Founder Feature: Amie Kesler of Carolyn's Krisps

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0:59When it started, it was very grassroots. Like I started in Chicago. I think Chicago is one of the best cities to start a CPG brand and just from the community and like even location in the country because we're, you know, right in the center. But it was really starting with a lot of independent retailers and testing. Like my philosophy with everything is just this incremental test. Like I always want to test small and just get the feedback and then reiterate and keep going. Hey everybody, this is Caitlin Bricker, editor at Startup CPG. We are back with another founder feature. Today we're talking with Amy Kessler, founder of Carolyn's Crisps, a dairy-free, gluten-free cookie cracker hybrid that started as her grandmother's cheddar crisp recipe.

1:44After selling them from her cubicle, Amy spent the pandemic reimagining her grandmother Carolyn's recipe with better-for-you ingredients while keeping the soul of what made them special. From hand-rolling every batch in her home kitchen to moving into her fourth commercial space that's quadruple the size, she's building a business that honors food as a love language. Now she's not just a brand founder, she's also opened a pop-up snack shop in Chicago where she's stalking other small brands and learning just what it's like to be on the buyer side of the equation. Amy is acing the snack magic game and I cannot wait for you to get your paws on these.

2:24Hey everybody, welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin and today I'm here with Amy Kessler, founder of Carolyn's Crisps. Amy, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. I'm honored to be here. I am so happy to have you here. You were a Shelfie Awards finalist, and your products, for me, a word that came to mind when I had them was witchcraft. I could not get over your products. I also couldn't stop eating them, but that's a personal problem, I guess. I love that oh my god witchcraft that's I'm here for that I call it snack magic that works too hey they're in the same vein yeah totally so for anybody who's listening right now and it is not familiar with Carolyn's crisps let's get them familiar can you give us a little snippet a little blurb about what Carolyn's crisps is yeah totally so our brand Carolyn was my grandma I'll So it's really entire company based off of her cheddar cookie cracker crisp that she used to make.

3:34And she was known for them. And so my whole vision was really taking her recipe, reimagining it with better for you ingredients, really checking a lot of boxes with like being dairy free, gluten free and soy free. And just bringing something that I love and my family love to like a wider audience and expanding. I mean, we have lots more flavors than just our cheddar crisp. That was our OG flavor. But everything is inspired by this nostalgia. So we have a cinnamon. It's like a toasted cinnamon sugar toast that I used to eat growing up. Like white bread, cinnamon sugar, and butter. It's like such a comfort snack.

4:09So I was like, how do we take that and put it in this format of this like hybrid cookie cracker? So long answer to your question. But yeah, we are like here reimagining childhood snacks with better for you ingredients across the board. I personally love that you're helping carry your grandmother's legacy into food, which is now your legacy to building this company. Can you tell us more about your grandmother? What was she like? What did she love to do? Was she always in the kitchen? I want to know more about her. Totally. She was always the entertainer. She was really about her community. she like grew up in West Virginia but then ended up coming to North Carolina which is where I grew up because that was where my parents landed um and are still there but it was very much like she was always going to church always volunteering always just helping wherever she could and I feel like I just always had this like very vivid memory of her always making stuff and taking it to her neighbors or someone maybe was sick or had a sick relative and she was just such a thoughtful caring person and my mom is very much the same way and that has very much been passed out to me and it's just this belief particularly in our family which I think is pretty across the board but food is a love language and it's a way that people connect and you bring people together and it's like a breaks down barriers in a way too which I always thought was so like sweet and endearing that you could make something for someone like even if you didn't know them that well it was like such a thoughtful thing because you're like I'm thinking about you you know I hope you're okay and that was really like where it all started and like I would be in the kitchen with her on the holidays making them and with my mom and then eventually I was enjoying them on my own and yeah so food was always just that form of bringing people together and also sharing cultures and like backgrounds and her these cheddar crisps that she would make they're very much this hybrid of a West Virginia snack with like a southern like cheese straw vibe but like in a totally different shape and like texture as well.

6:15And did she come up with this recipe on her own or was she inspired by somebody else? I think it was probably inspired by something like I mean I think a lot of grandmas have this very specific like I do this and I do that like you do a little bit of this a little bit of that and it's never written down like that is the part that you're just like okay I could recreate your recipe but it's not going to be exactly the same because I didn't know you had this little technique that was hidden in there, you know, that little like dash of love or whatever you want to call it. That's so funny about having it not written down because they know it in their mind and they're probably making these things all the time and they're never going to mess the recipe up.

