Preme

0:00Welcome 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.

0:44I'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 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.

1:30Now, let's dive into the new episode. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today on the show, I have Ziba Zari. She is the founder of Preem. And it was truly kismet that I stumbled upon her demoing her really cool product that we're going to get into a moment at Oasis Cafe many months ago. and it ended up being that I connected with Oasis Cafe. We did a summer fancy foods meetup there. And from the moment I saw her sampling in the cafe, I was like, wait, I know this brand. I've tried your product. And it was really cool to meet you and Rife.

2:14So Ziba, I'm so happy full circle. Now you're on the podcast to talk all about your brand. I love it. Thank you so much for having me. Of course. So let's first get into Preem. what exactly it is, the product SKUs that you have, and really how you're differentiating this gut healthy product. Because gut health is really hot right now, which I love as an IBS girly myself. Oh, you are. Yes. Yeah. So I love any and all things gut health. But I would love to hear your take on and having your stamp on this issue that many people have. Totally. So Preem is named after prebiotics and premium. When I first entered into this scene of CPG and I was looking at gut health products, like I myself was struggling with IBS and other gut issues.

3:07And when I would look at the store, like at Air One, it would be like every gut health brand had ingredients in there that actually were going to be harmful to people with IBS. So they either had added probiotics and they've shown now with emerging science that added probiotics can cause more harm than good if you don't need them. Yes. And then, you know, they have sugar, which is also inflammatory. Or, you know, when you fake sweeteners, there's controversy around this, but they're saying that fake sweeteners can like trick your metabolism and also send your body into doing overdrive when it doesn't need to.

3:41Um, so for me, when I would look around at the snack aisle, when it came to the gut health department, I was like really disappointed in every other option. And I was like, why can't we have a more premium option that actually reflects emerging science? Like, why is that so hard? Um, and I will learn, I learned that, you know, there's a lot of, you know, reasons why we don't use a bunch of premium ingredients in a product because people want affordability at the same time. But I have a lot of non-negotiables that we use in the brand to make sure we're premium. We have no inflammatory ingredients, no sweeteners.

4:16Even our natural flavors are from Europe. They're not grass. They're EU standard because they use like way less chemicals than us. They're also organic and we use all real fruit. So you're kind of having this like organic experience when you're having this, we have a gut building hydration brand for anyone who isn't aware, but we're, so the main things that are drive healthy gut is fiber, minerals, and hydration. And I wanted to kind of get that comprehensive feeling in a beverage, a silly little beverage that you can enjoy and indulge in. I think if you're constantly dealing with bad gut health, you're constantly restricting and restricting hurts your mood.

4:54It makes you feel left out, which I think can then contribute to worse gut health. So my goal was to like offer indulge, safe indulgence for people who, you know, are prone to kind of having these reactive experiences when they have snacks and make sure that they can feel safe. Absolutely. And as someone who has got issues, I've, I try a lot of products, right? And so I'm really conscious anything that starts going into the probiotics, prebiotics, I'm like, Ooh, I have to lead with some major caution. Yeah. And it's in a lot of things now, which is another conversation. But I liked your product because of how mindful you were on the messaging and the product description of like, no, this is going to be okay.

5:42Well, so we make sure everything's FODMAP friendly. Yes, which I really like. It's crazy to see that every single prebiotic snack uses a high FODMAP prebiotic. So literally all snacks use inulin, chicory rue, or artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke. And those are all considered high FODMAP. So anyone with IBS, if they eat too much of that, they're going to probably bloat, have gas, or have more inflammation buildup. So we wanted to defy that and offer only FODMAP-friendly prebiotic fibers. I think we're the only snack brand doing that right now. There might be one other that came after us, but yes. Interesting.

6:18So just to back up a little bit more, what are your product SKUs? Yeah. So people could get a better understanding of what exactly the product is. So we're gut building hydration with leaky gut support. We have a kiwi lemonade. It's like a three in one hydration powder. You're getting hyaluronic acid, which is not just for hydration and anti-aging. It also has leaky gut benefits. You're getting real New Zealand green and golden kiwi fruit in there, which are a science backed prebiotic fiber. And you're getting like all the good stuff like magnesium glycinate, which is the best magnesium for people with gut issues.

6:52If you have gut issues, you're already having absorption issues, and it's a very low chance that you're absorbing your magnesium if it's not a glycinate. So it's just all like an electrolyte that's pretty much tailored to people with gut issues. And we're naturally sweetened with coconut sugar, only one gram. So we have the kiwi lemonade, and then we wanted to create a warm beverage because in Chinese medicine, heat and warmth is really good for the stomach and the digestion. So we made a hot cocoa, and we use the liver-supportive herbs in there because, you know, Liver is definitely part of the equation when it comes to your digestion.

