Meat Stick Who? How TofuGo Turned Tofu Into a Viral Protein Snack

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1:16the 12 grams of protein actually all comes from whole foods the tofu themselves we don't add additional protein isolate like we got questions sometimes like hey, like whey protein isolate prices all time high demand is so high. How does that affect your business model? It doesn't because the protein is literally just from the tofu and functional and delicious. So I think we're very intentional on staying savory and focus on savory lane. We're getting on board to Amazon pretty soon. And then also we're launching to the UK very soon. So we're targeting Q4 for the UK launch. And that's primarily driven by high demand from that market.

1:52We got so many messages and inquiries from that market for us to launch there. Wait, so how long have you been in business for? We launched five months ago. Hey everybody, this is Caitlin Bricker, Managing Editor at Startup CPG. We are back with another founder feature. Today I'm sitting down with Caroline Dye, founder of Tofu Go, a savory protein snack made of tofu with 12 grams of protein from whole foods, zero sugar, and zero natural flavors. Caroline grew up eating tofu daily in her Chinese family, moved to the U.S. at 13, and spent years in business and finance before realizing the market was missing savory, clean protein.

2:32She launched in March of 2026, posted a video from her living room two weeks after that launch, and then it went viral with over 350 ,000 views and is now in over 40 states and Canadian provinces with an army of repeat subscribers. We're diving into what went viral and why, the ancient Chinese culinary craftsmanship behind the product, why she stays intentionally savory and focused, her data on velocity that changed retailer conversations, and her vision for Tofu Go as a nationwide brand accessible to vegans, fitness enthusiasts, and families alike. We hear from founders on this podcast every week, and if you're a brand looking to connect with buyers, investors, and industry experts in real time, you need to be in our community.

3:19Join our free Slack community with over 40 ,000 members, get access to exclusive events and trade shows where you can meet industry stakeholders like buyers and investors in real life, tap into free resources, and of course, listen to the podcast. text CPG to 833-605-7002. That's 833-605-7002 or head to startupcpg.com and get connected. As always, enjoy. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin, and today I'm here with Caroline Dye, founder of Tofu Go. Caroline, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. Happy to be here. It's great to have you here. I'm very excited about your brand.

4:07I feel like this is a product that will for sure blow up. So before we go any further, can you tell the audience what Tofugo is? Yes, I'm Caroline Dime, the founder of Tofugo. Tofugo is a savory protein snack made of tofu with 12 grams of protein from Whole Foods and zero sugar. Perfect. Short and sweet. Just how we like it. I am a big fan of your products in particular because I go through these phases where I do eat jerkies, but every now and then I just get the ick from meat products. But I love tofu and I have never seen a product like yours until now. So what inspired you to create Tofu Go?

4:50Yes, I started my career very traditionally, went to business school, did merchant acquisition and finance. I was constantly snacking sweet protein bars and drinking protein shake at my desk because I was so busy. And one day realized that I was consuming more than 50 grams of sugar just from protein products alone. Got really tired of the sugar artificial ingredient and actually was first searching for something that I want. Savor with no sugar, made of whole foods, no additives. Couldn't find anything on the market that I love. So thought, why not put on my founder hat and create something of my own?

5:23And since we launched, it's just been nonstop. We've gone viral. We were featured in top media. And it's just a lot of exciting announcements to come as well. Tell me a little bit about these viral moments that you've had. We posted a video of me talking about TofuGo in my living room two weeks after we launched back in March. And it just quickly blew up to people from all over the world. All of a sudden, we were getting DMs from creators saying, we'd love to feature TofuGo, organic to our community. How do we get hands on the product? And then people from UK, Europe, Australia reaching out. We'd love to have TOEFL go in our markets.

