Angela Marvidis of Tribali Foods showed up at a Whole Foods Market buyer meeting with not much more than an idea on how to revolutionize the frozen food aisle and some samples in a ziplock bag…and it worked!

TRANSCRIPT:

Jennifer: Angela, thank you so much for being here today.

Angela: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Jennifer: You know, I mentioned a little bit about your company in the introduction, but I was hoping that you could tell us a little bit about … What got you into the food business? What was your inspiration? What’s a little bit about your story?

Angela: Certainly, I’ve been in the food service business my whole life. My dad, ironically, owns and operates hamburger fast food restaurants in Southern California. We’ve been in food service our whole lives, and we’re Greek, so cooking is a big part of our culture, and celebration, and bringing family together.

But at the age of thirteen, I became a vegetarian, and that was more of a quest for the best nutritious way of eating. What I knew at thirteen was obviously not what I know now. I wish I could rewind back. I was doing it wrong, but I was just determined not to consume red meat for various reasons at that time, but more moral, environmental, and health benefits. So fast forward 35 years later, and I think I just gave away my age, but I studied nutrition and became a holistic nutritionist, and really dove deep into the science of how well-sourced and humanely raised, and nutrient-dense grass fed and finished meat can have some profound impact on the way you feel, and the way you perform.

Being that I was an athlete all my life too, I thought maybe it’s time to incorporate a little beef back into my diet, but like I mentioned, I had those three issues I wanted to overcome. The environmental, the moral, and the nutrient density of the meat. I sourced some grass fed and finished beef from farmers, that I went to the farm and vetted and saw the animals, how they were raised, what they were fed. These were all important to me, and I never looked back. I tried meat four years ago and that was it.

Then I dove deep into producing what I had known all my life, which was burger patties. I bought a grinder on Amazon, and then would source all these great, wonderful meats from farmers, directly from the farms, and seafood as well. I would make four-ounce circular patties, just marinated with various herbs and spices and vegetables and purees. I didn’t want any junk in the patties, no binders or fillers or preservatives or additives. I have these at home, and before not too long, people would pass by and say, “Can we have that Greek pork patty you made? Or the Moroccan lamb was so tasty. Or what about the umami beef, the Southwest salmon, the wasabi tuna.”

I had all sorts of different patties. Like I said, they’re just a nice, convenient way if you’re interested in portion control, you want to make sure you’re getting four-ounces of good, clean protein, you want it convenient and cooking it straight from frozen. This is the need my patties met. Before long, the freezer was empty and I just kept producing and producing. I finally took it to my local Whole Foods, and they knew my dad and his restaurant. We’ve been in business for over 50 years. They all knew we’re the burger family, so they were more apt to bring me in and try the patties. They thought, “Okay, this is well-known company burgers for over 40 years, and she’s got an interesting story.”

They brought me to corporate. They said, “Let’s see what you’ve got.” The rest is history. It was a year and a half until I’m on the shelves.