He's Leading A 'Green' Revolution… And Slurping His Way To Victory

0:10Hello friends, I'm Ray Latif and you're listening to the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage, Taste Radio. In this episode, we sit down with Mac Villareal, the founder and CEO of I Eat My Greens, a pioneering plant-based soup company. 25 years ago, Mac Villareal was navigating the high seas at the Olympic Games in Sydney. If all goes as planned, he'll soon be charting a new course, sailing into the sunset as a highly successful entrepreneur. Mac is the founder and CEO of I Eat My Greens, a refrigerated brand of chef-crafted plant-based soups made from fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

0:55Launched in 2020, I Eat My Greens is known for its sophisticated yet approachable flavors, including its carrot sweet potato soup and its turmeric and zucchini, cilantro, and cauliflower soup. The products are packaged in 20-ounce clear pouches with a screw cap closure and distributed nationally, including at Sprouts and Wegmans. In the following interview, Mac takes us through his fascinating entrepreneurial journey from his days as an Olympic sailor and transitioning into the fresh juice industry before ultimately founding his soup business. He discusses his brand's innovative packaging, how he overcame initial retailer pushback, creating products that align with modern food trends, and his patient yet ambitious growth strategy.

1:57for a while because as you know, I am in love with your brand. The first time I tried your soups, I was just absolutely blown away at how good they were and how delicious you could make plant-based soups in that convenient pouch that you sell your products in. I just felt like when I saw your brand and I tasted it, everything that you did was a home run. You just knocked it out of the park. And I wasn't the only one because as folks might recall, I have hosted the Naturally San Diego Pitch Slam in the last couple of years. And we're here at the Naturally San Diego pre-party for the UNFI show out here.

2:35And I'm bummed out because I didn't get to do the year or the year prior when you won the Pitch Slam. So I'm not the only one who thinks highly of your brand. And I know we're going to get into how many more people think highly of your brand, but what was that experience like? Oh, that was great. It was during COVID at times, so really grateful for Naturally San Diego and the whole organization here in San Diego has been amazing. It was something that was really, really needed, getting that community together. And yeah, the icing on the cake was winning the Pitch Slam. That was a pivotal moment for Right My Greens, for sure.

3:09It got us into more stores, got us out there, and from there on, it's been an amazing journey. Yeah. I didn't know this about you until I did a little bit of research prior to this interview, you participated in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney as a sailor. That must've been pretty amazing. How do you go from sailing to CPG? Yeah. Determination, setting goals, setting big goals. I learned that when I was, started sailing when I was 11, went to the Olympics when I was 19. It was about the journey, but it teaches you so much. I think athletes have that. And I love watching all those athletes or sports documentaries and stuff because I really get inspired.

3:53And that inspired me to set a big goal of building my own company. And well, here we are. This is my second company, actually. What was your first? Juice. Juice? Yeah, fresh juice. Okay. What was the brand? It's in Mexico. Everything was in Mexico. It's called Frutos de Vida, Fruits of Life. The first refrigerated in the produce section, refrigerated juice in the market back then. And I just loved the experience of building my own company, CPG. And so that's why I did it again. Did you have a successful exit? Yeah. Very cool. Why soup? I say that I went from fruits in the juice to vegetables. Always been a firm believer in wholesome, real food nutrition.

4:34I learned that from sports, how good it made me feel, the importance of it. I had, luckily enough, my mom cooked for me, you know, my grandma, great recipes. So I just lived around homemade food. And that really fueled my, I call it my fuel for my athlete days. And it's something I just crave, I need. And I saw a big opportunity in soup here in the US. Good nutrition, becoming more important to a lot of Americans. But taste, and I'll say it again for the 15 ,000th time on this podcast, taste is king. I'm kind of a freak there. I'm a foodie. So taste had to be number one. And I was not going to make a product if it didn't taste good.

5:21I mean, why kid myself and work hard for that? You know, and I have fun. I have a lot of fun getting into the kitchen and getting with chefs and playing around and trying to find the right recipe and the right way to do it and go from there. You have a lot of amazing products that all taste incredible. And I think this was, again, The thing that when you first see your package, it's so different. It's so differentiated from a lot of other things that you see super otherwise. And the big, bold name, I eat my greens. You just want to learn more, especially if you're a natural foods consumer. But then when you taste the product, you're even doubly sold.

5:59You're just like, OK, I'm drawn in by the package design. I'm completely sold on the flavor. But what came first? You know, how did you think about creating a brand that would be attractive to consumers? Because, again, you have that differentiated package, the pouch. You have great branding. And then you have the soup itself. But when you were thinking about creating a brand, which came first? I mean, it's a mixture. But the name, I had time to think about it. It was after I exited my first company. And then I had some years to think about what was next. And I wanted to have fun. I wanted to enjoy the journey, like the first one I did on the Olympic journey.

