Tessemae’s Dips into Superfoods, Grows Retail Footprint

After launching shelf-stable dressings and sauces last year, dressing and condiment brand Tessemae’s has doubled its retail footprint while continuing to see growth in its refrigerated line. Still, there’s even more in motion for the family-owned company, and it extends beyond the salad bowl, into the other regions of grocery and foodservice that are largely quiet due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the summer the brand launched a variety of new products in a flurry of innovation that also required the addition of a new factory. The company is doubling down on ready-to-eat products as well as its core sauce and dressing lines, focusing on meal kit-style salad and protein packages as well as an array of grab-and-go snacks, all to replace dormant salad bars and other meals to go in stores and dormitories.

It’s part of an ongoing evolution for the Essex, Md.-based company, which launched with a line of refrigerated dressings in 2009. Last year, Tessemae’s added a lower-priced, shelf-stable line, Tessemae’s Pantry. The new items quickly reached 8,000 stores, while the original, refrigerated items are sold in 9,000, with many retailers, including Whole Foods, Walmart and Target, opting to sell both.

That’s Super

This month, the company added a Superfood sub-line to its shelf stable products, releasing Citrus Turmeric Wellness, Mushroom Ginger Immunity, Chili Lime Vitality and Chia Balsamic Balance. The dressings debuted online this month and will enter stores in January, retailing for $5.99- $6.99 per 10 oz. bottle. The goal was to use familiar superfoods like turmeric and chia to create “globally-inspired” dressings that could also provide a “health boost,” said co-founder and CEO Greg Vetter.

Drawing on a different set of inspirations, the brand also entered into a collaboration with the estate of former Grateful Dead guitar lead Jerry Garcia. Cosmic Jerry sauce, the first release in the line, premiered in August in a 10 oz. tie-dyed bottle. Retailing for $6.99, the product blends honey mustard and buffalo sauces.

As an encore, in September Tessemae’s launched non-dairy 8oz. ranch dips into H-E-B stores, in Classic Ranch, Buffalo Ranch and Cilantro Lime Ranch. Vetter noted that creamy dressings are “lighting the world on fire” and that ranch is the company’s top-selling flavor.

It’s a balancing act for the brand to offer both convenient solutions for pantry stocking while still maintaining a focus on fresh, Vetter admits. Although shelf-stable launches have greatly propelled the brand forward, certain consumers still prefer refrigerated products, resulting in a strategy that, for now, will see innovation in both segments. Meanwhile, more consumers are “turning the bottle around” to check ingredient details, he added, in all parts of the store.

Mealtime Solutions

The company, with a base of paleo and keto shoppers, wants to remain close to its fresh-focused, clean-eating ethos. Those loyal consumers are also key to the company’s strategy of branching out into more ready-to-eat, prepared food opportunities.

The brand launched its ready-to-eat platform three years ago, offering Single Serve Salad Kits in Green Goddess Crunch, Harvest Cranberry Crunch, Chicken Avocado Ranch and Spinach Bacon Ranch, and despite modest traction, Vetter said, there’s an increased interest in grab and go items. With meal-kit inspired offerings, the aim is to give retailers a way to make up from lost revenues surrounding the closure of hot bars and salad bars, and to appeal to weary consumers looking for easy meal solutions. First up: a family-size option.

“[Consumers] may not be grabbing and going the way we once thought, but they’re still grabbing and going in a different way,” Vetter noted. “[Some] kids are going back to school so there is still a need for readily available delicious food, and [parents] don’t always have time to make a three-course meal in the middle of the day.”

On the foodservice side, next month Tessemae’s will launch refrigerated, ready-to-eat snack cups, Veggie Dippers, Buffalo Ranch Chicken Dippers, Classic Ranch Chicken Dippers and Protein Dippers (egg). Combining a protein source with one of Tessemae’s signature dressings, the line will later move into the convenience channel along with future releases such as kids’ snack boxes and charcuterie boxes. Additionally, the brand is growing distribution for its To-Go Cups, single-serve 1.5 oz. portions of dressing that launched in January. While the brand also sells individual dressing packets for topping salads, the new format can more easily be used for dipping vegetables and is aimed at snacking.

The ready-to-eat items are already seeing traction in foodservice, Vetter noted. Despite sales slowdowns in on-premise food sales, sports facilities, universities and schools have begun reopening, and operators have shown increased interest in prepackaged items that require no labor to assemble and offer customers a hygienic, packaged option. Moving forward, he said, even restaurants are seeking more packaged food items, rather than big containers of dressing or condiments, both as a safety precaution and to reassure consumers.

While its portfolio blossoms, Tessemae’s will open a new 28,000 square-foot space this year in addition to its current 36,000 square-foot Baltimore-based production facility. Funding its growth is a group of investors including Sagamore Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of Plank Industries, owned by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, along with Baltimore-based War Horse, owned by his brother and former Under Armour executive Scott Plank.

Offering shelf-stable products has also allowed the brand to more fully invest in ecommerce, paving a new path forward for R&D. Launching online first before moving into retail is the company’s “new rhythm,” he said, and a way to gain awareness and possibly new shoppers. The brand plans to innovate in different CPG products or segments, aiming to be the “guiding light of clean eating,” said Vetter.

“The goal is to get new households, innovate and push the envelope,” Vetter said.

While the brand is expanding on the product front, it has also entered the legal arena. In July, the company filed a lawsuit against a group of former advisors and board members, the Tandem Legal Group and Tandem Growth Group, alleging they attempted to steal the Tessemae’s business. According to the Baltimore Sun, the lawsuit alleges the defendants caused Tessemae’s to lose approximately $45 million, and the brand is asking for the court to rescind stock granted to the defendants in 2014, award an unspecified amount of damages and hold a jury trial. Due to the pending litigation, the company declined to comment.