Pitch Slam 11 Finals - Mmmly

Ray Latif [00:18] Good morning once again and thanks for joining us for the final round of Nosh Pitch Slam 11. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Bevnet's Taste Radio podcast, the number 1 podcast for the food and beverage industry. Sponsored by 301 Inc. the Nosh Pitch Slam gives early-stage and promising brands the opportunity to present their business plans and products to a panel of expert judges and the audience here and watching on our live stream. The winner of the two-day competition will receive a $10,000 ad package and join a shortlist of brands that have triumphed in the competition, including Beckon Ice Cream, Elite Sweets, Savoorly, Creation Nation, and Bronx Hot Sauce. Out of the 12 semi-finalists presented yesterday, 6 have made it to the final round. Let's talk about the rules for the final round. Each of the six brands will have 5 minutes to present and receive 5 minutes of immediate feedback from the judging panel. We're splitting up the round into two parts. One this morning and one in the afternoon, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. After all the brands are presented, the judges will convene and we will announce the winner live at 3:00 p.m. Pacific time. We'll also have a short interview with the winner after the announcement. Just a note, there's no audience voting in this round. All right, let's introduce our esteemed judges. Starting all the way to the left, we have Gavin Konkel, who is the vice president of merchandizing for Center Store at Earth Fair. After studying food and CPG marketing at Western Michigan University, Gavin held roles at PepsiCo, Prairie Farms Dairy, and Fresh Time. He was a senior category manager and the director of grocery at Earth Fair prior to his current position. Next we have Heidi Traore, who's the supplier relationship development manager for National Co op Grocers, a business services and purchasing co op with $2.5 billion in annual sales serving 148 US retail food co op members. Under her leadership, NCG's promotional program revenue grew 69% over a four-year period. And most recently, she is working to establish a supplier diversity system that will seek to diversify NCG's supply chain. Next we have Eugene Kang, who is the co-founder and CEO of Country Archer. Eugene acquired Country Archer at the age of 22 and has led the brand from a small roadside jerky stand to the number one fastest growing better for you jerky brand in the US. He's a Forbes 30 under 30 All-Star alumnus, has been featured in ABC News, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Money magazine, and under his leadership, Country Archer has also been ranked in the Inc. 505,000 list as one of the fastest growing companies in the US for multiple years running. Last but certainly not least is Carol Ortenberg, who is the editor of Nosh. She's held the role since 2015. She previously worked and consulted in several consumer goods companies, many within the food space, and also is on the marketing team for Whole Foods Market in the North Atlantic region. Prior to focusing on the food industry, Carol worked at several tech companies including HubSpot and served as a consumer researcher at AM Agency. I'm very excited to hear from our judging panel, and I'm very excited to hear from our finalists. Let's get to both. Our first finalist is uh Nicholas Nicclerio, who is the founder and CEO of ML. Come on up. Your time.

Speaker 2 [03:42] OK, thanks. Hi, everyone. Hope you all are enjoying your time here. Um, I, I mentioned this yesterday, but I'm pretty sure, uh, cookies are a common household item, um, as it's a huge industry. Um, but I found that classic brands, uh, have a bunch of really bad for you ingredients in their cookies. Um, although they taste good, they're definitely not an all-day treat. Um, so I've also noticed that the healthy brands have took the junk out of the cookies, but they haven't really put anything back in. And that's why I designed Umli. Uh, we put good back into cookies that actually taste good at the same time. Um, I think it's a pretty simple concept, but, um, it seems like no one's really done it before. I launched Umli and I've wanted to start this brand for many years. I started working on the formula in 2019. Uh, with a culinary background, and I directed the whole branding process myself with about $5000 and $15,000 from an angel investor and my aunt who really believed in me and some of my own cash. My mission is really deep seated. Um, I grew up in an Italian family, and our lives revolved around food. Food, uh, was love, and it is love. But being overweight and gay, I was bullied, so I formed an eating disorder. Um, and through years of therapy, I decided I wanted to change the food industry and become an inventor, create something of value. Uh, I come from a family of entrepreneurs and bakers, and we have a bunch of gluten-filled, unhealthy breads in Italy, and I did not bring those here today. I brought healthy cookies. So, we're a snack brand that makes cookies with fruit, vegetables, nuts, and fruit, targeting, like I said, a huge category. We're in 80 retail stores to date with another 100 on the way, and we're one of the top selling, uh, new cookie brands on Amazon and 5-star reviews everywhere. So, the way I look at it is, A bunch of brands and other categories have been able to reinvent classic treats, but no one has really actually created a cookie that reinvents the cookie category, right? They've removed bad ingredients, but they haven't actually added in anything beneficial. And Uh, that's what I worked on. Um, a cookie that is, is meant for health consumers that can consume products on a daily basis because they're actually good for you and taste good at the same time. So our cookies have balanced macronutrients and only 2 g of low glycemic fruit sugar, and they support gut health. Um, they have prebiotics, and they're immunity sidekick, an immunity sidekick, and they keep you full for an extended period of time. So they're not really like a guilty-free, guilt-free treat anymore. They're more of something that you can eat as you go about your day. So our products are meant for food conscious millennials, health-conscious families, and Gen X. And our goal is to bring healthy and active consumers back into the cookie aisle, because they now have a reason to. So we've been on the, the market for about 6 months and we listened to the feedback and we've been pretty successful so far. Um, and we decided that we are going to add a little bit more protein to the cookies, um, and make them fully plant-based. We're going to remove the eggs, um, so that we continue to be the brand on the, the leading edge. So our retail strategy goal is to go deep and, and instead of narrow and just focus on the northeast region, um, and, and just go slow and steady and build a strong foundation and following in the Northeast. So our repeat purchase rate is above average on ECO. We've had a great month on Amazon and our store in-store performance in the stores that we're in right now is great. Um, just increased our margins, moving in with our co-manufacturer after internally producing for the past 6 months, and we're on a good track. Like I said, people have fallen in love with our cookies. Um, we just won the best cookie and healthiest cookie of 2022, um, with all unpaid press. And this is our team, food industry professionals that are guiding us and leading the way. Thank you.

Ray Latif [08:47] All done. You can stay on stage with me. Judges might have some questions for you. Nicholas, we're back here. No, that was good. You're, you're ready to hear from the judges. Um, taste is so important when it comes to cookies. Uh, Nicholas talked about, uh, his cookies tasting quite good. Heidi, what's your opinion?

Speaker 3 [09:11] Sure, um, well, honestly, my, uh, cookie style is a little bit more decadent. Your cookies are very light and very moist, and when I think cookie, it, it's got a little more substance to it. I thought the flavor was good. There was a little bit of aftertaste that lingered for me. I tried the chocolate one, so, um, that's my feedback on flavor, flavor, excuse me.

Speaker 2 [09:33] Thank you. We, we just adjusted that. I just didn't have enough time. We've removed the monk fruit too, so thanks.

Ray Latif [09:39] Uh, Gavin, in terms of the, uh, day part usage, the problem that Nicholas outlined in that Better for You cookies don't necessarily have, uh, a day part usage or uh a more specific one than, uh, they should have, um, you know, what do you think of Umli's opportunity to reach those people, uh, on a more regular basis?

Speaker 4 [09:59] Well, I think there's a big opportunity here with this brand. Uh, the packaging stands out. The functionality of the product stands out. It's obviously hitting a low sugar crowd. I would actually disagree on, on the taste. I thought the taste was good, um, you know, for the market that it's, that it's, uh, uh, heading after, and then the scalability of the product too. I think there's a lot of potential there to upgrade from the size. So you, you got a 2 pack right now, 2 cookies in that, um, I think you can scale that and actually make that a bigger package which would appeal to a lot of retailers.

Ray Latif [10:28] Mhm. Eugene, let's talk about the packaging for a second cause there's a lot going on here with Emily, um, and you only have a few seconds to really attract that consumer. Uh, do you think it speaks to the positioning that Nicholas has outlined for the brand? Yeah,

Speaker 5 [10:41] I mean, I think that, you know, the packaging is super clean. I love the branding. Um, I do think it's, there could be a little bit more heightened around the functionality component of the, uh, the, uh, packaging or the sort of the cookie. Um, the one area where I did sort of was interested in is just like the, the concept itself. It's in a pillow bag and I was curious like how it's gonna get merchandized in the sets today just given. You know, most of the cookies and the cookie set are in like a box, but based on the presentation, it looks like uh you're already kind of ahead of the curve there in terms of reformatting that. So

Speaker 2 [11:14] yeah, yeah, we're definitely making some minor adjustments.

Speaker 5 [11:19] And I think on the functionality piece, you know, depending on what function you're trying to drive, maybe kind of emphasize that on the front of the pack in a clean way. Um, it sounds like you're gonna go towards like a more protein. Uh, heavier sort of cookie maybe possibly, and I think maybe just highlighting some of those like,

Speaker 2 [11:36] yeah, and we're, we're removing some of the icons, even though it's really clean. There are a couple of busy icons and we're highlighting the use case. So putting enlarge, making the functional attribute larger, and then adding on another icon that says midday fuel and then satisfies hunger. So that consumers actually know what the purpose of the cookie is and, and moms can pick that up and they can see that immediately. I think low sugar is something that they'll immediately see when they look at macros or at the side of the box. And so we're definitely looking to clean that up and make it clearer. So, thanks.

Ray Latif [12:11] And Carol, you know, you've reported on a lot of better for you treats coming to market, uh, with, with respect to cookies. Do you see a a strong point of differentiation, uh, that only has versus other brands in the space?

Speaker 6 [12:24] Well, I really loved your personal story, and I think that's what you really need to talk about because one thing where I think a lot of Better for you products struggles when they use terms like better, like you said, better life, it creates this like sense of shame of what have I've been eating. Why are you making me feel bad for eating a cookie? And so I think by telling your story a little bit and how you came to understand what better means you can really connect with the consumer rather than alienating or making them feel bad, um, and that really could be a point of differentiation.

Speaker 2 [12:58] I hear you. Um, I think I wanna take better for you and change it to great for you, right? Like we're, we're a great for you brand. I mean, obviously if people identify with that, so.

Ray Latif [13:09] Fantastic. Great feedback, great presentation. Well done. Thank you.