How to Grow Your Food Brand by Building Community with Ehime Eigbe
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How to Build a Community Around Your Consumer-Product Goods Business…
Food brands don’t exist in a vacuum, right? It’s not enough to create a great product, but you’ve got to refine it, pitch it, market it, sell it. And you can’t do all of that alone. Building a community of people who care about you and your product is vital in order to survive in this industry. Let people support you and shout your praises from the rooftops. Collaboration over competition is the name of the game, and we’re all in this together.
In this episode, Ehime Eigbe, founder of Sweetkiwi frozen whipped Greek yogurt, shares how a medical issue led her to create her product, how she started her business in Nigeria and brought it to the U.S., how she grew her business through building community, and her recent experience pitching on Shark Tank.
Ehime also talks about how self-care has become essential for her mental health and dealing with the stress of owning a business.
Subscribe to the Food Means Business Podcast with Hudson Kitchen founder Djenaba Johnson-Jones to hear the personal stories and “secret ingredients” of abandoning your day job and starting a CPG food business.
In this episode, you’ll learn...
[00:37] Ehime’s cubicle to CEO story and how she launched Sweetkiwi
[06:14] How Ehime started her business in Nigeria first and then brought it to the U.S.
[10:32] How Ehime switched from selling in stores to having a CPG brand, and how she grew her business through community
[18:05] Ehime talks about her recent experience pitching on Shark Tank
[20:15] How entrepreneurship has changed Ehime, and what she does for self-care
If you want to learn more about building community to grow your food business, be sure to tune into this episode:
Links mentioned in this episode…
Union Kitchen Food Accelerator
The Books and Desserts Book Club
Book: The Favor by Nora Murphy
About Ehime Eigbe:
Ehime Eigbe is the founder of Sweetkiwi, an award-winning, woman and minority-owned better-for-you CPG brand. After a uterine fibroid diagnosis led her to understand the power of food, she changed her eating habits and created Sweetkiwi – a frozen Whipped Greek Yogurt that’s low-calorie, nutrient-dense, packed with prebiotics, probiotics and superfoods to support gut health, and doesn’t sacrifice cravings. Sweetkiwi can be found in over 2,000 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, Walmart and Kroger.
Connect with ehime eigbe:
Connect with Ehime on LinkedIn
Stay Connected with Djenaba Johnson-Jones:
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[00:00:01] Djenaba You are listening to the Food Means Business Podcast, which features the personal stories and secret ingredients behind what it's like to abandon your day job to start a CPG food and beverage business. I'm Djenaba Johnson-Jones, former marketing executive turned entrepreneur and founder of food business incubator Hudson Kitchen. Join our community of fellow food business owners and subject matter experts to learn and laugh with us as we explore a startup world that's a little more culinary and a lot less corporate these days. Ehime, welcome to the Food Means Business podcast. We're happy that you're here.
[00:00:35] Ehime Well, thank you for having me here. So excited.
[00:00:37] Djenaba Yeah. Before we jump in and learn all about your business, we would love to hear from you about your cubicle to CEO story. Like, what did you before you started Sweetkiwi?
[00:00:48] Ehime I used to work for Citigroup as a bankruptcy litigation specialist in Dallas, Texas.
[00:00:54] Djenaba That's awesome. I used to live in Arlington, Texas. That's where I actually. So, yeah.
[00:01:00] Ehime I used to live in Irving, which is not too far from.
[00:01:03] Djenaba Yeah, I used to work over there, so that's great. So give me a little bit more information. So tell me a little bit about like where you went to school, like why you decided to kind of take that career path.
[00:01:13] Ehime I went to school in London, which is completely different from where I ended up. I moved to the U.S. in 2017 and I was trying to find a job I really wanted to work for the U.N. was hopefully looking to find something in the social space. But, you know, I had bills that I had to pay. And so I went on those position open with Citi, and I ended up joining the company and learning so much about before banking and bankruptcy and so many other things. And that just kind of became my career. I was still hoping to eventually join the social space. I've always wanted to make a difference and make an impact. So I started working for the I.R.C., the International Rescue Committee, just volunteering to help them with different programs that they had. And, you know, in the hopes that I could eventually work for the U.N.
