#226 - Hungryroot 101: Launch Your Brand & Master Smart Cart Shopping

23:26And there are a couple hundred people on right now who are just like, yeah, drooling to get to work with you guys. All right, Chris, meat guy, I'm coming to you next for a couple of questions here. So, Chris, I know you've like done sourcing a bunch of different places. Can you tell me what's different for you about sourcing at Hungry Root? I'm not sourcing whole animals like we were doing at Whole Foods and having to break that animal down to most a thousand stores. I think the biggest difference or the most unique thing that we're doing here is portion size. I think the days of the old 16 ounce ribeye, those days are gone, single.

23:58You might not like to hear that, Daniel, but it really is. The average portion in meat and seafood is around 10 to 12 ounces, so 5 to 6 ounces per person. So finding a supplier or a command that can pack these sizes out, suppliers that can do custom packaging, actual veggies. We're doing the super tots in January. It's normally like a 16 or 21-ounce bag. I think they're going to do a 12-ounce bag for us specifically. And I think that all relates back to zero food waste. That's something that we really believe in and we really strive to help our customers with because, like Nika said, 30 % of what we're buying every week in the grocery stores, people are thrown away.

24:36And that's because you're getting a bag of 12 apples. You don't really need the 12 apples. You need like four of them for the week. Let's be honest. We need forecast software for our home, for our grocery shopping. Like, how much do I really eat, though? I need some software to help me with that so I don't buy those extra apples. Chris, you mentioned actual veggies, which is just one of the standout meat alternatives, let's say. What are you seeing right now from demand and what options you want to have for meat versus meat alternatives, plant-based, whatever you want to call it? I mean, we're definitely seeing the plant-based category take somewhat of a hit.

25:12I think in comparison to companies like Actual Veggies, they're not really taking a hit. I think they've differentiated themselves in that category alone between Beyond Meat and all these other companies that are mass producing these, I'm going to say, highly processed plant-based proteins. People like Actual Veggies are doing much better because your whole ingredients, you can see within the item itself what's in the item and the ingredients within them. So outside of some of these special, I'm going to say niche companies that are thinking outside the box. Yeah, plant-based is definitely, we're seeing a small digression with it and meat is always king.

25:46How do you think about like the stuff that you source within the broader portfolio of what everyone has? Like, are you looking at any like basket data of what do people buy who buy actual veggies? Like you can go with adverse meat, stuff like that, or like typical complimentary products. Do you work with like the rest of the team when you're doing that? or are you mainly just like in your lane focused on the meat and meat alternatives? I mean, I'm definitely in the meat lane. I'm in the ready to eat lane. We've launched quite a few ready to eat meals and ready to heat meals. I've just passed on the plant-based category to carry this past year.

26:19I think she'll admit it's a very challenging category to get used to, but at the same time, I think we see opportunities within that category, even though we're seeing the demand come down, you're able to go out there. There's plenty of great suppliers. I think they're doing good things. I can't recall the bacon company plant-based that we're bringing on. Kerry might be able to remind me, but I mean, these are things that we know our customers want and they want it in their basket. And then I think what we're also seeing in relations to that actual veggies example is, is they'll have that steak, that beef steak or that chicken breast with these actual veggie super tots and mix the two between themselves and feel fine doing it.

26:56Okay. Awesome. And speaking of Kerry, I'm going to come to Kerry next. Carrie also just answered a question that people had asked about which shows this team goes to. So I threw this up here. So Fancy Fair San Diego, Expo West, of course, and Kehi Denver. And everybody, stay tuned for a big announcement about Kehi Denver. It's going to be a big one from us about Kehi Denver. Just grocery run coming up for everybody at that show. So it'll be one of the coolest things we've ever gotten to do. So stay tuned about that. All right. So, Carrie, coming to you, there's a lot of stuff that you cover. I wonder if you could just give us a little bit of an overview for like what's doing really well, what cool products are out there, innovations across a lot of the categories that you work on, what's some stuff that's really popping?