6:53And then later on down the road, somebody like you is like, hey, I actually want to make that recipe. These are the things and these are the conversations I feel like we should be having with people while they're still here. Like, hey, mom, I really liked that. My mom used to make this cream tuna and pea recipe. She's still here with me and it probably can be found on the internet, but it's just different when it's coming from the person that you know making it. Totally. It's different. And I'm sure she has her own little techniques too, you know, with what she adds and does. And for sure. Absolutely.

7:30Yeah. So tell me about the concept. So glad it's your grandmother's recipe and then you decide to turn this into a CPG brand what did that look like did you have conversations with your family was there any pushback or was everyone just psyched that this was something that you were gonna do yeah it's funny I feel as if I fell into it by accident in a way because the first time I ever made them by myself was I had a new job they were doing this like company potluck meal and I needed to bring something and it was like the night before and I was like mom like I don't know what to do and she's like just make the cheddar crisps like totally and I was like okay yeah I think I could do that she's like yeah yeah yeah you can do it so she walked me through it I did it I took them to this event and everyone was like what are these and how do I get the recipe and I was like I don't think I'm gonna share that I don't know something in me was just like I think I'm gonna like keep that to myself for a little bit and then people just kept asking for them and eventually I did like start selling them like a Girl Scout.

8:34At the time I had a cubicle. I was like a art director for a retail location in Wisconsin and I would have a little sign-up sheet and people would like give me their orders. So then it took a few years. When I came back to Chicago, I was like am I going to keep doing my marketing design or am I going to do this business? And I actually waited even longer and then something hit. It was 2020 that But I was making them again and sending them to this woman in D.C. And she was gluten free. And so I was like, OK, I was making gluten free. I was like, how do I make this for everybody? And I started like tinkering and like passing it around to friends.

9:14And they're like, Amy, I don't know what you did, but I think you should run with this. And so like the motivation of some really close friends, it was like, OK, let's go. It was like pandemic. Everyone probably did a little soul searching at that time too. Like, okay, am I really doing what I love and what I want to do? So then my background is not in food. So I have learned so much in the last four years. I got involved with the Hatcher here, which is an incubator program. So I really took as many classes as I could, did some deep diving, met so many awesome people. Obviously started up CPG.

9:48And then, yeah, launched and it was like June 2021. was our first event and we actually started selling officially to the public. Wow. So you started selling from a cubicle. Yeah, many years back. And now. What an evolution. They used to be mason jars too, which is hilarious. Not cost effective for shipping, I would assume. No, not at all. And it's really actually kind of hard to get them in there. It didn't make a lot of sense, but it worked. I was like, people could actually bring back their jars and I would give them like a refill discount. I'm a little sorry. Hey, everybody has to start somewhere, right?

10:31Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. Absolutely. Those are the good stories. So it sounds like you had your own iteration of your grandmother's recipe. You added your own flair to it. And it sounds like inclusion was a big thing for you when it came to snacking on these cheddar crisps. Can you tell me a little bit more about the decision making that went into choosing the ingredients that you wanted to go into this recipe while still staying true to your grandmother's recipe? totally pretty much what you said was I can't have dairy I'm not celiac but gluten doesn't love me and I was really hearing that from a lot of other people and there's a lot of snacks on the market I just felt like I wasn't super satisfied with and I felt like they were all like a similar shape similar texture even similar flavor profiles at times and I was like how can I take what my grandma had and made and like really kind of bring it to this new audience that you feel okay about eating them and you want to really enjoy them and you want to really feel satisfied at the same time so it was a lot of r &d of being like okay how do i get this good dairy-free cheese like we use a coconut based cheese and everything even the sweet ones but you don't taste it in the sweet ones and how do i make something like i've always tinkered in the kitchen of like a lot of alternatives so I've always like loved some coconut sugar and tried to play with different swap outs, I guess, throughout like whenever I cook.

