Three Chicago Entrepreneurs - Putting "Focus and Determination" Into Action

This past Thursday, I moderated a panel of CEOs at the Farm To Fork Conference (part of the three day Family Farmed Expo). To give you a little background, the Expo was 3-day event designed to connect local farms and local food producers with consumers and the trade. The Expo was a huge success with featured guests like Kathleen Merrigan (USDA deputy secretary and promoter, along with Michelle Obama, of Know your food, know your farmer) and Woody Tash (author of the Slow Money Movement). If you didn't go this year, it's a must attend next year if you are committed to helping our country eat better and in a more sustainable way.

I assisted with the business track portion of the conference. My panel was about "Taking Food & Beverage Businesses to Scale". My panelists were local entrepreneurs Marc Schulman, President of Eli's Cheesecake; John Hall, President and Founder of Goose Island Beer Company; and Matthew Weinstein Co-Founder HomeMade Pizza Company (what's better than pizza and beer with a cheesecake finish!!). Each of these local companies have "made it", i.e. they all have reached a certain level of "scale". As I listened to their success stories, the words "focus and determination" were common threads to their success.

Each company stayed focused on being the best at what they do. HomeMade Pizza did not consider franchising as they would not have been able to ensure the best quality pizza. Eli's Cheesecake started as a steakhouse, but realized a stronger opportunity (with less competition) lay in perfecting the Cheesecake (no cracks, perfectly smooth, etc.). They went to work on relentlessly being the best. Ultimately, the steakhouse closed but the Cheesecake remains in many forms and was recently served at our President's Inaugural Dinner. John Hall of Goose Island spoke of how he has chosen to bottle other beverages to efficiently utilize his assets at his bottling plant, but he never takes his eye off of brewing the best craft beer possible. Today, Goose Island brews over 50 craft beers.

I was honored to be asked to moderate this distinguished set of panelists and look forward to being in their shoes (hopefully soon)!

PS - Thanks to Marc at Eli's for taking our pic! You can check out his blog post too...http://blog.elicheesecake.com/?p=2453

Three Green Learnings from Stonyfield Farm CE-Yo

Last night I met Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm. He gave a lecture at the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum in Chicago. His lecture was meant to inspire more greener business practices, and he used anecdotes from his book "Stirring It Up: How To Make Money And Save The World". When I read the book last year, I found the title a bit arrogant (as well as the tone of the book). However, after hearing him last night, I'm drinking his Kool-Aid (or, in this case, his Super Smoothie). He has a truly inspiring story. I listened intently to identify things small businesses, like Tula Foods, can learn. Here is what I took away...

First...influence your suppliers to practice green. Your supply chain likely accounts for the greatest portion of your carbon footprint (this is much easier if you are a larger, influential company, but it is never too early to start trying).

Second...involve your employees. Stonyfield employees were the ones that created green teams and identified over $5.3 Million in annual green savings across multiple areas.

Third...ask why not? It was this question that caused Stonyfield to create a waste treatment facility that actually burns clean energy to fuel his plant instead of dumping the waste.

Finally...don't think you are too small to have an impact. He quoted a colleague..."Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never been in bed with a mosquito".

I loved that quote. Are YOU a mosquito? Inspire us with your story! How have YOU made a green difference??? Our green report card is due out this summer!

A Start-Up's First Year in Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

As every year comes to a close, it’s impossible not to look back on the past year…be thrilled with some decisions, regret others, and look to the new year as a completely clean slate. Most importantly, I find myself bubbling with anticipation for the New Year and new decade!

The Good:

The 2009 year started off with naïve excitement! As this was our first full year in the market, we viewed 2009 as our first chance to help get America off the devastating high carbohydrate and low protein diet that the USDA food pyramid recommends (see how obesity rates increased when low fat diets were endorsed). Shelved in select stores on the East and West Coasts and in the Midwest, consumers were able to purchase our yogurts in multiple locations. This only fueled our enthusiasm and energy for our first full year.

To support our launch, we executed various marketing programs, which yielded some great lessons. Two professional sports teams (the Chicago Blackhawks and the Cincinnati Bengals) brought Better Whey of Life Protein Yogurt into their locker rooms for the 2009 season. Both teams currently lead their respective divisions.

Most exciting in 2009 was the interest we received from large grocery chains across the country. We were validated that our mission and product concept was right on. With this interest; however, came reality…

The bad:

In discussions with these larger grocery chains, it became clear that in order to meet their thresholds, consumers needed to buy our yogurt at a higher frequency than they were. We took a hard look at our yogurt and knew we needed to make some changes before expanding. So, just like they say to do in the venture capitalist's bible, Getting to Plan B, we quickly began making changes to improve our yogurt. This was a difficult time. Not only did we postpone expanding to 700 new stores until we had an improved product, but in an effort to focus our resources in the right way, I pulled out of some resource intensive stores.