6:00When can you launch in our market? And just it was such an overwhelming time since it was just five months ago we launched. So it's been a whirlwind. I think that kind of goes to show that you do not need to have these pretty perfectly polished videos or a gorgeous background to go viral. how many views would you estimate you had on that video i think that's on my track it was like 350k views oh that's it and then i think after that we went viral pretty consistently as well like even just us going to a store in new york got like 50k views overnight we're just like so surprised by the level of engagement but yeah i go with that i think something more authentic and digitally native, the audience connect even more comparing to some of the other higher level production we've done.

6:50I have gotten some good laughs from your recent videos because you probably know what I'm going to say. You featured one of my colleagues, Quinn, in a couple of your videos. You want to tell our audience what these videos were about? Yes, I'm so glad that it adds humor to your day. Yeah, we test different formats, different hooks all the time. Some of it might be like POV, Some of it might be just funny moments that happen. So Queen came to our booth at Summer Fancy in New York and completely surprised us. He's like, oh, I actually speak Mandarin Chinese. And we were all of a sudden chatting in Mandarin.

7:26And then a light bulb moment went on in my head. I was like, this would be great for our social media. So I think that video also took off. But yeah, it was really great. We connected on kind of the cultural heritage of tofu as a dish, something I grew up eating in my Chinese family. And Queen just completely wowed us. We did not know there's a side to him. At first, we're actually filming hot rice eat tofu content with him. So it was kind of like two content that we got with Quinn. Well, there you go. Another surprise. We had such a good laugh as a team when we saw those videos come up. For anybody that's listening that doesn't know, Quinn grew up in China, is fluent in speaking Chinese, and he surprises a lot of people when he goes up and just starts spitting, talking to people.

8:11and it sounds like you were one of those people. I was certainly surprised. I don't know any words in Chinese, but here we are. Makes for pretty good content, that's for sure, and for good conversation. We enjoyed meeting Queen. Of course, most people do. So tell me more about your upbringing and how tofu was weaved into your upbringing and the dishes that you were eating as a child growing up and maybe even now. Yeah, I grew up in a Chinese family. Both my parents are Chinese. and we're a family household that eats rice and noodles and tofu every day. It's a staple dish. I think tofu and just soy overall, it's very mainstream in Chinese culture.

8:50So anything from like tofu to soy milk, it's very much a staple and something I did not have to think twice about. Moved to the U.S. when I was a little bit younger, moved to Seattle when I was 13 and quickly realized that tofu is seen as more of a quiet ingredient. You know, it's such a strong resource made of whole foods protein. I think it's so versed with how you can do so many flavors with it. But the last decade, the interactions I have with tofu, I feel like it's been way too quiet and way too humble for too long. So I really want to shine a spotlight by making tofu go as a craveable and convenient and healthy snack.

9:27And how did you choose the flavors for, you have two SKUs right now, correct? How did you choose the flavor profiles for those SKUs? Yes, we currently have two flavors. We have soy barbecue, which is soy sauce inspired, and then spicy chili, which is a very mildly spicy made of soy sauce. It's a shrimp peppercorn. We're also developing more flavors that are in the works, more exciting announcement to come. But we really look at, you know, from a mainstream American population perspective, what are some flavors that people love? And there's a gap in the market, right? Like you earlier talked about these jerky, like Applewood barbecue, like very mainstream flavors.

10:02So we thought, why not try to highlight on these Asian flavors, like similar dishes that people love in their favorite Asian restaurant and bring them to a more mainstream audience. I have to say the first time I saw your brand was at Sarah Wine Reb's shop, Little Nosh in Denver. And all of us were like, what is this? She is fantastic. Love her. But we were like, we've never seen this before. And we got a couple of them at her shop. They were gone pretty much instantly when we got back to our place. So we really enjoyed them. Yeah, I think that velocity and kind of the soap sold out speed speaks for itself.

10:38And that actually gave us a lot of data and confidence pitching to retailers as well, because sometimes there will be pushback from just everyday people be like, is tofu too niche? Is Asian flavors too niche? And we actually have strong velocity data to support that. We are very much a mainstream product that a lot of people crave. What is the feedback that you're getting from retailers who, A, say yes to you, and B, maybe you're saying no or not right now to you? I think the biggest like positive feedback is we love something with savory. A lot of retailers come exclusively looking for international flavors.

