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[00:00:33] 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 will focus on five food brands whose entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to hear feedback and advice from our co-host for this episode. That's Ken Collis, who's the founder and CEO of TLK Fusion. Ken, it's so great to see you.
[00:01:02] Ken Collis: Thank you, Ray, for having me on the show. I really appreciate it.
[00:01:05] Ray Latif: Yeah, well, I really appreciate you joining us. I feel like you are someone that needs to be heard in this industry because you have a ton of experience working with emerging brands, upstart brands. Please tell us a bit about your work and what TLK Fusion does.
[00:01:21] Ken Collis: Of course. Well, thank you, Ray. So we were established in 2009. So we're graduating about 16 years now. We are a family-owned and operated business. Proudly, we have done billions of dollars in transactions, all within the licensing, marketing, retail space. We are very focused on small businesses, but we also target enterprise companies as well. as opportunistic, but we're very particular in who we represent. We're not looking for just another chocolate company, but if you are a chocolate company that reduces menstrual cramps and helps someone sleep at night, we want you. We're most definitely looking at cutting-edge products and We really hand hold the brands along the way and the leadership to ensure that they're going to see the highest level of result not just in revenue but also in brand identity so that consumer confidence built in. And so we're really excited to be on the show today and I thank you very much for the opportunity.
[00:02:21] Ray Latif: Well, again, Ken, I mean, I think you're spot on with the fact that there are brands out there that are doing really differentiated things, really trying to find ways to stand out. I think the question is, how do you educate the consumer? How do you get the consumer aware of and excited about your brand? And you have a bit of experience in that regard as well. When it comes to functionality, you know, what's been the best approach that you've seen or a particular project that you worked on where the consumer was made aware of functionality in a really compelling way?
[00:02:57] Ken Collis: You know, I think we have, you know, there's a very current case study right now by the name of Aurelia Scott Cosmetics, which is in the beauty space. It's headlining all over the beauty industry. She had a freckle kit company. And we all know growing up, who really wanted to have freckles, right? It was sort of like the tacky thing to have. Now it's the most popular thing to have. So we realized very quickly that the retail market just doesn't have it. But there was a demand. So we activated our retail division and we really went to market with some of the leaders like approaching CVS and Target. CVS really began to grasp on, but they wanted to know what was the marketing approach? How were we going to take it to market? We went ahead and of course we aligned it with a hit show right now by name of Love Island and had one of the stars obviously placing it on her face on one of the episodes while we began the negotiations to enter into CVS. Proud to say we've got a commitment of $10 million annually from CVS now in purchase orders. And we sold out the first week being on the shelves. But it's a trifecta approach, as I'm sure you're aware, on how to be able to not just get into the retail stores, but how to move the product off the shelves. We're masters at that. And we're so, so excited to be able to speak to some of the brands that are on the show today about how we could help them master the same.
[00:04:15] Ray Latif: I do remember a time when freckles were not cool and it definitely feels like they're back and trying to figure out ways to help people, not just, I guess, enhance their appearance, but do it in a really fun and engaging way is, I think, a cornerstone of what CPG is all about, especially nowadays when just attention spans are so fleeting and it's difficult to capture the attention of someone as quickly as CPG brands need to, which is two seconds or less. So, well, I'm really excited to start the show for you to meet our founders today. Are you ready to meet our first?
[00:04:54] Ken Collis: I'm ready. Let's go, Ray.
[00:04:56] Ray Latif: All right. That entrepreneur is Steve Kim. He's the founder of a brand called Juicy Bite. Steve, it's great to see you.
[00:05:02] Speaker 2: Great to see you. Thanks for having me on the show.
[00:05:05] Ray Latif: Yes, I met you in June at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City. And man, I was pretty impressed with what you're doing. I'm not even gonna try to explain it. Please do. Tell us all about Juicy Bite.
[00:05:18] Speaker 2: Got it. Thank you so much. This is Steve Kim. I'm here to introduce you to the next generation ready-to-eat chicken breast, the Juicy Bite. As the brand name indicates, it is very juicy. And also, I'm confident in saying that it is the juiciest chicken breast on earth. Juicy Bite comes in a single-serving vacuum package and available in four flavors. Each pack is just under 125 calories, packed with 25 grams of protein. It is ready to eat after 30 seconds of microwave. It's super healthy, super convenient. Also, what makes our chicken breast juicy is in our open bag steam sous vide process. It's a little different from the traditional sous vide process because it's open bag, so we can drain out the liquid waste that comes out from the meat during the cooking process. So the result is the chicken breast is always fresh, clean and juicy at the same time.
[00:06:27] Ray Latif: I can attest this is a delicious product. I tried it at the show and I was like, how do you guys do this? And Steve, as you just explained, there is a process that's very different than typical ways of sous vide cooking chicken or really any other product. I just want to be clear, though. Is the product already cooked when you put it in the microwave? That is correct.
[00:06:52] Speaker 2: It's fully cooked and just heat it up in the microwave.
[00:06:56] Ray Latif: And how many grams of protein are in each breast? It's 25 grams minimum. I feel like I've been seeing products like Juicy Bite on LinkedIn, just like hints of them here and there, maybe on Instagram. Nothing is great in terms of branding or presentation. Ken, have you seen a product like this? Are you interested in a brand like this?
[00:07:16] Ken Collis: Yeah, I'm very interested in a brand like this because you're new to market. It's a very large white space right now. We're on the go. We don't have time to sit there and cook a chicken breast for 25 minutes. We don't have time to go home to do it, but we want to eat healthy. So you bring that opportunity to the market. Great job, Steve, of what you've created. Great job. Thank you so much.
[00:07:38] Ray Latif: Yeah, and I think protein, as hot as it is right now in terms of ingredients that people are searching for, you know, when people talk about clean protein, no added ingredients. Well, a chicken breast is a one ingredient protein source. I think the big question for me is how do you convince people? to microwave chicken. And I know, as Steve pointed out, that this product is already fully cooked when you put it in the microwave. So essentially, you're heating it up in the microwave as much as you are cooking it. Ken, any thoughts on how to, you know, make that message as clear and as clean as possible?
[00:08:18] Ken Collis: Yeah, I think, you know, individuals are very scared of you know obviously are there possibilities of getting sick from the product if it's not fully cooked. I think the education that needs to go out to the consumer is I think you're doing really well on your recipe side and doing my research with your on your brand. I do think that the science behind it which is super exciting and the fact that they can feel comfortable knowing that this product is absolutely safe to be able to consume in 30 seconds in the microwave is your messaging. That's where you need to go. If you look at some of the other brands in the market, like Poppy, who just got bought for 1.9 billion by Pepsi, right? It was all about explaining what is the benefits of a prebiotic and a probiotic and how do you all implement that into a can and be able to embed that into your system. So there's a bit of science that I think needs to be discussed but in a very fun way, Steve. And I think you're beginning to do that. Your marketing approach is 1,000% off the chain. Great job at what you're doing. But remember, you've got just a few seconds when the consumers at the aisle, aisle nine or in the refrigerated section, to get them to buy that product. So we have to make sure that they're comfortable and they're understanding to what you're offering from a science standpoint.
