Small Food Business

In this one-on-one conversation with a food entrepreneur, we talk about her struggles to grow her business while keeping a handle on production and operations and how (and when) to approach investors for the finances necessary to grow.  

TRANSCRIPT:

Jennifer:

Hi and welcome to the Small Food Biz podcast. I’m Jennifer Lewis, and in this podcast series we’re focusing on the issues food entrepreneurs face and the questions you have as you work to accelerate your business’ growth.

 

Today, we’re talking with Javaneh Hemmat from Hummus Chick. Company website is www.Ilovehummuschick.com. Javaneh actually came to the United States as an international student in 1998 to attend business school, and she actually felt there was very few Mediterranean fresh food options, and so that’s what prompted her to start up her business. I’m going to let her tell you a little bit about it. I will also mention that Javaneh’s been entrepreneur spotlight, and I’ll include a link to that in our website so you can read a little bit about her business where it was that we actually did the entrepreneur spotlight about a year in advance of this podcast. If you’re interested, you can always go back and read and see where she was and then where she is today.

 

Starting with, if you wouldn’t mind to tell us a little bit about your business. When did you start? Why did you start? What’s been going on between when you initially started your business and where you are today?

 

Javaneh:

Hi Jennifer. Thank you so much for having me. It’s nice to speak with you again. I started Hummus Chick in May 2012 as a part-time opportunity. I had the pleasure of making hummus for ten years prior to that, and based on the compliments and the gathering of friends that I had during college and after college, my passion for Mediterranean cooking increased and my recipes kept getting better and better and the serendipitous opportunity of people asking me to purchase the product combined with where I was in my career coincided and Hummus Chick was ultimately born. It started as a part-time weekend opportunity at the farmers’ markets, and I immediately, as soon as I entered the community, I was truly welcomed and I used the time to test the product, receive feedback, and improve the recipes. Just because something tastes great to me doesn’t mean it’s a great fit for the marketplace. I had to put my pride away and it was actually a very good decision, because from that one authentic hummus recipe that in the Middle East or Mediterranean countries are enjoyed, we now have about 7 or 8 different flavors, and they’re all unique in their own way. I used the farmers’ market as a great platform to learn, connect with my fellow foodies, and really learn the supermarket industry.

 

That gave me enough sales to go full-time in January 2014, and that’s when you and I spoke, and since then, I’ve balanced the farmers’ market community with wholesale, and now I’m at a place where I’m almost running out of space, Nashville’s a growing city, and we’re going beyond Nashville and Tennessee altogether.

 

Jennifer:

That’s excellent, especially in your first full year of wholesale.

 

Javaneh:

Thank you.

 

Jennifer:

When you wrote in about being part of this podcast, you mentioned that there was one specific issue your company was facing, or I’m sure there’s more than one,

Typically we speak with experts or food entrepreneurs in this podcast series, but in today's podcast it's just me.  About a week ago, I returned from one of the biggest industry trade shows of the year – the San Francisco Fancy Food Show that is put on by the Specialty Food Association – and I wanted to use today’s podcast to report out about what I saw, learned, and heard when it comes to specialty food.

TRANSCRIPT:

While this trade show focuses on packaged food products, I think it’s important to note that food trends tend to cross business models. So if you’re listening and are a small restaurateur or caterer, a mobile food business owner, or sell wedding cakes directly to consumers, for example, I think you’ll find a few interesting nuggets in this podcast that you can use in your own business and in your marketing.

To set the stage, in case you’ve never been to the show, the event takes place in the Moscone Convention Center in the heart of downtown San Francisco. It is an immense show with two entire convention halls filled with booths from product purveyors from around the world. My goal, as an attendee, was to look for new trends and keep an ear open for interesting conversations. What were buyers talking about at the show? What sorts of questions were being asked of the exhibitors?   Because all of that points to what the consumer is asking and caring out when it comes to food products.

Ultimately, I walked away with 7 key findings from the show between what I noticed and in talking to many of the attendees themselves.   Some of these findings are continuations on previous years’ themes and some are new this year. So let’s get started:

* First up, Spicy Is Proving It Has Sticking Power: This is one of those trends that’s been around for a few years but at this point the fact that it is still so prominent points to the idea that perhaps it’s no longer actually a trend and more of a new way of eating. Spice is in everything these days and it’s just getting hotter. There was one exhibitor whose spice in their marinade could be smelled from a few booths over. The lesson here, don’t be afraid to experiment with spice in your products as it may be something your customers love. In the meantime, please pass the chocolate-covered jalapenos!

* Everything Is In A Chip: It’s no secret that Americans love their chips and it’s a hypercompetitive category, but now there’s nothing you won’t find in a chip. Chickpea chips – check. Lentil chips – check. Pasta chips, yes, chips made from pasta – check. Falafel chips – check. You get the idea. If it can be made into a chip, it’s being done. And a large part of the messaging behind those products is that it offers a healthier version to everyone’s favorite snack food.

* Which brings me to the next big trend and that is that snakes are back. This fits with the trends in how consumers are eating but it’s always interesting to talk with a big mass brand and hear how they’re focusing on snack packaging in 2016, even if that means producing small bags of their product and packaging multiple small bags into a bigger container for grocery and mass stores. Consumers are on the go 24x7 and so they want their food to go with them. This is a trend that food producers of all types can tap into – think about how you can make your food more convenient for people on the move. This may mean putting a bigger push behind grab-and-go items from your restaurant, as an example, or figuring out a way to offer delivery.

* Another big takeaway from this yea’s show - Plants Rule.   Literally, plants were being highlighted this year in everything from drinks to pasta to cookies. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of meat jerky companies there too but plants – and their role as ingredients in products - were definitely front and center more so than in years’ pas...