Hardware Podcasts

#137 Plant-Based Dumpling Kings: Eric Wu and Adam Yee, Sobo Foods

The Startup CPG Podcast · 9 Apr 2024 · 59m · Episode 29

What this episode covers

Eric Wu, co-founder of Sobo Foods and former founder of Gainful, and Adam Yee, food scientist and co-founder of Better Meat Company, discuss launching Sobo Foods, a plant-based Asian American frozen dumpling brand. They detail their journey from meeting at Kitchentown to scaling production, emphasizing the importance of authentic branding, nutrient density, and navigating the current venture capital landscape for early-stage CPG companies. The founders share insights on targeting retail buyers in the Bay Area, leveraging their previous industry experience to accelerate decision-making, and the surprising demographic trends driving plant-based adoption among Asian Americans and parents.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Sobo Foods, Gainful, Better Meat Company, Kitchentown, Motif Foodworks, Target, Berkley Bowl, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Erewhon, Gelson's, Molly Stone's, Raley's, Luke's Local, Gus's Bayrite, Collabtree, Y Combinator, WeWork, Function of Beauty, Purdue Farms

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • How I Built This · 25m

    Live Episode! Beyond Meat: Ethan Brown

    Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, explains how he transitioned from a career in hydrogen fuel cells to creating plant-based meat products using pea and lentil protein. He details the early challenges of funding the venture by selling his home, importing textured soy protein from Taiwan, and collaborating with University of Missouri researchers to develop extrusion technology. Brown discusses the company's evolution from a garage startup to scaling production in dedicated facilities, aiming to make plant-based meat indistinguishable from animal meat in taste and texture.

    Starting a product companyMaterials & manufacturing processes
    5 chapters

  • How I Built This · 1h 07m

    Dang Foods: Vincent and Andrew Kitirattragarn

    Vincent and Andrew Kitirattragarn, co-founders of Dang Foods, explain how they scaled their Asian-inspired snack brand from a home kitchen experiment to over 10,000 retail locations. Vincent details the origin of their coconut chips and the strategic pivot to rice crackers and keto-friendly energy bars, while Andrew discusses the operational challenges of scaling production and managing supply chain disruptions. The brothers recount the costly failure of their vacuum-fried onion chips, the serendipitous boost from social media influencers, and the internal family dynamics that required therapy to resolve as they grew the company.

    Validation & product-market fitPricing, margins & unit economics
    9 chapters

  • People of Packaging · 46m

    339 - Beyond the Dieline ep 1 with Tom Seymour and Jessica Kwon from Moka Energy!

    Tom Seymour interviews Jessica Kwon, founder of Jack & Friends Jerky and co-founder of Moka Energy, about her journey from a Cornell food science background to building CPG brands. Kwon details the operational challenges of bootstrapping, including 3 AM kitchen shifts and hand-packing orders after a New York Times feature, and the technical pivot from DIY Photoshop designs to custom-printed packaging via Wagon Design Studio. The conversation highlights the importance of owning manufacturing mistakes with partners like Seymour’s company and the strategic decision to launch Moka Energy with an experienced team to skip early-stage hurdles.

    Packaging designManufacturing partners & offshoring
    8 chapters

  • How I Built This · 1h 01m

    Sukhi’s Gourmet Indian Food: Sukhi Singh and Dalbir Singh

    Sukhi Singh and her son Dalbir Singh explain how they built Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Food from a failed Oakland deli into a $50 million brand available in 7,000 stores, primarily by pivoting from bottled curry paste to refrigerated and frozen meals. They detail the family's hands-on early days, the strategic decision to reject a $3 million venture capital investment to maintain control, and the eventual hiring of an outside CEO to solve scaling challenges. The episode highlights their breakthrough partnership with Costco and the cultural shift in American acceptance of Indian cuisine.

    Scaling productionCrowdfunding & preorders
    8 chapters

  • How I Built This · 1h 11m

    Magic Spoon & Exo: Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz

    Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz, co-founders of Magic Spoon, recount their journey from launching Exo, a failed cricket protein bar startup, to building Magic Spoon into a major cereal brand. They detail the supply chain failures of the cricket industry and the technical challenges of formulating a high-protein, sugar-free cereal using ingredients like allulose and dairy protein. The founders explain their strategic decision to raise significant venture capital to compete with incumbents like Kellogg's and General Mills, leveraging influencer equity pools and direct-to-consumer sales before expanding into major retail chains like Target and Walmart.

    Starting a product companyMaterials & manufacturing processes
    9 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Startup CPG Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.