CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Bland food leads to boredom and boredom leads to take-out! That’s the mantra of Cali Cali Foods, which was established in the summer of 2018. Fast forward to the summer of 2021, and Cali Cali’s range of products have made their mark on several FMCG categories. Maev Martin talks to founders TOM GANNON and NIALL McGRATH about the next step on their mission to make healthy eating tasty, while positively impacting on society and the environment
During a holiday in California, fit food entrepreneurs Niall and Tom met up with LA resident, fellow Dubliner and celebrity chef Donal Skehan. Over Korean BBQ tacos, the trio hatched a plan to take the melting pot of Californian street food flavours and the latest Californian healthy eating trends to Europe with a new brand called ‘Cali Cali’. “Flavour, quality and healthy benefits were of the utmost importance from the beginning,” says Tom. “Equally importantly, we wanted to develop a brand that gave consumers a beacon of (orange!) light in the confusing category of
healthy food and snacking. We wanted to bring the two worlds of healthy living and eating together with the flavours of foods of the world. “This mindset led us to embark on a number of adventures that took us from northern San Francisco to the tip of Baja California in Mexico as we sought out the authentic new and old flavours of California. Whether it was small batch beef jerky in Monterrey or family recipes of hot sauce in the street markets of Cabo, it was on these trips that we decided to launch not just one style or category of product, but a range of products across several categories, while staying true to our healthy eating and living mission.”
With that in mind, Cali Cali immediately launched into two completely different categories – snacks and condiments/sauces. “This was a deliberate move as we didn’t want to get pigeonholed into one product category,” says Niall. “We followed this up with four new products in three new categories. In May 2020, we launched Cali Cali Pop-A-Grains, Cali Cali Superbars, Cali Cali Supersnacks and Cali Cali Seasonings. All these products are delivering flavours that we are extremely proud of. In fact, we are so proud of them that we are entering these four products for the Great Taste Awards. They have fantastic, better-for-you credentials, and their launch has been executed in a manner that is relevant to todays’ discerning consumers.” Real food The concept of providing great tasting Californiastyle street food flavours combined with California-style healthy benefits, while using real food ingredients, is the common theme running through Cali Cali’s pop-a-grains, sauces, protein bars, crisps, seasonings and snacks. “For example, our new Cali Cali Superbars are great tasting, with flavours such as Chocolate and Himalayan Sea-salt, but they are also high in Vitamin D, high in protein, gluten-free, and
vegan-friendly,” says Niall. “And they have been created without sugar alcohols, which you find in most protein bars. Finally, we use real Belgian chocolate, which is sweetened with chicory root.” The term ‘real food’ crops up quite a bit on the Cali Cali website, so how do Tom and Niall define ‘real food’? “We spent a lot of time working in the US over the past few years and we looked at several trends in the market and one of the most significant wholesale food distributors, KeHE, as well as Whole Foods Market, were very particular that they would not sell products that contained sugar alcohols such as maltitol and erythritol,” says Niall. “These are sugar alcohols that are used by most protein bars to sweeten their chocolate. The market had moved on and manufacturers in the US had stopped selling these products. They were looking for products that tasted great but were using ‘real foods’ as they put it, hence the emphasis on ‘real foods’ on our website and in all of our product information.” No hidden nasties Consumers are also looking for products that display their ingredients in a clear and easy to understand format. “They want to read the rear of the pack and be able to understand the ingredients without having a science degree,” says Niall. “What we are looking to do with Cali Cali is to get ahead of this trend and bring this to European buyers and consumers, so you find that with all our product offerings, the shopper simply reads the information on the packs and they won’t find any nasty stuff. For example, in our Supersnacks, they will simply find chickpeas and fava beans.” Another term that features regularly on both the Cali Cali website, and in conversation with Tom and Niall, is ‘bad stuff’. “We don’t use bad stuff in any of our product ranges, and by that we mean artificial flavours, preservatives, or MSG,” says Niall. “However, we still manage to deliver outstanding taste profiles in our allnatural seasonings.” Their range of wet sauces is a perfect example of a product that is manufactured from purely wholesome, natural ingredients. Fellow Love Irish Food member company, Follain in Cork manufactures the five sauces in their wet range and is also manufacturing Cali Cali’s