This Food Brand Landed A Glossier Collab Right After Launching

0:00Hey, business besties. Welcome back to the Female Founder World Podcast. I'm Jasmine. I'm the host of the show. And today I'm chatting with the founder of Westbourne, Camilla Marcus. Camilla, welcome to the show. You are now entering female founder world with your host, Jasmine Grinsworthy. Thank you so much for having me. I've been excited. How do you introduce Westbourne to people? What's your go-to? We are trying to bring the biodiversity of regenerative farms to every home and kitchen and grocery store and beyond. We are one of the first regenerative brands really thinking about transforming the future of food for our generation.

0:35Amazing. How did you get into this business? You started in 2018, right? No, I started the products in 2022. We had a restaurant before that in New York and Soho. I'm an originally trained chef. I spent my life in kitchens, cooking, developing restaurants. I'm from Los Angeles, born and raised. I grew up in this bubble where we lived in harmony with nature. That's just how you do it here in LA. Same as Israelier, I feel. Exactly. And I think getting into professional kitchens and realizing that there was this huge disconnect from what was happening on the farm and then what was coming onto your plate or into your home, especially when it comes to the next generation of farming practices.

1:15And so I think working through supply chains and developing restaurants for some of the most amazing people in the industry, but realizing, again, there was just this disconnect and seeing all my friends be obsessed with what shoes they're wearing and thinking about vegan leather and they're really proud about their clean formulation, skincare and refillables and no plastic packaging and compostable slip bags. And yet you'd go to their homes, look in their pantry, what they're buying in the grocery store. And it didn't reflect those same values. And so I think for me, it was that rise of conscious capitalism and seeing our generation really change these old and massive industries.

1:53And yet food fell a decade behind, if not more. In a really practical sense, like what does that actually mean for someone who's going out there and like sourcing produce and creating, eventually creating a product? How do you do that? I think you start at the source. I think similar to anything, right? You're making clean skincare. You have to think about botanicals versus chemicals. I think similarly in food, it's about the farming practices. So contacting and really centering our products around farms that are re-nourishing the soil, thinking about carbon capture, and really trying to nourish the soil so that it can bear fruit next year, the year after, and the decades further.

2:35And what you get out of that is a much higher nutritional produce that's better for you and better for the year. I bet it tastes better. I bet it tastes a lot better. You know what? This is a complaint that all of my Australian friends have about food in the US. I've lived here for 10 years. Love America. Love living in New York. The food tastes like shit. Nothing has any flavor. You haven't come to my kitchen yet. I'll cook for you. I have not come to your kitchen. Look, I think it's about, again, shopping at local, shopping at your local farmer's market when you're in the grocery store, looking for regenerative brands.

3:08There's so many that you can buy online. Obviously, we're in like the DTC world across all industries. There's so many regenerative brands and farms that will sell directly even to a regular consumer. So even just starting there, and I always say to people, don't be worried about solving the climate crisis tomorrow with everything. Take one step. If every single person in America decided they would once a day, take one step. Cut out plastic in one way, right? Change your toilet paper to bamboo. Shop at your local farmer's market once a week. Think about one thing. Don't bring a plastic bag back from the grocery store, bring a tote.

3:44One thing here and there, you start to get addicted and it does snowball. But even if you stuck to that one thing, if every single person did that, think about the collective impact. It's massive. So I think we also come, I see a lot of people feeling so daunted of has to be all or nothing. And I'm very anti that approach. I feel like you got to meet people where they are and it can just be that one thing. Start with one step. I love that message. So you started the restaurant in 2018 and then in 2020 ended up closing the restaurant and speeding up the process of launching your first product, which I know was always on the pipeline, but you wanted to obviously get that out sooner.

4:23So I'm going to talk about the product launch in a second, but something that I want to learn a little bit more about, you had actually dipped your toe in the water of products because you had a collaboration with Glossier when you were running the restaurant that was a product-based collab. What was that and how did that happen? I still look at that. It was one of the most fun periods in my career. So we had a really close relationship with Glossier, an old friend from way before the company was started, sort of one of their early employees. Again, Kismet, they had moved their headquarters to their big office that's now in West Soho from East Soho, which happened to be two blocks from the restaurant.

4:56And at the time, now there's a lot of restaurants in that area. When we opened, there was almost none. And so we became their de facto cafeteria, if you will. And, you know, their food partner in a lot of different ways. And they'd said, can you come over to the office tomorrow? I said, sure. I walked in and they said, launchingberrybomb.com. I think it had been a while since they had done a new flavor. And obviously at the time the bombs were their biggest seller. And they said, because it's food based, we want to do a product that we could ship around the country. We want you to create something with a recipe.

5:26And by the way, we got six, I think it something like six weeks to do it. And I said, game on. I'm also the person that's like the crazier, the better. I am a total adrenaline. I thrive under this pressure. Totally. I was like, let's go. So I come back to the restaurant. I'm like, we're going to ship hundreds of this product. We're going to develop it. We're going to make it and we're going to figure it out. And so we did a berry compote for them in a really beautiful jar. And it was just so fun. And I think that's when I realized, look, we also can touch so many more people out of the four walls of a restaurant.

5:56And I love product development. I'm so that like early beta tester. I love giving feedback, love packaging. I just, I'm very physical textile. I think that's very much like the chef side of me. That's when it really started to roll. We started experimenting with a bunch of different kinds of products in the restaurant, snacks and different to-go items. But that was really that aha moment for us. When you launched officially your products in 2022, what did you launch with. Okay, business besties, let's switch gears for a second. Real quick, I want to talk to you about this season's presenting sponsor, Vistaprint.

6:31They are sponsoring this entire season of the Female Founder World podcast and we love a supportive sponsor. So much so that we're actually working with Vistaprint ourselves to create the merch and all of those beautiful event perks that you know and love from our in real life Female Founder World events. If you haven't heard of Vistaprint, here's what you need to know. Vistaprint helps all kinds of business owners print all kinds of marketing products like super professional business cards, fun merch, eye-catching flyers and brochures, and a whole bunch more. And it's all completely custom. So you can do whatever you want.

7:10Whatever you're imagining right now, Vistaprint can print it. And if you're wondering if you're ready to be a designer girly, their easy to use website makes it super simple. Plus they have designers on hand to help you if you really need it. Right now, Vistaprint is giving all female Founderworld podcast listeners a little something, 25 % off your first order at vistaprint.com. Use the code FFW25 at checkout and step up your branding game. We put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more. so our hero product to begin is it's on our table is our avocado oil and that's what you're known for i think as well right yeah we're about to expand big time next year but we felt i felt like it was a big centerpiece of right you use cooking oil almost every day it's something that can go on your tabletop on your countertop it's really out and present versus being something that's hidden in your pantry right if i come over to your house which is also a new phenomenon that wasn't really the case, I would say over 10 years ago, our generation loves the like beautiful stand by the stove showing, you know, your beautiful pepper mill and what kind of salt you're using.

8:21And it says something about you. It is very much, I think, a personal style moment in the home, which again, in our parents' generation, it was very much everything was put away. Right. And so I think for me, it was a way to be a core staple in your cooking life. And also, So I've just been a big believer in avocado oil for a long time. And in the regenerative space, what a lot of people don't know is avocado trees are very often co-planted with coffee and chocolate. It feeds really special nutrients in the soil and then provides the right kind of shade. And when you think about the regenerative movement, a lot of large scale regenerative agricultural plots and businesses started in coffee and chocolate and early brands started in coffee and chocolate because they're obviously one of the top two crops globally.

9:08So avocados are present on these large scale regenerative farms, but it's not their primetime crop, right? It's just part of the ecosystem. And that's exactly our mission is how do we intercept the other amazing crops that they're growing as part of this integrated ecosystem and create a high demand, high velocity, everyday product that you would use anyway. Not trying to change anyone's behavior, trying to meet you where you are and create something that's flavor for it. Obviously, first and foremost, it has to taste better than what's on the market. And then again, something that's a lot more sustainable, better for the earth and better for your health.

9:45So since launching a couple of years ago, I'm really curious about like how your customers are finding you, how they found you in those early years and how they're finding you now. I do think some of our built-in community really came from the restaurant days. There's a lot of people. I think in an interesting way, COVID was this mass dispersion, right? Everyone moved. And I think that sort of sent our friend group, if you will, from the restaurant kind of all over the country. Guys still run into people or we get DMs from people, love the restaurant, love the products. I live in Texas now. I live in Colorado now.

10:17So even though we were very localized and obviously so New York centric, there was this interesting dispersion that I think naturally happened after COVID. I think it's all the ways. I think social recommendations, seeing in a friend's house. I think press, I think in food press still does certain publications, I do think really move the needle. That's interesting. Why do you think food that makes a difference? I think there is a little bit of a sense of needing. I think it's the same reason why people still care about what critics say about restaurants, right? Yeah. You might ask a friend, but you're probably asking a friend who has been in restaurants, worked in restaurants, or has some sort of food background, you're not just like asking a random friend most often.

