NY Launch Pod: Welcome to the New York Launch Pod, the New York Press Club, award winning podcast highlighting the most interesting new startups, businesses and openings in the New York City area. I’m your host and New York attorney Hal Coopersmith, and in this episode, we are talking all about Salsa, again! We check in with Matt Bennett, founder of Dreams Aren’t This Good Salsa, and we talk about the challenges facing his business, how he is continuing to grow it, and even his new invention for proprietary chip bag. Here is Matt Bennett.
Matt Bennett: I had the idea pre-launching the company. Cause I know from Texas, I’m like warm chips and cool sauce or chilled sauces, the best experience, which is always what we focus on. And I said, okay, how can we create an ovenable bag? I’ve never seen it in stores. There is a microwaveable bag out there, but I wanted an ovenable one, one because I didn’t want to copy the other company. And two, I wanted to focus on quality, which to me, quality and experience, if you’re cooking or baking, whatever it might be is going to be around the oven, not the microwave.
NY Launch Pod: But before we go to the interview, if you haven’t already remember to sign up for our monthly newsletter for unique content and insights at nylaunchpod.com and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening app. And we have a sponsor RezCue, New York State’s premier residential rental compliance platform. Have you rented out residential property in New York State? If so, odds are, you are not compliant with the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act enacted by New York State in 2019. And if you don’t follow the law, your tenant may be able to legally stay in the property beyond the length of the lease and many more consequences, RezCue is designed to solve all those problems and more go to rezcueme.com and enter in some basic information and rescue takes care of the rest. So you can relax and be a more profitable landlord. That’s rezcueme.com. And with that, let’s have another episode of How You’re Doing with Matt Bennett.
NY Launch Pod: People may remember you from Episode 61 Dreams Aren’t This Good Salsa, Matt it’s been a couple years since you’ve been on, how are things going?
Matt Bennett: Its’s great, buddy. it has been a while. I mean, I was stoked and I mean, I’m always thankful for your support since the beginning I have been, but things are really, really good and they’re really, really challenging right now.
NY Launch Pod: It’s the best of times. It’s the worst of times when we, when we start about the good first, why are things in your business good right now?
Matt Bennett: Well, we’re, you know, we’re all, we’re creeping on three years now, so I gotta be thankful for that. Right. Like most companies don’t get halfway to five as the, like the mileage, I guess if you get the five you’re doing okay. Um, but I think just, there’s a lot of great things. We’ve learned a ton. I put a lot of time, energy and resources into building what we have now, which is about 400 or so stores about 30 to 40 breweries, kind of.
NY Launch Pod: 400 stores carrying your salsa.
Matt Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. You know, peppered some throughout the states, but mostly from Virginia to upstate New York, Connecticut. So very Northeast Mid-Atlantic footprint, very much been focused on our backyard and really trying to learn and get, get to this point and, and really, you know, having a small team now. I mean, I still do quite a bit, the majority of things, but I do have a small team. We still have two creatives that started with me from the beginning. And then now we actually have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 brand reps I believe. So we are growing in that way and, I gotta just be thankful for that.
NY Launch Pod: And so you’re growing you’re in stores and breweries what’s been, you mentioned, however, it hasn’t been neat. And as, as rosy a picture would have been some of the challenges.
Matt Bennett: Well, COVID obviously, I mean, but I think the, the biggest challenge has been,
NY Launch Pod: And people weren’t sitting at home just eating salsa.
Matt Bennett: Yeah. I mean, that really helped at the start of COVID, but now that we’re a year and a half in, right. Or plus, you know, the world’s back to, you know, a much better place. And I think for us, it’s really been peaks and valleys to understand how do you navigate a food company, thankfully we’re in the right business, right. People got to eat, and we have a great product and a brand that we’re getting traction with, but now the channels become much, a bit more challenging during this time because you have to find a way to stand out further when everybody’s not going to the grocery store as much. Right. So we’ve had to definitely pivot and adapt the company, through these times.