new Gold Collection of premium ketchups, which uses premium ingredients such as real Kimchi. The Gold Collection will be launching in the market this month. Cali Cali’s ‘better-for-you’ credentials are further highlighted via partnerships with other reputable manufacturers and retailers. They teamed up with Manor Farm, yet another Love Irish Food Company, to create a chicken Meet the MakersFresh wing meal kit complete with Cali Cali sauces, and featuring blue cheese, celery sticks and recipes, which they sold through Fresh the Good Food Market. Cali Cali is also working with Kerrigan’s Butchers on a summer BBQ meal kit that was launched over the June Bank Holiday weekend and will be available for delivery nationwide. Start-up challenges Niall and Tom founded the Cali Cali with chef Donal Skehan, and they are keen to stress the importance of his input to the success of the business. “Donal was instrumental in the development of the authentic street food flavours of the sauces and crisp ranges,” says Tom. “He was living in LA at the time, so having him on the ground was a great advantage because he had his finger on the pulse and was up to speed with all of the latest trends and flavours.” According to Tom, one of the most important aspects of launching a new brand is being clear about the brand identity. “Being clear from the outset about our brand identity and what it stood for really helped us to keep on track and reduce wheelspin,” he says. “We were convinced that there was a gap in the market for an umbrella brand that consumers could always trust to give them great tasting and healthy food, as well as snack products that were healthy but done in a cool and relevant way. We went so far as to create a ‘brand world,’ which was based in an LA street food market, and we tested every decision, from product to packaging, against the question ‘would this work in an LA street food market?’ That became the benchmark for any decisions that we made regarding the development of our product ranges.” Cali Cali’s sauces are currently their bestselling ranges. “They are neck and neck on the sales front at the moment, but we expect that our sales mix will change following the launch of our new ranges over the past few months,” says Tom. Packing and distribution Cali Cali has opted for co-packing (contract packaging) over own production for its product lines. “This approach affords us the flexibility to scale up and down, as well as to switch into better performing ranges,” says Niall. “It also allows us to offer more ranges without the constraint of needing to own the lines. In addition, machinery and factories are expensive in terms of upfront costs. We are looking to increase the product range that we produce here in Ireland, and we anticipate further production in Ireland for the range in 2021.” He also points out that contract packers can be an important support when it comes to product development. “We like to develop our recipes in-house and to bring the products to the contract packers, as this keeps our ideas fresh and innovative, hopefully at the cutting edge,” says Niall. “But we also like to work with the teams in the contract manufacturing companies to optimise the recipes, so their expertise is vital in the production process.” One of the biggest challenges facing any start-up business is getting its distribution strategy right because that is what creates sales for the brand. Both Niall and Tom have exceptional business backgrounds in distribution. Having worked in Richmond Marketing for 20 years as marketing director (Niall) and head of sales (Tom) they were responsible for the launch of major FMCG success stories such as Red Bull, Hendricks Gin, Peroni and Vit-Hit. And, of course, they were the duo that co-founded the Fulfil brand. “We understand how getting this right is key,” says Niall. “You can have the best plans and the best brand, but if you have no sales flowing, the wheels will come off the wagon very quickly. For that reason, we initially partnered with leading FMCG sales, marketing and distribution company Tennant and Ruttle to get this right. They gave us the platform to grow and pushed us on to the point where we were able to take our products to international markets, and that is what we are now doing with Boyne Valley.” Future vision In October 2020, Cali Cali announced that it had entered a strategic partnership with the Boyne Valley Group. “Boyne Valley have taken a majority stake in our operation, but the Cali Cali business is a separate entity and will continue to be led and managed by both myself and Niall,” says Tom. “However, our strategic partnership with Boyne Valley Group allows us to leverage the fantastic resources of Boyne Valley in Ireland and in export markets. Over the next five years, we would like to see the brand on sale in a mixture of approximately four strategic and 10 trading markets and, as a result, delivering significant turnover. Our vision for Cali Cali is to be the go-to brand for tasty, healthy, easy, and ethical eating/snacking, delivering the flavours of the world to a growing customer base in Ireland and in international markets.”
