OKO

0:00Jane Coxwell:Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market. it. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring those cool products to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real-life founders, their launch strategies, and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf.

0:42Jane Coxwell:And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They're connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf-level awareness, drive in-store momentum, and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most. Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you. 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 Jane Coxwell.

1:27Jane Coxwell:She is the founder and CEO of Oko Food, which is this very delicious, vibrant dip. Unlike anything else I've tried, I'm obsessed with her beet and ginger dip. So Jane, thank you so much for coming on the podcast to talk about what you're doing in CPG. Thank you, Kelly. I'm really, really excited. It's so nice of you to invite me because we're new and it's really lovely of you to give me the chance to chat about it. Of course. I mean, your social caught my eye and I was keeping an eye on your brand. And then when I tried the product, I was like, oh, my gosh, I need to have her on the podcast. So let's first start with the brand itself and what you wanted to do differently within this category or just how the idea of Oko happened.

2:19So it basically, you know, this wasn't something that I had intended on doing. I've been a chef for over 25 years and this product. So I worked a lot on people's private yachts and I've worked as a private chef. And this is a product that I didn't really invent, but that chefs have used for a long time. So it's, you know, in classical training, you'd learn like a vegetable puree and then you make it into different things. So when I worked on yachts, like you're so short on time and space, this was always a product that I knew that I could pull out of my fridge very quickly and make like a beautiful plate, like, you know, a beautiful, a beautiful sauce, so beautiful send out like a plate of crudos if it dips a soup a whatever so it was something that was really helpful to me and then in 2019 um my boss diane von firstenberger cooked for her for a long time and she had issues with her throat she couldn't swallow and so um like solid foods and then so i started making these for her and her guests like continuously as well she ate um for a long time and she credited them for bringing her back to health the difference between this and the product that i made before is that i just took everything out so i like usually they're made with butter you could finish them off with some cream or that kind of stuff and but instead i brought in some more helpful ingredients like turmeric and ginger things like that and then just took out all the bad fats so um she after it she returned to health she was like we i think this is a really special product and we should take it to market.

4:00So I started looking into it, spoke with food scientists, whatever. They were all like, you know, if you want to make this product, you're going to have to make some compromises, which is either, you know, color or texture, or you're going to have to put things in it to kind of stabilize it or add color, whatever. And I really didn't want to do that. I really didn't want to take something to market for the sake of it. Like I said, this wasn't really ever the plan. So it took us a while. It took us a couple of years to get to the point where we have this really beautiful product that's completely pure.

4:33The virgin version that I make in the kitchen is the exact same version that people are able to buy now, which I'm so proud of. So the colors are so bright. They're so vibrant. But it's just like the natural colors of the vegetables. There's no dyes. It's fully organic, non-GMO, fully vegan, certified. So, yeah, that's kind of how it came about. and I'm so proud of it. I love it. I'm glad that we sort of stuck to our guns and didn't compromise on any of the...

5:03Jane Coxwell:That's incredible. How did you figure out how to not compromise? Because I'm sure so many founders listening to this are navigating that of, if you want to have a commercially viable product, there are some... How did you navigate that? Just really sticking to my guns. You know, I think one of the things that you realize going through this that I would say to anyone is you really have to believe in the thing that you're going to sell. And that's important. And also no one's going to care about it as much as you. So when people say like, you can't do that, if you really think there's a way to do it, just stick to it.

5:42Because, yeah, I think it's just kind of trusting your gut a bit and really being stubborn to a point. There are many things that we have like pivoted on, but the one thing was just that I wanted it to be incredibly healthy. I wanted it to be really clean. I wanted it to be fully organic. And then everything else around it could change, you know? But that was my like that I needed that to be.

6:12Jane Coxwell:the thing that's really stood out to me was the color of just how it took ages vibrant it is uh thank you that um it took so long uh we have so many photos of just terrible colored bead products just over the course of this but it's a really really long time um we self-manufacture I want to control a lot of things um but yeah it's just it's just like a fine bag between the acid and how much you cook them and how much you blend them right um so yeah it really really proud of that color because it took a long time and there's it's absolutely um you know there are no dyes or anything like that it's gorgeous that genuinely caught my eye and I I practice after watching you on social, how to make that like whoosh.

7:04Jane Coxwell:And I really, it's a really fabulous product again, to elevate anything and just make it feel just a little bit richer. And I like also the turmeric, the ginger. I like the other ingredients that you added into. And those are things that I love to eat. Maybe not always all the time because I like things that are also simple. So I like how you blended the both. No pun intended. But to go back to your own personal journey, going from chef to CPG founder, I would love to hear what also just made you want to take that leap. I mean, it's all food, but CPG is worlds different of, you know, private chefing.