6:38and the name I Eat My Greens, just my mom was like, eat your greens, eat your greens. So that just came up as a fun, I know it's a long name and I know it goes against branding and marketing theory, but I love breaking rules too. So I went for it and that got me excited and I knew soup was something I was passionate about and I saw a big opportunity. So it all made sense. It all came together bit by bit. And like you say, it's something that gets people's attention, but we have to deliver and taste. And we're doing it, hopefully. Where did you come up with the idea for a pouch? Because when you think about fresh soups, you go to Whole Foods and you see them in the little plastic containers and easy to merchandise.

7:32and it's just a very common and commonly known vessel for soup. But why were pouches your first? Were they your first choice? Yep. Goes back to my dad. He worked at food packaging. So we actually did some juices in pouches back in the day, sort of like the Capri Sun. And I always had pouches in my mind and it made sense. It made sense that it would be the most convenient, easy to understand practical for soup i've always loved packaging i've always been very interested and as in my sailing days i had the chance to travel to a lot of countries and i always i was always in the in the retail stores there and looking around and learning and checking different cultures and you know asia is a big pouch continent and then we saw some in europe etc so i always had in the back of my mind.

8:26Did retail buyers, distributors, when they first saw that pouch, and they were thinking multi-serve soup, okay, how is this going to be merchandised? How is this going to be distributed? Is it going to be intuitive to the consumer? Was there some pushback there? Yeah, there was some pushback. That's all innovation has pushback. So it's the normal innovation pushback, but fortunately, the category was built. I didn't build the category, the refrigerated soup category. So that helps. And Jimbo's here locally, the local stores here in Sandeo gave us a chance and we proved with the numbers that it worked.

9:01You have to think about and you have to advocate for a certain part of that soup aisle, that soup section. Because again, I think traditionally you have kind of short squat shelves for soup because that's the container. I think maybe I Eat My Greens would be on that bottom shelf which is a little bit more space. I guess, how did you talk to people about the best way to sell your product, even though it has that billboard effect? You could read it from across the room, your front label, that is. Just getting it on shelf and the logistics of making it such that it fit on shelf. How did you talk to folks about that?

9:35Yeah, I went and measured the shelves. And I knew that that was something I was going to be hard to do, challenging. But there was enough space in the height. The height is a big issue in the shelf. And we normally are either in the bottom or the top shelf. You know, you can't have it all. So it is what it is. But with the results we're having, we get better and better placements every day. So happy with that. As you mentioned, you work with chefs to create these recipes. I think the word chef craft is actually on your front label as well. And not only can you see all the ingredients displayed on the front of pack, you can actually see the soup itself.

10:17You can see it's a clear package. What really sells your product, though? Is it the fact that people can see it? Is it the fact that it says greens? Is it chef crafted? What's really the key selling point for consumers, at least at trial? The whole package. It's that jumps out on the shelf and our transparency with our ingredients. That's why we have the transparent packaging. It would be easier to just have a non-transparent package. It's a challenge to have it because we don't have any gums in the binder. So that's, you know, it's a challenge. But same thing, taking risks, speaking directly to the consumer that we're not hiding anything behind our packaging.

11:00and so it's a combination of the name, the pouch, the transparency. They can actually feel, see the consistency and the little seeds and the pieces of vegetable that we use a ton of vegetable for every soup. So that's something that was very important for me to communicate. There's also an alignment with cultural food trends that you've embraced, the brand has embraced. You point out that you're plant-based, obviously. Keto, Whole30. How much does that factor into consumer interest in your products? I think it's a plus. It's not the main. Oh, wow. It happens to be Whole30 or somebody that's looking for Whole30.

11:44And then non-GMO checks those boxes that are important for the quality, call it certification or approval. It speaks well about our product because it checks all the boxes naturally. right being all vegetable we gladly check you know the gluten-free the dairy-free plant-based etc etc etc it's just vegetables spices sea salt olive oil and we're very proud of it and the trends are in our favor because at the end of the day eating more vegetables is something that has been proven to be a really good thing to do by every single pretty much nutritionist doctor for many, many years. So I knew that I was not going into a trendy, risky product, but we're talking about vegetables.

12:35We'll be here forever. So happy with that too. Quick break. If this episode has you thinking about what's next in food and beverage, explore BevNet and Nosh Insider, our subscription platform with deeper insights from the BevNet team. Visit tasteradio.com slash insider to learn more. I would love to see I Eat My Greens in every grocery store in America. Obviously, you're not there yet. Hopefully, you will be one day. But when you hear no, or when you pitch a retail store or a retail chain, and they say, it's not for us right now, what are the reasons they're saying no? And what might be your approach to getting them to say yes?

