My Food Job Rocks!

Today we interview David Chan, Watter Resource Control Engineer by day, and creator of Nichijou Ramen by night!

So before I got a full-time job at WeWork, I was thinking of launching a new podcast that was a lot less in formality and structure. Now, I don’t have the time, but I have a bunch of interviews that are amazing, but aren’t the common My Food Job Rocks structure. However, they are all super valuable, and I always think: would this ruin My Food Job Rock’s consistency? But then I think about the fact that this is my platform and I can do whatever I want. So You’ll find more experimental podcasts from old interviews in the future.

I met David through an after-work group called Side Hustle Wednesday and we connected instantly because of our weird love of food. David is actually a civil engineer but he is obsessed with ramen. So the question is always “well, is he going to go full time into ramen?” And the answer is, you don’t have to!

You don’t have to go all in to showcase your passion and that’s what I wanted to capture with David. You can have a perfectly fine high paying job and work on your craft. This is what I did with podcasting and my life is more fulfilling because of it.

So not only how you’ll learn how to improve your passionate craft, but also tips on being yelp elite, social media strategies, and a lot of cool facts about ramen!

Thank you to Jenise Vu for connecting us through her group Side Hustle Wednesday in Sacramento!

Enjoy!

@nichijou.ramen Yelp Elite UC Davis Buca De Bepo My Sister introduced me to ramen Reddit Ramen Ramenheads Serious Eats Food Labs VP of Sun Noodle Kenshiro Ramen Lab Restaurant Social Media Strategies: Follow the right people, post consistently, own the market Shio Ramen – pure ramen Miso ramen – miso ramen I’ve done popups at New York, Portland and California Derek Siverrs Franks Kafka Ryujin and Raijin in Sacramento Favorite Ramen: In Japan Motonashi Karoke Nichijou.net What’s next? More about techniques. For example. Bowl physics 5 components of ramen Soup Noodles Tare (seasoning) Oil Toppings Always Serve Yourself First 2 Tablespoons of Salt

Sari Kimbell is a food business consultant who helps people from the idea stage to getting into retail channels. She runs the website, food business success.

Sari's experience being a broker at Whole Foods and running a commissary kitchen makes her an expert in understanding the challenges and needs to starting a food business so I ask her some pretty real questions.

I try to ask super blunt question like how much money do you need to start and Sari does an excellent job really honing in on the endgame, or goal.

We take a dive deep into maximizing margins before even launching your product, sell sheets and price sheets and how to use them properly, and things like that.

A disclaimer is that this interview is before the pandemic and we talk about ecommerce! Though the game has changed, I think Sari’s advice is still very valid. Perhaps the only outdated thing is something I’ve said. There’s a comment that I don’t buy food online and IT’S STILL TRUE. I might have bought maybe a couple of food items from Amazon, but that’s all.

If you want to know more about Sari’s offerings, check out our shownotes for this episode

Sari Kimbell has held just about every position in the CPG food industry from grocery buyer to selling local produce wholesale into stores, running a commissary kitchen to starting her own food business and helping food brands get off the shelves as the Marketing Director at Whole Foods Market.

In 2015 she launched Sari Kimbell Consulting with a mission to help packaged food and beverage entrepreneurs start and scale profitable businesses. When she isn’t working on pricing and projection spreadsheets or go-to-market strategies, her passion is to help the “I just have an idea” entrepreneurs navigate the tricky food industry. This includes a number of women and English as a second language entrepreneurs wanting to bring their delicious ideas to life.

As a consultant at her local Small Business Development Center, Sari explored their pain points and built up a bank of resources for those who were committed to bootstrapping their business (ie: figuring it out themselves). Her goal is to help more startups launch and scale up, and in 2019 Sari introduced Food Business SuccessTM that provides online courses and accelerators that combine self-directed learning with one-on-one business strategy sessions or group calls to answer specific questions and provide accountability to help this early stage entrepreneur.

Food Business Success has a ton of great resources you should check out if you're considering starting a food business. Including a Free Masterclass for Farmer’s markets and a 21 week accelerator program.

Grocery is changing daily due to the current environment and we know it is an uncertain time for your brand. At WeStock we are working to help our brand partners continue to grow even now. WeStock streamlines the request process providing your brand with consistent retail leads and gives you the insights needed to grow your business. Learn more at WeStock.io and use promo code MyFoodJobRocks for 25% off your first year.

