DateWorthy

0:00Hailey Yaffa:Welcome to the Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. This is the podcast to discover stories behind your new favorite CPG brands. Each episode brings you behind the scenes of the brand and founder story, learn what sets them apart in the marketplace, and their strategy going to market. We talk about plans for growth, practical advice for an emerging brand founder, and where to shop products that are making waves in food, beverage, wellness, beauty, and beyond. You'll also hear from industry experts, brand builders, investors, and operators you should absolutely have on your radar if you're building a CPG brand today.

0:44Hailey Yaffa:I'm your host, Kelly Bennett, a Brooklyn-based brand strategist with a front row seat of what makes an emerging CPG brand stand out. Whether you're building a brand of your own or love supporting what's next, you're in the right place. This episode was made possible by our sponsor, Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is a platform that connects everyday small creators with brands that drive user-generated content, build buzz at specific retailers, and captures competitive market share. It's a tool that I recommend to all of my clients that you should absolutely check out. Head to hummingbirds.com for all the details.

1:28Hailey Yaffa:Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today I have a very special guest because she recently launched in New York City and she is a listener to the podcast and genuinely her product is one of my new favorites. It's in my freezer right now. Haley Yaffa the founder of Dateworthy thank you so much for coming on the show thank you so much for having me this is such a full circle like circle moment for me because I started listening to your podcast right when I had the idea for Dateworthy and it's really been such a guide for me in building this brand so I'm very happy to be here thank you for having me that makes me so happy when you were sharing with me how you've been listening to the podcast and who you've been working with who've also been featured on the podcast I'm like oh my gosh that you are literally the muse of who I thought of of like someone who's starting out and you know creating something in their kitchen and they want to make it into a brand like where can they start getting some insight and advice so I'm really excited to dive in an amazing job of providing and getting people who have great advice and also just like an inspiration for building a brand.

2:49Hailey Yaffa:Amazing. That makes me so happy and also motivating because I set a crazy goal to do three episodes a week this year. And the fact that you're getting all the right insight at the right time, I'm like, it was meant to be. A hundred percent. I love it. So to kick things off, I would love if you could explain what is date worthy and more about the product itself. It's absolutely delicious. I have my girlfriend now hooked on it too. Can you take us behind the brand? Of course. So Dateworthy, it's a frozen date-based treat. They're bite-sized. It's vegan, gluten-free, all organic ingredients. And it's date, almond butter, banana, chocolate, and then sprinkled with coconut and tea salt.

3:35I've always had like a sweet tooth. so I when I was younger I struggled with disordered eating and filled my body with like low calorie low sugar ingredients that I thought were going to get to my goal of like being the thinnest and what I deemed as worthy which is an ode to my brand name which I'll get to later but I then started once I came out of that kind of dark hole started focusing on fulfilling my like fueling my body with nutritious ingredients. And one of my favorite things became dates. And I started making date bark just in my kitchen and it became my late night snack or even like midday.

4:15And I always kept it in my freezer. And I've seen a ton of date products that are either shelf stable or in the refrigerated section, but never in the freezer. And the freezer is my happy place. When I want something sweet, I want ice cream. I want something that's cold. That is my section of the grocery store. So many people warned me that the freezer is a very tough section of the grocery store. Just logistically, it's been a challenge, but I was up for it and I've gone full force towards it. And just a little bit about the brand's name, as I kind of alluded to before, it's all about that you are worthy the way that you are and to have standards in your life, especially what you're putting into your body.

4:56Hailey Yaffa:Incredible. And there's so many things that I'm excited to talk to you about. One being using your own story of how you reconnected with food in a way that sounds really healing and making peace with food and how it's incorporated into your life. And then also allowing yourself to have fun with food, right? I feel like so many of us can relate to struggling with food issues. I know I have as well. So when you're able to eat something that you feel good about consuming and you know that it's made with really good ingredients and it's not going to upset your tummy too. Like to me, those are the products I always look for.

