A Partner in Whole Foods

Whole Foods gave us our first break. They took a chance on us. They let us, newbies to the food business, roll out our product in their entire north-east region at day one – the region that includes NYC, one of the most influential buzz centers in the world. We have never taken that for granted.

I remember reaching out to their regional buyer when our products were merely samples made in our blender because somehow, in my head, I had assumed that then was a good time as any to make contact. Perhaps it was my naivety or blind confidence. It was a brief exchange. “retail ready samples only…”. Doh! Of course! If they entertained every mom and pop’s kitchen experiment in a crockpot, they would never get anywhere. I responded with a simple – “Thank You. Understood.” I was grateful to have gotten a response – I took that as a positive sign! I knew we had ways to go before we contact them again – and that was a good thing. We had to get it right. It had to be perfect. You walk before you run. It took us over a year and several test runs later, we finally had “retail-ready” samples to send to Whole Foods. Being accepted felt like getting a special star on your class report from the toughest teacher in school. It was exhilarating to see how far we had come and humbling to realize that this was just the first step.

Every Whole Foods employee we have come across – from the buyers who support our demos by ensuring that our products are stocked on a timely basis, to the demo specialists who always cheer us on and keep us in the loop about various events that might be of interest to us to the employees who come sample our product and give us a friendly wink or stand next to us and tell customers “Hey! you gotta try this…it is awesome!” – they have been kind and supportive to us all the way. We could not have asked for a better partner on this crazy journey of ours.

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