11:14Any negative feedback, I would just say like maybe two SKUs, not enough. Maybe like we need to expand to more SKUs. Some retailers, they love like an exclusive flavor. So we're working really hard on that and just making sure we're like nailing the head on certification, right? Like everything from non-GMO to organic, We're working on their certification right now. So I think as we refine the certification and packaging, we are getting more towards the yes and two more doors. That is awesome to hear. This might be an unpopular opinion. I think I've said it on this podcast before. I am a fan of single SKU brands and two SKU brands.

11:50I don't think brands need to take up an entire shelf worth of space. How do you feel about that? Yes, I would say I very much agree with that. You know, even like brands I really admire, there's like one or two hero product that just really stand out. Like no other flavors can compete with that product. So I think very much for us, since we're so new and innovative, it does take more education on, you know, what the product is. And on top of that, kind of like explaining different flavor profiles and different options. So I think right now, because the product is so innovative and differentiated, the two skills work really well for us at the moment.

12:25I think it's great. You touched a little bit on this, but your packaging. How did you land on the packaging that you have now? Yes, I have a very talented designer helping me with packaging. So it's very different from like the chat GPT version I created in the first draft that looked not as good. But I actually look into the Chinese background I was talking about as an inspiration. I was looking at Chinese red envelopes for New Year's. So it's like a red and gold color. I love to bring that element and that culture heritage into the tofu gold brand. So when you see like a soy barbecue, it's red and gold.

13:00And then spicy chili is orange and gold. So very much like a Chinese element. I really like that. I have that background now because as soon as you said that, I'm like, of course, yes, this all makes sense now. And I really like that the so you get three pieces of tofu in the packaging and they're individually wrapped, which I really appreciate too, because maybe you have one, you just want a little snacky, and then you have the other one that's still wrapped in case you want one later. Or you could just eat them both at the same time. Who cares? Smart. And I need to know more about just R &D and bringing this product to life because I use tofu multiple times a week in my household.

13:39Like I said, I'm kind of averse to meat products. So I go hard on the tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, all the things. That's awesome. Thanks. What did R &D look like for you when creating this product? I'm so curious about preservation and getting it into the packaging that it's in now, staying fresh, because it does taste like fresh tofu when you eat it, which I think is so unique to any products that I've tasted before. So I just need to know everything. Yes, it's more about the water content. So we remove the water and braise them with the soy sauce and citron peppercorn to make them flavorful.

14:15Typically when you buy tofu from the grocery aisle it is usually refrigerated or frozen and it's usually more higher water content comparing to a snack form. But what we did is we partnered with a really great co-manufacturer who is so experienced in this actually very like ancient Chinese culinary craftsmanship to help us to produce the product at scale. I'm just going to do a quick google. I've never done this before but I'm just curious. Beef jerky protein content. About seven grams of protein. And how many grams of protein is in a serving of Tofugo? So the whole pack is 12 grams of protein out of 45 grams of products.

14:54So it's classified as high protein. I think that says it all, especially in today's world where everybody is so protein focused and there are still naysayers that don't think that you can get enough protein from a vegetarian or vegan diet. Your products, it's not like I'm sitting there eating a block of tofu. They are slim pieces. And it's amazing how much protein you're getting packed into a tiny package. Yes, I think that's something we're really proud of. Not only that, but also the quality of the protein. So the 12 grams of protein actually all comes from whole foods, the tofu themselves. We don't add additional protein isolate.

15:32Like we crush is sometimes like, hey, like whey protein isolate prices all time high. Didn't amount so high. How does that affect your business model? It doesn't because the protein is literally just from the tofu. It's so impressive. I mean, you and I both know that tofu is such a great protein on its own. But to now see it in this packaging and in this format is really impressive. And I think it's setting a tone for other brands that are looking to create vegetarian protein products. So nice job. Thank you. Where do you see Tofugo going in the next five years or so? Yes, we're in conversations with a couple of national retailers at the moment.