27:38I mean, I think the items that tend to perform the best, let's say, regardless of the category, are primarily convenience focused and high health attributed. So really clean ingredients with recognizable clean ingredients. And then with different formats, the customers can either take on the go or something like that they can make very quickly for dinner that evening, those times just to do really well. And then, of course, they have to all taste good. So taste is always king. I mean, we see trends changing in snacks and even beverages with protein is becoming more and more important to the customers as they're understanding like what's important to longevity.

28:20And then there's fibers, a newer trend as well that we're seeing pop up and people are specifically looking for. So I'd say overall, like taste and ingredient quality is always going to be number one because that's really what our customers are looking for. But then like the attributes changed dependent on trend. And I think we follow pretty closely in line with the rest of market on those things. We'll be right back. Are you going to crush it on Amazon this year? It's such an important channel, but it's so hard to do alone. And most agencies are a total ripoff. We can't afford$5 ,000 a month and a commission on our sales.

28:56They just don't get it. That's why I love our partners at Daybreak. They are full service, meaning they do the creative work, the listings, the logistics, and of course all the ads, all with the most reasonable retainer out there. I work with them personally. I'm so grateful we have such a good partner to recommend out to you, our community. They do evaluate your product first to see if it might be a fit. So if you want them to have a look, email them startupcpg at daybreak.agency and they'll do a free audit for you. Good luck, everyone.

29:27And speaking of clean ingredients, what ingredients do you think are clean right now? And maybe if anyone else wants to chime in And also, I'm just always curious because you're really at the heart of this and you know what your consumers are saying. Are there any that you think are turning the tide right now, like things that people are seeing as cleaner or things that people are turning away from right now? Yeah, I mean, I think that there is a lot of debate what defines a clean ingredient or not. And then like what's the truth behind it all? There's a lot of conversation about seed oil right now.

29:56I'm sure everyone on this call has heard an earful of it. So avocado oil tends to be driving a lot of like the ingredients that we're seeing and new products being shown. But I'm not sure if that's a forever trend as much as it's a right now. And then I think also with clean ingredients, like people are trying to move away from sugar alcohols. They're looking like cane sugars making a new comeback, which is an interesting change to the way people were shopping before. So I think it's more about recognition and the ingredients that are in the profile getting away from like binders and fillers, which I think has always been everyone's goal.

30:34I don't think that's ever really changed. I just think that the definition of what those ingredients are has evolved as we continue to get better and better at making food. I really like that answer. That was super interesting. You're getting a lot of love for it in the chat, too. And it's interesting to me also when people will say they're looking for clean ingredients, but then go still and buy like diet soda with the worst sweeteners in it, which I do also. But it sounds like you really see it in the data, though, that people really are shifting with their wallets towards those cleaner ones.

31:05So that's really good info to have. I'm just wondering, are there any big gaps in your portfolio now or opportunities that you're like, oh, yeah, actually, we've been looking for a little bit more of these kind of things? I don't know if it's around like fiber, like you mentioned, or more avocado oil products, any other kinds of things that you're like, if only someone out there in the couple hundred people on this call has this kind of product. Yeah, I can share with you my unicorn. Yeah, please. And that's a question for everyone also, in case anyone else has unicorn things to throw up. I mean, one thing I will say, I think that we've done a really great job building an assortment that does highlight the ingredients and the health goals that our customers have been wanting and looking for.

31:46I think that Hungry Roots superpower is we actually really do listen to our customer and we base our strategy most heavily on what they're asking for and what they're thinking and saying and feeling about the products that we've onboarded and try to test as much as we can with them to better understand what they want. So in my like generally speaking a gap it's not really a gap but I'm always looking for something that is nutritious delicious and is as nutrient dense as you can get it that fulfills like a snacking occasion or a beverage occasion that's really huge. My unicorn is plant-based meat alternatives.