[00:02:07] Djenaba Okay. But your career took a different turn. So tell us about launching Sweetkiwi. Like, how did that come to be?
[00:02:16] Ehime I was working for Citi at the time, and randomly I came across frozen yogurt because I was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid. I was trying to eat better and I started meal prepping. I would take my meals to work. I used to make these amazing okra soups trying to just heal my body because I didn't want to have surgery. And I had made a deal with my doctor to give me a year to just try to do that, eat healthy, work out. What I really struggled with was dessert. I'm a big, sweet tooth. I love my chocolates. I love my sweets.
[00:02:47] Djenaba Me too.
[00:02:48] Ehime And I just started thinking of how could I create something that I didn't need a cheat day from or I didn't need to wait till cheat day to have something I could have every day, like a nice dessert. Like I'm a person who I prefer to eat dessert or having an actual meal. That was just a big thing for me. And I just started playing around in my kitchen. I came across frozen yogurt. I really loved it, but I soon learned that it wasn't as healthy as people claimed it was. It was a lot of sugar, all fat given, but there was so much sugar in it and it just didn't fit within my dietary recommendations. And so I just started playing around with Greek yogurt in my kitchen, trying to make it more fun, try to make it more exciting. And that's how Sweetkiwi came to be.
[00:03:34] Djenaba How did you decide to launch a business? I mean, you could have just been making it for yourself, you know? What made you decide to launch that business?
[00:03:42] Ehime So I would just make it and everyone loved it. People would tell me how this was so amazing. They really like the product. You know, my sisters, they just thought that one day, like someone just mentioned to me, like, hey, you know, you could totally sell this and people would buy it. I just started toying with the idea of opening a business, which was really scary to me. So I decided to take a part time job working at a restaurant just to try to understand how this thing's gonna work. Like, I just want to learn more about the food space. And I was working in the evenings in this restaurant. I would leave work in Irving at four drive all the way to Greenville to work.
[00:04:20] Djenaba Oh my goodness.
[00:04:21] Ehime 5 p.m. to midnight just to learn about the food and beverage industry. Wow. And I definitely learned a lot in that space. And I think the biggest learning for me in that journey was that being in that space, being in the restaurant, even though I was dead tired because I would be at work from 7 to 4, the most exciting time of my day. And that told me this is definitely something that you should pursue because that five to midnight, that was like the happiest that I was meeting people, working with food. I mean, I would just light up and I would never actually feel tired because I was excited.
[00:04:58] Djenaba That's great. So what did you do next? So that. I mean, honestly, like, I'll be really honest. Like, I couldn't even imagine myself taking a second job to learn something else. That's extraordinary. And I think it makes so much sense because it kind of prepares you for what was to come. So what did you do next after that?
[00:05:14] Ehime I just started reaching out to like machine manufacturers. So I reaching out to ingredient manufacturers, started trying to learn more. Something I really learned in the restaurant was structure, like handbooks, creating handbooks, learning how to manage employees and how that really works. And I just started trying to see how can I build this and and put it together. So I started trying to find out how much does it cost to open a shop? Mm hmm. Reaching out to a few developers and seeing what space is, what is available, where I could possibly open the store, visiting all kinds of people within that industry. There was an ingredient manufacturer in Houston. This is the first. I mean, me and my sister we drove all the way from Dallas to Houston. We went to this like yogurt manufacturer. They were having a session and it was so cool. I was like, okay, we're going to do this. We're going to figure this out just one day at a time. And, you know, it was exciting, but also really scary just trying to figure out how to start this company. Like, how do you just start?
[00:06:14] Djenaba Right. So didn't you launch in Nigeria before you launched in the U.S.? Did I get that right? Talk about that.
