Elevator Talk Live: CHi Foods

Speaker 1 [00:14] All right. Up next on Elevator Talk, we have Tucker Garrison who's the CEO of Chi Foods. Tucker, great to see you.

Tucker Garrison [00:20] Likewise, thanks for having me on. I feel like you

Speaker 1 [00:22] both. Yes, you, do you know each other? We've met

Speaker 3 [00:24] in the past, for

Tucker Garrison [00:25] sure, yeah, nice to see you again.

Speaker 1 [00:26] Terrific. Chi Foods, tell our audience all about what you guys do.

Tucker Garrison [00:29] Yeah, so, uh, my name's Tucker Garrison. I am the co-founder of Chi Foods. We are the first line of organic plant-based meat in the known universe, uh, which is unbelievable that we are actually the first in that arena, um, and we really are a food tech company. Um, we invented a texturized protein which for those of you whose eyes glazed over, that's the part that gives plant-based meat its chew and its bite. Um, and, uh, we have a hero ingredient called sachainchi or the chi nut, which is where the brand name comes from. And uh we invented a texturized protein that has allowed us to create an amazing product and you know, I think this is a group of industry leaders and experts and so obviously plant-based kind of reached this fever pitch um a year ago, 18 months ago, um, and you know, blew open the doors and so many people are talking plant-based which I think is amazing. I think the issue is that that halo effect has worn off, right? And that we're in an environment where these kind of hyper-processed GMO, what I would call sketchy ingredients, um, consumers are, they're over it, quite frankly, and they, um, they wanna eat real food and, uh, that's exactly what we've done here at Cheap Foods is actually create a super clean label, high quality product, um. So you can see on this slide, um, some of the major attributes are that it is organic, certified organic. Um, it's actually truly keto, um, and paleo. It's the only plant-based meat we know of with zero net carbs. Um, it's high in omega 3s, it's low in sodium, um, it's a complete protein. Uh, the chi nut naturally has all nine essential amino acids, um, and it has healthy fats in it. Um, it's also top 9 allergen-free, so in terms of schools and kids and a lot of the food service work that we're doing, that's, um, been a really great attribute. So

Speaker 1 [02:15] There you go. Uh, where are these products sold?

Tucker Garrison [02:18] So, let me go to the last slide. Uh, so we're in, uh, Meyer and H. Uh, we launched into Arawan, Earth Fair, um, a number of other kind of medium sized, uh, independent retailers, and we are very excited to announce on Nosh that we just launched into 270 Whole Foods this week, 6 regions, so thanks Whole Foods.

Speaker 1 [02:41] Well, I thank you very much for sharing that. Um, I'm curious about your Uh, plan your path to getting into Whole Foods. What was that like?

Tucker Garrison [02:50] You know, I, I, uh, yeah, I, uh, this is the 2nd company that I've run, right? Our, our parent company is Imlakesh Organics, a direct trade superfood company, so I have a, a relationship with Whole Foods, um. Really, what's been amazing about this I think is we came to market at the exact right moment about a year ago, 1 year and a half years ago, and buyers are honestly, they're, they're actually quite grateful we're showing up and I don't want to sit here and toot our own horn, but I think that there are so many challenges with these kind of Me Too products that hit the shelves and just more soy and more vital wheat gluten and more methyl cellulose that they're like, oh my God. Finally, like some real innovation and this is what consumers are looking for. So, um, actually those meetings have been delightful, um, and a lot of the buyers have been really, um, inspired and excited and I think they see our value proposition, so it's, it's actually been refreshing.

Speaker 1 [03:41] Yeah, Lee, are you a consumer of plant-based meat?

Speaker 3 [03:44] Uh, I am, uh, to some degree, although I haven't found this product yet. I'm excited to try it. Um, I steer sometimes away from soy, right? Or the artificial long and lengthy ingredients, so I'm more on the real side of food is where we lean in our household, so this would kind of meet our demand space which is great,

Speaker 1 [04:05] no pun intended. So, I think Tucker, you talked about this, that halo effect has kind of worn off and I think when people are thinking about plant-based meat sometimes they're lumping everything into the same category. They assume that if it's X brand it's, you know, it's going to be the same thing with your brand. Um, that's a tough thing to find your way out of, uh, and it maybe it's a sort of PR social media kind of grassroots effort to fight it back, fight back on that, but I mean what's been your approach?