Alli Ball Consulting We’re similar but we have different niches. Sari focuses before you start, Ali is later in the game What's your history?: I was a whole foods market buyer, vendor onboarding. I found my passion to help really early stage entrepreneurs. I then managed a commissary kitchen Food Business Success What would you tell someone who has an idea?: Really focus on why you want to do it. Do you really have a deep drive or conviction of doing this? What should your budget be in starting a food business?: Depends on the goal. Farmers market or national push? Cottage Food Laws Questions to ask: What’s your launch strategy? Avery Labels Online Labels.com Uline Packaging Do you have any success stories on people working in stores?: You kind of see what people are made of. You have to plan well in advanced for those capital needs. Numbers don’t lie. They hurt, but they don’t lie. I have a Pricing for Profitability cours...

This interview is with Andy Dratt, Chief Commercial Officer at Imbibe, a Beverage Innovation Company and has had past experiences building flavor divisions in Griffith, FONA, and Sensient.

If you want to know all about what it takes to develop an innovative new beverage, this podcast episode is for you! Andy and his team at Imbibe are experts in developing beverages because it’s not just formulating and pay up, but it’s much more than that. It’s a whole system.

Learn about the fine line between the possible and the impossible, and new beverage trends in this episode. You’ll also learn about the amazing career path Andy’s went through, and learn how even after some detours out of the food industry, he always ends up back into food.

I was fortunate enough to listen to Andy’s talk at the RCA conference and it was really fun seeing him in person. Andy definitively knows his stuff about Beverages

As Chief Commercial Officer at Imbibe, Andy Dratt leads a team with a cutting-edge approach to beverage development for a wide range of customers - from small startups to billion-dollar brands. During the past decade at Imbibe, he’s helped redefine the company’s business model and implemented a strategic vision that has guided the company’s compounding growth in the marketplace. He leverages over 20 years of experience guiding CPG and foodservice operators to conceptualize, develop and launch new products to market in the US, Latin America and Europe. Dratt has a passion for helping customers identify and exploit the “sweet spot” between consumer needs, business wants and product realities. He communicates that passion while speaking at industry events and in articles for industry publications.

I'm happy to introduce our newest sponsor: Salt of the Earth and their new ingredient, Mediterranean Umami, an all-natural and clean-label flavor enhancer and sodium reduction ingredient that works amazingly on meats, veggie-meats, soups and sauces and ready-meals. My friend, David gave me a bottle and I use it on my pasta sauces, or rice porridge to give it the satisfying umami depth I crave. Find the 2017 IFT Innovation Award Winner at IFT19 at booth number 2112 where they will be showcasing fresh food prepared with Mediterranean Umami. If you're interested now, feel free to email them at [email protected]

When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you tell them in a sentence or less?: I run a beverage development company. What is a beverage?: We work with all forms including alcohol, shakes, etc What’s your favorite product to work on?: We do 300 projects a year. I’m most intrigued on projects that are technically challenging and new to the industry. Operational challenges too (such as alternative dairy) What does it mean by Experience?: Not just product experience, but connections, mindset, locations, etc. What do you do when a customer gives you an impossible task?: You need to be confident enough to say “no”. If you say yes, you might be wasting your time. Describe the Steps it took to get to where you are today?: I was getting an MBA in France and ended up working in Slim Fast. Moved to Griffith Laboratories and started a flavor division. After a stint in MBA management, I had a lot of flavor stints. Even ran an R+D division. Blow mold garbage Cans Sensient How do you guys grow?: Speaking at conferences is very useful How do you reduce/remove office politics?: You have to cut it out from the leadership level What type of food trends and technologies are exciting for you?: We want to reduce sugar and we work a lot on sugar reduction. CBD is trending, but it’s still illegal Full spectrum hemp extract Nootropics Protein NextGen Stevia and Monkfruit Mouthfeel innovation What is one thing you’d like to know more about?: How chemicals like sucralose are made Who inspired you to get into food?: A bunch. Jackie Levin at Griffith, or even functional cool things in the industry What is your thought about job hopping?: If you set some kind of plan for yourself, it helps. Favorite Food in Chicago: Del Seoul Korean Taco Place Any advice about the food industry?: Look at the back of food labels and google the ingredients. The...