11:58So I knew of a lot of the ingredients that were out there. It was just like, how do I bring them together? But the funny thing is when we started, I was doing everything by hand. I was in my kitchen just testing. And then as we've grown, we've purchased some equipment and gotten stuff for scale. And I remember we got this, it was like our first extruder so it was like our bigger machine and I ran the dough through and I was like oh no this was a mistake this is so different like this isn't gonna work a food scientist friend who had been helping me with the business came in was like no you're like 80 % there like you got to keep tweaking it and doing it but it is this funny process of like once you start adding in things for scale how it changes but we really worked to get it as close as it was to the original and it's actually worked in our favor in the end.

12:44But it was just very funny. I freaked out. I was like, I got to return this. I don't know. We're going to go back to hand rolling. No. So speaking of scaling, what does your business look like now versus what it looked like when you first started selling from that cubicle? Then finally packaging a product. What is your growth looked like? And especially are you a solo founder? What does your team look like? So especially as a solo founder, what does that growth look like and what has it taken for you to get to this point? Totally. It's funny. I mean, when I actually sit and think about it, I was like one pan at a time in the oven, like not efficient whatsoever, but I was very motivated of like cooking nonstop to get things sold and out the door.

13:35But then, yeah, it's been so incremental to be honest. And we still self-manufacture. So we are not co-manning. That is very intentional from a control perspective, a money spend perspective. And, you know, I can't say we might not do this forever. Like there will be a media co-man hopefully in one capacity at some time. But yeah, I think I've just taken the steps. Like we started in a shared kitchen, went to a smaller private kitchen. I mean, we're on our, I guess, fourth kitchen at this point. We just moved this summer to a space that's like quadruple the size of what we were in before. We actually have growing room where we are now versus like being stuffed in a little kitchen.

14:14Wow. Good for you. Thank you. It feels really good. And again, it's a lot of learning, like learning how to structure a manufacturing space. How do you run that space day to day? What equipment? Yeah, it's been a process. us. I'm sure there's so much that goes into it, like beyond my comprehension. Honestly, I've never had a CPG brand myself, but I look at founders like yourself every day and I just know that it's not as simple as baking something in the kitchen and tossing it into a bag. And you're always looking at efficiency. Like at this point, you're always like, okay, like how do we get bigger so we can get bigger accounts and go to more stores?

14:57And what does that look like from a financial perspective a team perspective yeah and like always keeping that it's like you're building your business right on the ground level but then you're also always like what's ahead and how do I get there and but keep it running at the same time totally like I said I can only imagine I saw Carolyn's crisps on the shelf for the first time personally when I was out in Chicago. Saw them at Fresh Time Market. I grabbed some. It was the maple ones. So good. Thank you. I did share a little bit with my co-workers. Everybody gets their own bag. Yes, that should be a rule.

15:39Yeah. What did your retail strategy look like as you were growing and has it evolved to where you're at now? Yeah. I mean, when it started, it was very grassroots. Like I started in Chicago. I think Chicago is one of the best cities to start a CPG brand and just from a community and like even location in the country because we're right in the center. But it was really starting with a lot of independent retailers and testing. Like my philosophy with everything is just this incremental test. Like I always want to test small and just get the feedback and then reiterate and keep going. And I'm okay with taking a little bit of extra time to do that to make sure we're like giving the best product out there and we're hitting the right flavors and getting the response we need or if we need to adjust then we can and having the ability to do that versus going too big too fast and feeling like it's harder to backtrack but retail was yeah like started with a ton of independent retailers I mean they really are still like the backbone of our business but now it's really starting to look at more we're like got in Fresh Market and the Chicagoland area, which they're much larger than just Chicago, and bringing on like a brokerage to really help us next year to like push that sales a little further.

16:55And then when you do that, you're really looking at your trade spend and our pack size and the bag size and pricing on the shelf. Like we're starting to dig deep, deep, deep, deep into that to really get this like central U.S. going and then expanding to the coast from there is the goal. Very cool. We'll be right back.

17:43They 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.

17:58I am personally a fan of independent natural retailers. That's where I come from. I worked in an independent retailer. Not to say like the big box stores aren't great because they are. Everyone has access. It obviously has its benefits, but there's just some sort of magic that happens when you're in the independent retailers. Always getting a hello when you walk into the store, people are very eager to help you and find that product that's fitting your needs. And that's been a consistent experience for me and all these independent retailers. So I love and respect when I hear brands saying that they want to start slow and they want to do this very mindfully and work with those independent retailers because it really does help your brand.