7:45Jane Coxwell:I would love to hear your journey of taking that leap. um so the it is a huge it is a huge leap I mean it really it in a lot of ways it feels like it couldn't be more different but I because I've cooked privately for people for a long time um I really I really wish that food was a little bit more accessible like good food right um it's something that I've always tried to do like whether it's working with um City Harvest and trying to go into you know grocery stores and tell people how they can use vegetables in a really easy way um to make food taste good like that's always been a passion of mine is is that i think people over complicate um the way that food is prepared and i think your average person uh is not your average person but i think that i think that people think that cooking is more complicated than it is and I what I would really love to do like in over over everything of Oko over over it all is just really help people eat well just make it easier for people to eat well basically and show people how easy it is to make really good food um and so that was a huge part of it was like I could make this product um and hopefully show people how easy it is to bring a meal together so like i spend a lot of time in grocery stores and you can see people that are really trying to make the right decisions around what they eat you know um they're like section in the grocery store that is in the fresh part but it's got all those prepared vegetables so it has the spirals and the cut and the chopped and all that kind of stuff the fact that that's growing is evidence of the fact that people want like they want to cook but they just want a bit of help so whether that's time or skill or whatever it is I wanted to make something um that like was a sort of venn diagram of those things and so because I only get to cook for a select group of people I was so excited about being able to make something that like nothing thrills me more than getting dms from like people all over the country with like my product in their kitchen because I've never been able to do that obviously um this is like scale so excited yeah so that is like the greatest feeling ever is when someone I don't know is dming me saying like I used it as a pasta sauce and it was so delicious and here's a picture or like here's my kid with the it all over their face um yeah I think that I think that what I really had been like craving was to was to reach more people with food and and this has been like the best vehicle for that what a great way to do it and that's also something that I love about CPG because you do have that scale I used to be a partner of a restaurant and I did that for many years which was a really cool experience yeah yeah I was brand strategy also in that but it was only the people who could walk through the doors and that's how I got into CPG I'm like I love this but I would love to create more products that could get to just so many more people.

10:50Jane Coxwell:And that is one of the cool aspects of this industry that you have that scale that you could get into so many more kitchens. Yeah. And speaking of that, getting into more kitchens, I would love to hear how you've been approaching strategy and just getting the word out there, getting it into people's hands. I know you've been doing lots of testings and demos and also your social, how you almost are doing the opposite of most content creations of recipes. You're really slowing stuff down so that it feels like you're having a normal conversation through a recipe, which I really enjoy too. But I would love to hear your approach and your perspective around getting the word out about this product.

11:37Thank you for watching the Instagram stuff. That means a lot. Of course. I think, yeah, I think it's just, and I think it goes back to that sort of point of making it easy for people to make food, like nice food. And so my goal is to, I think it'll, it might take a little longer because it isn't just a product that is very obvious to use. It isn't just like a dip or a sauce. it is really versatile and although easy to use it just it needs I just wanted to show people how to use it and so um the biggest thing for me was to be able to make very simple videos we do them in our um in our manufacturing facility in the office part and they just have a burner and a toaster oven so really showing that you don't need a lot to make to make great food um And using the product and really showing people the why, not just the like how.

12:38So that's been a huge thing. Yeah, I think, you know, because I love watching cooking videos. Then there's so many amazing chefs on TikTok and Instagram. But those are, they feel more, they're like real entertainment. They're so beautiful to look at. and I wanted to focus less on entertainment and more on just genuinely helping people that are watching the videos and so they aren't as they're not as the videos that we make aren't as quick but they're really they've been trying to tell people like why and how I'm doing those like little steps um to make a really easy meal and um yeah so that was a big thing was was being able to communicate with people on how to use it and then and then just trying to create some sort of sense of community yeah like we've just had we've just uh on the 26th we finish a competition where um anyone who has bought the product online within the last 20 days will fly to their house anywhere in the united states i saw that cook for them which will be nice um we have so many of the same return customers and so um we'd love to start doing more events but making them again everything about like accessibility.

13:52So flying to them, making a meal for them with the product and meeting people in their, yeah, their friends and family. So I think just kind of small and trying to be, you know, small, but mighty and doing what we can with the resources that we have.

14:08Jane Coxwell:So again, you are doing a competition of people spotting the product and then you will be flying and making a meal for them, right? Yes, yeah. So anyone who has bought it, but it was between the 6th of October and the 26th of October, anyone who bought it online will just do a random draw. Amazing. And then, yeah, go to their house and up to eight people. And it can be, I think, one of the things about my experience is that I really can, I'll cook anywhere, you know, I'll cook on top of a rooftop. Right, you have the experience. I'll make it work. Yeah, so just being able to meet people and, yeah, I really, especially the people who bought so often.