How did Cali Cali first engage with Love Irish Food? We came across Love Irish Food at Bloom many years ago. When we were setting up Cali Cali Foods, we engaged with them early on to bring them on the journey of what we were trying to achieve and how we were trying to keep as much of the manufacturing on the island of Ireland. CEO Kieran Rumley and marketing manager Aidan Long were very supportive from day one. How important has Love Irish Food been to the development of your business? The organisation has played a key role in the development of the Cali Cali brand. We took a stand in the Love Irish Food tent at Bloom in May 2019. It turned into a massive sampling and consumer feedback session, with tens of thousands of consumers getting the opportunity to sample our products. The feedback we got from consumers and buyers who attended led us to adapt some of our flavours and packaging. That meant that, when we launched in Q4 of 2019, we had a more tailored offering for consumers and buyers. Would you recommend membership of Love Irish Food to local producers? Absolutely – not only have they helped in the initial engagement piece around Bloom, but also in terms of developing our profile with advertising and promotional activity. Love Irish Food membership also gives you access to like-minded businesses that you can network with.
+Meet The Makers: Rye River Reveals NPD Plans And Targets Growth
Rye River Brewing Company boasts an exceptional record of achievement in the World Beer Awards and an internationally recognised BRC accreditation. Its CEO and founder Tom Cronin talks to Maev Martin about double digit growth in retail, future investment plans, and bringing a new brand to market this year.
At the start of 2020, Rye River Brewing Company had an ambitious plan to grow its export business and target the on-trade in Ireland, but were stopped in their tracks on 12 March when the first lockdown got underway.
It soon became apparent that there would be further lockdowns and that Rye River would have to endure a stop-start year that would put paid to its ambitious plan.
“Fortunately, we are very retail-oriented in Ireland and that has been our strategy since we restructured the business in 2017,” says Cronin. “From March 2020 onwards, we witnessed the consumer movement towards drinking less and drinking better.
People were savouring the food and drink occasions and our range of beers, and craft beer in general, works well in so many food and drink pairings.
All of this helped us to grow our retail sales by over 50% last year, a level of growth that compensated somewhat for the fall off in exports and in our on-trade business. We grew overall volume in our brewery by 11%.”
Rye River Brewing Company has 57 employees and that number will rise to 61 in April.
“Our business, which includes 60,000 square feet of warehousing, is located on a five-acre site in Celbridge, Co Kildare, so we could facilitate a lot of pod operations and we have kept Covid-19 out of the business to date,” he says.
While 2020 was a rewarding year in terms of growth and bringing a lot more consumers into the craft beer category, Cronin points out that the pandemic brought a lot of challenges and increased costs, from the requirement for social distance markings in the brewery, to sanitisation facilities, PPE and stock write offs.
However, during the pandemic, Rye River took a decision to support the independent retailer. “When the government asked us to step up and find roles that would retain employment, we reassigned staff who had been working in on-trade, export, and brewery tour roles,” he says.
“They started working to incentivise a lot of independent retailers, including convenience stores and independent off-licences, to take our brands on board. I know that e-commerce is an important and growing element of business for so many companies, but we have strong retail relationships, from independent off- licences to national listings, and that is how we sell our beers.”
European Exports
While Rye River didn’t realise its export ambitions for 2020, it was still a pretty successful year for them, as they are well established in a number of European markets. “Some of our brands and distributors managed to do well in the pandemic,” he says.
