NOSH Pitch Slam Volume 8 Finals - Latin Goodness Foods

Speaker 1 [00:15] Let's move on to our 4th finalist of this round, who is Margarita Womack, who is the founder and CEO of Latin Goodness Foods, the maker of mas panadas. Margarita, how are

Margarita Womack [00:26] you? Doing well, thank you. How about yourself?

Speaker 1 [00:29] Great to see you once again. All right, uh, you got 5 minutes this time instead of your uh tiny 2 minutes from the semi-final round. Are you ready?

Margarita Womack [00:37] Ready to go.

Speaker 1 [00:38] All right, let's do it. Your timer begins now.

Margarita Womack [00:42] Well, hello, everybody, from the Maspanadas Factory. I am Margarita Womack, the founder of Latin Goodness Foods, and Maspanadas is our first brand. Next slide, please. Maspanadas just came to be because I'm stingy. I am stingy with my time. There's just never enough of it, especially when you have a crowd of little hungry boys around. So I needed more for my food, but without taking more of my time. I started making a dish I grew up with, uh, empanadas, but making them wholesome, so I would keep the convenience, but, uh, make it, uh, also nutritious for me and my family. Turns out that time scarcity is really not just my problem. I'm sure you all find that there's just never enough time in the day. Modern Americans are very busy. Since the 60s, people spent 40% less time cooking at home. We eat about 1/5 of our meals in the car, and 12% of our diet is fast food. This is well documented by the CDC. So there's an opportunity here for people that are looking for convenient but nutritious food options to feed the routine. Next slide, please. Lack of time also contributes to a poor diet and obesity. So there's a food equity issue opportunity here too, to provide nutritious but convenient food options that can fit the lifestyle of people in disadvantaged situations. Next slide, please. So maspanadas, what is it? You can have everything. It's an authentic but modern dish that you can allow, um, that lets you enjoy a wholesome and delicious meal. So all the ingredients of a homemade meal, but just using your hands. We're gonna talk about the product, the market, the message, and the business model here. Next slide, please. So empanadas are easy. We have, uh, the ready minutes from oven to microwave, uh, and just, uh, uh, so you put them in there out of the freezer and you're ready to go. They're easy to eat, you only need your hands. They're versatile. It's something I could eat for lunch here at the office when I'm too busy, then I could go home and feed it to my kids in between, uh, you know, before they go to a soccer game, or right now when we're locked at home, who wants to be complicated, uh, chopping and cooking. And it's delicious. We have flavors to match all tastes, from your traditional carnivore, to the uh conscious omnivore, and and also plant-based options. Next slide, please. These, these are wholesome not great versus other sort of um um. Dishes that fit the space that are based on traditional Latin American dishes that are kind of crossover products such as for instance taquitos versus uh chicken taquitos, we have a lot more of the good stuff but a lot less of the bad stuff, higher protein, more fiber, whole grains, micronutrients, and no preservatives or additives. Next one please. So we are an empowering pocket of goodness, the components of a full meal in a snackable format that lets you accomplish more. It's great for families that are trying to balance the demands of life and work. Next one, please. We are a big um market opportunity here because we tap into different areas of the food industry. We have a frozen CPG and private label that taps into a 35 billion opportunity, and then also we have food service. So another large opportunity where uh in both, both fields we're looking for clean label, healthier options, and those are the, the subsets growing within the market. Next one please. So the business model, we have that consumer line, packaged goods, we have the food service lines we have high margins, and also a private label line with high volume, reliable orders, and we also now launched e-commerce direct to consumer. Next one, please. We have a diversified customer base that matches these different lines, go-getters looking for a wholesome option on the run, caterers, hotels, and also major supermarket chains. Next one, please. I'm the founder, I grew up immersed in the food world, a science background, a mother, a wife, a proud immigrant, just hired a COO Rod Gresham, former Director of operations at CAA, and also working with Peter Kay, former CMO at um HonST. Next one, please. We've grown significantly. I have to go a little quick here, running out of time. Over 4.5 times last year. Next one please. Oh, there was a blank slide that's missing there. So we expect to make over a million dollars this year and continue growing to up to $12 million by next, uh, by 2022. This is a powerful vision. We've gotten great reception by the media and the market. Next one please. So I really appreciate your time to bring your attention. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 [05:42] All right, well done, Margarita. Uh, Pete, let's start with you. Uh, you know, uh, some of the last few slides, Margarita talked about a single operating model that can fit 3 different channels, uh, retail, food service, and private label. Uh, is she on the right track?

Speaker 3 [05:58] Yeah, I, I, I would say so, yeah. Keeping that omni-channel and, and looking for those avenues to, you know, especially food would be, uh, another channel that would be great for, for this product. But yeah, to get, to get the word out and, and to get, you know, the product in people's mouths, I mean, those are good channels to be, to be dabbling in.