14:47I really just want to be able to like meet people and be in their kitchens actually physically with them. So that was kind of a way to start.

14:55Jane Coxwell:That is so cool. And something else that you touched upon that I think is really interesting about your product. I did refer to it as a dip, but it also could be made as a soup and a sauce. Can you walk us through that? Because again, that is unique and different where in the better for you. There's so much innovation, but sometimes the hardest part is helping people understand all the different things a product can do. And so I would love if you could walk us through that just so that this also gets on the radar of more consumers and they can see how versatile this product actually is. Yeah. So it's kind of the way that it's, that I've been using it and found it so useful for the last few years, but like for, I say a few years, but like over 10 years, is it's just kind of feels like a friend in my fridge.

15:48So it now it's like habitual and that's what I'd love for it to feel people, kind of like a condiment, you know, a condiment is something that you just reach for automatically. And that's how I kind of use these. And now a lot of my friends who have been eating it for years and have been like the testers, they're all the same. Like they have to have it in their fridge because it's they like it feels instinctual now and so it's for things like you know a dip is is is what they are so you know you were right in saying that but you can dip anything into them they're also like a condiment that you mayonnaise they're great as a spread on a sandwich um they're uh amazing as a sauce so like they they really are like a chef's tool in a way as well because you can just grill a piece of salmon and then on a plate just do like a beautiful swoosh of the bright white or the the pink or the or the carrot which is like that beautiful yellow turmeric color and then you put a piece of fish on it with like a little bit of leaves and it literally looks like a restaurant meal so i'm gonna do that yeah you should do it yeah yeah and so um it's it's it's good warm it's good cold but i think as a source the things that take the most time to make are are the sauces the dips or whatever everything else in a meal you kind of pull together right that is the goal is that like because the the ingredients that we use it's fully organic but it's really nothing that you couldn't find at a farmer's market and so anyone could make it and sometimes I think about just like putting the recipe out there because anyone can make it but it's kind of my role as this private chef of making this product that it would be the most complicated to make in any sort of meal that people can just use so like literally you can grill a chicken breast but then if you've got a beautiful sauce you don't need to worry about complex flavors and stuff like that and you can just kind of add or take away and this is the

17:41Jane Coxwell:types of products I personally look for because I could I was vegan for a really long time now I am a pescatarian so I'm still like figuring out how to make salmon and etc so I love your product because it judges it up very simply because I'm also a New Yorker. I'm busy. I got the podcast. I got my client. I'm not making a sauce from scratch. It's so easy. Your product and it looks so pretty. And I'm like, okay, yes. Thank you. I love stuff like this. Yeah. And, and I think, you know, like all the things that you would see in a restaurant, um, when you, cause now that you like know the product if when you go to restaurants around you there's so many things that are on a puree vegetable bed whether it's like a bean or a what it p this is exactly the same um and those are the things that restaurants it takes kind of the longest to make um and that have the most flavor so yeah but the but the difference with this one of the things i'm most proud about is just how healthy it is so like you know using it as a breakfast you know you can cook an egg and use it as a spread on a piece of toast, but you're basically having like half a serving of vegetables, which is great.

18:56Like anytime that you can get more vegetables and didn't really have to do anything. Count me in.

19:02Jane Coxwell:So going from private chef CPG, you've been in the market. When did you launch? The end of May. Okay. So still relatively new. I know in entrepreneur land, it probably feels like 10 years already, but it's still really relatively new. What have you learned or what was something that you found really helpful that you would pass on to someone who's in the really early trenches? Maybe they're R &Ding something in their kitchen or they are trying to figure out, like you said, what's the non-negotiables or where they could be flexible, but just what piece of advice you would share with someone who's just just starting?

19:43I think that I would because I've thought about this a lot. And so it's hard because I am brand new. And so I'm certainly like not an expert. But for someone who's really in it at the moment, right, say from the very, very beginning, from when we started talking about it, up until this point, and moving forward, one of the biggest things that I think about a lot that we got caught in is just signing contracts that are too long. so really you know so many companies or if it was a food scientist it was like a food lab or if it was a i don't know social media thing whatever it is people's contact contracts tend to be they they tended to be quite a long they tended to be a long thing and then you couldn't get out and you know no one really has there's you don't have a ton of money doing this kind of stuff and so to get caught in a in a contract where you're not getting any value out of things i feel like is a real killer and so for us like you know distribution whatever but then if you know if you sign like a six-month contract with a distributor and and one week in they're sending out terrible things that's a bad position to be in and so what we've tried to do with people is because we have all of the best intentions to continue and we want relationships to be great but we've really tried as much as possible to do some sort of trial period with people where, um, even if it's, I don't know, it depends on how big the contract is, but even if it's two weeks, you know, like notice, but, but within a 30 day trial or something where you're not tied into this thing that just like ties you down and really can change everything financially for you.