[00:06:18] Ehime Yeah, on the path to opening the store in Dallas. My brother was getting married in Nigeria and I had to go home for the wedding and we went to Nigeria. And when I was in that space, I just remember that there was no healthy food. And it was really stressful for me because I'd been on this journey for a long time where, you know, I would eat a lot of greens, very low carb. And we were in this space where almost every meal that we had was like rice all the time. Now I'm just like, there's nothing, nothing even healthy. And I just had that idea, Why don't you open this market? You know, there's there's so much life that they don't even have. This is a great market you to open in. And my parents were so excited about the thought of that. They really supported me and wanted me to come back and be in touch with my roots. And I was like, Whoa, I'm young. The so, I mean, there's no better time to quit your job and just try something different. So I ended up starting. At first I just thought, you know what? I'm just going to try it out and see how well it works out. So we did pop up at this market called LPM. It was like it was call it pretty much it's a Sunday market and vendors come and sell different things and we had a machine there. We're just giving people samples like just tell us what you think about the product, right? And it was this mad rush where everyone's like, No, stop giving samples. We want to buy, we want to buy, like have to know. And there was a whole fight and people came up to us saying, like, Here I am, I'm getting married in a few months. I would like to have this on my wedding. And that was how we got our first job. Like someone was willing to pay us to come cater their wedding. And I was like, Well, I've never thought about that before, but you know what? Doing it was going to be quite a chunk of change. So it was a great way to get started. And that was how we started. Like I was literally dragged into the market. I was just kind of putting my toe in the water, going to test it out. Before I knew it had to set up a team. We're doing weddings every other weekend. Well, we're doing part week and we just started growing really quickly in that market and then we opened our first store and that just blew things out of the water. I mean, people really loved having that alternative, healthier option to ice cream.
[00:08:43] Djenaba Wow. And so how many stores that you end up opening in Nigeria?
[00:08:46] Ehime We opened a physical store location.
[00:08:48] Djenaba Wow. And then how did you make your way back to the U.S.?
[00:08:51] Ehime So I met my husband in Nigeria. We had met because we were catering a client event, and he was he also had a contract with that client. He was he's from the D.C. area. So I got married. He wanted to move back here. I had some health challenges as well, and we just thought it was a great time and we ended up coming back to the U.S. and I really was trying to take time off while I'd gone through a personal loss. I really was just trying to clear my mind and figure out if this was still the right path for me and an opportunity presented itself. We got approached by someone who said, oh my company has this concept company. We're always looking for businesses who can do ice cream socials, you know. Have you ever thought about doing that here? Because I just walked to the D.C. area still trying to settle and figure out this whole situation and things just kept being thrown at me. I was walking down Georgetown Street on Georgetown and I met someone that, Oh, well, we're opening a yogurt shop and he recognized me and he was like, Oh, would you work with me to open it? And I think in doing that project with him, that company was called Acai Berry. And in doing that, it just brought back that love that I had for the product, the love that I had for the business. So my thing was, okay, I'm just going to help you out to get this started. So it gives me something to get up and go do every day. But in the process of doing that, I kind of fell back in love with, you know, why I started the business in the first place and fell back in love with the product. And that's basically how we, you know, I found myself back eager to start up Sweetkiwi here.
[00:10:32] Djenaba So you decided to go a little bit different route because, you know, in Nigeria you had the stores, but here you have the CPG product, which I actually have right here. Thank you so much for sharing these with me. I love that. How did you start your CPG brand?
[00:10:44] Ehime So we started by doing catering. So we started working with a concept company called Capital Concierge. They, you know, manage a lot of buildings, residential, commercial in the D.C. area. And then we started working with Basil, doing a lot of their ice cream socials. We needed a kitchen where we could work out of. So we found this space called Unit Kitchen in DC. We started operating out of there doing our catering, and they have an excellent program to help people get into CPG. And you approached us about have we considered doing a CPG product? And the truth is, I had thought about it once when we're working on Acai Berry, but I didn't even know how to go about it. So I'm getting set up with the kitchen, going to the accelerator. I learned so much about how to really refine the brand and create it for CPG.
[00:11:31] Djenaba I love them. I love the Union Kitchen so much. Like I just like watching them have to learn so much about my business and how I wanted to run it. But go ahead. I'm sorry.
[00:11:40] Ehime Yeah. So through that, we you know, we started working with learning many mentors, meaning people. Will you just talk to us about how to go about it? And that really went really well. People love the product. Everyone we share the product with. I think that at the end of the day, if you have a great product, it can fit into a multitude of spaces because it's food as well as people love it and it's serving a purpose. I think it was just easier to make that transition because the product was was great and we had a lot of retailers take the product like right away.
[00:12:14] Djenaba That's great. You worked with Union Kitchen, who helped you. You're in retailers. Like how did you grow the business?