7:24And most women's livers are overburdened today in society. We're just exposed to so many chemicals and toxins. Our livers are just struggling. So I wanted to have some liver support in there with marshmallow root and milk thistle. And it's just like a sweet and salty hot cocoa with electrolytes in there as well. And then we have a completely unflavored SKU. It's a gentle prebiotic fiber. It's low FODMAP, organic, allergen-free. and you can mix this into literally anything. You can bake with it. You can put it in your hot beverage, your cold beverage. I love it because it gives you six grams of fiber then and there.

7:59And you can like, if you're traveling, you can check it off your list. Like, okay, I'm going to reach my 30 grams for the day because it's easier that way. Um, so I love that when I'm traveling, it's really good for like travelers. IBS when you're like, get backed up really easily. Right. I've been taking these, you know, I've been taking these supplements on my own without this product since I was sick back in 2020. These were recommended to me by my functional medicine doctor, and that's kind of how I discovered them. Interesting. Okay. So let's go back to 2020. I mean, that was a wild ride for everyone.

8:31And so many stories from the podcast start with, well, in 2020. Oh, really? That's so funny. Oh, so many, so many. Yeah. It was just like, it set off so many stories for people and changes for people. It really did. So walk us through where you were. I know that you were working in film production. Yeah. I mean, that whole industry went on its head as well. So can you give us like the backstory of what was going on? I mean, I was working my dream job in TV and film. The last project I worked on was Oscar award winning film, Coda. Oh, amazing. Yes. And I loved working in TV and film, but the 12 hour days and just like the long, you know, stressful hours were definitely contributing to my gut health.

9:19And I had become so incapacitated by what was going on in my stomach that I just could no longer function. Like I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't even barely feed myself. And that's kind of how I ended up, you know, working with this functional medicine doctor, went to one of the best GI doctors in Beverly Hills. And all he did was prescribe me antibiotics and send me on my way, which, you know, helps you in the beginning, but then it kind of makes you worse over time. And, you know, when I met this functional medicine doctor, she had cured her own Hashimoto's through her own practice. And so I was like, well, if she's been through this, then maybe I can trust her a bit more.

9:52And she just taught me everything about like, is it, where is it sort, where's your food source from? Like, are you getting enough protein nutrition? Like just the difference even between probiotics and prebiotics. I had no idea that there even were prebiotic fibers at that time. But every morning I would have to make, you know, a very limited diet. I had to make this like oatmeal and I really missed, you know, having something that you could just make that that was, I didn't have to think about, I could just maybe add water to it and be done. But this was how I squeezed in like all my nutrition for the day.

10:25Cause I could barely digest food. Let alone if I had, you know, an appetite, I would wake up nauseous all of the time. And just, I wanted to create things for people who like need that kind of like, you know, mindless option they can reach for that is still going to nourish them. It's still going to be like an apple from the tree. It's still going to be medicine. And I just think, you know, packaged, like food can be thy medicine. And so it can packaged foods and healthy can taste indulgent. It was also something that I wanted to go for. I was so sick of like grabbing a healthy option and then feeling like, wow, this is so lame.

10:59I don't enjoy this experience. I'm a Taurus. Like I love to indulge. And so, um, yeah, I, I just set to work in my kitchen. We originally started with like a refrigerated pudding that had the texture of the Greek yogurt that I was missing that I couldn't eat. And, um, you know, cold chain is really hard and you need a lot of money to do cold chain successfully with no experience. So I wanted to crawl before I walk and I wanted to just go back to a pantry item. So we pivoted and we're doing the drink powders now that we launched in January. And eventually, hopefully, we get back to the puddings because they were so beloved by myself and everyone.

11:37Very cool. So you landed on a drink packet. So what was then the timeline of actually putting together, okay, this is the cold option, this is the warm option, which makes sense. I was curious of how those SKUs were connected. That totally makes sense now. and a neutral option. What were those steps then of actually taking the leap to bring this to market, getting it into consumers' hands, get it onto the shelves of retailers? Can you give us that part of the story? So every manufacturer I talk to just like doesn't understand the ingredients that I work with because they're so like functional medicine medicinal.