Tucker Garrison [04:36] Yeah, it's a great question and I do feel like uh we're swimming upstream in a way because of the, the perception in the industry overall, um, you know, like you'll be at a trade show and you'd be like, hey, would you like to try a plant-based meat and they just kind of walk by and then you're like, it's organic and there's nothing sketchy in it and they kind of turn and they're like, Oh, and then, then you have them, right? Then you can catch them and so um we've been really focused on an in-store demo campaign um and are gonna continue to invest in that and doing just events and trade shows and I think the, the education piece because once um we've Engaged, we're having a really strong level of repeat purchasing and we're seeing those velocities really steady, um, so I think that that's, that's the key, but you're right is like how do we get that what I would call that second sentence or that kind of like qualifier of hey we're different and this is why

Speaker 1 [05:25] communication is so important and listening to what your consumers are saying about your brand incorporating that into your message is so important. Um, you know, how do you do that effectively, Lee? Any tips for Tucker?

Speaker 3 [05:37] Well, certainly behind the demo table, right, as a founder you hear and learn so much from your consumers. Um, I think, you know, just being ready to iterate, not pur not pursuing trends, right? I think that's something at Perfect Bar as well where we launched during the Atkins era where it was a high fat or low fat was, you know, the name of the game and we were assatiating fairly high fat, healthy fat. Product and then really fat education came around. I think there's you know the world in sugar education right now as well we're low glycemic so I think figuring out your point of difference which is we can see that clearly no junk, no sketchy ingredients. I love that with great taste, um, that is absolutely your point of difference in this category which would make me steer away from it originally so demos would probably make a lot of sense because I would hear that and maybe try a category that I. Left behind because we've like you said rebounded back to real ingredients um and so I I caution with demos as well that it's such a it's such a a grueling uh way to market your product but so effective if done right and and even at Perfect Bar with our size still it's like to not lose focus on on you can't just set it and forget it like really making sure every demo matters and figuring out the way you're training your team members. Members and making sure you have people that are equally as passionate and like just the focus and rigor if if put behind that it can be a powerful engine that's right at your point of purchase because so and also social media of course to really build that grassroots following and create that awareness and buzz but there's nothing like standing at your shelf and handing it into somebody's basket

Speaker 1 [07:21] so yeah absolutely uh great packaging helps as well um can I put you on the spot and uh. Ask you about cheese packaging, sort of the hierarchy of what you're seeing here and we have it on the slides as well. Any thoughts about things that really stand out for you, things you think maybe need to be highlighted a bit more? I know you're a big fan of organic, that's that, that, uh, seal, uh, but you know, your thoughts.

Speaker 3 [07:42] I would say protein needs to be louder for sure. Um, we see protein, however you're getting it, right. Uh, your protein count, um, although maybe it's assumed in this category because it's meat, I think still having even with your packaging, I, this is gonna help me create a meal at home. OK, what's my protein delivery for, for even the value of for my dollar, right? So you have some really powerful protein content. I would really elevate that along with organic as, as kind of the main two. That that you read and of course your flavor is already beautiful. I think that's really done,

Tucker Garrison [08:20] done well. Great, thank you. I really appreciate that. It's been amazing to watch. Yeah, I mean there's 44 g of protein in the 11 g per serving.

Speaker 1 [08:30] I'm I'm not gonna say like distance looked like 4444. Yeah, and it's for that.

Tucker Garrison [08:41] Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 1 [08:42] Um, Tucker, at the price point of 11.99, do you get any pushback from folks who are flexitarians and saying, well, I can buy a ground, uh, a, an animal-based ground pork, um, for significantly less. I mean, how do you address that? How do you talk to people about that? You know,

Tucker Garrison [08:57] we haven't really seen a lot of pushback on price. I think people get that there's a value proposition for what we're offering. I mean, this is really superfood plant-based meat, right? It's, it's functional food, it's super high quality, the fats are healthy. You know, and we've seen brands like Primal Kitchen and Miyokos and Perfect Bar say we can have a price point that intersects with the customer's values that really works and so, you know, we've been having those conversations with Whole Foods and with Sprouts and all the retailers that we're in and you know, we haven't really had um a lot of pushback on price. Again, I think it's about making sure that the, the buyer and the retailer and the customer kind of understand the value proposition of why.

Speaker 1 [09:41] Well, it seems like you're on the right track, especially having gotten into 270 Whole Foods, did you say? Congratulations once again. Yes, that's totally, it's such a great validation for what you're doing and the strategy that you've laid out for the brand. So congratulations, Tucker, um, and please stay in touch. I wanna see where this goes from here because, uh, you have some exciting stuff on your hands.

Tucker Garrison [09:59] Absolutely, thank you so much. Really

Speaker 1 [10:01] appreciate it. Thank you very much. You can hand your microphone over to Amanda.