The Ugly:

Would I be an entrepreneur if I had the attitude that anything was ugly?!? No way!!! Let’s get back to the good!

Back To The Good: 2010 Plans!

We have been working tirelessly to improve the taste and nutrition of our plain yogurt flavor, and we will launch this improved product later in 2010. Our work was recognized in the Innovate Illinois competition. Innovate Illinois, funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DECO), awarded a $30,000 grant to Tula Foods for our innovation. I can’t wait to share with you what we have in store! Stay tuned…we are living our brand and will bring you an even Better Whey in 2010!

Guest Post from Barbie Brooks

This month, we're honored to have Barbie Brooks writing for our blog. Barbie offers some ways to stay healthy this holiday season and gives you a jump start on your New Year's resolutions.

Seasons Greetings!

When I think about the holidays, two things come to mind: Stress and Excess. One leads to the other. To relieve stress, most people end up eating too many so-called "comfort" foods and drinking too much alcohol. Both of these methods do not eliminate stress, but cause more!

The way to combat stress and excess is actually very simple: Eat right and exercise... The only problem with this "simple" statement is that most people don't know what is healthy. I mean, did you know corn isn't a vegetable, but a grain? Tricky marketing makes you think you're eating more vegetables than you are. Plus, with so many studies coming out contradicting the last healthy study you read, it's hard to know what to believe and who to trust.

With that being said, I say simply this: Use your head. Do what you know.

We know protein is necessary to repair and build muscle as well as maintaining normal blood sugar levels (which help you to avoid the junk food cravings). We know complex carbohydrates are necessary to give you energy, ensure proper brain functions, and the fiber will help your insides running smoothly and able to better absorb nutrients into your system.

What are "good" complex carbohydrates? Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and potatoes are a good place to start. Just keep them in their natural state as much as possible. What are some good protein choices? Egg whites, lean cuts of beef, chicken, fish, and low fat dairy, like whey protein isolate. I recommend whey protein over soy protein due to research indicating the increased estrogen levels associated with eating soy products (especially in men). If we want to build lean muscle and burn fat, we do not want our estrogen levels to go up! A high quality whey protein (like that found in Better Whey yogurt) can help repair your muscles giving you that toned, defined look, and keep your hunger levels down. This will help you avoid the holiday sweets and festive cocktails. Imagine yourself actually losing weight during the holidays~ That is so much better than grandma's pound cake!

To deal with holiday stress, make a little time in your day to clear your head- even 20 minutes can make a huge difference in your mind and body. When you do your cardio exercise, you may want to eat a little protein and carbohydrate about an hour beforehand. When you strength train, you want to eat protein with a little carbohydrate within 2 hours after working out. How much protein depends on your size, sex, and goals, but getting at least 15g is greatly beneficial post-workout.

So readers, I challenge you this holiday season to take more time for you. Think about yourself, your goals, what you're eating and what exercise you can do that's fun and makes you sweat. New Year's resolutions can begin today! Every day, every meal, every step will bring you closer to becoming the person you were always meant to be!

In Health,

Barbie Brooks

Note: Barbie is a Personal Trainer at a premier Chicago Health Club, FFC Halsted Street.

E-mail: BBrooks@ffc.com

Website: http://www.fitnessformulaclubs.com/

A Little Sample from the Marketing Team

You, our readers, have had the opportunity to read the latest news from Better Whey of Life and Tula Foods as well as the insights from CEO Daphne Mazarakis. I'm going to switch gears today and offer you a window into the marketing efforts behind Better Whey of Life.

One of the things we know when we introduce a new product, is that people love to try before they commit. Knowing this, we have sampling intiatives established in Chicago and the Northeast. You can find our samplers handing out tastes of our great yogurts, coupons and product information at Whole Foods and other participating supermarkets. We have received great feedback during our sampling efforts and normally sell out of all the product on the shelf. Our taste testers give us great insight on the product as well as share their stories of how they incorporate our whey protein-based yogurts into their daily diets. We love customer feedback and these sampling events are as great for us as they are for consumers.

In Chicago, we just wrapped Phase 1 of our Street Team initiative. Our team members visited gyms, fitness centers and workout boutiques to educate staff members on our yogurts and the benefits of whey protein. It's exciting for us to interact with those fitness-focused people and learn that many are already fans of our yogurts.

You may have noticed we have a new Twitter account, written by member of the Tula team. If you follow @ProteinGirl, be sure to add @BetterWhey to your following list. These Tweets will provide you with an inside look to the happenings of the company as well as exciting company news and events.

Regarding this blog, each week we will feature different contributors. Daphne will continue to blog, but we will incorporate a marketing voice, as well as have fitness and nutrition experts share their thoughts. We look forward to continually provide you with the latest info from Better Whey, as well as pass along ways to maintain a healthy body.

~Hanna