00:00Prateeth, we are so looking forward to hearing more about your brand, about your product.
00:16Whenever you are prepared, go ahead and launch into your pitch.
00:20Hello, my name is Prateeth Spencer, and I'm the co-founder of IO Foods, a first-to-market
00:27product line, celebrating the incredible cuisine of West Africa.
00:32After spending the majority of my career cultivating the growth of some of the world's most beloved
00:38brands, big and small, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated.
00:44There weren't products that reflected my experience growing up in a Liberian family.
00:50These dishes are present at every holiday.
00:52Today, some of these dishes have been the first complete meals I've given to my two
00:56little girls, and we knew that there were other families like ours that would be excited to
01:02have these slow-cooked, layered flavors at their fingertips.
01:06The notes we get daily from our growing consumer base confirms that.
01:13Our family experience, combined with the fact that ethnic food is driving the growth of $23
01:19billion frozen market, and that 40% of consumers are ordering ethnic food at least once a week,
01:27led my husband and I to launch IO.
01:31In Yoruba, IO means joy, which perfectly embodies the purpose of our brand, to deliver joy through
01:39the unique flavors and ingredients of West Africa.
01:42Our journey begins with three family favorites.
01:48First up is the Senigular family staple, cassava leaf, which features the leaves of the yucca root
01:54and is the dish that travels with us wherever we go.
02:01A goosey soup spotlights the protein-rich seeds of the goosey melon.
02:06And then, of course, there's the fan favorite, jollof rice, the inspiration for ongoing jollof
02:13wars on social media.
02:16We're building strong momentum since our launch in about 50 full food stores in the south that
02:23went into effect in mid-July, and we're actively seeking early adopter retail partners to meet
02:30the growing consumer demand.
02:33We expect to have national retail footprint by January.
02:38Our vision for IO is simple, to build a multi-category power equity, so the funds from this competition
02:46would go directly to supporting our portfolio expansion efforts.
02:50We invite you to join us on a culinary tour of West Africa and take these spuds with you.
02:59We hope you find your IO today.
03:03All right.
03:04Thank you so much for your pitch and for letting us know more about IO Foods.
03:09As a proud child of a Jamaican woman, I am always excited to see ethnic food that is kind of coming
03:19to the forefront.
03:21So thank you for everything that you're doing, and I love jollof, whether it is from Senegal
03:27or Liberia or Nigeria.
03:31I love them all.
03:33So thank you so much.
03:35We're going to head into the Q&A portion of this pitch competition.
03:41So my question right now revolves around shelf stability, especially through the transportation
03:49process.
03:51So how are you working through that right now as you build your business out even more?
03:58You mentioned you were at Whole Foods at this point, but as you go to more and more retailers,
04:02frozen food in particular can be incredibly complex.
04:07So I'm just wondering about kind of what you have in place right now and how you're looking
04:11to grow your stability in your supply chain.
04:16Absolutely.
04:17So I should say I managed a frozen business for a couple of years as a brand manager at
04:24General Mills.
04:24So I have a good handle on the frozen supply chain, and we've been able to secure national
04:31distribution partners with the two major distributors in the United States who are handling all
04:40of our frozen supply chain issues with care.
04:44Awesome.
04:45This is so exciting.
04:46I have actually one of my best friends in life whose mother is a part of the Joloff War.
04:51So we are constantly spending Sundays trying to figure out who is going to win.
04:57They're both best friends.
04:58Their mothers have been best friends all their lives, and they compete with each other, and
05:01we just reap the benefits of that competition.
05:05So I cook a lot of things.
05:07I can't cook this, so I'm out of the loop here.
05:10I guess my question would be...
05:11Well, you don't have to now.
05:12Exactly, exactly.
05:15My question is about your marketing.
05:17How are you currently thinking about marketing, and what kind of spin have you contributed,
05:22and are you planning to contribute in the future?
05:27Absolutely.
05:28It's a really good question.
05:30As I mentioned, we launched July 15th in the midst of a global pandemic, which was never
05:35our plan.
05:36And so we've got some incredible partners who have really helped us build strong consumer
05:44interaction despite our ability to get into stores and do demos, et cetera.
05:49So we've been able to do a lot of direct-to-consumer sampling.
05:54We've tapped into some tremendous influencers.
05:58And we're really honing on winning in the markets that we're in today.
06:02So our marketing efforts are highly regional, but we've gotten such an outpouring of excitement
06:10around expansion of the brand.
06:12So as we scale, our marketing will grow with that.
06:16And we've got some really exciting partner engagements that are already in the works to
06:22support that as we scale nationally.