32:23It's such a tough category for a million reasons. Our model, we can't ship to our customer frozen. So number one, it has to be refrigerated or it has to survive a refrigerated storage like for at least five days so the customer can enjoy it for their week's groceries. But then it also needs to be made with nutritionally dense ingredients and offer a protein value that makes it worth being center of the plate. And that's the tall order. It's not really common in the marketplace, especially slackable or refrigerable. That's been pretty tough for me. So if anyone's in that market, please use the link so I can take a look at your products.

33:02I am definitely actively. You're doing a great job, Carrie. You're doing a great job. Actively searching. But yeah, there's been some really interesting things too that I've seen along my search. I'm just, it's an omnivore world and our customer is primarily an omnivore and they like plant-based proteins as a flex option, but not as their primary. So it's a delicate balance between does it make an omnivore happy and is it good enough for a vegetarian if it was their only source of protein? All right. There's a lot of action in the chat right now. There are a lot of people like, ooh, ooh, ooh, me, me.

33:34So guys, it might get lost, but just so you know, definitely fill out that form. if you're one of those people. I know a lot of you're going to hit them up on LinkedIn also. Does anyone else want to throw out any of their big opportunities or unicorn stuff? Any of the other folks from the Hungry Root team want to chime in on something that they... Yeah, I would say premium sauces and condiments not in glass is a challenge. We see an opportunity to bring in more premium items within that space, and a lot of it is in glass. And it's just not something we can ship right now. So I think anything outside of glass in glass-heavy categories, even like oils, vinegars, things like that.

34:13But yeah, I think overcoming the glass hurdle sometimes is challenging in certain categories and sauces and condiments for sure would fall into that category. Nobody wants that glass to break with mayo all over their whole order, of course. Right. All right. Nika or Chris, anything you guys want to highlight? But I'll just say ready to eat prepared foods has been a big focus for us over the last 12 months. Probably will continue to be a big focus for us. So both heat and eat meals and fresh prepared salads that are, if you could package sweet green or kava or your favorite fast casual restaurant and get it to the customer is still delicious and interesting and in great condition and great shelf life.

34:53Those are always products we're looking for. All right. Y 'all heard it. Chris, anything from you? No, Nika hit it. That's what I was going to say. Awesome. Awesome. Okay, I am going to come back to you, Carrie, for another question. So I would say answer it one of two ways. Either like, what can brands really do once they get to work with you to make it a success? Or maybe you could just give an example of one brand that just nailed it. Like, yeah, we love working with them. They crushed it for us. They did all this stuff to support us and reach the consumers. Yeah, I can share with you. Actually, we just invited one of our brands to come speak to the whole Hungry Root team just so that the whole team could learn more about them.

35:29And that was Sunny's. And Sunny's is one of our OG brands that we onboarded. And truly, Katie and Lizette have been really, really great partners to work with. Number one, obviously, they're obsessed with their brand and they're obsessed with their customers and they want to have great product, but they also are really great listeners. And I think a lot of their success has come from listening to the feedback, not just of their customers, but also of their category managers. And that's really enabled them to drive innovation. The velocity at Hungry Root is incredible and they're really just killing it, but it's mostly because of their hard work keeping their product in stock and they've really prioritized us.

36:10And it's exciting to have been their first national launch before even they went national with Whole Foods or Sprouts. All right. Makes a lot of sense. So I thought we could do something fun, which is maybe even invite a few brands to like do a 15 second pitch just to hear who's out there because there's so much action in the chat. But before we do that, could we do just like one quick rapid round around you guys with like, OK, we've talked about a lot of cool stuff here today. But like, is there one thing that you really just want brands to know about Hungry Root? maybe something that we haven't covered or just like a feeling that you have about it and what it's like to work there or what something that we might not know about all of your colleagues, or it can be about the application process or working well with you, or just something about the background of the company, just something that would just like, I wish for everyone out there to know this about us.

36:59Like, just let that be context for when you engage with us or the interactions you have with us. I think the first thing is know who we are. A lot of brands reach out and have absolutely no clue who we are. They think we're a meal kit company, which is very frustrating after we've done all this great work. And I think if they know who we are and how we operate, to Carrie's point, if you mentioned like, okay, what do you do frozen to slack? And they don't know even what that is. That's something they need to know. Ultimately, know who we are before you reach out and maybe do some homework on us.