[00:09:38] Ray Latif: Yeah. And Steve, this is version two, so to speak, of your brand. You had had a brand on market, but this is the new, I guess, face of what you're doing. What did you learn from the first iteration, from version one, that you've tried to apply in terms of the packaging and branding in what we're seeing now with Juicy Byte?
[00:10:01] Speaker 2: So version one, our brand name used to be Korkio, and Korkio is a sound of a chicken in Korean. So I wanted to embed the Korean background, my Korean background into the product. The problem was that it's super difficult for English speaker to read off, to pronounce the Korkio correctly. So the people always call it Korkoi. So that was the big moment that I was thinking to change my brand name. And also, the reason why we went from a single serving package to, oh, it's still a single serving package, but we are coming up with a six pack bundle. And it's because it was super difficult for us to display it on the supermarket if it's single serving. So we decided to put it into the box as all the other brands do in the general grocery stores. So that's two major changes that we made.
[00:11:00] Ray Latif: Where is it merchandised in store? Where are you sold? Is it in the cold case next to raw chicken? Is it in freezers? Is it near grab and go?
[00:11:10] Speaker 2: So right now we're in F3 markets and especially the H Mart and H Mart are selling in their frozen freezers right next to the sausages.
[00:11:22] Ray Latif: Okay, well, I think that's a fair place to sell them, but the freezer door can be kind of tough because you have to open that door, you have to kind of look for your product. But if people are reaching for it, I mean, they're going to try to find it anywhere. It can be tough sometimes in terms of hierarchy of needs. Why am I buying this product? What do I enjoy about this product and brand? Ken, I'd love for you to weigh in on this. When you're talking about why you think a consumer would buy a product like Juicy Bite, is it because of the protein? Is it because it's going to taste good? Is it because it's convenient? Talk about that hierarchy and where you see all those three aspects landing.
[00:12:07] Ken Collis: So I think your marketing approach is going to be first and foremost the most important. And you've done a great job with that Steve. I think second to that the consumer is going to look at what are the nutritional facts. We all know that we live in a society today that is not really reliant on artificial you know ingredients and fillers and things of that sort. So the fact that you have so much protein in your product is very important for the day to day. Also it's convenience. right guys i mean we're able to to cook this up in 30 seconds i love that i know some would be a little bit concerned on you know well what is it going to taste like what's going to be man if i could throw it right in the microwave and go that's great but you have to be able to attract the consumer when they're in that freezer section and you know rain brings up a really valid point you're going to have to open the door look at the ingredients, grab onto it and then buy, put it in your cart and buy. So I do think that doing in-store demos, especially with like the leaders, like the Costco's and the Walmart's and you know, the Air One's and the Whole Foods of the world, I think that those are gonna be really important places for you to be. And I also think that influencer marketing, having content creators really go out there and start to talk about how their experiences with your brand and how they're using different recipes. is really going to spiral your business in an upward trend in a very quick fashion.
[00:13:24] Speaker 2: Yeah, so actually at the H-Mart, we've done many store demos. And we realized that people, the reason why people don't buy our product is because they don't know if our product exists in the stores. So it's super difficult to see in the freezer. But once we were on the demo, our conversion rate was 30%. We are always number one in the sales. So realize that how important it is to actually have people experience our chicken breast and the spring roll.
[00:13:51] Ken Collis: Ray, not to interrupt, but what is the shelf life on your product right now?
[00:13:55] Speaker 2: If it's frozen, it's one year. And if it's thawed, we recommend 10 days. That's great, good job.
[00:14:04] Ray Latif: Yeah, that is a great shelf life, I would say. We've got about 30 seconds left. As far as you think about your channel strategy, I almost feel like convenience stores are kind of a no-brainer for what you're doing. I mean, they already have the microwave in there. You know, they have a grab-and-go set. I'm sure there are a lot of people that go in there and are looking for protein. Have you considered the C-Store channel yet? Is it something that you'd want to look at?
[00:14:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, actually, after the Fantasy Food Show, we've been talking with two different largest distributors in New York City. And we're actually launching our product over 400 stores, the bodegas and convenience stores in New York City. And we're focusing on the city, especially the convenience stores.
[00:14:51] Ray Latif: Outstanding. I love that. Well, I can't wait to go to New York next month and see your product at a local bodega. I'll be your first part. What's the price point again on a single pack?
[00:15:02] Speaker 2: Right now we're discussing it, but it's gonna be between $4 and $5.
[00:15:06] Ray Latif: That's a steal. That's, I mean, come on. Yeah, that's a great price for what you're selling. Steve, this has been such a great conversation. Thank you so much for taking the time. And kudos to you for keeping your chicken breast on that fork for the past 10 minutes. That's impressive on its own. Well done.
[00:15:22] Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
[00:15:24] Ray Latif: Thank you. And please stay in touch. Let us know if we can help in any way along your journey. Got it.
[00:15:29] Speaker 1: Will do. Great job, Steve. Thank you so much.
[00:15:51] Ray Latif: All right, great start to the show. Let's keep it going with Sasha DeJulian, who is the founder and CEO Send Bars. Sasha, it's great to see you.
[00:16:01] Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me on.
[00:16:04] Ray Latif: So a dear colleague of mine shared a Sendbar with me and I was blown away by the quality. You have a really great product and brand. Tell our audience all about it.
[00:16:14] Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm so glad that you got to try our bars. My background is actually I'm a professional climber. I always made my own bars because there was nothing on the market that I actually wanted to eat that met my standards. Even bars pretending to be healthy have hidden ingredients. that are artificial sweeteners and chemicals like natural flavorings. I always wanted greens in my bars, so each of our bars have a handful of greens, adaptogens, and plant-based protein. We really lean into healthy, real food ingredients and have the healthiest protein bar on the market, at least according to Forbes.
[00:16:56] Ray Latif: Sasha, I was unaware of your fame as a professional climber. I'm on your Instagram page right now. You have almost 500,000 followers. So I'm sure there are people who have sent you products and asked you to endorse products in the past. Clearly they fell short. What's Send Bars? What do you have in your product that make them so much better than what has previously been available in this bar category?
[00:17:23] Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. So all of our bars are fresh batch. We make them locally. We really lean into sustainability, ethically sourced ingredients. Our base is dates and nuts. And then we also have plant-based protein in the form of pea protein. We have greens. We have adaptogens like reishi and cordyceps. And we feel really proud about the temperature test that we've run our ingredients through. We've sent over 100 different athletes from the peak of Everest to Antarctica to French Polynesia. Our bars don't freeze on chairlifts. They don't melt in your backpack when you're out on a hike. And they're such a great companion snack to eat healthy on the go when you're just having a busy day and you have a sun bar in the dash of your car. and you need to actually have something that satiates you, that keeps you full, and that gives you that long lasting energy without compromising on your health.
