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://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/769179
rible for you, full of empty calories. I grew up in an Italian household and we always had fresh cooked food, amazing fish, and perfect pork chops. My kids want to put ketchup on everything. Kevin's idea was a parent's dream come true." In 2014, Powell and Kamarck worked for three months in New York City with Food-X, a food innovation accelerator that con- nected them with experts to help them develop a business model. They also used the time to get the recipes right for a trio of condi- ments—ketchup, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce—and hired a food scientist and a co-packer. All three SKUs have the same base of tomatoes, spinach, but- ternut squash, and carrots, with roughly 50 percent less sugar than other brands. Jalapeño and cayenne punch up the hot sauce, which the partners decided to call Veracha since it's a vegetable-rich sriracha. The sauces are gluten-free, vegan, and non-GMO, but not organic. "Bigger companies buy up a whole farm's crop of organic toma- toes so they're hard to find and super-expensive," Powell says. "We do a lot of demos and meet our customers who still seem to care about organic but it doesn't end the conversation. People pick up our bottle and look at the label for calories and salt." Kamarck added, "What we have are products that really hit home, that taste the most like popular brands. We've been told by buyers and retailers that our ketchup is the closest to Heinz of all the other ketchups, yet our ingredients are completely different." Getting the Business Off the Ground The partners were able to secure $750,000 in seed capital from Food-X and other investors like New York Angels, Jab Brands, and Hivers and Strivers, founded and run by veterans and graduates of U.S. military academies. True Made Foods are already in 550 stores nationwide. Revenues have multiplied ten times from what they were this time last year, Kamarck says. He is trying to keep the growth at a deliberate, controlled pace so they don't get ahead of themselves. Headquarters are near his home in Alexandria, Virginia. "We've had almost a meteoric rise in less than two years," Powell says, "going from scrapping everything to rebranding and reformulating recipes." At this time he is stepping back from day-to- day operations, he says, to get a better handle on his health by not being on the road so much. Being with his and Abbey's two-year-old son, Trent, is also a priority. "Since I have another life to care for, it really hit me that I want to be around. According to my dad's clock, I'd only have 20 or so years left so I need to dial it back." And spoken like a true military man—as well as a pragmatic specialty food producer—Powell goes on, "There comes a time when there are too many cooks in the kitchen and one person has to take the lead. Abe has the skill set to do it." Julie Besonen writes for The New York Times and is a restaurant columnist for nycgo.com. KEVIN POWELL Age: 35 Years in specialty food: 6 Favorite food: It used to be New England clam chowder, but I got a shellfish allergy so now it's probably salmon. Least favorite food: Brussels sprouts, by far. Last thing I ate and loved: Fall chili in a hollowed-out pumpkin with our own Veracha sauce. If I weren't in the food business I'd be: Probably in skin care. My wife and I have been making natural skin care products since we started dating. We give them as gifts to our friends. One piece of advice I'd give to a new food business: If you want to go big and not be niche, you have to go to shows—it's the only way to get traction. You say to yourself, 'Is this worth the gamble?' It's expensive but worth it, one hundred percent. ABE KAMARCK Age: 39 Years in specialty food: 3 Favorite food: Anything spicy. Least favorite food: Mayonnaise. Last thing I ate and loved: Crab cakes with a zucchini- pumpkin pesto. I never thought it would work, but it went together perfectly! If I weren't in the food business I'd be: Back working in post-conflict areas. One piece of advice I'd give to a new food business: Know your category. There are unique economics behind each category and you need to know how yours performs. For example, don't compare a center-store item to a beverage or frozen item. Each category can be very different. producer profile 64 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com