37:30I think it shows just professionalism. Maybe even place an order. I don't know if you really want to know. Some of my best suppliers that come on, that's what they'll do. They'll order a box. They'll see what we have. They'll say, you know what? These chicken nuggets are terrible. I can do better than that. And at least they've gone and ordered the box and figured that out. Oh, I've never met a terrible chicken nugget. They're all pretty good to me. But okay. Mine's excellent. Okay. Anybody else want to go next? All right. Julia, please. I would say don't sleep on Hungry Root. I think for small brands and for large brands alike, we consistently get the feedback that our volumes are significant.

38:12And even for large brands, well, large, well-known brands, we are in their top one to three accounts in terms of driving volume. So we are definitely smaller than like a Whole Foods or a Sprouts. but in terms of total customers, we are rapidly growing and we drive tremendous volume. So I would just say, don't underestimate what you could do on our platform. I like that one a lot and it makes a lot of sense. And that is what I've always heard, but also you can just do the math. I mean, if you guys are doing 700 million in revenue, that's selling the products that come in your boxes and you have only 800 products to choose from right now.

38:54Whereas if you compare to like go into a huge grocery store, there could be 100 ,000 SKUs there. So just very nice velocity from that. I love that one. Okay, Nika, do you want to go next? Yeah, I'll pick up on that. I would say that we really view our brands as true partners. We have tried 20 crackers before we try and select your cracker. So we really want you to succeed because that means we're successful. It means our customers are happy. we've been around now for 10 years and hearing the stories Chris and Carrie have both been fantastic at starting programs within Hungry Root so we tell our supplier stories to our team members and just the stories we have of we were the first customer for this brand and now we're their biggest account and they're a big brand and we've grown and they've grown we view us as being your partner and being on this journey together and our success is your success so we're very invested in picking awesome brands and growing together.

39:49Yeah, well said. That's well said. I love it. All right. Carrie, you want to bring us home? Yeah, I would share that the launch is not the finish line. It's really the first hurdle you really have to cross. Yeah, you can get into on our shelf, but maintaining the product, listening to the customer feedback, working creatively with our teams to solve for problems, being great communicators, those things are even more important. It's not really a situation where you get to just drop it in and then you're done. It's never-ending evolution that we're working on together to not just improve your business and grow your customers, but ours as well.

40:31So as a category manager, I'm thinking a lot about how are we going to grow together and what value do we offer each other? And the launch is just the beginning. There's so much more to come after that. Beautiful. I really want to echo for everybody that I have always heard from everyone how great it is to get to work with the Hungry Root team. So I wish that for everybody. Not everyone's capable to get it, but I do it. I think you guys will be extremely happy as you probably can surmise from this conversation. And so let's hear from some brands because there are a lot of people out there and we're just going to do like maximum 20 second a couple pitches and see if we can get a few people in on that all right tim is up first yep all right tim i feel like i'm in your dojo where am i guy i have your product somewhere oh nice we make gut nuts they're the personally fermented and dehydrated almonds cashews and peanuts so we're basically trying to snackify gut health stanford says that if you get six servings of fermented food per day.

41:34It boosts your gut health. And so we're trying to make that easier for people with our fermented snack nuts. Tangy, umami, crunchy, savory, sour. All right, good stuff. Okay. It's so good. He's, I have a four pound bag. I just crushed them. I had to get another one. I just am like, that's a good product. Okay, cool. All right, I'm gonna let in our next pitcher here. And I'm wondering if any of these are the unicorn that we've been looking for. All right, Kimberly. Hi, Hungry Root team. Thank you so much for doing the introduction and telling us a little bit about your company. I'm Kimberly Lau.