NY Launch Pod: So what techniques worked in a store and how are you trying to translate that to online? Or how is it different?
Matt Bennett: Yeah, I mean, that’s a great question. Actually. I don’t know. I don’t think I have enough info or experience, you know, I’m not a social media marketing expert per se or D-to-C expert. I think we have a massive opportunity online and that helped initially with, COVID and part of that challenge and opportunity ultimately is we’ve grown during the worst time in the history of the world. So growing when you’re prepared for it, but you’re not prepared on doing it the same way you thought you were going to be doing it. Right. We were going to stores and stores, and now it’s like, all right, well, if you get into the online game, it’s a different strategy, different money, different resources, different team. So we have found some success in that, but we haven’t put a lot of, resources into that bucket yet, and then just additionally finding other sales channels, which was always part of our strategy, but now we’ve kind of flipped the focus in where we are going to focus on sales channels kind of outside the box or outside the grocery store, um, that are still in person and not online. But that spills over to online. So we’re just kind of basically taking a backwards approach now versus the way we were doing it.
NY Launch Pod: What’s an example of an in-person experience outside the grocery store in person channel outside the grocery store.
Matt Bennett: Yeah. So, so we actually, it’s always been part of our roadmap and we basically have four major verticals, grocery being one of those hops and hospitality being one of those. And then it steps into some others as we go down the road, probably be a couple of years from now. So we basically have taken a lot of the focus, which is basically a hundred percent on stores or markets, deli, specialty, et cetera, and shifted the majority of that focus onto the hops and hospitality industry, which for us is primarily breweries. And then a little in the hospitality, on the hotel side. So boutique hotels, which is a massive opportunity, but where we’re seeing the greatest traction where nobody’s really seeing it. And I hope that stays that way is in breweries, beer chips and salsa is a win for everyone.
Matt Bennett: And we currently have almost 40 breweries in the last few months. This is something we did test pre-COVID and then we’ve just been letting it breathe. And now we’re really focused on it and, and it’s growing our brand really it’s, it’s ultimately, as I share with people, this is ultimately our Oatley model. So instead of baristas at coffee shops, we’re going to breweries and building the relationship with those partners to then turn around and get the marketing out of it in the, in the partnership, out of it to reach the ultimate consumer that we want. And then they go to the stores or online or come back to the brewery. So it’s a massive sales channel that we knew was there, but we’ve been kind of forced to go into that lane faster.
NY Launch Pod: And what’s in it for the breweries. What’s the value add for a brewery?
Matt Bennett: Yeah. That’s, I mean, that’s actually the best question because we look at it and this is literally what I tell people. I’m like, I’m not here to sell my product. Do I want you to sell it? Sure. But I really want the partnership. It’s a much more personal relationship, breweries. One, most breweries don’t have snacks. They have either a full kitchen or they have food trucks and this depends on the city or state. And that shifted during COVID as well because the, the beer laws are strict anyways, but now it’s become even stricter and kind of navigating that. So we’re able to add value to them. One, we provide the perfect partner product, two, the more chips and salsa people consume during their experience at a brewery with a like-minded product, right. People go to breweries for experiences and quality beer, and we provide a quality product, whether, whether they know the brand or not, we’re able to provide the brewery, something that makes sense to them for their patrons versus the Lay’s potato chips that were forced upon them at COVID beginnings.
Matt Bennett: So, so we fit really well there. And then additionally, they sell more beer ultimately, right? So anybody that eats chips and salsa is going to buy at least one more beer, which is more money for them. We are able to also up the bartenders, tabs, or tips, so they don’t have to do a lot of work, and everybody gets a win out of that. And then additionally, we do the tastings in the breweries. So instead of going to stores, which nobody does demos in stores, we’re still able to create a one-on-one experience or one on group experience and hang out with people that are already our consumer, right? So we just have a different way of reaching them. And we get to build ourselves into a lane that is authentic and it’s not forceful. And that’s the most important way to build a brand.