[00:12:20] Ehime I think I would say through community. Mm hmm. One of the things that we were really great at doing is building community as we're building our business, you know, starting from that unique kitchen community, then expanding that to our catering communities, the Xero's, the Capital concierge, just building a network of people who love the brand, love the product, and continued to grow that, and then reaching out to retailers and letting them know what's so special about the product. And I would say that one of the core things is that found our story really understanding your why and why the product exists, right? Your why the why about the product and learning how to tell that story in a phenomenal way. I would say that really happened with the support of like, people like Blackhawk Ventures. Mm hmm. New voices just building that community of people who really support your brand and are open to giving you opportunities to showcase your products and talk about you rooms where you don't have access to. I think that has been really instrumental to our growth.
[00:13:24] Djenaba Yes, definitely. Really important. So I believe I read that you participated in a couple of pitch competitions. Can you talk a little bit about those and what you did?
[00:13:33] Ehime Absolutely. I think pitch competitions, I've been a way that we grow community or we build into new communities. We were part of the local ventures DC Pitch competition. That was my first time ever pitching for anything. And when I look at how we pitch then to how we're pitching now, oh my God, right now has just been immense. Like, you know, we did that one and I know it's scary was so scary for me at first. I was like, Oh my gosh, they're going to me a part. I don't know what I'm doing. I found a pitch deck online and I created some slides based off all that. Oh yeah. But they were really helpful and they gave a lot of great feedback. They have like pitch sessions during the week where I want to jump on a pitch to a bunch of professionals who can give you feedback. And I really took advantage of a lot of those. And I tell people, a lot of times when you're part of something, you have to throw yourself into it. Absolutely. It's incomparable sometimes. I mean, you're very vulnerable sometimes, but the truth is you have to do the work because the more you show up, the more you remain top of mind. The more people want to support you, the more you're going to grow, the more you're going to learn. And I just throw myself into that community. And we just kept growing. We just kept getting better at the pictures. And then we did more pitches even outside of that community. And we just kept winning because we kept refining our pitch, We kept refining the story. We did the. On your Milk Dairy Board accelerator. And we were the runners up of that and that was $100,000 prize. Well, but I can't tell you how how much growth we experienced in that program from when we joined the program to when we all exited, like in terms of the storytelling, the mentorship. So a lot of times people are like, Oh, well, it's just I don't want to complete this form. It's too long. But you have to think about the benefits to your business. And sometimes those competitions are a platform, right? You know, to showcase your brand, to learn and to grow. I mean, we've done so many competitions now, we don't slow down on those. First of all, we mean who doesn't want one? Absolutely. Time you raise money, you're giving up equity grants, and pitch competitions are a way to raise money without having to give up part of your business. So why not? Even if it's five K.
[00:15:51] Djenaba I completely agree with you. Like I started out doing pitch competitions. I've over the past, I think been seven, eight years. I've raised through grants $200,000 for marketing. So it's just a matter of like and you're I love it. You were like, you got to kind of get into those organizations and get to know people. So you do say top of mind, like I'm the same way. I'm like, everybody knows my name. They know the business and they know what's going on, but they're there for you. And a lot of times it's a nonprofit. You're not spending any money, it's just time. And their whole goal is to help you into Why not take advantage of that?
[00:16:22] Ehime Absolutely. And that's what I've been doing, just building community. I've met other founders through those communities. And that's something that's underestimated. Right. You meet another founder and they have a lot of information that's so critical to your growth and success. A lot of times we all have information or we've been in different spaces that we need to share with other people. But the kitchen with the you don't know who they are.
[00:16:45] Djenaba It's true. And I think some people get afraid to share too sometimes, or they're afraid to ask the question because they don't think the person is going to share with them. But I don't know about you, but I found like, especially in food, I've gotten a lot of people to talk to me and give advice about things.
[00:16:58] Ehime So absolutely, I've felt nothing but supported in this industry. People are always willing to share. They're always willing to point you in the right direction. I just can't tell you how many communities I have in the food industry and how amazing the founders in this industry are. They're just willing to share. They're willing to push each other and just support each other. Like I have founders who would pitch to a retailer and be like, I just pitch to these guys. You talk to them, this is the contract, this is the right person. And I really love that because we're all building together. We're all growing. Yeah, they're all supporting each other.