18:43I think it gets lost in a lot of people that the sales reps that are walking the four become your inside sales reps, whether you realize it or not. Absolutely. Yeah. And like, you know, they're, for lack of better words, like they have a lot of skin in the game too. Like they want to keep their independent brand growing and they're also in a way competing with bigger stores. So they more hands-on, which I love. If there is this beautiful thing of really creating the community around it, because you get people in the community that love to support those independent stores. They love to support the independent brands.

19:17And I have seen that as we've evolved and grown to how people find us. And like the big box stores seem like you get more eyes and you get more traffic, but someone's got to know who you are before they're already like buying you in a big box store. Totally. Which leads me into my next question. I see that you've been building your own pop-up and you mentioned this earlier too. I want to hear more about what that process looked like and opening the doors to your own store. You also mentioned that you had a design background. How are all these things coming together to create this pop-up location?

19:56What has this been like for you? Yeah, we opened our pop-up in September and it goes till early January. So just a really awesome opportunity. I've always wanted a storefront in some capacity. and I never knew exactly how I was going to do it, but this was good to test it, to just understand because it is totally different business model. And also I think being on the opposite side of almost being like the buyer now and like, how are we marketing in store? How do you get people in the door? So it's really like a 180 perspective that I'm fully enjoying and I'm hoping I can take all this and like even apply it obviously to our growth and wholesale with new stores.

20:36so the whole purpose of this or vision was to create the snack shop so it's called carolyn's christ snack shop everything in the store is dairy-free gluten-free and it was like let's make snacking easy and entertaining fun and for the holiday season great for gifts and easy to purchase things and gift them to people which is like we talked about earlier this idea of like food is love and care and we can bring people into this little nook of our space and have them experience that too and want to share it with others. So we have our brand. I mean, lots of Carolyn's crisp. It's very crisp blue. We're always sampling.

21:13I've done one event so far. We have like four coming up in the next like month and a half. So I'm really excited for that, but it's creating those experiences and the space and just the feels for people to come in and like learn about our brand really intimately, but also finding a lot of other brands that I know and love, but I can't always find in Chicago. So we have people from all over. I've sourced some stuff abroad, locally and beyond. I did not realize that you were also stocking other brands. That is so cool. And I love that you're saying you got that buyer perspective. Are you now looking at your own brand in a different way after then having to evaluate other brands that you're stocking on the shelves?

21:55Yeah, I think it's really interesting, especially pricing of like understanding and not that I didn't but I think when you're on the other side of buying and you're like okay what's the price going to be on shelf and how much am I paying with shipping and I mean we're working with smaller brands like ours too so it's all everyone we're not getting pallets I guess is what I'm saying but you're getting like it is really interesting to see like understand that and even what the follow-ups looking like just those the relationships I guess because now and what is like really meaningful and really stands out to be on the other side and see that it's been really fun and helping me take some little like nuggets and start applying it to our brand as well that's really fun I'm sure you probably have these moments where you're thinking I want this for my future retail relationships yeah or I don't want this for my future retail relationships or this could be done better that's a really really cool perspective that I don't think a lot of brands can add to their brand and even just the feeling of like when you're opening a package like how does it feel you know like i know there's sometimes it's just a package you just need it and you need to put it on shelf but like especially that like first order like how does it feel so special to an independent retailer to be like oh my gosh we're so excited to carry these people and how can you make that happen even more is a lot like something that has stood out to me a lot because I do remember the brands that have written the notes or given us little postcards.

23:24Nothing beats a handwritten note, in my opinion. I know. Nothing. I agree. I agree. I mean, I still write tons of notes for our brands going out to our customers regularly. And it's like, it does. And I agree that something about it, like it could be so simple, but you're like, they took a moment and that really matters. Even just a thanks, Caitlin, or thanks, Amy. Even just that, just seeing like, I want to grab all the pens on my desk right now, just seeing that human touch on your seat opening the box. It does make a difference. That would be a big piece of advice for any brands listening from me.

23:59Do you have any pieces of advice now being on the brand side of things and being on the retailer side of things that you would give to other brands? I think I'll second that, like the handwritten note for sure. and I think the follow-up there's this balance between like really nice follow-ups and being like too much that I've noticed and yeah I've had some where there is just a little aggressive for lack of better words you know and I think there's a really tactful way to keep the conversation going and I also really love the we've gotten some really nice updates of like what's new like just like the regularity of staying in front of people and how important that is because you do really see how I mean our snack shop is not huge but we have quite a few items in there and once you get a reminder of like hey we have this new thing coming out it is so helpful.