5:41Hailey Yaffa:So genuinely I am on my third bag already. I stocked up when you launched that pop-up grocer and I literally went like the first day and stockpiled as much as I could get. so it's a really great product thank you you're welcome something else that you touched upon was the frozen section it is one of those hot takes in cpg of like oh frozen is really hard which it is challenging but I would love if you could dive into why you wanted to make a frozen frozen date fight like what about it really stood out to you I I liked how you talked about reaching for the freezer section when you want a sweet treat but even from a founder perspective like what what really caught your attention to make a frozen product so yeah as I said before it really fits my personality because I love the freezer but in terms of like a founder and strategic perspective that is where I saw the gap in the market for a date product as I said before there is date products that are in the fridge there are shelf stable in the freezer there is a bunch of healthy ice creams and but there's limited options for healthy other frozen like specialty desserts you have some bigger brands that are maybe chocolate covered frozen fruit but they still have natural flavors in it or you have other brands that are not vegan but also there's nothing that has dates in the freezer section this is like the first date based frozen dessert where it's not just being used as a sweetener ingredient in an ice cream that's a really good point and what made you fall in love with dates because you talk so passionately about dates which is awesome and I personally love dates too and it's become a new hyper fixation of like all date things I'm in.

7:40Hailey Yaffa:But what about dates really check that box for you? I really have such a sweet tooth. And it's like, always like want like something sweet middle of the day, but I needed something that was also like a nutritious, like quick energy. Also, like dates have so many health benefits. There's so much fiber, it's great for digestion, it is health, like brain benefits. I could go on and on about it, but they're very good for you. And it tastes like candy to me. So it became an addiction really quickly. So cool. What was your background prior to starting the brand? Like, what was it like? I know that you just very recently launched, which congratulations.

8:22Hailey Yaffa:I know that you're now in Pop-Up Grocer, Butterfield Market. But just even the last year, what was your career and schedule looking like as you were building this brand? So I have no experience in like the food and beverage or CPG space. In college, I went to the University of Michigan and was in the business school and directly after college went into investment banking, where I was working crazy hours and burnt out really fast. And during that time, I had a very entrepreneurial energy of where it was like, oh, what if I just quit and I do a matcha shop or I make these healthy chocolate chips was always coming up with ideas.

9:07I got out of that job by finding a job in like a luxury fashion company doing finance there. So I have been working and still do work in corporate finance at this brand. And I will be leaving soon, which I have just recently announced to pursue. Which is so major. So major to pursue date worthy full time. It's just, it's really my passion. And it's growing to the point where it's taking up my full schedule. And I feel so confident and just in the brand. And I know that if I take this leap, it'll just grow way more than I could by doing both. My goal was to just do both in the beginning. And I've been working this full time job while doing my company like date worthy late nights.

9:52It was like I would go to my nine to five, come home and be working on Dayworthy until 2 a.m. Whether that meant like initially making date bites in my kitchen for a pop up, gives a friends and family. And then it turns into like prepping all my social media posts and everything once it got taken to a manufacturer at that next level. But yeah, no, it's been a lot of work, but it has been incredible. And yeah, I'm just very grateful for it all.

10:19Hailey Yaffa:So excited for you. what made you want to or maybe not want but what helped you make that leap because I know so many emerging brand founders everyone's circumstances are different everyone's lives are set up differently but for just you personally what made you feel confident in making that jump by seeing the demands for this product I wanted to first get it it's a frozen product so I'm not doing D2C initially. That is the goal and we are working on getting it online. But I wanted to first get it into a few grocery stores in New York City and see that people are loving this product. And I have gotten nothing but amazing feedback and I know that it will succeed.

11:05So having that proof of concept was so important to me to having the confidence and making that decision to leave.

11:12Hailey Yaffa:incredible so something that you've touched upon which really excited me when learning more about your story was this started as an idea in your kitchen not even that long ago yes six months ago six months ago which is just mind-blowing and how you've gotten onto shelf already or in the freezer section, I should say already. Can you break down those steps that you took over the last six months to get yourself into pop-up grocer and Butterfield? Because I feel like for so many emerging brand founders, those are two stores, especially in New York City, that are goals, right? And if you could break it down of what you worked on and who you worked with, I think that would be super helpful.

12:05Of course. So my first step was finding founders that I knew through mutual friends or that I knew personally. Really, the CPG community is incredible. I've made so many close friends during it and everyone is out there to help you and wants you to succeed. So reaching out to founders, hearing about their advice, how they started, and also asking for connections to people who they think could help you in this process. So by speaking to a founder that I'm mutual friends with, I got put in contact with Evolve Food Consultants who you had on your podcast, Esther, it's incredible. And while I had my product down pat, I needed help with finding that partner for a co-manufacturer.