NY Launch Pod: And where are you available online?
Matt Bennett: So the best is our website, dreamsarenthisgood.com and our Instagram is @DATGCartel. You can also find us on Amazon as well.
NY Launch Pod: I’ve ordered off of Amazon, your salsa, very convenient. Certainly a great channel to be on. And, you know, you talked about how you’re growing your brand, the experiences, the one-on-one have you added more products since we last spoke?
Matt Bennett: Oh yeah, man, that actually makes me think since the first time,
NY Launch Pod: You added more salsa!
Matt Bennett: We have, we have three more flavors. I think we had, I think we had three when we first spoke. Right. So, so now we have three more. So the additions are Avocado Pepper, which we call Now or Never. We have Blueberry Coconut, which is called Girls, Girls, Girls. And then we have Chipola Mango, which is our newest, that’s only about maybe four or five months old, and that’s called My Type. So we have six flavors and we also have the same amazing chips, but we now have a new bag. So according to our research and any our bag manufacturer, anybody that’s knows anything about bags, we’ve actually created the world’s first ovenable chip bag. And you can put the whole bag in the oven and warm the chips up. It’s crazy.
NY Launch Pod: How does that work?
Matt Bennett: I mean, literally like throwing popcorn in a microwave, but you’re just tossing tortilla chips in the oven. So I recommend it. We put it on the bag for seven to 10 minutes at about three 50 max. I will say that three 50 at 10 minutes is like, there’ll be, there’ll be warm, they won’t burn a lot of
NY Launch Pod: That’s a lot of oven on a chip.
Matt Bennett: Yeah. That’s a lot of it on a chip. Exactly. So I I’d say like five, seven minutes at about 300, you put the whole bag in the oven and you can pull the whole bag out. No gloves needed. It won’t burn you. It will be a little warm obviously, but then you get restaurant-style chips for real.
NY Launch Pod: And how did you develop this bag? Why is it you who developed this proprietary bag?
Matt Bennett: I mean, I think the world just was waiting for, and, you know, I mean, honestly, it took three years to develop the bag. I had the idea pre-launching the company. Cause I know from Texas, I’m like warm chips and cool sauce or chilled sauces, the best experience, which is always what we focus on. And I said, okay, how can we create an ovenable bag? I’ve never seen it in stores. There is a microwaveable bag out there, but I wanted an ovenable one, one because I didn’t want to copy the other company. And two, I wanted to focus on quality, which to me, quality and experience, if you’re cooking or baking, whatever it might be is going to be around the oven, not the microwave. And so that’s the consumer we really want. And then ultimately we wanted a conversation starter, which anytime I tossed the bag in an oven around people, I a hundred percent get, wait, whoa, what are you doing? And so it took three years to develop. We didn’t create the material that makes it work, but we have put it together in a way that nobody else has.
NY Launch Pod: Can you repeat that without the sound we start with? We didn’t.
Matt Bennett: We didn’t, we didn’t make the material that makes the bag work, but we did put the bag together in a way that nobody else has done before.
NY Launch Pod: So who created the material and how did you find them?
Matt Bennett: So our bag manufacturer actually, I mean, I’m so thankful for them because I’ve drugged them through every scenario possible. We started with a one-bag material that was just so thick that it just wouldn’t, it wouldn’t get through the machine when you were forming the bag. So I told them, I was like, you have, I know this is possible now, but we have to go find a material that’s thin more like a regular chip bag out there. And so we found an adhesive, that’s the outer layer of our bag and that’s what makes it ovenable.
NY Launch Pod: Well, that sounds great. And one of the things that we also know about you right now is that you are raising money online, through Republic. How is that experience going?