16:10So, you know, hopefully exciting announcement coming soon. But they've expressed strong enthusiasm in carrying Tofugo in their stores. But I picture Tofugo as a very like nationwide product. I think what's really surprising to me as a founder is we were able to launch primarily D2C at first and then expand nationally. Like, all of a sudden, we're, like, in over 40 states and Canadian provinces, and people as far as Hawaii or Michigan or Miami, they're ordering Tofu Go on a subscription basis. I think that's been really positive for us to see. Our demographic is a mix. It's not just vegans and vegetarians.

16:44It's people who are wanting more protein. It's family who want more healthy snacks for their kids. It's, you know, fitness people who want more protein after their workout. So I would love Tofu Go to be a nationwide product, and it's really accessible to people as well. I love that. I also love hearing that you are getting people subscribing to your products because I feel like from my personal experience as a consumer, it's hard to find a brand that you want to subscribe to in the food and beverage category. Household products, no problem. It's something that you just like set it and forget it.

17:15So what are you doing as a brand to incentivize people to subscribe to Tofugo? Yeah, I think it's two things. First of all, discount. So anyone subscribing to Toful Gold, they get 20 % discount on top of the existing prize. And second is convenience, right? Like we have fulfillment both on West Coast and East Coast. So they get it very conveniently. They can also set how frequent they want the subscription. So some people maybe don't want like every month. So they can kind of update the frequency. but I think it's because of the product it's so unique it offers that high protein from Whole Foods no sugar that's really hard to find maybe in their like local stores existing set so I think by making it more affordable more accessible and you know functional so I think that's been a really key driver of prescription.

17:59You are doing such a great job with your formulation too because yes of course it tastes great but you are also hitting on that high protein no added sugar and you don't have natural flavors either, which is the next frontier for so many consumers that are unlocking this and understanding it and asking questions. Was that something that you had in mind while formulating the product or was this just happy? Not an accident, but you're like, oh, we're doing that. We don't need to worry about that in 10 years. Yes. It's very intentional from day one. I think growing up in both China and America, I understand how sugary and processed the American grocery aisle is.

18:38And from day one, I wanted to create a product that I feel comfortable giving it to like my grandma, giving it to kids around me. Just something really healthy and not just like a fake healthy, but actually healthy and good for you. And I've been testing with like my experimentation, like ever since I eat Tofu Go and Tofu more in my diet, actually, it's better for my gut. It's better for my digestion. I feel actually more toned as comparing to a more sugary diet, which, you know, not surprising to anyone. That's a great benefit. I always love to picture, you know, when you see like a video of a lion after they eat a big meal or like catch their prey, they're like, all right, I'm just going to lay on this rock for the rest of the day and digest.

19:19I don't get that when I eat plant-based products. I'm like, cool, I just had a meal. Now I can go about my day. I don't need to just like rest and digest right now. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, for me, I feel like I'm just constantly snacking in smaller portion anyway. I try to avoid like a really big lunch coma because I know like the rest of the day wouldn't be as productive. But I think that also speaks to a lot of diets of America is this lighter portion, smaller portion, like looking at like a midday squares of that format. So popular. Oh, that's a really good comparison. You do have a very similar format to midday squares.

19:56and I also know your products aren't refrigerated but the refrigerated bar set I feel like is also having such a moment right now but it comes back to that convenience factor because you're able to get whole food products in very convenient formats that are satiating people are walking away they feel good and they feel full totally it's really good so what are you working on now you said that you're working on more flavors you probably can't give me too many details about that what can you tell me? With respective flavors, it will also be savory. I think we're very intentional on staying savory and focused on savory lane.