[00:17:34] Djenaba And then there's room for everyone.
[00:17:36] Ehime Absolutely. It's not just room if it's going to be if it's your.
[00:17:39] Djenaba Exactly. If it's yours, it's it is for you. It belongs to you than anyone else. So that's great. So you. So you.
[00:17:46] Ehime I was it. That's a beautiful thing. I think what's so special to me is that knowing that I'm not alone as I build this, knowing that I have all that support and I have this community of founders that I can always reach out to when I have a problem or talk through stuff. It's really beautiful because it's a hard industry.
[00:18:04] Djenaba Right? Very true. Very true. So you spend a lot of time honing your pitch. And you. I recently saw you on Shark Tank. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience?
[00:18:13] Ehime Yes. So Shark Tank was it's so crazy because I didn't never think that I would ever want to go on Shark Tank. I was eight months pregnant at the time when we finally got to go pitch. And it was really exciting, but also really nerve wracking. And like I said, I lean into my community. I reached out to so many people, Hey, what potential questions can you expect from investors? I just had people really lean in and prepare us like, Oh, these are the questions, like answer these questions, marketing this, that and right. I think that it was really great that they prepared us so well because I think you could see that when we went in front of the sharks, like a lot of the questions that were being thrown, what questions that we had prepped for and we kind of knew. But I think something that came out of Shark Tank for me was it made me realize how well I know my my business, because there was hardly a question that they asked. A lot of times I'm always so nervous before I go on to an interviewer pitch. Or one thing that comes through for me is that realization. Like, if you know your business, every part of your business, nothing's ever difficult. It's really just a conversation about things that you already know, right? And we're able to share. And that was the biggest learning for me on Shark Tank. And I think that the sharks as well, they can see that. They can tell when you're like, you know, or when the answers just come natural.
[00:19:34] Djenaba Right, right, right. No, I definitely makes the biggest difference that that's a really good way of looking at the pitch is it's more like, you know, your business. You're just really answering the questions that you already have the answers, You know, everything. That's a good way to look at it.
[00:19:47] Ehime Well, you already know the answers and you already know a lot of the stuff. And I think that for us, Shark Tank was just that validation for us, like, you know, your business. And I think that. They were really impressed by that as well, how well we knew our business.
[00:20:03] Djenaba I think it's also apt to give me your flowers. It is impressive that you launched a business in another country and then was able to expand. Well, thank you. Congratulations on that.
[00:20:13] Ehime H So let's.
[00:20:15] Djenaba How has entrepreneurship changed you?
[00:20:19] Ehime In a lot of ways, I think for me, I would say the biggest changes that responsibility. When I mean responsibility, I mean responsibility. Realizing that I have a responsibility to the world, like to my community, to the world beyond even my family, beyond providing. Emily I have a responsibility to the world, to my community, to make the world a better place with whatever it is that I'm doing in the decisions that I'm making for the business. How does this impact people? How does this make people's lives better? How can we make a difference? And I think that that's the one way that thinking has really been made a huge change in my life. I think when I first started, it was very about the bottom line, like not that I was greedy or anything, but I'm putting in money. I'm expecting to get money. Right, Right. But I feel like as I've grown in the space, you know, what's troubled mind is are we truly making a difference?
[00:21:19] Djenaba So you started the business because you've had a need to kind of better your health. Talk about what you do for self-care now.
[00:21:28] Ehime So Mondays are my self-care days and I was so intense. Okay, Now trying to make sure I don't schedule anything on my calendar. I take time to relax. I have a book club, actually. So I have a book club in the DMV. Right. Yeah. So I'm part of, like, all books and desserts. They have several chapters. They have a chapter in a DMV. I really enjoy it because it's one of the few things that I do for myself. I get that read a book every month, and then we have meetings that discuss the book. The last book we read was really exciting because it was based on a DMV, so it was great to be able to. They mentioned a highway. I'm like, I know that highway.
[00:22:06] Djenaba What was the name of the book? Do you remember? Oh.
[00:22:08] Ehime It was called A Favor. A favor.
[00:22:10] Djenaba Okay. It was called Check That Out.
