Ep. 147 – We Stand On the Shoulders of Giants with Phil Saneski, VP of Product at ReGrained

It’s been 2 years since Phil reached out to me when I was just starting My Food Job Rocks. After an interview, of course, we kept in touch. Through his period as the President of the RCA student association, to his job search, where he ended up in the famed upcycling startup, ReGrained. Who just got funded $2.5 million dollars last month.

Moving back to California for my own startup, I kept on running into Phil because of the work we do at Kitchentown, a sort of shared production space for many startups. Seeing him zoom back and forth with his ReGrained swag, I wanted to interview him again, since so much as changed. I have this interview across the street at their warehouse, where ReGrained stores all of their products.

Phil and I discuss the startup life and the challenges and rewards that come from it. One huge discussion that comes up is on how to use your mentors and resources to fill in what you don’t know. After all, your friends have decades of experience and know what they’re doing, unlike us.

This is an amazing episode for food scientists who want to get into entrepreneurship. We as scientists think we really have to know everything to make the jump, but Phil and I are two examples on that there are ways to get through the parts you don’t know, with a little help from your friends.

Lot’s of name dropping in the episode, but we’ve got you covered on the show notes.

Kim Schaub – Peas On Moss
Phillip Saneski Episode 17
ConAgra
Hannah Dresden and Hailey Bell – CuliNex
Karen Diep – Beyond Meat
ReGrained – Upcycling bar
Editor’s choice of Supply Side West
ReGrained’s Seed round of 2.5 million
Barilla Pasta
Equity Based Crowdfunding Campaign – 700 supporters. $700,000
Elliot Begoun from the Intertwine Group
Kim Shaub
Ali Bouzari – Speaker at the RCA
Catherine Proper – RCA
Larry Tong Sr. Scientist at McCormick Spices
RCA board
What does Innovation mean to you?: How can we turn historically wasteful ingredients to a new supply? We need to streamline better
Ethan Brown-CEO of Beyond Meat: Sometimes people want innovation on their iPhone, they don’t want it in their mouth.
Woodside, CA called the Village Pub
Garde Manger – Protector of Salads
AQ 7^th and mission in San Francisco Modern California in 2014
Granada Bistro
Bob’s Walbread in Los Alamos
Rachel Zemser
Research Chef Association
Food Waste Production Development Competition
Griffith Foods
Foodbytes
Terra Accelerator
North taste Ingredients (Sea Food Concentrates)
Open IDEO Food Waste Alliance
Rockafeller Foundation
Waste with Anthony Bourdain
Phil and Dan met in IDEO
Jordan Schwartz
Danielle Gould – Food is a labor of love. When she tasted a food, it tasted so good then she sees the founder and she’s like “oh wow”
Why does your food job rock?: We’re one of the companies who are promoting upcycling in beer grains and we are making good food and great impact
Forbes 30 under 30
Food Trends and Technology: Plant-Based Protein Innovation
Onion article Nut Sweat
One thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: The regulatory. Especially for a waste ingredient
How do you set up a sensory panel?: Talk to your flavor house
Savannah GA has a restaurant called The Gray that has Grits like risotto
Cheese cake dish with beat 3 ways
Sorrel – fruit shaped like a heart
Climate Action Summit
Ali Bouzari book: Ingredients
You can find me at Phil@regrained.com and also on linkedin