24:52I really like that and I like how you're talking about the feedback too and staying in touch with the brands because it again adds that human touch and doing that follow-up too we don't understand each other's tone when we're going back and forth via email so it's just a a reminder to be kind i think because at the end of the day we all have businesses to run we all have deadlines to meet we all have these things that we need to bring to the table or deliver on if we could just meet each other halfway sometime that's a nice feeling and i think there's also understanding the time of like i mean as a brand you send follow-ups out and you hear crickets and then And you're like, OK, so that went out into the middle of nowhere.

25:38No one saw it. But usually someone sees it. They're just not necessarily responding. So it's a good balance, right, of like too much and then regular. Totally. Balance in everything. Yeah. So before we wrap up, I would love to give you the opportunity to speak to any retailers or consumers that are listening to this episode because I know they are listening. What makes Carolyn's crisps different from any other product that you would see on the shelves or any other product that you would grab and gift to somebody? Great question. It's our taste and texture in our format. Like we have the little grooves and they like hold on to a dip for dear life.

26:22We have these really unique flavors that are all better for you, but really do bring this sense of nostalgia. And we have the savory and the sweet. So we cover everything in that world. So if you're not a savory person, then we got something sweet for you, but you feel good about it because it's not overly sweet. And if you want something savory, then we got that, too. But yeah, everything is and just the peace of mind that if you're not a dairy free or gluten free person of that need, that you can eat these and you can like them because we have a ton of customers that say that. And you can gift them to someone who is and feel really comfortable that you are giving them something super delicious.

27:02and amazing and they're going to be excited about it totally i had the i can't remember what the actual name of the product was but it was a berry cheddar blend oh our chocolate bark yes oh my god i've never tasted anything like it that was another product that i received for the shelfies and i said to my husband you can have one or two but after that like this is mine that's amazing Yeah, we do have a line. I'll give everyone a quick rundown of like what you're talking about. So we have our crisps, which are our cookie crackers. And then we have our special chocolate bark. So we have taken our crisps and dipped them in dairy free chocolate.

27:40So the one you're talking about is our cheddar crisp dipped in dairy free white chocolate with raspberry and pistachio. So it's like tart, savory, sweet, a little earthy in there. And so we have a whole line of chocolate bark, which we we will bring to special events. And we do for on our website. all in the pop-up as well but we don't retail them as much we have a few like very dedicated retailers to that right now oh that makes it even more special I feel like it's like gonna make it that much more sought after totally we have an apple jacks sweet heat we have a peppermint coming out for the holidays which is always a big okay I just have to say this because I know everybody is big on pumpkin spice and maple which I love maple but peppermint takes the cake for me like this holiday season that we're moving into and peppermint and chocolate combos wins over apple maple pumpkin any day in my book i agree with that i do we do like a chocolate chai dipped in dark chocolate with peppermint so it has like these like kind of unique spices in there so it's like a twist on it but i agree something like peppermint and chocolate with a warm beverage is just like comfort and can't go wrong a snack yeah absolutely i will be keeping my eyes peeled for that one yes coming soon for sure totally okay i'll be on the lookout before we go can you tell everybody that's listening where they can find you online drop your handle drop your website we want to hear everything absolutely so instagram tiktok are at carolyn's crisps which is very simple all one word website is carolyn'scrisp.com if you guys live in chicago or come into chicago our pop-up shop is at 1821 west chicago avenue in west town so come visit us find us online find us in store all the good stuff amazing oh it's been a lot of fun talking to you i've loved spending time with the brands who are making these super super tasty products so thank you very much for your time.

29:43Oh my gosh. Thanks so much for having me. It's so good to see you. Oh, it's great to see you too. All right. We'll talk soon. Awesome. Bye guys. All right, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, do us a solid and leave us a five-star review on ratethispodcast.com slash startup CPG. I'm Caitlin Bricker, the host of the Founder Feature series and editor at Startup CPG. Feel free to find me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on Slack and get on my radar. I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for new and emerging brands to spotlight. If you're a potential sponsor who would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnerships at startupcpg.com.

30:24And finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our free CPG community on Slack. You can sign up via our website at startupcpg.com. See you around.

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