Ep. 143 - A Tahini Journey, How 3 Sisters Started a Food Company from Scratch with Shelby Zitelman, CEO of Soom Foods

Soom Foods started 5 years ago, with one of the Zitelman sister’s boyfriend, introducing them to their family’s Tahini in Israel. One taste of this Tahini, convinced the sisters that it had to go to the United States, no matter what. 5 years later, chefs and influencers alike love the stuff, and it’s now popping up in East Coast whole foods stores.

I personally got a ton of value from Shelby’s interview because as I started Better Meat Co, we are running into a lot of the same situations Soom Foods ran into. The questions I ask are quite timely, and hopefully, they’ll help you understand the complexities of a food business.

I appreciate Shelby’s honesty in the interview and we go into things such as the risk of marketing campaigns, the complex sales channels of the food industry, and a lot of talk about the health perspectives of this seed based butter.

About Shelby

Shelby is the CEO & Co-Founder of Soom Foods, and is the oldest of the three Soom sisters. Inspired by her entrepreneurial family, Shelby graduated from the Wharton School with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Management. Shelby is responsible for developing the company’s strategy, managing the finances and accounting, managing the team and overseeing contractor relationships. She spends her downtime exploring kid-friendly Philadelphia with her husband, Dan and their two sons, Malcolm and Julius. 

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Show Notes

When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you tell them?: I am a tahini saleswoman, I’m a food importer and distributor. I’m the CEO of Soom foods What does CEO mean to you?: I’m the captain of the ship and I direct where the ship goes. What’s the best part about being a CEO?: I love the opportunity to be a CEO What is something surprising to you about food?: The marketing costs were surprising. Especially in retail. Slotting or Coupons are also a surprising thing The return on marketing campaigns are a gamble, but it works when it works Advocacy and trusted influencers helped a ton for our business Describe the steps to where you are today: I studied entrepreneurship, went into venture capital (Ops) and then worked in a non-profit. My middle sister Jackie dated Omri, who’s family owned a tahini operation. Eventually, I asked to sell this amazing product over to the US. My two sisters and I started the business and we all have important skillsets It took us two years to get the tahini to the United States and that was a huge amount of work figuring it out No Business Plan Survives First Impact Is a business plan useful?: Yes, it provides a general framework What’s special about your Tahnini?: We get our sesame seeds from Ethiopia. The oil to meat ratio makes for a great butter What do people use the tahnini for?: Mostly hummus, however, drizzled on roasted vegetables or eaten with yogurt. We also have squeeze packs and they work great in trade shows and in portion control Do you label an allergen for tahini sauce?: Yes, seeds. We receive positive affirmation for being an alternative to peanutbutter or almond butter What is the most important skill you can have when starting a company?: Know who and when to ask questions. Due diligence and surrounding yourself with people you can count on How did you get your first sale?: We knew a chef and wanted some advice. So we had him evaluated the product, he tried it, and he instantly bought it. We can solve a lot of pain points using our tahini, especially on improving tahini output Why does your food job rock?: I really believe in what we’re selling is a good product. It’s so rewarding hearing our customers love our product. Tahini Sauce Chocolate Tahini Silan – Date Syrup What are the negative feedback you’ve gotten in your product?: Calories and fat. For us, we realize we can’t be everything to everyone. Any positive feedback from the keto community?: Not yet, but we are hoping to get more people to use tahini. We’ve worked with Keto bloggers and put our products in Keto boxes. Sometimes we get black specs in the product, and we have to explain to the customer that it’s natural What is the biggest problem in the food industry right now?: Food Waste and Supply Chain. One of the hardest thing for me to do is to throw away products. Even though we see poor people who can’t afford our food Sarah Ramirez Blockchain What is one thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: the economics of a grocery store. How can they afford what they do? How are your online sales?: 80% of our revenue is food service, 20% is retail 15% Ecommerce, 5% Retail. We ask ourselves why do retail? Good distribution. JUST Foods Retail has a powerful brand effect Favorite Quote: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretski Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird Favorite Kitchen Item: A corkscrew – for opening wine! Advice for anyone starting a food business: Retail and grocery stores are not the only way to sell food. Healthcare for instance, is its own world. How do you like working with your sisters?: Love it, we have different skill sets. We’ve all messed up and just said how we can fix it. Where can we find you for advice?:  Online, or Amazon.

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