Lauren Joyner used to be a designer for many tech startups and a year ago, dropped all of that to pursue food and is now the founder of LOCA Foods, which is a plant-based cheese dip company.
I met Lauren at the Cultured Meat Symposium and our companies were boothed together at the Fancy Food Show and Alternative Protein show. So of course, we chatted and our discussions were so good, I wanted to capture it on a podcast.
A big portion of this interview is about year one of building a food company. Being in the thick of it, things can be difficult, but this is why I love talking about these stories not only does it helps Lauren and I to talk it out, but it gives a lens of the hard parts on creating a business from scratch
Another cool topic we go over is the concept of Design Thinking, in which Lauren did a presentation about it at the Alternative Protein Show. Lauren explains it in great detail and perhaps you can use these concepts in your next project.
About LOCA Foods
Loca Food makes allergy-friendly, plant-based substitutes for dairy products. We’re starting with the reinvention of an American favorite – nacho cheese sauce. Loca nacho sauce combines all-natural ingredients to create cheese style dip from plants that delivers the texture and aroma of conventional cheese sauce, with the added benefit of being high in b vitamins and low in calorie. Our product is also free from the top 8 allergens.
Eating a plant-based diet does not have to mean giving up your favorite comfort foods. Lauren wants to make it easier for everyone to enjoy clean, whole plant-based foods. She spent 10 years working for early to mid-stage startups both as an in-house product designer and brand consultant. She left everything behind to pursue this food venture and couldn’t be more excited to join the food industry.
*NEW* Sponsor: Salt of the Earth
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 info@salt.co.il
Show Notes
Kitchentown
Clean Meat Symposium – Nov 2018
Good Food Institute Monthly Entrepreneur call
Fancy Food Show
Alternative Protein Show
What do you tell people in a sentence or less?: Designer turned foodprenuer
Print design
UX-Design
Loca Food – plant-based queso dip
Memphis Meats
JUST
Food Startups Podcast
Effective Altruism
EA Global
How long were you in the design industry?: 10 years
When did you change to plant-based?: I ate meat all my life until I moved to New Orleans and became a pescatarian. 2 years ago, I decided to give up cheese and made my own cheese dip
What has changed since less than a year ago? Since you started: Whatever seems like a giant mountain today, it’s going to be a small dot eventually.
No business plan survives the first impact
Design Thinking: Human Centered Design focused on three buckets
1st Bucket: Empathy – Give consumers what they want. Get to know your customer
Forced Rank List – a Priority list
2nd Bucket: Ideation phase – let’s find a way to solve these problems
Cyclic process: you need to reiterate again and again
How are you using design thinking for Loca food?: Mainly the marketing side
Vegan vs Plant-based
Instagram Ads – for @eatlocafood, we test ads all the time
Facebook also does a great job doing this because it targets really specific
Instagram
How do you make bright Instagram photo’s?: Buy photo papers
Why does your food job rock?: Every little step gets you closer to a bigger step
What type of food trends and technologies are exciting you right now?: Plant-based meat and cell-based meat
What part of the food industry would you like to know more about?: Copacking and R+D
Kitchentown
Was there a specific person who got you into food?: The animals got me into the plant-based space
Food Deserts
Favorite Kitchen Item: Gus Modern Simple Fruit Tray
Favorite Quote: In a short time, this moment will feel like a long time
Any advice for people in the food industry: If you’re not scared of the worst situation, then you should do it
Find us on: @eatlocafood or eatlocafood.com. You can go to lhcreativespace.com to see my creative work
Send me a message on twitter or LinkedIn