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On this episode, we’re joined by Amy Zitelman, Co-Founder & CEO of Soom Foods, the chef-quality tahini brand she built with her two sisters.
Amy and her team went with a foodservice-first go-to-market strategy that earned brand credibility with top chefs and eventually generated demand at the consumer and retail level, before launching on Amazon and eventually into national retail.
She shares how a COVID home-cooking surge kicked things into another gear, ultimately leading to her first fundraise 8-10 years after launch, a big rebrand, a national Whole Foods rollout, and eventually an expansion into other major retailers like Walmart and Publix.
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Episode Highlights:
🥄 What makes Soom’s tahini different
🍽️ Why foodservice was the fastest path to credibility and pull-through
🛒 Expanding into Amazon
📈 COVID’s demand spike and inventory strategy that accelerate growth
💸 The first fundraise 8-10 years in
🎨 Rebrand lessons that set up a Whole Foods leap
🏷️ Shelf placement, promos, and driving velocity in center store
🏬 Walmart expansion
🔭 Trends Amy’s watching across global flavors and better-for-you
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Table of Contents:
00:24:18 – Origin story
02:09:11 – Building Soom with Amy’s two sisters
05:10:11 – Building a differentiated Tahini brand
09:30:20 – Foodservice
19:06:10 – Expanding into Amazon
24:43:04 – COVID accelerated growth
28:05:19 – 1st fundraise 8–10 years in, the what and why
29:15:24 – Rebrand, recs, catapulting into Whole Foods
3514:04 – Whole Foods national launch
38:31:29 – Where Soom sits in the store
42:09:07 – Walmart
44:14:18 – Trends and brands Amy’s tracking
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Links:
Soom Foods - https://soomfoods.com
Follow Amy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-zitelman/
Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/
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