Founder Feature: Philip Teverow of Yolélé

The Startup CPG Podcast · 28 Feb 2025 · 30m · Episode 127

What this episode covers

Philip Teverow, co-founder of Yolélé, and his business partner Chef Pierre Thiam discuss bringing Fonio, an ancient West African grain, to the U.S. market. Teverow explains how they secured Whole Foods as their first major retailer and subsequently expanded into pilaf mixes and Fonio chips to leverage retail display. He details the complex supply chain challenges, including building industrial processing capacity in Mali and Senegal with support from the World Bank and Gates Foundation, to serve both their CPG brand and B2B ingredient clients like Brooklyn Brewery and Guinness.

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