Ep. 147 – We Stand On the Shoulders of Giants with Phil Saneski, VP of Product at ReGrained

It’s been 2 years since Phil reached out to me when I was just starting My Food Job Rocks. After an interview, of course, we kept in touch. Through his period as the President of the RCA student association, to his job search, where he ended up in the famed upcycling startup, ReGrained. Who just got funded $2.5 million dollars last month.

Moving back to California for my own startup, I kept on running into Phil because of the work we do at Kitchentown, a sort of shared production space for many startups. Seeing him zoom back and forth with his ReGrained swag, I wanted to interview him again, since so much as changed. I have this interview across the street at their warehouse, where ReGrained stores all of their products.

Phil and I discuss the startup life and the challenges and rewards that come from it. One huge discussion that comes up is on how to use your mentors and resources to fill in what you don't know. After all, your friends have decades of experience and know what they're doing, unlike us.

This is an amazing episode for food scientists who want to get into entrepreneurship. We as scientists think we really have to know everything to make the jump, but Phil and I are two examples on that there are ways to get through the parts you don’t know, with a little help from your friends.

Lot’s of name dropping in the episode, but we’ve got you covered on the show notes.

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Show Notes

Kim Schaub - Peas On Moss Phillip Saneski Episode 17 ConAgra Hannah Dresden and Hailey Bell - CuliNex Karen Diep - Beyond Meat ReGrained – Upcycling bar Editor’s choice of Supply Side West ReGrained’s Seed round of 2.5 million Barilla Pasta Equity Based Crowdfunding Campaign – 700 supporters. $700,000 Elliot Begoun from the Intertwine Group Kim Shaub Ali Bouzari - Speaker at the RCA Catherine Proper - RCA Larry Tong Sr. Scientist at McCormick Spices RCA board What does Innovation mean to you?: How can we turn historically wasteful ingredients to a new supply? We need to streamline better Ethan Brown-CEO of Beyond Meat: Sometimes people want innovation on their iPhone, they don’t want it in their mouth. Woodside, CA called the Village Pub Garde Manger - Protector of Salads AQ 7th and mission in San Francisco Modern California in 2014 Granada Bistro Bob’s Walbread in Los Alamos Rachel Zemser Research Chef Association Food Waste Production Development Competition Griffith Foods Foodbytes Terra Accelerator North taste Ingredients (Sea Food Concentrates) Open IDEO Food Waste Alliance Rockafeller Foundation Waste with Anthony Bourdain Phil and Dan met in IDEO Jordan Schwartz Danielle Gould – Food is a labor of love. When she tasted a food, it tasted so good then she sees the founder and she’s like “oh wow” Why does your food job rock?: We’re one of the companies who are promoting upcycling in beer grains and we are making good food and great impact Forbes 30 under 30 Food Trends and Technology: Plant-Based Protein Innovation Onion article Nut Sweat One thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: The regulatory. Especially for a waste ingredient How do you set up a sensory panel?: Talk to your flavor house Savannah GA has a restaurant called The Gray that has Grits like risotto Cheese cake dish with beat 3 ways Sorrel – fruit shaped like a heart Climate Action Summit Ali Bouzari book: Ingredients You can find me at Phil@regrained.com and also on linkedin

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