12:23So I I personally develop every single recipe that we have. I do it in my kitchen. I just literally order like if there, you know, if we need salt in there, I order like every type of salt that I can find. And I try it on my own IBS. And then I tested on my friend's IBS. And then I tested on my friend's friend's IBS. And that's kind of how it works. So I realized that the cold chain puddings were limiting me. I was self-producing. I wasn't growing as fast as I wanted to be growing. And I saw other brands that were starting to kind of like copy what Prim was doing by putting these fibers into their products.

12:55So I was like, I need to keep up with the market and I need to pivot or else I'm going to get swallowed by people with way more money and backing. So I thought, what's a pantry item that I already use? And I was already making these like latte beverages every day. I was already kind of drinking element, LMNT, if anyone drinks it. I just hated how fake it tasted. I would drink three days in a row and be like, this tastes so fake. And then every other electrolyte I would try just tasted too sweet or too this or that. And I never actually felt the hydration that I was like drinking just one, I would need to drink like multiple.

13:29So for me, like I really wanted something that felt that you could like feel the difference from just one. So I experimented in my kitchen while we were still selling the puddings. And then I found a manufacturer who would produce it with us because you need to have like a certain, you know, you need to do that. And as SQSF certified to do electrolytes. And then, you know, I really didn't want to go straight into retail. I, you know, we've talked to retailers like Urban Outfitters, we've talked to retailer, you know, I've talked to bigger retailers, we've been in retail with the puddings. I really wanted to build out our e-com, you know, most people I talk to who have more of like supplement kind of airing DTC or CPG brands, they build up this really big, you know, D to C business.

14:13And then they go into retail. I have like semi, you know, concerns about going into retail with a product that isn't a stick, you know, being able to compete against drink brands, you kind of need that individual stick packet on shelf. And I really didn't want to go out with those stick packets because they're just very expensive. They're expensive to the consumer. I wanted people to just get to know the brand as it is, and then they could adjust the powder if they wanted in that package that it comes in. So we're just building out the e-commerce ourselves, you know, you can buy us at preamfoods.com.

14:43And then we launched with a low talk shop as well, which helped us, you know, called live healthily.com. The people who go to those low talk shops, they already know what they're looking for. They already understand why something like this would cost a premium. But if you're in an everyday grocery aisle, a lot of those grocery buyers don't understand why this costs almost a dollar more than like an element per serving. And to be able to explain that takes time. Education takes time. Right. And it also takes partnerships. So there's like some groceries that don't want to let you demo. They don't really want you in there, you know, testing everything.

15:18They don't, they're not there to like preach for your products. So finding the best partnerships that let me demo or that aren't their clientele already fully understands this category is what we've been doing. So we've been launching with really small boutique stores like you know some in texas and now one that's going to be in california and just dipping our toes in to see like how does this price point work for people since it's a little bit higher than most and do they value this like gut health this premium gut health addition that's not an inulin chicory root or artichoke um so we're just testing the market now we're about to enter amazon which i'm really excited for oh tell me about that um so doing a supplement brand is so different than doing a regular cpg brand like we have so many other t's and i's we have to cross and we have higher priced insurance actually if we want to be in retail than just a regular cpg brand i think it's like 200 for insurance to be in retail but for me it's like two thousand dollars so it's just a totally different right well that's a really good call out for someone who wants to go more in the supplement space and cpg just things that you wouldn't necessarily think about but right up right and if you think about it like inulin and chickaroo are foods they're still foods and they're considered prebiotic fibers but my the stuff i use are science-backed um they're kind of manufactured prebiotic fiber powders so those are considered more of the supplement and that's the risk i'm taking okay because you're not using those foods you're using supplements.

16:55And then that's why it got the price point. Got it. Got it. Got it. So now we're just seeing if the market, like if there's a market for it, essentially, you know, but so far it's amazing to see people just come on the site, buy one Kiwi lemonade and then come back and buy eight Kiwi lemonade. So I'm like, wow, that means that's a great sign. That's a fabulous sign. So how are you finding those right partners for retail? Because I feel like someone listening to this podcast is probably just on the cusp of starting to do that specialty retail outreach. It feels like there's so many, but also only you at the same time.

17:39It's like always this push and pull, I feel like, when you're just getting started. What are you looking for in a retail partner? I think that would be helpful for people to understand. It's not just emailing everyone under the sun. You really have to be mindful of who you're outreaching to and who you ultimately work with. Totally. I mean, I've learned so much about the difference in retailers in the last few years. Just like if you, for example, if anyone's LA-based, you have like an Erewhon, which is a very premium health store, but then you have maybe like a crunchier Rainbow Acres that's, you know, been there for decades.