[00:18:25] Ray Latif: Before we get to Ken, target consumer. It seems like you're marketing to a lot of different people, but if there's one consumer that you're really trying to get with Sendbars, who is it?
[00:18:34] Speaker 3: It's people who really don't want to compromise on how to live a busy, healthy lifestyle, while actually having food that won't compromise those values that they're looking for. So it's people that are living busy lifestyles, whether it's working an executive job, being a busy mom, being driven by having a snack that meets their adventure purposes, whether it's sending the gnar through like some ski line or climbing some crazy cliff, or just sending your daily life of having a not time to stop and eat lunch or breakfast because you have a busy day.
[00:19:16] Ray Latif: Ken, I've seen a lot of energy bars or protein bars or nutrition bars come to market. Some fare better than others. I think what Sasha is talking about in terms of just a better option out there is true. I mean, again, I've had these bars and they do feel like a better option. That doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a success. I asked you about Steve and trying to figure out what is the right way to promote this brand. How do you lead the conversation with a CPG brand? In the case Send Bars, what's your advice?
[00:19:50] Ken Collis: Well, you know, Sasha mentioned something that's very interesting to me. We have a handful of greens in our bar. And what do we not do on the daily? Consumers in the United States, unfortunately, don't eat enough fruits and vegetables. We just don't. So we're putting them in powders that taste horrible for the most part. You know, we're sitting there trying to do green shots throughout the day. Well, Sasha, you're the solution to it. So I think if you look at the white space and there's a really good lane for you to go down right now it's going to be on you know having something nutritious on the go. That's always very important for us instead of picking up a you know candy bar. Why not be able to pick up obviously some bars. But also I think it also will help meet the standards that we need you know for nutrition. And you know that brings us to the greens and the fruits and everything that we need to be able to obviously keep the nutritional facts in place. So I think that's really your messaging. And I think that's where your open market is going to be. Now who you target and who you demo is the person on the run. That's everyone in the United States for the most part. Right. So you've got that built in audience. But I think where you will agree that we need to target a little bit more of a solution and I think that solution is going to be based around the greens that you have in your product.
[00:21:06] Speaker 3: Yeah, I appreciate that. You know, I was making my bars when I was going on trips where I'd be living on a portal edge 1500 feet up on a rock wall. And you're not getting your greens up there, you would go like a month without greens. And so that's obviously the extreme. But that was the infancy of the idea of really getting greens in a digestible way that tastes good, that you're like, great, check the box, got my greens. And then it translates to like, whether I'm driving between meetings and just want to make sure that I don't have time to stop and eat a salad, but I can eat a bar. And so yeah, I love that advice. Thank you.
[00:21:48] Ken Collis: Great job. And Sasha, what is your shelf life on your products? It's very nutritious. So I, you know, I always, I'm like, oh, is it two days, you know, for retail or what does it look like? And is it shelf stable as well where we could just not refrigerate the product?
[00:22:02] Speaker 3: Yeah, our product is shelf stable for 12 months.
[00:22:07] Ken Collis: Beautiful, great job.
[00:22:09] Ray Latif: This seems like a no-brainer for a direct-to-consumer. It's not too expensive, I would assume, to ship a 12-pack, a 24-pack of your products. Where are you, though, in retail? Are you primarily focused on D2C at this point? Are you trying to get into retail? And if so, what stores? What's your footprint at this point?
[00:22:26] Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. So we started as a digital first brand, really playing into our subscription model. It's very healthy for our business. And now this year, we started entering retail spaces across coffee shops, gyms, inclusive of climbing gyms, boutique fitness studios, independent grocery stores. That includes Air One in California. And also, Yeah, alternative marketplaces. We also cater to professional sports teams, and we're in some hospitals and schools as well.
[00:22:59] Ray Latif: What's your ideal retailer? What is the place where you think Senbars would do best and why?
[00:23:06] Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say that our product meets a lot of the values of retailers like Whole Foods, as well as Sprouts, as well as natural grocers. Really, in that clean label positioning, we're a product that makes no compromises. We really take our guardrails seriously. We don't want any artificial sweeteners, no chemicals, no added sugar. All of our products are made out of real whole dates. which is where we get our sweetener from, and that's where just the product tastes good. We also have, you know, like our in-house made nut butters that make the base of our product, as well as hemp hearts and chia seeds and all of these just real ingredients that you can identify on your shelf, and they're not artificial.
[00:23:56] Ray Latif: You know, Ken, you mentioned a retail chain that I think Sendbars could do well in, especially because they're focusing a bit more on better-for-you products, and that's CVS. What do you think about a channel strategy that might focus on natural first and then get into drug and mass and convenience? I mean, you could also look at specialty stores and non-traditional retail like an REI or other outdoor sports chains. But, you know, if you were advising Sasha, and I guess in a sense you are, where would you go in terms of retail? Where would you ask her to focus her time and energy?
[00:24:34] Ken Collis: She's entered in the leaders of retail being Erewhon. So great job, Sasha. That's not easy to do. We're very close to that chain and we do a lot with them because they do the same amount of volume that a Whole Foods does per store, if not greater. So there's a lot of revenues. Everyone has their eye. It's like that spotlight is right on Erewhon, right? So you know what? 90% of it is done. Now we just have to continue just like, I don't want to use a virus, but just sort of like a virus. We have to continue to grow and grow and grow. I do think that you need to be pick up and go. I think you need to be in C stores, including CVS. I think Walgreens will take a deep look at this. You know, we've got truckers with Pilot that are on the go. They're in unhealthy products. Why can't we begin to message to them? I also think, Sasha, we can't forget about our Army, Navy and Marine bases. We can't forget about, you know, pick up and goes inside cruise ships, airports. These are places you really want to capture. You know, if you look at Poppy's story, right, I know we're short on time, but if you look at Poppy's story real quickly, you know, she said, I got into a thousand stores, but then we didn't really grow to the level we need to until we got into over a hundred thousand doors, right? And you're a consumable product. You have to continue growing the retail sector.
[00:25:52] Speaker 3: Yeah, that's super helpful. Thank you.
[00:25:54] Ken Collis: You're welcome. Great job.
[00:25:56] Ray Latif: Well, I certainly hope that we'll see Senbars in my local CVS or perhaps in Whole Foods. There's no Erewhon here in Boston, even though actually Erewhon did start in Boston. That's a different story for a different time. I really feel like there's a lot of runway for what you're doing. And I feel like your packaging is beautiful. Your nutritional profile is outstanding. And your taste is great. And I think those three things are definitely the foundation for a great brand. So Sasha, really well done. Great start and excited to see how your journey unfolds from here. Please let us know if we can help in any way. And I really mean that. And I say that all the time. But, you know, BevNET and Nosh and Taste Radio, we talk about what's going on in the industry a lot. But we're here to support the community as much as possible as well. So if you'd like to be connected to someone in our universe, or if there's somebody that you're looking for in terms of ingredient suppliers or retailers or investors, just reach out. You can send us a note to ask at Taste Radio.com, hit us up on LinkedIn, Instagram, however, whatever is easiest for you.