Matt Bennett: It’s good. It’s, it’s unique. I mean, it’s definitely different than anything I’ve experienced. You know, it’s, it’s just different than talking one-on-one with you or, you know, a venture capitalist or an angel or a family friend even, and getting a transaction or investment, to grow your company that way. So now you’re putting it out to the people in a way, a community of potential investors, and really, you know, presenting them with, you know, what your company’s done and what you are trying to do and where you’re going and the challenges you’ve had. And, and that’s, that’s hard to do on a video and, you know, a presentation on a page. So I think we’ve done a really great job. We’re at the beginnings of fundraising. It is, it is republic.co and is the actual website. And then, you know, we are going via this option of fundraising in addition as a solution to COVID right? So I wasn’t able to travel around the country and network, et cetera. So this is a really smart option and trying to grow our company.
NY Launch Pod: And how were you coming up with the new flavors?
Matt Bennett: Oh, man. So this is actually something that I think is a game-changer. There’s not many things that change the game within what we’re doing, right. We make amazing chips and salsa as a product, but there are certain things. I think our strategy is one of a kind in this space. I think our bag is a game-changer potentially for the whole industry. Somebody’s going to try to knock it off eventually. But the next level kind of coming back to the brewery side is the flavor piece. We are, as we’ve been navigating the journey with breweries, keeping in mind, they think like I do, or we do as a company, right? Very craft-minded, flavor-driven, experience, driven, pushing the boundaries on what can be made. And so what we found is while I’m sitting on tons of flavors, I probably have like 20 flavors just that I’ve made and messed around with that I want to put out, but it doesn’t make economic sense yet, to just be releasing those.
Matt Bennett: And what we found is we’re actually in the beginning and we’re literally in this process now, is while we have 30 plus brewery partners and building those relationships, what we found is now we’re starting to do collabs with breweries, which is what breweries do, right? This is their world. And so now we’re actually doing collabs with breweries. And I think, I a hundred percent believe it’s going to change the company and, and for many reasons, but ultimately we’re, we’re creating one-off flavors with their beer, from whatever brewery we partner with that wants to do a collab. And so we have an opportunity to create anything we want with a partner and feedback in that to say, Hey, I think this would pair really well. And then we go through that process and bring it to life. In addition, what we’ve done is in staying in tune and on-brand with our give-back piece.
Matt Bennett: So for those, anybody that doesn’t know every product we put out, we donate. If it’s also, if it’s chips or salsa, I should say, we donate 5 cents for every jar or bag sold back to a partner, which is a philanthropy partner. And so currently we have seven partners because we have seven products. So as we put out the beer collabs as well, we’re going to donate 5 cents back to the association, the brewery association of that state. So for every brewery partner in New York, that we do a collab with every time a jar sells, it’s going to go back to the association, the New York brewers association, which then supports the partners that we’re working with. So we get a three-way win and grows the industry. So we’re authentically and organically infusing ourselves into that industry and giving back for a real purpose. And again, not coming in just saying, Hey, we’re this brand buy our products. We actually want to be part of what you’re doing and a part of that solution. So we stay with what we’re doing as a company. And I think it’s, I think it’s massively game-changing.
NY Launch Pod: Well, that is a wonderful note to end things on, Matt Bennett. Thank you for stepping back onto the New York launch pod. How do people find out more about you and Dreams Aren’t This Good Salsa?
Matt Bennett: Yeah. So the best is dreamarentthisgood.com. Instagram is @DATGCartel. And on both of those outlets, you’ll find information if you’re interested in investing in our company as well.
NY Launch Pod: And if you want more information about the New York Launch Pod, you can visit us @nylaunchpod.com for transcripts of every episode, including this one, and follow us on social media @nylaunchpod. And if you are a super fan of the podcast, man, are you a super fan of the New York Launch Pod?
Matt Bennett: Oh, I should’ve had my mug today. I’m drinking tea and you have my mug.
NY Launch Pod: If you are a super fan like Matt and you still have your mug, or even if you don’t please leave a review on Apple Apple Podcasts, it is greatly appreciated and does help people discover the show.
