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The Startup CPG Podcast

#137 Plant-Based Dumpling Kings: Eric Wu and Adam Yee, Sobo Foods

The Startup CPG Podcast

Startup CPG

Startup, Food, Business, Beverage, Cpg, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2024

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, join Daniel Scharff together with Eric Wu and Adam Yee, the founders of Sobo Foods, as they share their journey of creating plant-based Asian American frozen dumplings.


Explore Adam and Eric’s approach, rooted in years of entrepreneurship experience, critical industry connections, and strategic branding to position their products as nutrient-dense comfort foods appealing to a wide consumer base. Delve into the evolving diet choices in the US, with Asian Americans leading trends in veganism and vegetarianism, and how Sobo Foods emphasizes a balanced approach to meat consumption, drawing from cultural differences.


Additionally, discover their plans for expansion through local retail partnerships in the Bay Area, focusing on community support and navigating logistical challenges. Learn about their commitment to sustainability, utilizing plant-based ingredients and eco-friendly packaging materials throughout their supply chain.


Adam and Eric also share valuable insights on effective product development and scaling production processes, emphasizing the importance of thorough vetting of product developers and staying well-capitalized regardless of funding challenges.


Tune in now!


Listen in as Eric and Adam share about:


  • The Origins of Sobo Foods
  • Meeting at Kitchentown
  • Sobo Foods Branding and Name
  • Food Culture and their Podcast Theme
  • Learning from Past Experiences
  • Funding Options for Startups
  • Fundraising and Venture Capital
  • Product Development and Branding
  • Marketing and Social Media Strategy
  • The Positive Reception of Sobo Foods Within Their Families and Communities

Episode Links:

Sobo Foods Website 

Eric’s LinkedIn

Adam’s LinkedIn


Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.


Show Links:
Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, everybody. I am so excited to announce that startup CPG now has an official Amazon agency

0:06.6

partner we think is the best fit for emerging brands. They're called Daybreak Agency. They're led by

0:11.6

Leon Lewis, who has years of experience growing CPG brands. Based on recommendations from

0:16.6

the community, I personally actually worked with Leon and the daybreak team for my previous

0:21.5

beverage brand and I was super thrilled with the results. He is absolutely a great fit for brands

0:27.0

in the community. In my view, his team is the most affordable and most effective option out there.

0:32.8

They will fix up your listing and get you set up with the right creative. And they have a much more

0:37.9

reasonable retainer structure than most agencies I've come across. I've seen crazy retainers like

0:43.4

5,000 a month and that's stuff that's just really not affordable for emerging brands. But his retainer

0:48.1

is super affordable and he does incredible work. He will manage your operations, advertising,

0:53.2

deal with the most challenging aspects of getting

0:55.4

you set up on Amazon. He actually also does other channels like Instacart and Crideo. Their team has

1:01.5

years of experience across all of CPG, and I'm super confident that you're going to love

1:06.1

working with them. If you want to reach out to him, you can message him on the startup CPG Slack,

1:10.6

Leon Lewis,

1:11.2

daybreak growth, or email him at Leon at daybreak. Agency. Make sure you mention startup

1:17.3

CPG to get $600 of free design credits. It comes naturally to us because it's just what we grew up with.

1:34.0

I think that's the important part about the brand as well, is that we're not really faking it when we say we love the product.

1:39.0

We're not really faking it.

1:39.9

And we talk about these little anecdotes on the back of the bags with the first time that we had these flavors. This is pretty authentic to us. There's a lot of brands out there that are trying

1:48.1

to be authentic to something. They're trying to sell authenticity as a concept and associate it with

1:52.4

their brands. But for us, our North Star has just been, be authentic to you. This is very much

...

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