it was so good. So a lot of people say they want to dip chips in it. And I think that's fantastic because it is a healthy, really fresh tasting sauce that I would love people to experience shakshuka, but once you have it, once you taste it, you get an extra jar just to keep it in the pantry when you want to put it on anything that you're looking to add tomato to.
[00:47:56] Ray Latif: And I want to go back to Caroline for a sec, because I think this is where user-generated content, UGC, could really help the brand identify its messaging strategy and why people are buying it, how they're using it. But again, you know, I think there's some risk there, right, in that people who want Shakshuka are going to know this is the brand I want to go to. Caroline, I think it's a tricky question, right? In which direction do you go? Do you stay straight and narrow for the primary use case here, or do you incorporate other uses into that messaging strategy?
[00:48:34] Caroline Grace: I think it depends on, I mean, I think like Natasha said, if you are, it sounds like you are a solopreneur or you have a small team around you, there's nothing but opportunity here. And it's about which opportunities do you really focus on. When we are developing a new SKU, inventory is a massive expense and R&D is always a massive expense. So for where you are right now, I would probably recommend actually doubling down on the familiar use case, and then expanding that through, for example, if you build out a subscription network, then you could start talking about how alternative uses of how to put the product on pizza, for example, or ravioli or that sort of thing. But yeah, I mean, Natasha, I'm really impressed by you. I think like Ray said, your pitch skills are like unbelievable. Oh my goodness, you should be hosting this. What the heck? And I just think that there's nothing but opportunity, especially within the D2C space, even with just one or two SKUs right now that are focused on Shakshuka and really owning that market. re like and putting that back into a daily consumers kitchen is really going to be I think the key primarily.
[00:49:48] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. And I think what what we talked about for a second was that like, there are brands out there. But what I want to do different is really show why shakshuka matters so much and how it can add to your kitchen and why we should be eating it. And so I think that's really where the gap is. And that that's my my primary goal. Thank you so much.
[00:50:08] Ray Latif: And I think just to run this out, your price point is a little bit higher than I think some people would expect for this type of product. In a day and age where I think people are a little bit more cautious about spending money and going out to eat, especially for brunch. I mean, brunch can be, you know, you got two, three people and it's well over $100. I think if you have this high quality shakshuka sauce at home and you can make it for three or four people, you know, for essentially $20, the jar and some eggs, I think it's definitely a more reasonable. opportunity and a more reasonable price for that brunch. I'm so glad that we had this opportunity to speak, Natasha, and a little bit more of an extended opportunity on Elevator Talk. Thank you so much for taking the time. I definitely want to stay in touch. And are we going to see you at Expo West? Are you going to be at that show as well?
[00:51:01] SPEAKER_00: I think so. In one way or another, I'll definitely be there.
[00:51:04] Ray Latif: Yeah, I always recommend for early stage brands, you know, the booth is quite expensive. So walking the show floor is not a bad thing. And just meeting up, just making sure that you are setting up meetings ahead of time and talking to people you want to ahead of time. So I think, you know, please reach out to Caroline, myself or anyone else at BevNET if you're looking to speak with someone at that show and we can help set up that meeting for you.
[00:51:28] SPEAKER_00: I definitely will. Thank you. And Caroline, I'll definitely reach out. Would love to talk to you more as well.
[00:51:33] Caroline Grace: Yeah, no, likewise. Impressed with what you're building. And tasted great.
[00:51:36] SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
[00:51:37] Caroline Grace: I want it for lunch today.
[00:51:38] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I wish I got to give you a jar. I'm glad you got to taste it. And thank you so much, Ray. It's always so great to see you.
[00:51:44] Ray Latif: You as well, Natasha. Thank you. This is precisely why I love this show and I mentioned why I love this show so much because you are introduced to really innovative ideas and concepts and brands and then get to talk to the founders behind them. And it's kind of humbling, honestly, for me because I'm not an entrepreneur and I get to, you know, highlight what brands are doing and talk to them and offer some feedback and advice just based on my own experience in this industry. But they are really changing the face of food and beverage one brand at a time. And, you know, you just think about how categories evolve. I was talking to some folks yesterday at the Fancy Fair about just the evolution of refrigerated snacks and how five or six years ago you wouldn't have seen a ton of those brands that are now in those spaces and different retailers and different channels as well. And it's entrepreneurs that are driving that change.
[00:52:39] Caroline Grace: Absolutely. I mean, I think entrepreneurship is all about innovation and hyper-specific niche ways and how to bring that into the mass market. And Ray, I really admire you. You are such a champion for this stage of business, which is such a critical stage when you're bringing this innovation to, especially into retail and into the bigger network. So again, thank you. I'm really, really honored to be here yet again. I'm excited for the next one. Maybe we'll have to do 2027 inaugural starting episode.
[00:53:13] Ray Latif: I'm going to be bugging you well before 2027, Caroline, to come back on this show. So I really, really appreciate all the insights and experience that you bring to this show and offer to our founders and entrepreneurs. It is extremely valuable and certainly not just for the three folks that joined us today, but everyone listening and watching as well. I definitely want folks to get to know you and stay in touch with you. What's the best way to do so?
[00:53:36] Caroline Grace: Yeah, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Caroline Grace, or visit productandprosper.com.
[00:53:42] Ray Latif: Are you on Instagram too?
[00:53:45] Caroline Grace: No, I am not, but I'm getting many questions about that. So maybe we'll have to expand in 2026, we'll see.
[00:53:50] Ray Latif: I think you should, because I just got a DM, or I was not, I didn't get a DM, I got tagged in a photo that Natasha put up on the Shuka Sauce Instagram page. And she tagged my Instagram handle, which is BevTradeWithY. But I didn't see yours on there. So I'm like, you gotta get on the IG there, Caroline.
[00:54:12] Caroline Grace: I know, I know. Maybe it's on the mission this year. If that's one thing I need help with. For any brands listening, give me your social media experts.
[00:54:21] Ray Latif: There you go. There you go. Well, once again, thank you so much for joining us today, Caroline. Look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you to all the entrepreneurs who joined us today. Thank you to everyone listening and watching. And thank you to our incredible team at BevNET, Nosh, and Taste Radio, the best in the business. Signing off for everyone, I'm Ray Latif, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:54:46] SPEAKER_??: you