[00:26:58] Speaker 3: I appreciate that. I'm a newcomer to the CPG space, you know, sports on the professional side is my background. And I love just entering this space and meeting all of these incredible founders and you guys, and really appreciate you having me on the show.
[00:27:13] Ray Latif: It's our honor. Thank you so much, Sasha. Thank you, Sasha. Let's keep the show going with Grace Feinerman, who is the founder of Date Smarter. I love that name. Love the brand. Grace, it's great to see you.
[00:27:27] Speaker 3: Thank you. Hi, guys. Thanks so much for having me.
[00:27:30] Ray Latif: Thank you so much for joining us. Yes, I encountered Date Smarter at the Summer Fancy Food Show as well. That is a heck of a show, by the way. So just a pro tip for anyone who is thinking about attending next year's event, particularly the one in New York City. It's a really great opportunity for early stage brands. It doesn't seem as intuitive as you might think. But upstairs, I forget the name of the hall, but basically you're overlooking, I think it's the Hudson?
[00:27:58] Speaker 3: It's gorgeous. And there are all these windows. It feels open. You're not in the basement. It was great. It was a great show. Great experience.
[00:28:06] Ray Latif: Great to hear it. Date Smarter. Tell us all about what you do.
[00:28:09] Speaker 3: Yeah, so we make chocolate covered date caramels that have eight grams of fiber, no gluten, no dairy, no refined sugar. We're vegan as well. But this really all came about while I was working as a TV news anchor reporter and I was traveling throughout the country and I wanted a healthier snack that didn't have any chemicals, any additives. And I kind of wanted to go back to the basics where things like fruit and dates used to be dessert. So how can we take that and make it look a little more like the dessert we would grab at a gas station.
[00:28:42] Ray Latif: We've got all kinds of famous people on this episode. I didn't realize your background as well, Grace. How many years were you a news reporter or anchor?
[00:28:51] Speaker 3: Yeah, I was for about four years. I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2019. And then I was reporting through the COVID era a little bit after. And so this kind of all came about. It's kind of crazy. It was a complete 180, what I'm doing now, but it all came about through that.
[00:29:10] Ray Latif: Well, I'm glad that you've traded in the microphone for the, I don't know, apron? Yeah, I know, totally. Yes, but it feels like this is a brand that's totally trending, right? It feels like people want better-for-you snacks that are made with better-for-you ingredients that they recognize. And dates are one of the most underrated super foods, I believe. out there, but they're growing. I feel like people are becoming a lot more aware of their power. And, you know, Ken, I don't know. It's like, I feel like dates are really having a moment and Date Smarter is coming at a perfect time.
[00:29:55] Ken Collis: Well, you know, we met Gr Grace, you know, I'm the product. Um, as is our f So we reached out to her her in a space that is v working through all of th now, but I will tell you As being one that's an avid chocolate eater, I look for alternatives. I want to keep my sugar down. I want a healthier option so I don't get addicted to, you know, constantly eating sugary sweets. Date Smarter brings that. There's no question. There's nothing left in our inventory. And we purchased a bunch of it. So, you know, one thing I think we should talk about, though, Grace, and we may have had this offline, but I think for the viewers, it's important to know Talk to us a little bit more about really the benefits of the product. You know, there's some health benefits to it. And although we can't make medical claims, let's talk just a little bit about what people are saying. How do they feel? How's it helping their digestive system? Talk to us about those benefits.
[00:30:55] Speaker 3: Totally. And as you guys were both saying, dates have so many benefits. They're also low glycemic. So when you eat them, you don't process the sugar the same way as you would process even a stevia or an ethanol or an allulose or cane sugar. And also they're really filling. They're super high in fiber. I mean, whatever your fitness goals are. I have people reaching out to me that are runners and want to eat them, you know, as fuel for a marathon. I have people reaching out to me that they're on a weight loss journey. Some people have even reached out to me. I didn't even think of this. We're on weight loss medications who need fiber to be able to keep regular. I mean, no matter what your journey is, fiber is so important. I think a lot of people really focus on protein and I'm a huge health fitness person. I definitely try to get in my protein. It's hard, but. I think it's really important people focus on fiber because that just keeps your body feeling good. It's not just about what you look like. I mean, people who are pregnant, they are told to eat dates before. Again, I can't really go into any medical claims on that, but I have a lot of people reach out to me saying that That's a way that they find our product. And I also think chocolate is really medicinal, but a lot of the chocolate you have out there just has so much gunk in it, you know? And so dark chocolate that's sweetened with a coconut sugar, sweetened with dates, maybe even a little bit of cane sugar. I mean, I think that's great for you, you know?
[00:32:25] Ken Collis: I agree. And, you know, the chocolate that is to the masses is not chocolate. Exactly. It's watered down sugar. So, you know, your product that, you know, I was a little concerned about the texture. I will say when I got it and I was delighted, over delighted that the texture was amazing and they're amazing frozen. They're amazing.
[00:32:46] Speaker 3: I love them frozen. We actually have two new flavors coming out. We're launching a peanut butter in September and a peppermint for the holidays. And those frozen are so incredible. Yeah. So I usually eat them frozen as well. I put them in the freezer. And my dad, when I was visiting, took one out and his tooth kind of almost had an issue there. So I always warn people, be careful.
[00:33:08] Ken Collis: You know you're doing your job.
[00:33:09] Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. I was like, I want it to be stuck in your teeth, you know, because a lot of date products, they're amazing. I eat a lot of them, but you taste like you're kind of getting a protein bar vibe. And that is just not what I wanted.
[00:33:23] Ray Latif: You know, Grace, like our dear co-host, Ken, I have a sweet tooth and I love munching on chocolate and candies. But, you know, you're just not supposed to do too much. You're not supposed to consume too much sugar and whatnot. I love when I come across a clean label candy or chocolate and it feels like there's a groundswell of new brands coming to market. But I feel like the ones that are really succeeding, the ones that are really attracting attention, the ones that focus on flavor first and foremost, taste still has to be a priority. How are you talking about taste to your consumers? How are you talking about texture to consumers?
[00:34:07] Speaker 3: Yes. Well, it's always a challenge because date products have been around for a little bit. I know they're really hot right now, but something like an RX bar, you know, people know their dates in that. And when I tell them I have a date product, as Ken mentioned, they usually think that it's going to taste, um, Tastes like that. So what I try to do is I even have people when I do demos say, I don't really like dates. I don't know if I want to try it. I say, just try it and let me know. Like you can spit it out. That's totally fine. I won't be offended. Just keep an open mind and give it a try. So I think that has been a challenge for me. You know, to be honest, I even considered changing the name at first. Like, do I make it something that's not a date product, right? So people will think of it as a candy. I thought more about that and thought, yeah, not a great idea. I really do like the name. But yeah, that is a challenge for it as well. But I think it's, you know, anytime I talk to someone and I'm pitching my product and they say, we already have date products. Why should we pick you? I say, because try it and you'll see that texture. It tastes just like the real thing. So I'm really happy we're able to do that.