10:59I don't know. There is this like hierarchy, I guess I would say, of you want that stamp of approval. And I would bet even if you asked your friend, you're cross-checking it with a couple critic sites or things online that are like supposed to be experts in this space. I do think there's something about that. And we see it a lot. We had an amazing article January after we launched the highly recommend and Bon Appetit drove crazy banana sales. And it was something we had been talking to them for a long time. And it was such a glowing review of our extra virgin avocado oil. And it really just went gangbusters.

11:37So I do think I don't think all media, but I do think there's a couple. And I don't even know if it's necessarily just the publication. I think there are certain columns, right same as strategist yeah if you're getting something for your baby you're going to strategist you're going to see the five strollers that they recommend you'll probably pick one yeah you might cross-reference that with three mom friends that you trust yeah but I do think in a similar way there's just a couple of those I think in the food world that really do catapult you a little bit more that's so helpful to pull out the specific like what the column is what the publication is because Florence Fabricant front burner come on like she also drives and again think about it she's only choosing a very select amount in the year right she doesn't just write all the time she's known for being super discerning very fair very objective so again I think similar to strategists right like it is I say savage in a good way it's so discerning that trust with their readers instead of being like, I'm going to recommend a product, 10 products every day.

12:40And so I can get more products because it was gifted, right? Totally. It's a thousand percent. And I think there are a couple of those that really ring true and I think hold their community really tight. How are you thinking now about your DTC business versus wholesale? Because wholesale is obviously, particularly in food, it's big. Yeah. It's been interesting over the past couple of years to see people waking up to that. Food, I think, again, unlike other industries, you buy in a basket with other brands out in the world. I don't think the DTC is, it doesn't mean it can't be a contributor, but I just don't think it's the way that, like I'm buying a denim jacket.

13:19I'm going directly to that website. When I'm buying food products, I'm in the grocery store. I'm out at a small high street boutique store. I just think the vast majority of Americans shop food in a basket with other brands in just such a different way than other industries. Totally. That said, I think it's a really important discovery. It's really important for discovery. It's important for your loyalists. It's important for storytelling. It is important for information. I think people also buy stuff in the grocery store, go to the website to learn more. But food, the focus of the business has to be on wholesale.

13:53Yeah. You've got a pretty big retail launch coming up, you mentioned. We do. Which is very exciting. This is a very big, crazy fall for us. Tell me a little bit more about what's happening, what you can share and how the opportunity came about. Yeah. So we, like I would imagine most food brands, it's very inside baseball. That's so much of our food system and how distribution works. I'm sure it's the same with Sephora and again, in the beauty world, even in retail, right? There's very hub and spoke. There's a couple market makers. You really have to get to them. And there's a lot of agencies that you have to use to go there.

14:29Very few things happen really directly. So we've been working with a grocery broker and they helped us secure our biggest retail launch, which is 163 stores. We're launching with Fresh Market, which we are so excited about. It's really big. We went from, we're lucky our first retail partner was Air One. They've been really amazing to us. I think there are about 10 or 12 stores now in LA. Actually, it's wild. And I'm excited. No one's ever asked me publicly, but I'm excited to share because it is one of those things where you're like, no, that can't be real. And I swear it is. You listen to some podcasts and interviews and you're like, no way I call BS on that.

15:05We literally had just launched the avocado oil. We did a big event at my house with Ron Finley. And about three weeks later, we literally got a DM from Erwan. And remember, this is when they only had four stores. They've tripled in the last two years. They took on a big investment. They're probably going to go national. Very excited for that. But, you know, as quote unquote back in the day when they did things, I think a little more guerrilla marketing. And so they DM'd and said, would you consider, you know, partnering with us? And I said, like, obviously I shop at Erwan all the time. I'm from LA and I wrote them this love letter.

15:36I said, but we have no clue what we're doing with wholesale. So full disclosure, we're going to mess up. We're going to change the product. In fact, we launched with a 750 milliliter bottle, what we now call our house bottle. I thought people would want value, right? Bigger size. Yeah. The price might be more than something like that. I'm also a chef. Obviously, I use an inordinate amount. You want the big bottle. Yeah, totally. I was wrong. We learned through Air One and they've been good to us. We've really changed the SKUs. We've changed the formats. We've changed the labels. They've been amazing.

16:07But it was funny because we were really like, we totally do, but we're going to F up. And I just want to be very clear, like we're not going to be ready. And as long as you're willing to go through the growing pains, we're stoked and we're going to invest in this channel. We do a lot of demos. Like I said, I shop there all the time, but it was wild. I think getting a retailer through DM is like, yeah, it will normally happen. So the lesson out of that was basically with retail, it's sometimes it's better to have a smaller product at a lower price. So people feel it's more accessible to try it.

