Ep112- Start a Food Brand Your Way - Ryan Florio of Inca Tea

09/29/16 • 36 min

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” -Hunter S. Thompson

He took an adventure against doctor’s orders and it changed his life.

Back to another Ohio startup (what up LeBron!), Inca Tea does not disappoint. As you'll learn today, Ryan Florio is a contrarian thinker. He does not take things at face value, which gives him an advantage in business and life.

The story of Inca Tea began when Ryan and his friends hiked a treacherous Peruvian mountain trail with the help of their Sherpa Edgar.

Edgar introduced them to an amazing Ancient Tea recipe combining boiling water, freshly cut apples and Purple Corn, which Peruvians consider a super food that fights against a host of medical conditions.

Upon Ryan’s return home to the U.S., he quit his job, cashed in his 401K, took a second mortgage out on his home and started a company called Inca Tea, the first U.S. company to use the ingredient Purple Corn.

In addition to winning several awards throughout the state of Ohio, Inca Tea’s sales continue to climb at big-brand stores around the country (like Bed Bath and Beyond) and online orders continue to come in from all over the world.

We share Ryan's journey and offer tips for food startup founders who want to do things their way:

How his childhood shaped his values and outlook on life
Ryan's previous entrepreneurial adventures
What Ryan has learned from sourcing
The healing properties of Purple Corn
Going "all-in", the mindset and stress management
Food marketing on a shoe-string budget
Starting a kiosk at Cleveland airport
The importance of building relationships and saying thank you
Taking online sales from $1900 to $30000 over 42 states and 7 countries
How he develops flavors
On attracting and retaining cusomers
A day in the life of Ryan Florio
When to sell your company
Future plans for Inca Tea

Selected links from the show: Inca Tea Inca Tea Cafe The War of Art Robert Thurston Coffee Episode

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” -Hunter S. Thompson

He took an adventure against doctor’s orders and it changed his life.

The story of Inca Tea began when Ryan and his friends hiked a treacherous Peruvian mountain trail with the help of their Sherpa Edgar.

We share Ryan's journey and offer tips for food startup founders who want to do things their way:

How his childhood shaped his values and outlook on life
Ryan's previous entrepreneurial adventures
What Ryan has learned from sourcing
The healing properties of Purple Corn
Going "all-in", the mindset and stress management
Food marketing on a shoe-string budget
Starting a kiosk at Cleveland airport
The importance of building relationships and saying thank you
Taking online sales from $1900 to $30000 over 42 states and 7 countries
How he develops flavors
On attracting and retaining cusomers
A day in the life of Ryan Florio
When to sell your company
Future plans for Inca Tea

Selected links from the show: Inca Tea Inca Tea Cafe The War of Art Robert Thurston Coffee Episode

Previous Episode

Ep111- Creating a Food Commodities Exchange - Kellee James of Mercaris

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." - Steve Jobs

Kellee James exemplifies this quote. Looking at her experience, one can connect the dots and trace why she was able to start a food commodities exchange.

Mercaris allows buyers and sellers of raw commodities to meet and trade online. Customers include Whole Foods Market, Michael Foods, Perdue Farms, and others.

They make it possible for "everyone in the supply chain, from farmers to food manufacturers, to track prices, volumes and other statistics for organic corn, or non-GMO soybeans."

Prior to Mercaris, Kellee spent five years at the Chicago Climate Exchange(CCX), the first electronic trading platform and registry for spot, futures and options contracts on carbon, sulfur, clean energy and other environmental products.

In 2009, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as a White House Fellow where she advised members of the administration on environmental markets.

She has also worked with coffee farmers and commodity banks in Latin America on risk management and income diversification strategies. She was named by both Black Enterprise Magazine and Crain's Chicago Business Magazine as a '40 under 40' rising leader.

Learn the ins and outs of Kellee's life and company:

Her aspirations to be a pro athlete and how she adjusted
Why politics and government are two different things
What she learned from politics
Limitations of the futures market
"Every single contract that is traded on our platform results in the physical delivery of the underlying commodity."
Why didn't an exchange like Mercaris exist 10 years ago?
How they assemble their data (very cool!!)
What she learned working with coffee farmers in Honduras
How the company attracts farmers, grain mills/elevators, and retailers
"Identity preservation" in commodities
The auction strategy: standard vs. reverse auctions
The commodities she wants to add in the future

Selected links from the show: Mercaris Kellee James on AngelList The Rogue Traders Foods: Facebook | Instagram Direct Origin Trading

Next Episode

Ep113- The Timeless Art of Social Dynamics - Susan MacTavish Best

"I've made a lot of people wealthy, but what about me? What do l love to do?"

Susan MacTavish Best creates interesting and engaging salons that have brought together some of the most creative minds of this century, from Tim Ferriss to Michael Pollan to food companies like Hampton Creek. The salons cover topics ranging from LSD to the future of death, and more.

Susan also has an all-encompassing lifestyle brand, Living MacTavish. It is not unlike Martha Stewart, but well, more accessible. And not a perfectionist. Martha Stewart meets the Royal Tennenbaums.

The art of casually bringing together our friends has been lost in this era of texting, social gaming, tweeting, IM’ing, and frenetic scheduling

Understand: strategically executed events, dinners, and salons can be used to make contacts, promote your food brand, and get deals done. Add this to your skill set. We cover a wide array of topics in a fun interview: