Pitch Slam 12 - Semi-finals : Growee Foods

Speaker 1 [00:13] All right, let's move on to our next semi-finalist for this round. We have Aman Blana, who's the founder and CEO of Growy Foods. Come on up. Take you, I need mic and please keep an eye on your time,

Aman Blana [00:27] yep. Hi everyone, my name is Aman Blana and I'm the founder of Growee Foods. Uh, Growee Foods is a veggie and seed-based vegan spread company based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Um, our spreads are made from simple plant-based ingredients like, uh, fresh produce, sunflower seeds, apple cider vinegar, and tons of flavor, and the result is a creamy, delicious, rich, um, product that you can spread on your toast, mix in your salads, and even dip with your chips. Um, So what's special about Growee? A lot of other vegan spreads and dips are focused around imitating meat and dairy products, um, and Growee spreads are carving out a new category that, uh, add plant-based nutrition to all of your meals and, um, all of our products are non-GMO, gluten-free, uh, vegan, and, uh, nut-free, palm oil-free, and made from locally sourced ingredients in Georgia. Um, and because they're so nutritious and simple ingredient based, our customer base ranges from 6 year olds to 60-year-olds, people who are snackers, but also who love to cook. Um, we currently have 3 skews, um, ready for it, curry, zucchini, spiced mango, and 3 pepper spread. All of them have more than 65% veggies and, uh, with flavors that you love and recognize, um. And, um, since our launch in February of 2022 this year, we have been selling to our own website, third-party e-commerce websites, and also to 22 retailers across, uh, the Southeast. And the most prominent development has been being part of Cay's Trend Finder program, which will give us, give us access to the national account, retail accounts. And we're looking to launch in the tri-state area beginning July. We're also looking to launch on Amazon, uh, beginning July, um. Growing Foods is on a mission to make plant-based foods and vegan diets less scary, more natural, more simpler, just like things that come from plants.

Speaker 1 [02:45] Well done. You know, for me, that's, uh, curry zucchini looks pretty darn tasty, um, but when do I use it? Is the use case understood is the use case easily understood, Karen?

Speaker 3 [02:59] Um, I think so, especially if you're somebody that's shopped at Trader Joe's, you're kind of familiar with these types of products, yeah.

Speaker 1 [03:08] And so I mean, the use case is one thing, but then there's a, a, a need state too. I mean, is this something where the shelves are your shelves in particular might be better off having a product like this there?

Speaker 3 [03:21] Well, I know we're definitely trying to offer more um world flavor products and plant-based products. Um, that said, it kind of does get stuck in an aisle with products from all over the world and how it will be um introduced to the consumer is probably the big challenge.

Speaker 1 [03:40] Adrian, did you get to try these products?

Speaker 4 [03:42] Unfortunately we did not get to try them. Um, they didn't make it in time.

Speaker 1 [03:48] But if you had tried them, I mean, I think what you're looking at in the package, I mean, do you feel the same way I do in terms of, you know, a product like this or the packaging like this really interesting you and saying, you know what, this is something I do want to pick up. This is something I, I do wanna try. So I guess what I'm asking is, what do you think of the packaging, the label, the design?

Speaker 4 [04:04] Definitely I would. Definitely pick this up off the shelf and try to figure out what it is. I love that there's different veggies, spices, and it's like a ready-made sauce, um, and there is a lot of use occasions for it, so I think I definitely give it a try. Um, I'm not too sure it'd be like a repeat purchase, but it's, it's a very interesting.

Speaker 1 [04:25] Yeah, Jason, you know, Karen noted the uh interest in more ethnic foods, uh, more people gravitating towards savory flavors and things like that. Um, how do you feel about sort of the emergence of that interest, that consumer demand?

Speaker 5 [04:38] I think there's certainly, uh, a real opportunity for, um, different flavors, different flavor excuse me, flavor profiles and especially different international flavors. The challenge of this one is it doesn't really fall cleanly into one or the other, so I don't really know what I mean, the flavor profiles sound good, but, you know, is it of, of this international flavor or is it Georgia flavor or what is it, so. I, I actually had some issues kind of with that use case like what would I use this for and I was a little bit confused because the brand didn't really speak to me in terms of, of what, what is in the product. So, um, I was just a little kind of think there could be some tightening up overall of how that all fits together and what it is you're presenting to the customer for them to buy.

Speaker 1 [05:24] Matt, having interacted with a lot of retail buyers, um, you know, is this a product where retail buyers are gonna have a lot of questions, or is it something that's relatively understood, easily understood? Um,

Speaker 6 [05:34] no, I think there'd be a lot of questions, but I think it's intriguing. Um, it doesn't mean it's, it's gonna face, uh, any greater chance of success or failure, but it's gonna be a challenge because it sounds like uh spreads is the storyline, and when I think of a snack, I think of more of a dip. This sounds like it's more substantial and spreads I think are traditionally sweet. This seems savory, so instead of jams and jellies, it's vegetable plant-based. I don't know where it would go, but I'm very intrigued and um fortunately we didn't get to try it, but the flavors sound really cool.

Speaker 1 [06:09] All right, great feedback.