18:15And it's like a lot of older shoppers, like they're less excited to try novelty. They're less likely to like deviate from their norm of what they always buy at the store. And they're less likely to understand why something costs more than the average product on the shelf. But when you go to an Erewhon and you're demoing, those people are like hungry to try the new thing. They want to try every novelty. They don't care about the price. They're not looking at the price. They're just looking at like the experience. Right. And so to find the retailers that have shoppers that are curious and excited instead of just everyday shoppers who are trying to save.

18:49And it's just different for my brand. You know, I'm not like as the most cost-effective brand. So I need to find retailers or I'm looking for retailers who understand my price point and want to partner with me on that, AKA help me with placement, help me with demos and, um, you know, are able to work with me. Maybe if this doesn't work since it's kind of new and it's kind of where maybe we can switch the placement. So it's been cool. Like when I talk to some people, they're really excited about the brand and then maybe, you know, they have a little bit harder time selling it on shelf and it's not right for their customers.

19:22But then I have other places where it's just flying off the shelf and they're doubling the order. So it's really an interesting thing being so new in the category that it's just the line we have to toe and make sure we grow with the right people so that we're not failing so much that we can't keep growing, if that makes sense. That absolutely makes sense. So for you going into Amazon, what is this strategy there? What is your perspective there of helping an Amazon shopper understand the premium quality of what you're doing? I think it's all about like the imagery and the videos and like the way we're using SEO to kind of support the listing so that it shows up.

19:59And then also the category, you don't get to fully choose your category on Amazon. You can try to choose your category, but Amazon will bump you to different categories if it wants to, that's my understanding. So just, I like to look at my competitors. Some people say, put your blinders on. I love to look at my competitors. I love to understand who is in my category. And so I love to just look at like what they're doing, how they're succeeding and like bloom b-l-u-m-e not b-l-o-o-m but bloom does also a gut building hydration with probiotics which is not my favorite and they are killing it in their category they're doing so well they're like number one so just looking at brands and like what they're doing and how they're selling out and i really think like what we have an edge is like a lot of gut health brands aren't run by women and women are disproportionately impacted by gut health so i think you know i always leaned into building a community and building the brand so that people can identify with the brand as like a place, a third place that they can come to, to kind of like commiserate about their gut issues or understand their gut issues on a better level.

21:00This isn't just a product. Like I'm trying to create sort of a platform and a sort of a place for all these women to convene together. Sure, we have male customers. It's great, you know, but it's about 10 % compared to our normal shoppers. Well, it's smart that you're leaning into what you have as a competitive edge in the fact that you are a smaller brand, female founded. You personally had the problem that you're working to solve. That inherently builds more of that community within a product space, I think, so much more organically than a bigger brand trying to build community where it doesn't have that same like face behind the brand.

21:43and feeling and storyline. So that absolutely makes sense. Is there any other piece of advice you would share with someone who's on that cusp of like, okay, I might do this thing. Should I do this thing? It kind of sounds a little crazy. I had a totally different career. Any piece of advice for them? Yeah, I would say if it's something you can't stop thinking about, then do it because you know time you know you're going to run out of time eventually but like only if it's something that you are eat breathe sleep you're happy and willing to eat breathe sleep about for years to come like it's not going to be a three four year stint like college was or high school was it's going to be like the rest of your life or maybe for the next 10 years 20 years and so I just invite people to be like willing to grow with their brand let the brand grow them and just, you know, like I always questioned, like, could I handle it?

22:42And what I realized is like when you love something so much and you care so much about the mission, like it will push your own limit. So like I've done things that I didn't think I know could do or didn't think was possible for me to do. Right. And so don't doubt yourself in terms of like what you've already accomplished. Just look at like how much you love this mission and it will get you there wherever you need to go. that's such great advice such great advice okay last question before I let you go where can people shop preem yes so preemfoods.com or livehealthily.com and then soon to be amazon.com incredible and I'm also going to link it on my shop my store yes so people could shop there and just congratulations on everything you're building I could genuinely feel your passion and just excitement for what you're doing and what you're building.

23:32And it was so nice meeting you in real life and having you on the show. And I'm excited to see your brand continue to grow. It's been such a pleasure, Kelly. Thank you so much for having me. It's my pleasure. Thank you everyone for listening and I'll see you on the next episode. 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. Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you.

24:17If 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 the Sauce, a new non-alcoholic cocktail line that's coming to market soon, and a hormone-conscious deodorant because food adjacent brands count to. If you are bringing a new product to market, please reach out at withkellybennett.com.

25:04Thank 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.