06:24The growth of your business can spawn in a variety of ways, but who's going to be your
06:32core customer?
06:33Who's your core customer today, and who's going to grow with you as you expand in a variety
06:37of ways?
06:38I'm asking for a particular reason.
06:40Yeah, it's a really great question.
06:43You know, we see our consumer target as twofold.
06:45We know we have to win with our core consumer, who are kind of first-generation West Africans,
06:53who are looking for more convenient options.
06:57You know, as I think about these dishes, it takes a couple trips to specialty markets and
07:02hours and hours to get them right.
07:05And so we see our value proposition as being able to add some convenience to that process
07:11to make it a little bit more accessible, to have it on a Tuesday night if you want.
07:16But we also know that there's a growing population of what we would call ethnic explorers, which
07:22are consumers who are looking really to travel with their taste buds.
07:27And particularly in these times when people are a bit more homebound, people are looking
07:32for that sense of exploration.
07:35And we feel like IO perfectly delivers against that.
07:39And so through that lens, you know, we thought we were very mindful in our sourcing of ingredients.
07:47We're using all of the highest quality inputs to appeal to that more wellness-oriented consumer
07:54as well.
07:56Yeah, I guess so.
07:57I was asking to get a sense for where you think it's going to be important for you to
08:00show up from a retail standpoint.
08:02So you mentioned in your pitch, you know, you're in 50 Whole Foods.
08:06And so that may attract, you know, some of your core customer and a lot of your Explorer
08:10customer.
08:11But making sure that you're in, you know, you're in places and spaces that can proportionally
08:17get to both to ensure that the folks that are going to be with you, because they don't
08:22have to explore it, it's regularly accessible.
08:26Yeah, absolutely.
08:27That's a key part of our distribution plan.
08:30So we want to do it smart and steady to be efficient in how we grow.
08:35We know this is a new proposition, but we are looking at kind of more progressive mainstream
08:41retailers where we know these consumers are shopping as well to kind of meet our consumers
08:48where they are.
08:50Yeah, exactly.
08:50Exactly.
08:51Where are you?
08:52So how big is your team?
08:56Right now, we've got kind of two of us full time.
09:01So my husband and I.
09:03And then we've been able to build an incredible partner network that has really helped us scale
09:10quickly.
09:11So, you know, as I mentioned, my husband has a strong background in entrepreneurship.
09:16I have a strong background in CPG, so I've got a good handle on kind of what it takes
09:22to build a winning brand.
09:24And so we've been able to, through that, through our partner network, build a strong sales and
09:30marketing team as well.
09:32Gotcha.
09:32How do you need to grow the team over the next year to ensure that the momentum you've
09:38got isn't capsized by having such a nimble team?
09:41Yeah, you know, when we engage partners, we engage them as extensions of our team, and
09:48that has really paid off for us.
09:51And so we're well positioned for the next 18 months with a slow and steady plan that would
10:00maybe bring on a couple of headcount.
10:03But with the sales team that we've kind of outsourced, we have full coverage of the United
10:10States, and then we have a really incredible, nimble marketing team who's partnering with
10:18us as well.
10:19And then, you know, to build these propositions for commercial scale, we also built a pretty
10:24solid network of R&D and production partners.
10:28And so we feel really good about the infrastructure we've built for now.
10:33You know, if we outpace the projections that we have for the next year, which are aggressive,
10:39but doable, you know, that's a good problem to have.
10:42And we'd love to be in a position to bring on more people.
10:45But we want to be thoughtful about how we do that.
10:48So are those partners, are they basically, are they contract-based service providers?
10:53Or are they also investors in the business with you guys?
10:59A really good question.
11:00So it's a hybrid at this point, our sales and marketing functions, our contract, kind of
11:09invested contract partners.
11:11But we do have a growing body of kind of investor, more strategic investor type partnerships
11:19to enable our long-term growth.
11:22So first and foremost, congratulations on launching your business during a pandemic.
11:29I think this has been a remarkable time for all of us that have both, you know, we've learned
11:37a lot about what our, you know, what our capacities are to build in sort of unprecedented times.
11:43And so despite the fact that you never planned to build your business during a pandemic, you
11:47are doing just that.
11:47And so that is nothing short of phenomenal.
11:51And you've got a really unique opportunity in front of you.
11:54And so it's a privilege to learn more about it.
11:57I will go be a consumer of it because we're both core and explorer.
12:05So congratulations and I wish you nothing but the best.
12:09Thank you very much.
12:10I so appreciate you all hearing a bit more about our story.
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