12:50And yes, I could look a lot on my own, but I needed help making that connection. And they were very essential in that part of this journey. um so but even before that I'm getting a little ahead of myself before getting to that part I started making the product just at home and doing pop-ups giving it to friends and family and making sure that this was a viable product that people that I loved like I trusted them and I knew that they thought it was a good idea and they loved it I think that's also a really

13:23Hailey Yaffa:important step of getting it into people's hands for honest feedback, where I think some people can skip that part because they get excited and they're like, I'm going to launch this, but they haven't really tested. So I really like that you got it in people's hands. You did pop-ups. You saw that this was a viable product. And then you reached out saying, okay, just logistically, I'm not going to be able to make, you know, tons of frozen date bites in my New York City apartment. Who can I then work with? So Evolve Foods. Can you also give people an idea of what that looked like as far as taking a formulation that you started creating in your kitchen to finding the right co-packer working with them?

14:09So I guess in terms of the product, it didn't change that much because my product was very, there's no baking involved. It's like, think of making date bark in your kitchen. It's like you take the ingredients, you freeze it. It is what it is. But there were ways that we altered the product slightly, like to make it easier from a manufacturing perspective. I was using just frozen bananas. And then I, with the help of Esther, thought to switch to banana puree because then that was easily, like you can use the machine, it could be pipeable, it takes less time. But overall, the product currently remains pretty unchanged from my initial recipe.

14:47Hailey Yaffa:That's really cool too. And I liked how you were able to make minor adjustments so that it actually was a product that can be manufactured. Sometimes in the really early days, someone could go too down a rabbit hole of formulation and then realize, oh wait, I can't even replicate this. right so I love that you were able to just make a few adjustments to then have a product that can be manufactured exactly and even like at this point I'm still brainstorming you want to make sure if you want this to be in a Whole Foods one day that this product is scalable so I like it is essential for me to keep the product at its core the same if it has to slightly change like the shape.

15:37It always needs to be a bite size, but it's important to be flexible in ways to make sure that you can scale it in order for you to reach your goals. Yes.

15:48Hailey Yaffa:Such a good point. Everyone listening, star, highlight, circle that. Such an important piece of being a founder and an entrepreneur. So after you worked with Esther, you understood, okay, we have to make these small adjustments, but we have a viable product that we can manufacture. What were some of the next steps from there? So then, I mean, I could go in a lot of different directions because there's so many things being done at one time. And I feel like a part that I kind of skipped over, which is really important, is that I developed the branding for my brands. And I think it's so important to develop your brand voice from the get-go because your like audience and consumers, they like, yes, of course your product has to be good and they have to connect with it, but they also have to connect with you and believe in your brand voice and what you stand for.

16:41So that was something that I was working on in simultaneously while doing the operational aspect of the business. And also I worked with Izzy from House of Wynn and I heard of her from your podcast and she is incredible. cannot recommend her enough.

16:57Hailey Yaffa:Amazing. That makes me so happy. I personally love working with Izzy. She's worked with numerous amounts of my clients and also my personal branding, the branding for this podcast. So it's a very full circle and your branding is really fun and it shows the personality. It tells the brand story and it's something that really struck me right off the bat of, oh, this brand also looks really good and the packaging design is really smart so after branding what was that next step from there then the next step was I continued to do pop-ups and more collaborations and I reached out to like pop-up grocer Butterfield asked to drop off samples just really get it in the hands of the stores that I've always envisioned my brand starting in I love that hustle as well And I think it's one of the pieces of the puzzle when someone, even though they're really excited and they are eager to get their product out there, the idea of contacting people and saying, hey, can I send you a sample or can you try this feels really daunting.

18:06Hailey Yaffa:Was there anything that you did as far as like your mindset or just the way that you were talking about it in your messaging that really helped you cut through the noise to get those retailers' attentions? I think once I got the product to them I think the product spoke for itself but I think as being a founder you have to be a little bit delusional I from the moment that I started this I was like this is good it's gonna work it doesn't have a choice to not work and if something isn't working I'm gonna change it so that it works yes so having a very confident attitude and like also just like knowing that I believe in it so much and I you you don't it's not going to fail because you won't let it fail so not being afraid to make those calls they're just people um and yeah that's a great great reminder another step that you took was trademarking which again I'm so excited you are a client of bread and butter because again thinking of building that brand and and working on the brand strategy behind bread and butter and who we wanted to attract.

19:18Hailey Yaffa:You're also the muse for that brand as well. And so can you walk us through a little bit of what that looked like as far as trademarking or creating your application? Yeah. Well, trademarking is so, so important. And I wish that someone like told me that that was one of the first things that you should do. Yes. Luckily, I like had a bunch of different names in mind before I actually like launched and went full force with the brand. But one of the names that I was thinking of, I searched, well, I did a trademark search with Bread and Butter and it was likely not going to pass. So thank God that I did that because I was able to pivot.

19:58And it honestly was a blessing in disguise because Dateworthy just resonates so much more with me and it tells my brand story in the perfect way. But I can't reiterate enough how important it is to trademark your name.

20:11Hailey Yaffa:Well, thank you so much because having founders understand that this is actually a pre-launch step sometimes is a little challenging because people are like, well, I just want to get it into stores and then I'll trademark. And I'm like, no, please don't do it that way. So what helped you connect the dots of saying like, I want to make sure I'm protecting this name, this brand that I'm building? It's kind of like the realization that if I'm going to go full force with this, put all my savings into this and do all the packaging, all the branding, do photo shoots, it's not cheap at all by any means.

20:52No. So that it's worth the investment to take at the get-go to trademark the name, to then go down that whole rabbit hole and then also get people to recognize this name that's not even going to end up being your brand's name. Exactly. Exactly.

21:09Hailey Yaffa:So after you trademarked or you applied for the trademark, you got the green light from Nicole, like this looks good. You got your visual branding, you're outreaching, you have product in hand. What's been the next steps as far as your first launch into retail? So it's been amazing so far. And honestly, like the reordering of the product has been faster than I could have imagined. That's a huge sign. No, it's amazing. It's such proof of concept and it's just really rewarding to be able to see the product out in the real world and to see it doing so well. So the next step is focusing on how to scale this and moving to a manufacturer that can produce this in bigger volume so that I can approach larger retailers.

21:58Hailey Yaffa:Incredible. And what's been the feedback so far from consumers who didn't know of Dateworthy until they discovered it in retail? Everyone so far. But I don't know if people are lying to me because I'm the founder. But it has been nothing but positive. And honestly, I have people who don't even like dates and they try it and love the product. So proud of you. And again, I love your story. What is your goal, say, for the rest of the year? The rest of the year is to continue just expanding my presence in New York, really focusing on how I can get this on D2C and be selling online. and also just focusing in the background on scaling the product.

22:41So cool.

22:42Hailey Yaffa:Any last piece of advice that you would share with an emerging brand founder who is whipping up a product in their kitchen right now and they're taking that next step to make it into a CPG food or beverage product? Anything you would tell them that you wish you knew maybe from the very, very beginning? Don't wait to feel ready. You learn by doing and mistakes are going to happen, but you'll never know until you start. And also, like I mentioned this before, but having your brand voice at the get go is so important and just not only just like believing in what you're selling, but believing in what your brand stands for and the messaging that you're putting out into the world.

23:27Hailey Yaffa:Yes, because I'm sure you've realized very quickly you're going to have to say it hundreds and thousands of times. So making sure you have a strong point of view is critical. Awesome. Okay, last question. Where can someone shop Dateworthy? So Dateworthy is currently being sold at both Butterfields locations on the Upper East Side. It's in Pop-Up Grocer. I will be announcing a few more stores in New York City very soon. But stay tuned on our Instagram. It's at EatDateworthy. Our website is also www.etworthy.com. Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Haley, for sharing your story and coming on the podcast.

24:11Hailey Yaffa:Such a full circle moment. And I can't wait to see your brand grow. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. My pleasure. Everyone go support Dateworthy and I'll see you on the next episode. Bye. This episode of the Emerging Brands podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is a platform that connects everyday small creators with brands to drive user-generated content, build buzz at specific retailers, and capture competitive market share. It's a tool that I recommend to all of my clients and one you should absolutely check out. Head to hummingbirds.com for all the details.

24:53Hailey Yaffa:If you're new here, hi, I'm Kelly Bennett, a Brooklyn-based brand strategist working with first-time CPG food and beverage founders. I have a front row seat of what makes an emerging CPG brand stand out because you're not just building a product, you are building a brand. And you want to make sure that is one that consumers love and retailers remember. That's where I come in. I've recently advised brands like frankly good coffee. She's a sauce, a new non-alcoholic cocktail line that's coming to market soon and a hormone conscious deodorant because food adjacent brands count too. If you are bringing a new product to market, please reach out at withkellybennett.com.

25:41Hailey Yaffa:Thank you so much for listening and sharing. You can follow me on Instagram at withkellybennett and you can follow the show at Emerging Brands Podcast. Thank you again, and I'll see you on the next episode.