42:08I'm the founder of Bake Me Healthy. We make a delicious top nine allergen-free upcycled dark chocolate chip cookies. They come in snack packs like this, zero grams of added sugar, eight grams of protein, four grams of fiber. So, Carrie, I think we're hitting all the points that you mentioned. We're sustainable, so we're on a mission to fight food waste just like you. They're delicious. They're soft baked. They're dark chocolate. What more could you ask for? All right. Nice job. Okay, I'm just going to keep it rolling here. Isn't this a good time? So efficient. All right, Grace, what's up? Hi, how's it going?

42:40I'm glad I'm semi-presentable today. My name is Grace. I'm one of the founders of Absurd Snacks. We are an inclusive snacking company that makes chickpea-based snack mixes that are rich in plant-based protein and high in fiber and completely free from the top nine food allergens. So we make it easier to snack together by using real foods and simple ingredients. Yes. Okay. I love it. All right. And everyone, definitely, if you have your product, like hold it up so we can all see it because that's good stuff. All right. Here we go. Bring it on. Tony from the chat line here. All right. I feel like a real radio show.

43:16This is exciting. Hey, how you doing? My name's Tony Rubel. My company's Ebeo Avocado Foods. We launched a plant-based mayo made out of over 80 % fresh Haas avocados. And because it's made out of avocados and not oil, it's 75 % less fat and calories. than traditional mayo. And it is not glass. It's two ounce plastic cups. So I'd love to talk to you. That one feels like a setup. Like we just guided the whole conversation towards the intersection of avocado oil and condiments in a plastic jar. I saw Carrie lean forward during that. Great job, Tony. Thank you. I look forward to being in touch. I'll reach out on LinkedIn.

43:53Thank you. Perfect. Nice one. Okay, cool. I'm just going to keep it going here. All right, we've got Neha coming in. Hi, I'm Neha. I'm from Mangfu. So we are kind of a unicorn that you described. We converted lentils into a plant-based tofu alternative. It is refrigerated, but you can consume lentils in an entire new form. You can pan fry it, bake it, air fry it, and add it to any recipes of your choice. So now lentils are no longer restricted to only soups or stews. You can basically add lentils to your sandwiches, wraps, salads. The possibilities are endless and people love our products. We are from Colorado.

44:35We also make lentil-based snacks that are high in protein, high in fiber, gluten-free, soy-free, and we would love to collaborate with you. So definitely, I submitted the form also. And we are just changing the game of how people see lentils Still no. All right. Thank you so much, Neha. Okay, just keeping it rolling here. Hey, Maureen. Hi. I've been listening, but I also took your quiz, and my first delivery is coming to me on the 17th, and I'm super pumped about it. Nice. Suck up. Good job, though. I didn't say four, though. My name is Maureen Cassioppo, and I'm the founder of Florida Pure Sea Salt.

45:15Florida Pure Sea Salt is a gourmet salt company that crafts high-quality, safe, and absolutely delicious products for food and cocktail rims while protecting the waterways and being socially responsible. We have pouches that are made of recycled material that are recyclable. We have about 50 SKUs. We often do larger glass charge of bamboo lids, but we have these pouches and we have about six different flavors in the pouches right now and our pure sea salts. And it's all flake salts, all natural, 85 minerals, super delicious. This is our garlic and fucy salt, which I think is the best garlic and fucy salt on the market.

45:51But really, it's elevating healthy meals to make it easy for your meal prep for you and your families. I would love to learn about working with y 'all. All right. Nice job. You guys are making me look good today, all of these great pitches. All right. I have to let Karen in because she said in the chat she had the unicorn. So I think we got to see. Hi. I'm Karen Akuri, the founder of Drench, clean dressings, marinades, and now sauces. We just launched these Better For You Clean sauces. So Julia, these are for you. So this is, as you can see, it's a Better For You burger sauce. So very similar to Big Mac, but tastes so much better.

46:28And this is, you can guess, Better For You Chick-fil-A sauce, but super clean. All the ingredients are transparent. We use no refined sugars, no seed oils, nothing artificial. You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry, so they're all recognizable. And these are our dressings. Super clean ingredients is our number one seller, our Mediterranean lemon. And our signature is our citrus honey. We're in over 4 ,000 stores nationwide across 49 states. We're in Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans, Central Market, the Fresh Market, Meijer, Albertson. So we're even doing really well in conventional.