[00:35:09] Ken Collis: Great job, Grace. And one one comment on that is I can't stand beats. I don't know rain grades. If you guys like the taste, it tastes like dirt.
[00:35:18] Speaker 3: I hate them.
[00:35:19] Ken Collis: Oh, I cannot do like a raw beet or beet juice. I can't, but look at and I don't know what the name of the brand is, but a brand came out where it's like a little gummy. It's pure beat with a little bit of sugar that they put in it and you eat it daily. It's for heart health supposedly medical claim, You know, it's for heart health and it tastes phenomenal. That's the same with Date Smarter. You don't have to like the texture of dates. I grew up being date, so I'm Italian. So for me, it's part of, you know, what we grew up with. But a lot of people don't like the texture. Try Date Smarter, my friends, because I will tell you, the product is amazing. It's your alternative to that sweet that you want throughout the day. It's just so good. You've done a really good job. Just keep it going.
[00:36:03] Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Thank you.
[00:36:05] Ray Latif: Well, on the subject of the name, you have a great, I guess, tagline as well, which is the name is Date Smarter. And the tagline is break up with unhealthy snacks. So I love that. I guess there's also a double entendre for Date Smarter in that date support brain health. And as you mentioned on your website, bone health as well. What's the price point per package?
[00:36:26] Speaker 3: Yes, so it is a premium product. We sell it wholesale for $4.50. We're in a variety of grocery stores. I mean, Air One I know sells it for $8.99. Some stores bump it up a little more. I had one store that was more consignment style sell it for $7.50. So it is a premium product for sure.
[00:36:46] Ray Latif: It's a premium product, but I think for the ingredients and for where you are at your stage of development, it's an appropriate price point. I guess the last question is, who's helping you sell it? Who's helping you promote the brand? If you have an influencer strategy already, I know it's still early for you, but how are you getting people interested in this product from a social media standpoint and beyond?
[00:37:07] Speaker 3: Man, it is a grind because right now it is me, myself and I doing everything like a chicken with my head cut off, but I am so grateful for it. And I really enjoy it. And I do it full time. So I like to be busy. But yeah, that's definitely something we're thinking about in the future when it comes to influencers. I really just try to reach out to people and say, hey, can I send you this product? No strings attached. And a lot of them do post it. I think we've also been really strategic about where we place our product. A place like Air One, a ton of people find it in there. I enter in pitch competitions. It's how we won the Fairway Find of 2025. We didn't have to pay for a lot of signs and great shelf placements, so just trying to get it in front of as many people as possible. But, you know, as a startup, as someone who's bootstrapping it, that is our next step, to really start to work with people on selling this and blowing it up, I guess, so to speak, because right now it's just been really bootstrapped and throwing as many as I can in my bag and walking through the streets of New York. So that is the process that's yet to be determined.
[00:38:14] Ray Latif: You are a true entrepreneur through and through. You're going through it. And I know that there's a good future for Date Smarter. And when you look back on all this, you're gonna be like, man, I love doing that. So many entrepreneurs that I've spoken with want to go back in time. to those days when they were grinding, because it was so fun and there were so many unknowns, but it was, you're the one in charge of your destiny. So, Grace, thank you so much for joining us on the show. Please, if there's any way we can help out, just let us know if you're looking for folks to help you with your package design or with marketing or whatnot, or just have any questions, just let us know and we'll do our best to help.
[00:38:58] Speaker 3: Awesome. I appreciate that. Thank you both so much.
[00:39:00] Ken Collis: Thank you. Great. Great job.
[00:39:02] Speaker 3: Bye.
[00:39:04] Ray Latif: I love this show. I love this show because we get to meet really amazing, energetic founders who, again, are just changing the way that the food industry looks, tastes. I don't know if the food industry tastes a certain way, but you know what I mean.
[00:39:17] Ken Collis: Yeah, 100%.
[00:39:18] Ray Latif: Yes. All right. Let's move on to our next guest for this episode of Elevator Talk. That's Kea Wingfield, who is the founder and CEO of Kea's Snacks. Kea, it's great to see you.
[00:39:32] Speaker 4: Hey, hi, I'm Kea. Thanks for having me.
[00:39:35] Ray Latif: Well, thank you so much for joining us. And I love your hat. Anything but boring. Is that the tagline for Kea's Snacks?
[00:39:41] Speaker 4: That's kind of our model. Yes, very much.
[00:39:44] Ray Latif: Like I like my chocolate and candy, I also love my potato chips. And you have, whoa, these are really, really cool looking potato chips. Tell us all about what you do.
[00:39:55] Speaker 4: Sure. So I was born and raised in Bombay in India, and I've been in the US for almost 20 years now. I'm actually not a CPG person. I'm a pastry chef. I had a thriving dessert business that, you know, the bottom fell out in 2020. So we pivoted to making modern Indian American to-go meals. And with those meals, I would send teeny little bags of masala chips as a thank you for letting me pivot. And then not even a week later, people were calling to order just the chips. And that's how we came to market. And like overnight, I had to learn how to make a CPG product and make a shelf stable and all that fun stuff. But the origin story of the chips is even better to me. So I married a white guy, and he didn't like Indian food. And I'm like, what am I going to do with you? I can't divorce you over this. There is no judge who's going to be like, he doesn't like your food, let him go. I can't kill him because I love him. So I had to find a way to bridge the gap and invite him into my culture, but in a softer way and a more approachable, making the unapproachable approachable, if you will. So the Bombay blend that's on my chips right now, the Bombay spice chips, I used to make that blend for myself because I would put, I was so homesick, I would put it on eggs and tacos and salads and potatoes. And one day I took his favorite snack, which is a good old salted potato chip, go figure, put the blend on there, gave it to him, and he fell in love. That's how he learned to eat Indian food. That's how he learned to eat all kinds of cultural food. It opened up his palate. And it was a massive aha moment for me as a chef. I'm like, this is the way. This is the way we can make the unapproachable approachable, if you will. So now he eats Indian food. So no divorce or murder. Not yet. Although he's always on thin ice. But that's my story. We launched, we relaunched, we hand packaged, handmade everything for four years. could not keep up with demand anymore. So we relaunched this year in January with a fantastic co-packer, organic, single-origin spices directly from India. Because I know what my motherland can produce, I had to get the best stuff. The potatoes are American. The product is made in America. It really honors both my cultures of Indian and American. So here we are.
[00:42:04] Ray Latif: Incredible. I think you need to create a substack or do some sort of op-ed. I already know the title. The title is Potato Chip Saved My Marriage.
[00:42:14] Speaker 4: Done, done, doing it now, yeah.
