Pitch Slam Volume 12 - Semi-finals : Start Right Foods

Speaker 1 [00:13] Move on to our next semi-finalist, that's Kyle Rudd, who is the co-founder of Start Right Foods. Kyle, come on up. Very good. Please just keep an eye on your timer.

Kyle Rood [00:26] Thank you, Ray. Thank you all for being here. It's really exciting to be up here on stage. My name's Kyle Rood. I am the co-founder of Start Right Foods. We're focused on delivering convenient protein-packed breakfast foods for even the most hectic mornings. And our journey began way back in 2015, 7 years ago, when my co-founder and I, sort of fresh off of being athletes in college, we're like, there wasn't ever anything good to eat in the morning that we could get out the door, really enjoy. We were both convinced that protein waffles were the next big thing. And if you guys go to a grocery store right now, you'll see we were right, but you won't find Start Right protein waffles in the case there because our company wasn't quite ready for that growth. So what we did, uh, like any nimble entrepreneur would do, is we pivoted. We retooled our design and our manufacturing to focus on the waffle slider breakfast sandwiches you guys see up here, and even more convenient way to deliver protein, protein in the morning. And so as we retooled, and as we re-engineered, we focused on three main things. One, reformulating our product to make sure it was the most delicious product we could possibly make. 2, rebranding to stand out in a sea of yellow and red that's in the freezer case currently. And 4th was, or 3rd was actually making sure that we had the ability to grow and expand as this category takes off. So now looking at us today, we finally got into around 1700 stores nationwide, from ranging from the conventional consumer that shops at a Walmart, who's looking to be a little bit health curious, eat a little bit better for themselves, to the health conscious consumer that shops at Sprout's Farmers' Market. And we have a range of, uh, category, range of skews that cater to those consumers as well. We have our classic sausage and egg, and an indulgent chicken and waffle products, which I got to admit is my favorite. We also have the health health conscious turkey sausage and egg white, and we just launched a plant-based sausage with egg patty for those vegetarians in mind. So we're convinced we have something for everybody, and we'll let you know that with SART Right, breakfast is solved. Thank you.

Speaker 1 [02:27] Very well done. Uh, Adrian, this was a post lunch lunch, I guess for you guys. It wasn't, it wasn't for breakfast or you didn't eat them as for breakfast, um, but what do you think of the flavor? What do you think of this idea of waffle sliders?

Speaker 3 [02:41] So I actually did not end up sampling the product. Um, we had the turkey one back in the sampling room, and I'm vegetarian, but I did really like the packaging and the callouts, um. I like what they're trying to do with it. Um, it's intriguing, especially with the food imagery. I think they did a great job branding it for what the product is, um, and really the branding and positioning just fit and pop on the shelf.

Speaker 1 [03:07] Jason, uh, you know, what do you think about the opportunity in breakfast right now? What do you think of, uh, Start right within that opportunity?

Speaker 4 [03:13] Yeah, I really like the name because kind of to my prior comment it sounds like a good basis for a platform for breakfast products. Um, I thought the packaging, um, really was professionally done, you know, I think, um, one concern I would have in terms of the broader opportunity is, you know, as with most things in, in consumer, it's uh already a crowded aisle and so it's hard to be just healthier for everyone and with the high protein, my, my question would be, is there a target customer that you're really focused on. To kind of nail that core customer first and branch out from there, um, and I didn't really kind of hear that in the pitch, and it's sometimes it's just kind of hard to be, um, um, something for everyone. It's a, it's better to start with a smaller target market so I guess that's where I would, um, have questions.

Speaker 1 [03:58] Karen, we heard from Kyle about the traction they've had at retail. Um, how much do you factor that into your evaluation of the brand?

Speaker 5 [04:05] We definitely want to see velocities. So, um, if I understand it right, they're in Walmart and Sprouts, and that's an excellent place to start looking. We factor in a lot.

Speaker 1 [04:16] And what do you think of the taste of the product? Did you, did you get to try it? I did,

Speaker 5 [04:19] yeah, um, I, I think it's a, um, really interesting individual components. I think the waffle is a nice differentiator. Because of the waffle, I felt like there should be some maple flavor or some kind of sweet or I don't know, it was a little dry, um, but I think it's excellent and it might be easy to tweak or maybe that's an option for some consumers.

Speaker 1 [04:44] And Matt, you know, as an entrepreneur that education is really important, consumer education is important. Do you think this is at a good foundation for, you know, educating people and making people more aware about Start right?

Speaker 6 [04:54] I think it's a good foundation that they can build off of. I thought the product tasted really good. Um, I think they're solving a need state, a complete meal attacking the morning day part that isn't a breakfast burrito. I think is, is great. I actually felt like their packaging was a little too safe. I think it felt already like something a big company might be might put out there, and I would rather have them take more risks with their presentation of the product and be a little bolder, but I thought there's a great foundation here.

Speaker 1 [05:28] Excellent.