47:07And we would love to be your partner. I love Hungry Roots. So thank you. And I will be filling out the form. And I'd love to send you some samples. all right nice job karen thank you all right letting in jen co here here she comes hi i can't see anybody else right now but hopefully you guys we see you yes we see you i am the co-founder and ceo of dime i have a packet right here we are a premium msg seasoning company and yes we're not in glass so easily shippable and we have three premium flavors all celebrating Asian culture. All right. Awesome. Making MSG. Great again. Here we go. Okay. Great job, Jen.

47:50Thank you. Here comes Christina. How are you guys? I'm Christina Kown. I'm the co-founder of All Phenoms. We're an organic sparkling super drink. We wanted to make great clean drinks that serve body, gut, and mind without any compromise. So we made sure that we're clear with our labels, providing transparency. We have no artificial flavors, colors, sugars, preservatives, and we use organic fruit juices and botanicals. We're based in Southern California and growing across the U.S. with other natural retailers and would love to talk to Hungry Root because I'm a big fan of your mission and I think we're value aligned there.

48:24All right, nice job. Okay, we got Anu. Hi guys, I can't believe I got picked. My name is Anu. My company is Blue Nose Probiotics. I'm from Canada, so I was the one asking, hey, do you guys work with Canadian brands? So yeah, my product is Kefi Lassi. It's first of its kind plant-based probiotic beverage made out of fermented kefir with all seen ingredients. Our probiotics are also micro-encapsulated for higher survival rate, and it's really good for the gut. It has 35 different kinds of good bacteria in East with 50 billion good bacteria in one single serve bottle. I'm just a startup. I've received amazing feedback in the last couple of months since I launched in July.

49:12So, yeah, I'm really looking to collaborate and partner with Hungry Root and see what we could do together. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Anu. Nice job. Okay, chef, you are up. Hi. You know how trough was big two years ago? and hot honey is big this year. What's next? Why go to Italy to get truffle or China or Asia to get honey, where we have something that's so amazing in our own backyard? It's maple. I believe the next big thing should be something to do with maple, and that's what we do. We have a SKU product, which is Chipotle maple barbecue. When you taste it, it has almost a time-release mechanism where the first thing you taste is sweet, and then the smokiness comes in and then towards the end it's the hot and we are launching with sprouts early this next year in january with the three of us queues so super excited about it and hopefully get an opportunity to pitch to you guys at hungry dudes it's a hell of a journey that you go on when you try it it's super good my favorite is the chipotle barbecue it just like multiple things happen in your mouth when you have it it's amazing all right great job okay there are a lot more people in the queue but we do try to end on time here so i'm sorry we didn't get to everyone but we did have hundreds of people on for this one there's a lot of interest so i really want to thank everybody again i'm sorry if we didn't get to yours but definitely submit on their website thank you so much to all of you guys this was just an incredible way to spend an hour here getting to learn all that hungry route and thank you so much for just all of your engagement with these brands just want to remind everybody that you can catch this on youtube and also if you want to meet the team in person, maybe check out our grocery run event with them that is coming up again in December.

50:59This is going to be on December 9th in New York in their office. I'm going to paste the link here just one more time so everybody has it. And that'll pretty much close us out. Anyone from Hungary want to have the last word? Just want to say thanks everyone so much for tuning in and the pitches were phenomenal. Really, really impressed and excited to get to meet some folks in person in December. Please come by. I totally agree. Everyone like you never know you're like rolling the dice on all right i'm gonna bring a bunch of random people up here you guys all crushed it that was awesome held up such exciting products some of those are just a great fit i think just for everything you just heard also so thank you again hungry root team guys let's hear the chat please thank them and definitely hit them up on linkedin and meet them at the trade show and all the good stuff you know what to do all right thanks everybody bye bye thanks daniel thank you bye all right everybody thank you so much for listening to our podcast if you loved it i would I'd so appreciate it if you could leave us a review.

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