[00:42:18] Ray Latif: Thank you. Well, okay, so number one, my mouth is watering, which is always a good sign when I'm doing these shows, because it looks like your product just tastes amazing. You have two varieties. You have your Bombay Spiced Potato Chips and your Black Salt Potato Chips. Both are kettle cooked, described as kettle cooked, and described as clean spices. And the packaging is just so standout. I think that's a picture, a caricature of you in the middle. Is that right?
[00:42:43] Speaker 4: It is, yes. It's my icon face on there.
[00:42:46] Ray Latif: Yes. And it's clearly, you know, you clearly know what you're getting into. I have a lot more to say, but Ken, I know you have a lot to say as well.
[00:42:56] Ken Collis: Take it away. You know, I'm really excited about this, Ray and Kea. I mean, till death do us potato. I mean, that's the tagline, right? But I got to tell you, at the end of the day, you've done a phenomenal job in creating product. You know, I was trying to go through before the show and order some of your products and I can't wait to try it. But you know, I I think you take your vibrant energy. You have such great energy. I can feel that. And that's what the brand tone is. That's your ethos, really, going forward. I think the comical side of what you're saying is really how people are going to engage. We're moving into a society, interesting enough, we're moving into a society, according to reports that have been done, where consumers are becoming fatigued with celebrity brands. Okay, now I'm a Mecca and that I'm a product of the Kardashian family, right? We created, you know, brands with them 16 years ago to where we are today, but those will always be there. But the brand owner that's putting on the hairnet and going behind the scenes and creating and developing and the short videos that are coming out is what's gonna be really important for you. I would have a camera on you all day every day. don't mean what you're doing because that's how people are going to begin to you know just the way that Ray's mouth is watering so is mine because Ray and I have something very in common we love chocolate we love snacks and we love potato chips so now we want to taste something very different and you're bringing your culture to the U.S. market but everyone needs to really really embrace that. Where are you sold right now? Where can we find you?
[00:44:27] Speaker 4: Oh, so we are focusing all our efforts in the Mid-Atlantic. We have a kind of an omni-channel approach. We just launched into 1,000 home goods stores. And we are in Kroger Publix and about to launch into another national retailer in January. So we're trying to grow fast. It's a fast-moving category. And we just want to bring as many chips as possible and as many hands as possible, as fast as possible.
[00:44:52] Ken Collis: Yep, you're a volume-based business.
[00:44:54] Speaker 4: Good job. We have a dream to do a multi-category brand, right? The chips are a foot in the door. I'm a chef. I love to innovate. It's hard to edit sometimes, but we really want to expand this POV into other formats as well.
[00:45:07] Ray Latif: Kea, I have a lot of questions. I'm trying to figure out exactly where to start here. Let's start with HomeGoods for a second. How do you get into HomeGoods?
[00:45:15] Speaker 4: They saw me, they saw my bag, this particular one somewhere in New York, and they reached out. They're like, how soon can we get you in? And literally within a month and a half, we were on their shelves.
[00:45:26] Ray Latif: How's the brand performing there?
[00:45:28] Speaker 4: It's doing pretty good. We launched last week. I've been getting a lot of tags. I've been getting a lot of tags from my community. A lot of Indian women showing up for it. A lot of Caucasian women showing up for it. Because the second they see the bindi on the icon, they know it's an Indian-centric brand. And it just kind of makes them feel seen, you know?
[00:45:49] Ray Latif: Well, that's a perfect segue to my next question because I'm scrolling through your Instagram page here. And back in December of 2024, your packaging looked quite different. It was a clear bag. There was a sticker with the label, just like closing the bag. Pretty basic, pretty minimalist. Your new packaging is, as Ken and I have talked about, is just so standout and impressive. Talk about that process of rebranding or redesigning your packaging.
[00:46:20] Speaker 4: Yeah. So my older brother did all the packaging and the branding work. He's not a CPG guy. I had to beg him, although it's easy to manipulate older brothers. It wasn't too hard. But he's a design guy. He's brilliant. And because he knows me so well, he was the only one that could do justice to what we're trying to do. We really think about it in a very holistic way. So this is a family brand. There is a poem around the face that my husband wrote, by the way, the white guy I talked about. He wrote that there is some Hindi lettering on each side that say potato chips. The seam on the back is my mom's Sari border. This hand is my six-year-old daughter's hand. The brand is built in my son's name. This is a family brand through and through, and we just want people to feel completely welcome. And there is about 36 grams of joy in each bag.
[00:47:13] Ray Latif: Wow. Amazing. Truly amazing. That was a minute of amazingness. Thank you for sharing. By the way, this is a record now. The number of times in a good way that my forehead has hit the microphone during a conversation like this. So well done, Kea. You know, Ken, I love your advice of really making Kea the center of the marketing strategy, having that camera follow her around. I think that's a really good idea. But, you know, there are certain things that are going to work more than others. How would you talk to entrepreneurs about toeing that line between being too personal, revealing maybe too much and almost touching that uncomfortable level of sharing too much and also kind of staying on brand and really focusing on selling the product in a really authentic way?
[00:48:15] Ken Collis: You're a great question. I do think that the brand needs to speak for itself. I think you've done a really good job. You know obviously creating an identified ethos that the consumers are going to really be able to engage with. Because what's the key right with CPG brands. Right. You're on the shelf. And the consumer is going to, within a minute, decide if they're going to want to pull it into their cart or not. And you have to do like you did with Ray and I, where you're captivating our senses, right? Our palate begins to water. We become excited. I mean, we've all been in that moment, right? You've done that, Kea. I do think we're moving into a society as stated earlier where the brand wants to know who the leadership is and that's going to be important. It doesn't mean you have to dilute yourself you know over and beyond what the quality of the brand is and what your future of the brand is. But I definitely think you should be a part of that. And you know a heads up for HomeGoods because we do hundreds of millions of dollars with HomeGoods as an agency. Sell 60 percent of your product in six weeks and they're going to reorder you for the next 12 months.
[00:49:15] Speaker 4: notice. Okay, great.
[00:49:16] Ken Collis: Just move your product off. And you know, the good news is that it's an impulse buy market. So I think you'll do really well there. But congratulations on what you're doing. Keep your energy as the forefront of your brand. And if you ever need any assistance, you know, Ray and I are here to help you out most definitely.
[00:49:33] Speaker 4: Thank you, that's great advice. I think I would love to know, and to your point about divulging too much, I feel like we lead with a lot of intention and honesty, and people want to look behind the curtains, right? Like who is running this brand? Who is this person we're supporting? So we try to be as transparent as we can in everything we do, but I would love to, at some point, understand what is the best way for us to create a crossover. Because there is a massive tipping point coming for Indian cuisine, the same one that came for Mexican and Thai cuisine years ago. And how do we kind of stay on the forefront, and how do we create that bridge and continue to walk through that tipping point?
[00:50:12] Ken Collis: And that's a longer conversation, but we definitely need to touch on that, because there's a lot of great ideas. We know how to cross over. And I do think that Ray and I could assist you with that if you need that help in the future, most definitely.