20:34We're getting on board to Amazon pretty soon. So we're working with a really great Amazon agency on helping us successfully launch in that channel. More retail in the workshop. And then also we're launching to the UK very soon. So we're targeting Q4 for the UK launch. And that's primarily driven by high demand from that market. We got so many messages and increase from that market for us to launch there. Wait, so how long have you been in business for? We launched five months ago. Okay, that's what I thought you said and you're already going international. That is crazy. Congratulations. Thank you.

21:08Yeah, we did not really expect that, but just, you know, months after months, people have been chasing us from the UK market. And even as far as people reaching out, I've never met before. They're like, I'd love to help you launch. Like, who can I connect you with? I was like, I will probably need like a warehouse, a store. I probably need to like talk about other founders based in the UK. And they're like, I'll introduce you right away. I want to buy this product. I want to like buy it for my community. Anything we can do to help, which is so surprising. But yeah, I think that international expansion is more coming from like bottoms up demand rather than like us as a brand be like, we want to be like, this is in our roadmap since we launched.

21:44Wow. I'm kind of speechless right now. I think that that is so impressive. And the fact that you have incoming demand, people are coming to you. inbound requests for your products to go overseas is crazy. That says a lot. Typically a brand at your stage, you're doing the outreach and you are making the requests to retailers and consumers to buy the product, but you now have paved this beautiful way for yourself to get that inbound request. That is so cool. Thank you. Wow. All right. Tell us a little bit about what it looks like to set up your product for international distribution. What is that looking like for you?

22:20It's pretty straightforward. Like we're doing both U.S. and Canada right now. So we have somewhat experience in operating different markets. But it's getting connected with a really great 3PL and making sure like that distribution pricing model makes sense for us. And any tools that you've used to build Tofugo that you feel like are worth shouting out to anybody listening right now who's building a brand? Shout out to Startup CPG. Like as a platform, I think this has been really helpful. and just getting so many good resources. Like we're applying for like the Whole Foods grocery run as well, the founders and founders in New York as well.

22:56So there are definitely a couple of different events that we're keeping our eyes out and want to be a part of. But I think Startup CBD as a platform has been amazing. I think that's like goes hand in hand with founders tools, right? You're not like searching in kind of like the wide area for resources and people to connect with. Rather, it's like more centralized platform and we can meet people who can make meaningful decisions. to help us to grow as a brand. I promise I was not compliment fishing when I asked that question, but it's much appreciated. I do think that we have a good thing going on here, and I'm glad that you see that as a great resource.

23:31I was at Summer Fancy Food, and you were sampling, or you had your booth right near our section, and we were so busy that I never got a chance to go over and say hi. I'm glad Clint did, but I would love to see you in our section someday. Yes, for sure. I'm sure it's going to happen. All right. Before we wrap things up, any pieces of advice that you want to give to founders who are listening and building in early stages right now? I would say the best piece of advice I got as founder is just put on your iPhone and pretend you're like face hemming someone. And that's the best way to get your face in front of an audience.

24:06Like looking back, I wish I would even sooner, like before we launch, to build more of a like viral moments. Like I've seen other brands who do it. But I think I've gotten to a point that like five, six months ago, I was not comfortable doing that. But now I don't even think about it. Like I love doing it and sharing more of my journey with my community. I was going to tell you this after we stopped recording, but I'll just tell you now. You are a very impressive podcast guest. Like, it feels to me like you've done media training. Have you done anything like that in the past? No, I'm just talking about, like, my love of tofu and growing up in the Chinese family and so forth.

24:42Well, I think that that says a lot because this is not a rehearsed episode. You're not reading off a script. You're speaking from your heart and you're speaking about what you know and what you love. And it comes off very clean, very crisp. It's great. You've been a great guest. I appreciate that. Thank you. I appreciate being a guest here. Of course. All right. One last request from you. If there are retailers listening right now who want to bring Tofugo on board, or maybe they're on the fence about bringing Tofugo on board, what do you want to say to them? Hi, Whole Foods. We've already met a couple of foregers from Whole Foods and they all love Tofugo.