[00:22:13] Ehime And it such a great book, too. It was just about like women and domestic violence. And I thought that it was really just a great, you know, illustration about how think violence doesn't have a face. Right. Like or does it have a status. You know, people think like, oh, well, she's wealthy or she's a doctor or, you know, so smart, how can that be happening to her? And I thought that that was a great book for that. But yeah, that's what I do for self-care. I try to take time for myself, even from my kids. Like I need Mondays to just have to myself the read wall put on my face mask to take some downtime, go on walks, listen to music, getting to come back with myself because entrepreneurship is so hard and I think people never really talk about the impact on your mental health. I think one of the things that I, I realized was I developed a lot of anxiety from entrepreneurship because always waiting for a deal to close. You're always waiting for something to happen, right? Like, all this deal has to close or I need to do this or there's so much pressure this, you know, and no one talks about how that affects your body. I remember we're supposed to launch a new product and everything was just going wrong. Packaging was wrong when it came. Everything was wrong. And I remember I went into a panic. I literally lay on the bed and I was shaking. And after that I went to therapy because I could have more people were talking to me. But like my brain was working, but my body, I couldn't make it move. Like I couldn't make my body get up and and it right. So I just went to sleep. I went to sleep. I woke up and I started again. And somehow everything was fine after that. But I started to realize the stress. It does affect your body. And so I started going to therapy to find ways to cope, you know, with the stress. And one thing I've learned to do now is take that time for myself, have fun days where I just want to go to the movies. I just want to go to a park. I want to go to the Spice Park with my daughter or, you know, my kids. I just want to just do something that's not about that because sometimes it can really take over your life.
[00:24:26] Djenaba I think you're right. I actually started going to therapy last year, February 22, because of being in business, and it was just like I had this moment one morning where I was just like 4:00 in the morning on a Sunday crying at the dining room table. I'm like crying so hard that my husband came downstairs and he was like, What is happening? You know, it was a lie. And he he just kind of sat there with me and then like, Yeah, you right afterwards. I definitely, like, found someone to talk to. And I've been working with her and it's been, it's been amazing to just have that. Someone holds space for you on a weekly basis. And a lot of times we're just talking about the business, so kind of working through that stuff. So that's really, really important to have somebody to talk to for sure. What are you thankful for?
[00:25:12] Ehime And thankful for the opportunities that we have. I'm thankful for the support that we have and think for the growth that we've had. I don't take for granted all the support and all the love that we get from our community. That keeps me going on the days that are so impossible, on the days that I want to quit. I go back, I read messages, I read emails, I read comments, and even just the little I'm so proud of you, you did this or you know, it goes a long way because it's such a tough business and I'm so thankful that I received nothing but love from this community in the U.S. that one of the things I'm thankful for that's fantastic.
[00:26:00] Djenaba At Hudson Kitchen, we have what I call the money bell that we ring when people are celebrating something. So I'd love to hear what you're celebrating right now.
[00:26:10] Ehime Oh, we just got into Techstars. Oh, congratulations. Wow, That's exciting. Yeah, we're celebrating that.
[00:26:20] Djenaba That's amazing. That's great. So we'll have to have you back on to hear more about that experience for sure.
[00:26:26] Ehime But I'm looking forward to it. We're going to have to be in L.A. for a little bit. I never really spent a lot of time out there, so I'm really excited to grow the brand and grow more community out there, really excited about it.
[00:26:38] Djenaba So please let everyone know where they can find out about you and some.
[00:26:42] Ehime You can find out about Sweetkiwi at sweetkiwi.com. Follow us on Instagram at sweetkiwiusa or on the pages also at Sweetkiwi USA and you can find our products at Whole Foods, giant food, Walmart, Kroger, nationwide and somewhere independents. You can go on our website and find a store closest to you. We would appreciate your support. Thank you for having me on here.
[00:27:11] Djenaba I love it. Thank you for being here. The Food Meets Business podcast was produced by Hudson Kitchen. It is recorded at the studio at Carney Point and mixed and edited by Wild Home podcasting. Our theme song is by Damien de Sandys, and I'm your host, Djenaba Johnson-Jones. Follow Hudson Kitchen on Instagram at thehudsonkitchen and to get Food Business Bites right in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter at thehudsonkitchen.com/newsletter. Listen, follow and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. Until next time.