13:17innovation is something that's hard for people to say yes to all the time especially if they know their consumers well some retailers i i agree with them maybe they're not ready for such innovation it takes time but eventually we will get there you know sometimes a little bit of the price point like we were talking about the pouch might seem a little too strange but But I know that eventually we'll cross that line. It takes time. And I think it's important to be patient and to have a solid business to be able to be patient. So it's just keep at it. Trust in our product. Make efficiencies in our supply chain.

14:01To bring the price point down. To bring the price point down. Yep. And one step at a time. Is there a selling point that has worked? when you're pitching a retailer and you say, okay, this is a bit of a long shot for us. Maybe it was one of the first big retailers as you get into. Was it kind of a leap of faith that the retail fire was taking on you? Or was it something where you were able to present key data about sales at a Jimbo's per se or trends as it relates to the soup category? What were the key selling points that helped you overcome that, I guess, potential no? Key data, yes, that helps.

14:43But I think the buyers, category merchants, they really know their consumer base, their shopper base, and we just click. They know, they understand. And that's why we are very focused right now on the natural channel because that's the place we thrive. They just get it. They get it. And it's going to take time for the ones that don't. But it is not easy when you bring innovation to the table, for sure. but I love disrupting and making changes. How much does, I guess, the shelf life of your soups, because soups obviously have chilled and refrigerated soups have a relatively short shelf life. I mean, how much does that factor into your ability to be in a particular retailer?

15:25That hasn't been a factor, fortunately. We haven't had that issue with spoilage, so cross fingers that won't happen, but we're good now. If I were, and I haven't done this yet, and I should probably be doing this, But then again, I should probably be more objective about how much I love certain brands and products. But I should go into some of my local retailers and be like, hey, you know, you should really carry this suit because it's really good. I would buy it all the time. It's just easier for me to do that than to say to come out to San Diego and go to a Jimbo's and then bring it cross country in my luggage.

15:54How do you get the consumer excited enough to be advocates for your brand? we work hard to have the closest and the best communication with every single consumer that we get in touch with right we have a small d2c program but any inbound we get it's like hands-on consumer love fans there's a there's a great book called raving fans that i'm a fan of that we want to have every person that communicates with us turn them into if they were not a big big fan then our challenge is to convert them into a big fan and then yeah good old word of mouth and slowly but surely the good word spreads the challenge is to get them to be a raving fan how do you do it it's a combination of everything right the product customer service when they communicate with us the way we approach having a fun healthy lifestyle is it's you know it doesn't have to be boring it doesn't have to taste bad it's about enjoying what we eat as much as we enjoy eating a cake.

16:56Let's enjoy eating healthy food as well. So it's a combination of everything because it solves something and it changes. We had some great emails from people like, oh, you know, I was sick or I had this or I just started eating your soup and I feel so good. So that really gets us going. And yeah, we turn every person into a fan one by one. You know, it didn't take much for me to become a fan because I think I'm just looking at your website right now. And, you know, yes, I think most of our listeners eat healthy or try to eat healthy as much as possible. But you look at some of these flavors, you have a zucchini, cilantro, and cauliflower soup.

17:35You have a broccoli, sunflower seed soup. You have a carrot, sweet potato, and turmeric. You have a roasted tomato. I can't read. What's the roasted? Basil and coconut. Basil. Oh my gosh. Okay. So just like just right then and there, those ingredients just sound amazing. Again, maybe not necessarily for mainstream consumers yet, But when you're thinking about making that next leap, do you kind of have to almost dumb down the flavors or create one that's a bit more like training wheels soup for everyday Americans? I mean, I think the roasted tomato one, that's the one that's more, you know, everybody's pretty familiar with the tomato basil soup.

18:13So I know we add coconut. We add our own signature touch to it. So, yeah, it's important to have one. Like you say, that's the beginner one. But eventually when they try one, then they're like, oh, let's see what the other one tastes like. And then it's all good. And it goes from there. We'll come out with a new flavor this year. I can't say right now which one it is, but we're coming up with a new one. And I know that, you know, it's that deep of faith. And, of course, our efforts with marketing of people taking the risk, quote unquote, to try something new and hopefully become a fan. It doesn't take much, folks.

18:52As soon as you get that one spoonful, you'll be that raving fan evangelist that Mac was talking about. Mac, thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate it. I don't know how many times I've said I really love your brand, I really love your products, but obviously you know that. And it really was that first sip at an Expo East a couple years ago, and I'm like, man, these guys have something. So congratulations on everything that you've accomplished to this point. Excited to try the new flavor whenever you have it. and you're in the Boston, happen to be in the Boston area. Let's share a soup, a bowl of soup.

19:25That sounds amazing for sure. I will. Thank you again. Thanks, Ray.

19:31That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNet.com Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Kratchy. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt. And our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smirlinski. And our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram.

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