[00:50:26] Speaker 4: Yeah, we'd love to send you samples.
[00:50:28] Ray Latif: Just to quickly address that, I think what you're doing is a perfect way, it's almost like a Trojan horse in some ways, to get people to understand that Indian food is so delicious and so flavorful, and you're doing it with a point of reference that is so easy to understand for everyone, potato chips. And they don't need to do anything. They don't need to add anything to it. It's all just there on the one chip. So I think you're doing an amazing thing, Kea, in helping the entire Indian food community to move forward and move forward in a way that's going to appeal to a lot of people. Great, amazing start to your brand. I know, I think this has got a ton of runway and I want to continue to follow what you're doing for a long time. Please stay in touch. We definitely want to make sure that we're keeping an eye on what you're doing. So yeah, thank you again.
[00:51:25] Speaker 4: Thank you. We're excited. We've got a third flavor coming out, which is a true crossover flavor. I'm very excited about it.
[00:51:30] Ken Collis: Can you share what that is?
[00:51:32] Speaker 4: Ooh, can I?
[00:51:34] Ken Collis: Not yet? Okay, okay. Well, let us know when it's out. We're super excited about that.
[00:51:38] Speaker 4: It is America's favorite condiment, I'll say that, that I am identifying. That should give you a good hint, yes.
[00:51:43] Ray Latif: Oh, interesting. Okay, Ken, you're good at this. You almost got it. You were right there. You had her on the ledge, but she somehow pulled her off. Yeah, exactly. All right. Okay, once again, thanks so much for joining us on Elevator Talk.
[00:51:57] Speaker 5: Thank you. I appreciate it.
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[00:52:43] Speaker 1: The Angel Group was among the first believers in brands like Poppy, Botchons, Goodles, and Siete. The next generation of great consumer brands is being built right now. Learn about investing alongside other industry professionals at wearetheangelgroup.com.
[00:52:59] Speaker 3: Quick pause for a look at the people making an impact across packaged food. The 2026 Nosh Impact 50 recognizes founders, operators, investors, creators, and connectors whose work is influencing how brands are built, funded, grown, and brought to market. Some are highly visible. Others are shaping the business behind the scenes. See all 50 honorees at Nosh.com slash impact 50.
[00:53:23] Ray Latif: All right, on to our final guest for this episode of Elevator Talk. We have Tansy Turrell, who is the co-founder of Elephant Green Chili Chutney. Tansy, great to see you.
[00:53:37] Speaker 7: Guys, it's so good to see you, and thank you so much for having us on the show.
[00:53:40] Ray Latif: Thanks so much for joining us. And thanks for your patience. I'm sure you're getting hungry as well. But as soon as I said Elephant Green Chili Chutney, I should just drop my mic on the floor and call it a day. Because this sounds incredible.
[00:53:52] Speaker 7: That is so nice. Have you tried it?
[00:53:54] Ray Latif: I have not. I haven't had an opportunity to try it yet.
[00:53:56] Speaker 7: Sample's coming your way.
[00:53:57] Ray Latif: This is like the best day of my life over here. I'm just getting offers to have the best food in America over here. It's a tough business.
[00:54:04] Speaker 7: How do you manage? How do you manage staying balanced with all these tastes?
[00:54:08] Ray Latif: I don't know. I don't know. But, uh, for our audience who isn't familiar with your brand, please tell us all about what you do.
[00:54:14] Speaker 7: Well, I'll give you an interesting factoid. We are 282 days in business today. Um, only, only, um, that's, it's incredible. It's been such a journey. Um, we are the first of its kind recipe in green Chili Chutney. Um, There's no other flavor like this that has come to the American palate. It's six simple ingredients, clean, manufactured in Connecticut, naturally vegan, gluten-free, sensory flavor explosion. People, when they taste it, the reaction is wow just and you know when i'm when i'm giving this spiel my mom who's the co-founder kashmira who's behind all of this she just couldn't make it today she should have been doing this today i'm stepping in for her and she's like stop talking let the chutney talk tansy that's what she told me at the food show she's like let people eat stop your spiel which is why I was hoping that we'll get samples across to you. But it's been one heck of a journey. We're manufactured in Connecticut. One SKU, and we want to stay focused on one SKU. We want to do one thing really well. We want to make it your new pantry to plates product. You can put it on anything. We like to tell our customers, think outside the jar. And people are like, oh my God, I'm going to have this on a hot dog. I'm going to have this on a pizza. Actually seeing them process, like, I'm going to do so much with this. And people have told us when they've tasted it, like, How have you managed? They put it in their mouth and they're like, how have you managed to hit? Ooh, first you get the zing, then you get the sweet, then you get the heat right at the end. And like, just seeing, seeing tasters go through those feelings and those, that sensory feel on their tongue is so exciting for us to watch. We had such a great time at the food show. I couldn't agree with you guys more. That's really a great show. You know, it was a treat for us. And it's like mom and I tell ourselves, it's like a shot in the arm, you know, why we're in this business, why we're standing here and doing this. It was so interesting when you were just talking to Kea. We are also both born and raised in Bombay, have lived in New York for 22 years. felt that there was a product like this, there wasn't quite something like this on the shelf, a game changing condiment. And here we are, 282 days in.
[00:56:52] Ray Latif: I mean, it's amazing. It's crazy being an entrepreneur and a founder because just the sensory explosion every day that you must feel, the highs and lows, but the idea that you're feeding people better food must be so rewarding. And I'm headed to Chicago tomorrow. We're hosting a meetup out there, a networking and live podcast meetup for the community out there. Quick plug for other meetups happening in San Diego and San Francisco and London in September and October. If you want to learn more, head to Taste Radio.com. But the first thing I'm thinking about is, OK, I might get one of those hot dogs that they're famous for in Chicago. I just don't want that neon green relish that they put on there. How about instead some Elephant Green Chili Chutney?
[00:57:42] Speaker 7: It will rock your world. I promise you, I promise you. You know, we, I have to tell you, we, and I'm proud of this, we have not spent a dollar on ad spend. We have not spent a dollar on an influencer. And we have not spent a dollar on a celebrity chef. We just don't have it. The truth is, we just don't have it. Everything that you see, if you look at our press kit, it's completely organic. They have eaten it and they've chosen to talk about it. And we are, we cry. Our reaction every time is just, we are so ecstatic to see that natural reaction come out. This product is so versatile. I think what makes it unique, of course, there are so many out there, but what makes it unique is this special blend of these signature green chilies, that coconut, the cilantro, and not only is it delicious, it's good for you. Cilantro is famously anti-inflammatory. Again, no medical claims, but the chilies are great for your metabolism. The Specialty Food Show came up with data points, and I thought that that would be super interesting for you guys to know. Consumers, chutney is one of the top five growing condiments as identified by the Specialty Food Show. And this is driven by global flavors, easy to use global flavors, sweet heat. 44% of Gen Zers want sweet heat. 60% of Gen Zers love spice. So we're trying to bring all these qualities into this product that can, I mean, we've done sliders, we've done mac and cheese, we've done grilled cheese with chutney. We just did a pop-up at Williams-Sonoma and I think we sold 48 jars in four hours. It was, it has an amazing conversion ratio. Like people taste it and they cannot walk away. I'm proud to say people taste it and they cannot walk away without a jar. We love that.