16:39Is that the lesson? So we had actually two lessons concurrently, which was really interesting. So one was the bottle. I think it's really hard. And I think you learn this in beauty, right? The reason that lip gloss is really popular is because it's a certain price point. You're okay. I'll dip my toe in with this brand. I've never heard of them before. It's not a high investment or high performance product. You're okay. I'll see what they're about. Similarly, I think this sticker shock of a$40 entry point to say, I'm not even sure I like this brand. It's just too high. So one, it was getting a product that was$20 or less as the first one.

17:14And then two is interesting. Our cooking oil, which is out the lighter colored one, we originally called it refined because that is what happens. It's refined through a process. What we realized again, through some Erwan feedback and some testing and demos was that word refined and oil, you think of an oil refinery, which is actually the opposite of sustainability in our mission. And it's funny how those words mind played for people. And so we changed it to a hundred percent pure. And what was interesting is the extra virgin, which is more expensive. Even in the larger bottle, Eclipse sales 2X over the pure.

17:52When we switch the name and we change the format of the bottle to be smaller, it completely switched within two weeks. Interesting. Drastically. Wow. Wild. I want to ask you about money and funding. I feel like you've started to like essentially products that are really expensive, a restaurant and then this food-based CPG business, which are the two really expensive things to start. How did you fund it in the beginning when you were doing the restaurant and then when you evolved into the products? So restaurant, family and friends. And I will say I so I'm also a pretty active angel investor. So I love talking about money.

18:23I think it is something we shouldn't be so hush about. I think it's really interesting in restaurants. I still get asked a lot by friends in the industry or people starting in it. Like, how do you finance it? It's really hard because restaurants are so different. It's more like an annuity. It's much more about like annual distributions. It doesn't have venture returns. And frankly, most people want to invest in a restaurant because they want it to be their clubhouse, right? They want it to be the place they eat at. They can get a reservation at any time that connects to their friends. Like it's, I guess I can't compare it to a sports team, but a little bit in that sense of sports teams obviously have a huge rainbow at the end of the, the end of it, if you do it well.

19:02But I do think I always say to people, start with your network, start with your community. If you're a chef opening up a restaurant, I always say, if you've worked as a private chef, contact clients, ask them if each will contribute a little bit. They know your work. They know your food. They're going to be excited. Like it has to be personal, even like crowdfunding, to be honest, I think fits restaurants much more than a lot of other businesses. So friends and family. And then, you know, we were very fortunate when we launched the products, Air One, we had quote unquote got on the hook. We ended up joining an accelerator program, which I highly recommend.

19:38I know some founders have had mixed experiences. I think it depends on the accelerator. It depends on your business. But we partnered up with SOSV. They're the largest global climate investors. It's like honestly having Captain Planet. Amazing. On speed dial. They're amazing. And it was interesting. Again, the kismet. I don't like to use luck, but I do think there's a universal cosmic from LA. I totally believe in that stuff. The last thing I want to ask you is whether you take a paycheck out of the business yet. A lot of the founders I speak to are not. I so we are also again I think there's something about having a baby at least in my life my astrologer who I was telling you a little bit about we always say it's just like when it rains it pours so I'm five weeks postpartum we are literally in the process of closing our seed round right now I've been on and off with investors basically through my entire delivery and postpartum and now I will be taking a paycheck amazing what a great note to end look you have I think you have to take it at some point.

20:35I think it's super important that the founder is valued. But I also understand, look, we all have to get to the place in our businesses where it makes sense to. Right. And I also think it helps you look at your team and say, OK, what would I pay someone to be doing what I'm doing? And vice versa. Is there a way to build the team around me so I can take that paycheck and be able to build a team that makes sense so that it can do that? Yeah. Yeah, and also that it's sustainable and you can do this for the long term because it is a long-term game. Camilla, thank you so much for coming on the show.

21:08We're going to do a very quick part two that will drop on Wednesday with some of your resource recommendations. But congratulations on everything you've built. Thank you. Thank you for having me and same to you. I just wanted to jump in and end the show with a quick thank you and shout out to all of our paid Business Besties subscribers. For$9 a month, Business Besties bypass literally years of networking by getting access to all of the people that you need to build your dream business. Besties get access to exclusive in-person meetups in cities all across the US, Australia, and the UK. You get access to our group chat and you get to bypass the waitlist.

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