Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/328566
tors will gravitate to in most cases. Remember, growth costs money and, chances are, if you want to grow faster than your cash will support, you will need to attract some form of investment. That investment can be through standard loans to support cash flow or through what many people commonly refer to as angel investors. The desires of each investor can certainly vary, but in a free-market sense most investors are much the same. Here are a few common things investors are looking for: • Be a doer as well as a dreamer. You have to show that you can actually accomplish your dream. • Be passionate about your dream and sell it. Without the ability to sell your passion to someone else you are a one- customer company. • Demonstrate leadership. Remember they are investing in you as much as in your idea. • Prove related work history. Opening a restaurant? Have you ever worked in a restaurant? • Show a record of bootstrapping. Investors trust that you will be wise with their investment, and a past performance of conservative creative operations is valuable. • Plan for profit. Potential investors want to see a winning plan that includes past performance, current objectives, and future forecasts that are certainly a stretch but reasonably attainable with current and forecasted market conditions. One last point: if you pick your investors carefully, with luck they will bring more to the table than just cash. What kinds of ads or paid marketing are best for specialty drinks? Reuben Canada: All major distributors and retailers and the great independent stores always check new product advertising and marketing at the Fancy Food Show. They are looking for innovative products and the first thing they look for is what's new. For a new brand, any opportunities that are available to new products would be your best marketing or advertising choice. "We started with my grandma's Persian recipe and created a drink that is a modern spin on one that was shared throughout the region. We added our own sparkle to the recipe, kept it organic, and used just enough pure cane sugar to stay true to its heritage," Fardanesh explains. Current f lavors are pomegranate mint, cucumber mint, and original mint, with a fourth soon to be released. "The sodas ref lect regional f lavors that are native to the Mediterranean and they have a white and apple vinegar base that the masses are loving. The f lavors are balanced so well it is hard to tell that there is a full serving of vinegar," he says. Fardanesh notes that important milestones in the short history of the company include being selected as an example of a low-sugar beverage, one of the top five trends identified at this year's Winter Fancy Food Show; becoming a 2014 sofi Finalist; gaining contracts with Whole Foods Market, Nugget Stores, Raley's, Total Wine and Spirits, and distribution contracts with top national distributors; and press coverage that includes Oprah.com, San Francisco Chronicle, Yahoo, Huffington Post, and Sacramento Bee. "The Persian culture has a strong heritage and was one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world. Its rich history pro- vides an even richer culture of foods, dance, literature, and poetry," Fardanesh says. "Silk Road is a way for me to express my love of the Persian culture and help current perception of the Islamic regimes. I have long believed that culture should not divide us but unite us. Culture gives us each our own little story to tell." Here, Fardanesh asks four questions to a panel of experienced producers about growing his business. Is the market for specialty beverages growing? Brook Eddy: As the American palate matures and consumers gravitate toward beverages with proven health benefits, lower sugar, or functional properties, what used to be a minority demographic is becoming more broad and mainstream. Specialty beverages are grow- ing due to demand from more vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, foodie, or non-GMO consumers—but also due to supply. Mixologists and entrepreneurs are finding ways to develop healthy drinks with trend- ing ingredients like fresh ginger, coconut, or chia seeds to disrupt the established beverage world. Blend that with innovative packaging, and the choices are irresistible. Drink shelves are now filled with an array of new and exciting products, and thus an ever-expanding beverage market continues to flourish. Is it better to be able to show potential investors a profit quickly or show that you've been build- ing a strong brand? Case Fischer: In business, profit always comes first for a brand to survive long-term. Showing a profit or, at a minimum, a plan that will show a profit with reasonable investment is what inves- Denise Purcell is editor and Susan Segrest is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine. SUMMER 2014 157 startupSpotlight_silkRoad_summer14.indd 157 6/5/14 8:15 AM