The Nourish Food Co is a meal delivery company that has a beautiful menu of healthy southern comfort food that can be delivered straight to your door. Located in Birmingham Alabama, they distribute to 38 different states and have a wide array of dishes to choose from.
Mary and Tiffany have humble origins. Met at a test kitchen, started a catering business, pivoted to meal delivery and scaled to the moon, but the details that made their journey successful is captured in this interview such as how to hire people or the steps to scale, or how to build a support network for tough times.
We did into these details as we find the twists and turns that make working in the food industry so exciting. If you’re interested in the concept of bootstrapping, and the meal delivery industry, this episode is for you.
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Shownotes
Where do you eat at Birmingham Alabama?:
Bottega Café’s Cheese Burger
Chez Fonfon
What do you do for a living?: Tiffany: I own a food company.
We make fully prepared meals and deliver it to 38 states.
We distribute everything from Alabama
We really showcase how our meals are changing the lives of other people
We do deliver to California but it’s very difficult and too much competition
Do you guys have different functions as co-founders?
Both have culinary backgrounds
Mary: Sales, marketing,
Tiffany: R+D, packaging, procurement
How did you guys meet?: At the Cooking Lite Test Kitchen (closed this year). At that job, we were testing and cooking recipes. We wanted to start a high-end catering company in 2007.
What made you pivot?:
Difference between meal kit and meal delivery service?: We do all of the work. All you need to do is to microwave it.
Blue Apron
What’s the hardest thing about starting a business?: Hiring well
What was an essential person you onboarded in your business?: Jose, our first production manager. We hire people who take the work from us. Being autonomous and taking the role of what they’re supposed to do.
Important Soft Skills: Motivation, teaching,
Can you describe your first sale?: Before launching our own brand, we were doing private label for fitness companies.
How does the operation work?: We used to change our recipes weekly.
Then we ended up doing a 4-week recipe cycles
What kind of products do you serve?: We create southern comfort food that’s healthy for you. For example, we make cauliflower grits and almond milk
Why does your food job rock?: We get to see how our products positively impact our clients
What type of food trends and technologies are exciting you right now?: Plant protein innovations
What trends do you find in your industry?: The novelty of receiving the ingredients have worn off so they are going into supermarkets. People actually don’t have time to cook, so we think we’re on trend.
Biggest Challenge of the food industry: educating our kids about healthy food. My kids choose to consume junk.
What is one of the things you’d like to know more about?: Better thermal packaging and startup investing
Meal Kits use Soft coating with Mylar coating
Tips on logistics: Accept failure is part of the process. Have money in the bank.
Bootstrapping vs Funding: If you can figure out how to grow a business and not give away your equity, then do it. Early, we ran as lean as possible. We would do all of the work the first year. There is nothing that we couldn’t do in the company. You have to understand all of the job roles.
Also, find mentors and groups of people who have something different
How do you find mentors and like-minded people?: Through my college, or even your neighbors might have their own business. Different jobs will always have the same problems.
How did you get into food?: We had different origins. One from family, one from working ina college restaurant.
Favorite Quote: from Mary’s family. “I hate when grown folks don’t act like they’re grown”
Favorite Book: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Favorite Kitchen Item: Immersion Blender
Any advice about food business: Do your research! There’s a lot of noise and it’s hard to figure out the noise. What do you stand for? There has to be more story.
Where do we find you for advice?: We’re both on linkedin. All of our food is sold on our website. They can reach out to us on our website on the contact list.
Mary’s LinkedIn
Tiffany’s LinkedIn