[00:59:56] Ray Latif: As soon as I taste this, I feel like I'm going to want to share it with people. Like if I had one, if I was sitting next to Ken right here, as opposed to being on a Zoom, I'd be like, Ken, you got to try this. Ken, I mean, I've been taking up all the time. What are your thoughts on this brand?
[01:00:08] Ken Collis: You know, I'm super excited about it because, you know, we're looking right now, there is a white space for you, Tansy. There really, really is a large white space. Salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, relish, all single skews, right, that have not really evolved into much more. I mean, yeah, we tried truffle ketchup and we tried this and that, you know, but at the end of the day, we go right back to the original. And I think that's really what you need to do. Look, if your budgets are limited, which is, you know, first off, very understandable, you know, you don't want to dilute your business at this stage, I would highly recommend you sample, sample, sample, sample, sample, because the way that, you know, Ray and I have, you know, we're now waiting for your product, right, we're gonna try it, we're gonna love it, we're gonna add it, to the hot dogs and to the pizza and to the salads and everything that we're utilizing. That's how you're gonna really garner people to continue to purchase and purchase until you create that revenue. But I will tell you what's really important is to get into retail stores. It's gonna be very important for your brand because you're a little bit more of a heavier shipping product. So consumers tend to steer away from that $7, $8 shipping costs, especially if your MSRP is around that or a little bit higher. So we want to make sure you're available on retail. If you don't have the resources to use a broker right now or an agency like, you know, our resources, call into Air One, put a phone call into Sprouts, you know, try to do it on your own. But you right now, I think it's really important to really sample to as many consumers as you can so they can repurchase your product over and over and over again.
[01:01:41] Speaker 7: That's why we, till now, I have We have tried to demo at every store that we put it on the shelf. We try to be there to demo on the day that they do that, which is super important for the brand. You're so right. And I really appreciate that advice, Ken. We've just tied up with an East Coast distributor, McMahon's Farm. They're very small, but they've been in business for a long time. And we want that intimate sort of feeling. And we want to dig really deep into the East Coast. We're in talks through McMahon's Farm with Whole Foods. We're in talks with Citarella. We're in talks with Williams-Sonoma. This is a sort of premium product in terms of the quality of the ingredients, what we've not put in it. There is added sugar, but just a touch for the balance. Three grams per serving, that is nothing. It is literally just to round out the flavor and give you that slight sweetness. Most of the sweetness comes from the coconut. And that coconut performs so well. We have just, we've gained huge popularity with cheese, which is great, which is a great category to cross sell in. We just landed our first butcher shelf. We've been talking to Citarella because we believe It is extraordinary with fish. It just shines. The green citrusiness, the way it works with the fatty fish, or the way it works just generally with fish. We just did an article for a fisherman's magazine titled, The Chili That Caught the Fish. Literally, we're saying, take the chutney, put it in the fisherman's tack box, and that's all he needs. He catches the fish, guts it out, cleans it, puts it on the grill, We're done grilling and you just add chutney and you do not need anything else on that fish. Please do check that post out on Instagram. It is so awesome. And it just goes to tell you how far this one jar will take you. A million uses. And we just feel that it is not just a condiment. It can be a serious cooking ingredient as well. Like grilled chicken on steak. It's chimichurri, but without the nuts and the oil. It is zhug, but a different layer and level. These are the comparisons that have been made to it, but nothing quite, nothing that blends coconut, nothing. And these signature green chilies are a secret. And the way they work on your palate is extraordinary. Not like a serrano, not like a habanero, not like a jalapeno. So that's what we think differentiates us in the market. And we hope that people enjoy it as much as it has been for us to bring it out to you guys to taste.
[01:04:22] Ray Latif: Well, I have a feeling that's going to happen. As soon as I have a jar, I'm going to be as wild and creative as I can be with whatever food I can put it on from eggs to burgers to shrimp. I mean, there's just so many. I'm on your Instagram page right now. There's a million different ways that the versatility just looks incredible. Tanzi, thank you. A million thanks for being on the show. I've really enjoyed talking with you and I feel like Elephant Green Chili Chutney is going to be in my pantry for a long time.
[01:04:54] Speaker 7: And we have a piece of news for you on the show that we're breaking on your show. Please do. Yes, share it. Coming soon to Amazon. Oh, outstanding. Very cool. Thank you. Thank you. So that's a big one. That's a big step over the next month. So it's in the works. We're getting it all together. But we're super excited because this is how we feel that like nationwide, people are going to be able to taste it, really taste it.
[01:05:21] Ray Latif: Tanzi, thank you so much again. Please let us know how we can help in any way along your journey. And please thank your mom as well for being a great co-founder and bringing this amazing brand to market.
[01:05:32] Speaker 7: Thank you. Thank you so much. And Ken, it was really great speaking to you as well. And thank you for all the work that you guys are doing to support us, to support the CPG founders. Thank you.
[01:05:43] Ray Latif: Ken, you know, I told you we had a good show, a great show ahead of us. And, you know, the five brands that joined us, just amazing stuff. I just wish I had some Juicy Bites, some Send Bars, some Date Smarter, some KS Snacks, and of course some Elephant Green Chili Chutney, I think. That would just be my, you know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the entire day. I'm sure I could have an amazing meal.
[01:06:09] Ken Collis: I'll bring the cheese, the crackers, and the beverages. I'm on a jet on my way over. Let's go.
[01:06:14] Ray Latif: Okay. Let's do it. Let's do it indeed. Hey, you know, I've really enjoyed having you on this show and thank you so much for co-hosting. I know, you know, we already heard it from our participants. They want to get in touch with you and your team. What is the best way to do so?
[01:06:29] Ken Collis: You know they can log on obviously to T.L.K. Fusion dot com and do an inquiry and then someone from our research team will obviously reach back out to them or they could always email direct and they can email it can at T.L.K. Fusion dot com. I'm here to support all entrepreneurs and will always respond to every email that comes into my inbox.
[01:06:53] Ray Latif: Fantastic. Well, we got to have you back on the show if you'll have us.
[01:06:56] Ken Collis: Fantastic. Thank you for having me. It's been such a pleasure.
[01:07:00] Ray Latif: It really has been a pleasure indeed. Well, having you on the show. Otherwise, I'm tuning my own horn here, which I'm not trying to do. Anyway, once again, thanks so much, Ken. And thanks so much to all the entrepreneurs who joined us today on Elevator Talk. Thanks to everyone watching or listening. And thanks to our amazing 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.