21:22Um, because you get tied in, you get tied into that and then, but then you still need somebody else because that isn't working. And then you're kind of paying double.

21:30Jane Coxwell:Yeah, no, that's a really good point. And I think that also working with other strategic partners who have experience in the space also really helps with that, right? Like you said, CPG is its own being. Oh my gosh, yeah. It really is. So I think what you're touching upon too of kind of knowing the lay of the land and maybe also talking with other founders who are also really early on of what was worth it or like what was your experience with it? Because exactly what you're saying, these are big commitments. And I always say that to clients, like whoever you work with, it's a big commitment. So really being mindful of who you say yes to and what that looks like.

22:14I think that's a really just nuts and bolts,

22:18Jane Coxwell:good piece of advice of being discerning of what you go all in on. what your commitments are and honestly that is a good point because when we started we were so my when I say we I'm talking about my my co-founder Duval he's the best um that's another thing is like getting you know working with people that you really like trust 100 % and you share this is what we have but so that's who I'm talking about when I talk about we but um I think you know when we started we were so in it and we should have been looking outward a bit more because when I started following you say online that we were at the point where both of us had looked and we were like oh we wish we'd met her like a year ago like this this would you know what I mean and so we definitely that is a good piece of advice is kind of look outside of yourself and look towards people who are in the industry and who know what they're doing and who like are well connected because that is something that we should have done earlier is like look out a bit more instead of just focusing on us and what we were trying to build would have been helpful.

23:21Jane Coxwell:It's always that balance too, because you also have to have your own conviction in what you're building, but also then looking out and seeing who else you could bring in who like live, breathe and sleep it. Exactly. So that you can move quicker and kind of like get bumped up to the front of the line, so to speak. That's exactly it. But you've been doing a beautiful job. Where can people start finding OCO? I know you said online, but is there any other retailers? I know in New York City, I have mine, Happier Grocery. But anywhere else that you would love to give a shout out to where people can find the product?

23:55We're just in smaller specialty stores for now. A few places in New York, like you mentioned, Happier Grocer, Pop-Up Grocer, Zay Bars. And then in Connecticut, in a couple of small stores up there, New Jersey as well, where my co-founder is, Montclair area. all of that stuff is on our Instagram and then and then moving into Southern California soon really just kind of slowly getting into retail that's kind of the goal but yeah lots of little

24:23Jane Coxwell:places you're building momentum and those are the places too of nerds like myself who get really excited about finding new products who could also help get the word out yes yes exactly yeah yeah I love it. Well, Jane, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I genuinely, I don't say that about products unless I really mean it. And I think you're onto something really cool. And just thank you for all your thoughtfulness and mindfulness that you put into it. You could truly feel that. And I'm just really excited to see your product to continue to grow. That's so nice. Thank you. It means a lot coming from you.

25:02We are both very, we watch your Instagram closely. So thank you.

25:07Jane Coxwell:Thank you. So helpful. It really, really is. That means everything to me. Thank you. Well, thank you everyone for listening. Go check out Oco. I'm telling you, this is a great, great product to keep in your fridge, make any meal feel a little bit more zhuzhed up, flavorful, great nutrition, and I'll see everyone on the next episode. Bye. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They are connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf-level awareness, drive in-store momentum, and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most.

25:55Jane Coxwell:Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you. Thank you again for listening to this episode of the Emerging Brands Podcast. It really means so much to me that you listen to this show, share it with your friends and support it. Before I wrap up, I just wanted to give a shout out to a few brands I want you to keep an eye out for that I'm working with. First up is She's the Sauce. She just launched her pre-orders sold out, which is incredible. This is a new protein pack fiber-filled sauce line starting with a creamy ranch and honey mustard skews. It's made without seed oils, gums, fillers, so it's a cleaner, better-for-you option that tastes incredible.

26:43Jane Coxwell:Next is Cotto, a new cottage cheese dip that's reimagining the classics in a modern way. Then we have Nomi, which is a better for kids brand, making mealtime way easier. Next, we have Frankly Good Coffee, who is expanding in food service and specialty retail, bringing their air roasted, small batch, unique blends to more people. And I'm kicking off brand strategies for a new pudding brand, ready to drink beverage, and a baking brand and a few more in the works that I'm really excited to share about soon. If you are a CPG food and beverage founder and you're ready to launch a brand people want to shop, head to withkellybennett.com for the details.

27:29Jane Coxwell:And as always, thank you so much for listening, shopping the brands featured on the show and following brands I'm working with. It means so much. See you on the next episode.

27:44Thank you.