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Food companies like Fiesta Tortillas have been a part of Austin’s economy almost since the company was founded.
Fiesta Tortillas is a family run business and focuses on getting a food or two really good. Fiesta Tortillas started with someone who had a craft, the ability to talk to people and the dream of living on a product that is otherwise made in the kitchen.
These consumer goods, or CPG, companies weren’t called that back then, but when Adams Extract began using horse-drawn carriages to transport its extracts and flavors around town and beyond in the late 19th century, Mexene filled Republic Square Park with the smell of Chili powder flourished in Austin’s food business in the early 1900s.
Today there are hundreds of food companies calling Austin home, in part because of several organizations that help set up and support them. One of the longest running, called SKU, named for the industry term for inventory unit, is a startup accelerator and mentoring program for CPG companies ready to get big.
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Founded in 2011 by industry veterans Shari Wynne Ressler and Clayton Christopher, the accelerator has helped dozens of companies launch into the mainstream market, including heavyweights Epic Provisions, Austin Eastciders and Siete Family Foods. While any CPG company can apply for SKU, the program did not specifically look for colored founders or develop programs specifically for them.
But after last summer’s protests highlighted the lack of diversity in many industries across the country, Michelle Breyer, SKU’s chief operating officer, began working with Emily Kealey, then general manager of Naturally Austin, a support organization founded in 2019 Local CPG company in companies in the health food and wellness sector, in a program that specifically supports and accelerates People of Color companies.
Together they developed M / O, a scholarship, mentoring and education program that was launched a few months ago to give these business owners access to a network of experienced professionals and a curriculum to help them grow. (M / O focuses on minority-owned CPGs, hence the name, but it’s also a new “modus operandi to nurture and grow these businesses in the future,” wrote managing director Kirstin Ross in a post on the launch.)
Katrina Tolentino took over the management of Naturally Austin when Kealey became chief marketing officer for partner organization Notley. They said they hoped to attract 40 applicants to the scholarship portion of the program, which was open to both new and established businesses. Almost 80 founders have applied. “We couldn’t believe it,” says Tolentino.
Of these business owners, those willing to expand outside of the Austin market could apply for the accelerator portion of the program called SKU M / O Track.
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Last week, SKU announced 10 companies were joining the program: Luv Fats Ice Cream and Jeany’s Ginger Elixir, two of my favorite products at the local farmers market; Hangio, which makes flexible coat hangers; the Ujamaa smart light bulb company; Homescape Pets, which sells nutritional supplements for cats and dogs; WAJU, a line of sparkling water made from fruit; Algo Dulce, a flan dessert company; Noah’s Vegetable Vietnamese Noodles, of course; Babka ATX, which sells a range of babka breads; and Funky Mello, a gourmet marshmallow company owned by Delisa and Zach Harper.
The Funky Mello team moved to Austin from Houston specifically to start their business in the city’s thriving CPG industry, says Delisa Johnson. They officially launched the company in June 2020, less than six months after moving to Austin.
Harper and Johnson, who met at a music festival and love camping, are “the biggest sweet tooth you will ever meet,” he says. They don’t eat animal products and wanted a vegan marshmallow that could be melted and flavored in a variety of ways.
The company started selling online only last year and has taken a brief hiatus while the owners move from the Naturally Austin program to SKU. (When they resume sales later this year, be sure to check out their changing seasonal flavors, including margarita and pumpkin spice.)
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Zach Harper worked in the packaging industry, and Delisa Johnson was an expert in marketing and sales. Of course, Austin’s M / O Scholarship offered classes that allowed them to fill in the gaps they didn’t yet know about the grocery store.
“There are so many great networking opportunities that we would not have participated in,” says Delisa Johnson. “They really listen to our vulnerabilities as we grow and what we want to learn to be able to relate carefully. Before M / O, we taught ourselves everything about Google. We learned so much more than we could have learned ourselves. “
The Harpers say the diversity of the group confirmed their decision to move to Austin. “Every time we join a class, we see all these different faces and we can identify at some level and address some of the similar issues,” she says. “We’re all out here, working together and helping one another.”
Tauri Laws-Phillips – co-owner of Coldtowne Theater, a local improvisational comedian and diversity, equity and inclusion coach – came on board earlier this year as a marketing and growth mentor at SKU. As a black business owner, she has seen countless micro and macro aggressions in the business world.
“I’ve faced a myriad of shocking and ridiculous things and there are a lot of trauma associated with them,” says Laws-Phillips. “When I started working for myself the hope was that you could leave that behind, but that’s just not true.”
Laws-Phillips says the SKU and Naturally Austin programs can help business owners thrive in a system that in many ways is designed to exclude them. It’s helpful to work with people who understand code switching or colorism, for example.
“It’s so easy to neglect these things, but when a brand can talk about them, it creates a deep brand connection,” she says. “Mentors shouldn’t question how authentic someone should be in their own culture. You can be everyone and let everyone else act. “
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Laws-Phillips says the new SKU program is also designed to help white investors, mentors, and others in the industry overcome their own unconscious biases that have denied people of color equal access to capital, resources, and opportunity.
Tolentino says the response has been overwhelming. Since March, the founders have been coming together several times a week for courses on topics such as financial knowledge, pricing, marketing and sales, breakout sessions as well as networking and mentoring meetings. “Many of them are off-grid entrepreneurs, in part because they feel that the world of the food industry is not for them,” she says.
Not all of the companies participating in the scholarship were ready for the accelerator, but Tolentino says they will continue to offer courses and programs to support participants so they can apply if they wish in the years to come.
“The aim of our fellowship is to recognize the experiences of these founders and to help them show themselves without having to explain themselves,” she says. “They were so excited to get in touch with each other. We prepare them for success so that they can also be as helpful as possible to other business owners. ”
A note from Addie
It’s amazing to see this kind of effort to make the food space a more diverse and inclusive space. And to be honest, it probably took too long, but it’s never too late to start.
However, creating justice in the food system takes people at all levels, from procurement and packaging to distribution and sales, to test their own prejudices and expand access to education, finance and community.
Because of this, I’m excited to share three more pieces of news in this area: First, De J. Lozada of Soul Popped Gourmet Popcorn created the National Association of Black Food Manufacturers, a group that started this spring to promote education – and provide networking opportunities to black food manufacturers across the country. You can learn more about this group at nabfm.org.
Texas Farmers Market, the organization that runs the Mueller and Lakeline markets, has set up a scholarship fund to help black, indigenous, and other colored people who want to sell in the markets. The grants are available to farmers and small business owners within 150 miles of Austin.
Third, Siete, one of the most successful SKU companies, announced the Siete “Juntos” Fund, a $ 25,000 award to a Latinés-owned food company
These small and not-so-small efforts are what the food industry needs to make the people who make food and sell it in the grocery store look more like the people who buy it.
– AB
Correction: This story originally misspelled the names of Emily Kealey, Kirstin Ross, and Tauri Laws-Phillips.
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