Speaker 1 [06:17] Carol, if we, uh, were still here working in the office, um, I have a feeling you'd be making some of these products for, uh, our colleagues here and, uh, the smell alone usually would get folks, uh, going and, uh, running into the kitchen. Uh, you know, what do you think of the taste of this product? And is it, is it truly an upgrade, as Margarita mentioned, uh, to other products, uh, similar products on the market?

Speaker 4 [06:39] I totally think it was an upgrade. It's they're delicious. I really liked how quickly they cooked, but yet still had that crunchy outer coating. There was no gooeyness towards in the dough, and I liked that the, you know, sometimes the dough is so overpowering. that you don't get the flavors of the filling that shine through, and I thought everything was really nicely balanced, and they were a good size as well. Sometimes they can be too big. They're not, you know, can't really figure out when to eat them, and I thought these could lend themselves to a variety of applications and uses in my own house.

Speaker 1 [07:15] Kiva, it's interesting, you know, I think this is the 12, this is the 3rd frozen brand that we've seen uh today and uh some good feedback on the first two. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this frozen product and how it fits into that set.

Speaker 5 [07:30] Yeah, I think, I think it does a good job. I mean, I think we're starting to see more health conscious consumers shop the frozen section of the store more and more. People starting to realize that frozen is almost the new fresh or trending that way and the lack of preservatives. I think these guys call that out on the package. I think it'd probably be a bigger part of the value prop. It's obviously a great taste. It's easy to make. It's a favorite that you've probably tasted before but never thought about making at home. But knowing that there's a conceptual health element would probably help drive more consumers this way. Um, I also think the package is, is great from a, from a display of the food and kind of craveability standpoint, but they could probably add a bit more color to catch the consumer's eyes or walking through that part of the store.

Speaker 1 [08:19] Karen, from a retailer perspective, um, you know, we heard Margarita talk about the retailers they're currently in, um, you know, how much of an emphasis do you put on the current retail footprint, uh, as an indicator of how well the product would do in your stores?

Speaker 6 [08:37] Oh, it's always an indicator. Um, I would say we look closely at the, you know, the first retailers that, um, brands go into. We take it with a grain of salt because our stores are different, our competition is different, our shoppers are different, but this is a product that has really mass appeal across Every, uh, I think every type of retailer, because what mom isn't looking to have a better option than a taquito or a pizza pocket to give their kid, and this product is really that, and it's delicious, and it's good for parents and kids. Um, I think as far as, um, you know, the conventional, uh, retail grocery chain, what she's gonna need to, um, keep an eye on are the retail prices because it's, you know, like per piece, significantly more, but it's a significantly better product, um, but people's budgets are different. So, um, yeah, I think it's a total winner.

Speaker 1 [09:41] Pete Margarita talked about this and Karen just touched on it, this uh time constraint that folks are facing, just not enough time in the day to feed yourselves, to feed your family. Um, you know, is that something that we're gonna continue to see? Uh, is that something where people are, as Karen mentioned, looking for more foods in the freezer aisle? Um, and in particular, are you thinking that, uh, do you think they'll be looking for a product like Maspanatas?

Speaker 3 [10:05] Yeah, to Katie's point, I mean, uh, you know, frozen is the new fresh but just more convenient, right? And something you can hold in your shelf, but also comes with limited ingredients or can keep it pretty simple. So I think Focusing on the health message, focusing on the uh ethnic flavors, I think would keep you away from some of those competitors that we've just talked about and keep your price point, uh, where you'd want it and, and, and just focus on that, that taste appeal. But, uh, Yeah, that, that, the, that space is, has been grown in interest, but also it's, it's because of this, you know, limited ingredients uh in a frozen setting actually works quite well.

Speaker 1 [10:42] Carol, we only have a few seconds left. One thing we didn't necessarily touch on is nutrient density, and that's something that has popped up, uh, in terms of new products and how consumers evaluate them. Uh, is nutrient density something that consumers will look at with a product like this?

Speaker 4 [10:56] Um, I mean, I think nutrition has become such a personalized matter, you know, what's appealing to a keto consumer is completely different than to a low calorie consumer. What I liked though was that I thought this product had different skews that could appeal to different, uh, dietary habits, um, and if you were looking for low lower calorie options, um, or higher fat or protein or plant-based meat, you could kind of find an option amidst the different choices they offer up.

Speaker 1 [11:27] All right, great stuff. Margarita, fantastic having you back on the Nash Pitch Slam 8 competition. Good luck with everything going forward. Hopefully, you'll see us again really soon.

Margarita Womack [11:36] Thank you.