“For example, we have a listing in the Italian retail chain Esselunga and, as a result, the export plan for 2020 for Italy wasn’t as hard hit as other markets, such as Germany, where we were targeting more on-trade customers, so our level of success in any given market depended on the distributor strategy that was employed.”
The UK has never been a significant part of Rye River’s export strategy. “It is very difficult for ‘everyday craft beers’ to trade in the UK and most of our ranges – McGargles, Grafters, Solas, The Crafty Brewing Company – along with most craft beers in Ireland, are in that category. They find it hard to compete with ales on the price per litre and it is difficult for Irish craft brewers to make strong margins as a result.
“Also, because we have been growing in volume over the past few years, we are impacted on our duty threshold in the UK, so it is difficult for us to compete with other smaller Irish craft brewers in that market. Brewdog has changed the mindset of what craft beer is in the UK. It is a massive global entity and they have set the standard in terms of pricing in retail.”
However, there is nothing everyday about their Rye River Seasonal Range, which targets the more discerning craft consumer.
“With that type of premium beer we do small batches each year for the Irish market, and for select export markets, including the UK, when we have the volumes and opportunity to do so. We shipped that range to the UK over Christmas and it was very successful for us.”
Sourcing Ingredients
COVID-19 hasn’t negatively impacted Rye River’s brewery operation when it comes to sourcing the ingredients required in the brewing process. “We have strong supply chains and we forward purchase hops and malts, so we have a lot of security in our supply chain that smaller breweries mightn’t have,” he says.
“With Brexit, we had some challenges in the first few weeks of 2021, but they seem to be easing. We ironed out the initial nervousness around lead times and border checks that arose without affecting our manufacturing plant or our supply chain.
I’m not confident that we won’t have further delays as a result of Brexit as the year progresses, but we are experiencing a period of grace at the moment.
“Kieran Rumley of Love Irish Food was a huge support to our business in the months prior to Brexit and kept us informed about what was happening. We also set up a steering committee last May to prepare for Brexit as best we could. We didn’t invest in massive systems – we just watched what was happening on a weekly basis and we got supply guarantees from our major suppliers.”
A lot of Rye River’s malt comes from the UK as they use a type of malt in some of their beers that isn’t produced in Ireland.
They also source a lot of hand turned malts – a traditional method of malting – in Britain. “Many of our beers have some element of these hand turned malts and we have worked with a traditional maltster in the UK who has been supplying us for the past few years,” he says. “These are the types of initiatives that we believe give our beers an edge and allow us to win so many awards internationally.”
World Beer Awards
Rye River Brewing Company has garnered an impressive haul of awards in recent years, both in Ireland and internationally, that now totals 170. In 2019 and 2020 they were the most successful independent craft brewery at the World Beer Awards (WBAs). In 2020 alone, they won 30 awards at the WBAs.
“The World Beer Awards are the internationally recognised symbol of quality, so to have 30 beers universally acclaimed as best in class, best in country and best in world is quite an achievement,” says Cronin.
“Our export stout won the best in world award at the WBAs last year, which we regard as one of our most impressive accolades to date. There are only six or seven categories for the world’s best and we won the one relating to stout.
“Stout is a popular brew choice for many craft breweries around the world, as it allows for massive creativity, so for us to brew a high ABV export stout and have it recognised as best in the world is a nice nod to an Irish craft brewer.”
Five Successful Brands
According to Tom, Rye River Brewing Company brew in excess of 30 unique recipes. “There is no shared recipe across any of our brands, the only sharing is in terms of the brewing process,” he says. “We are a respected and trusted brewery with household brand names and our quality and consistency has resonated well with consumers. Our brand identities are strong and appeal to different consumers.
“McGargles has become a household name in terms of craft beer in Ireland and is a very strong performer for us, but all of our ranges are performing exceptionally well.
The Crafty Brewing Company range is quirky and confident, Solas is an innovative, entry level craft beer, Grafters is a no nonsense, hard- working beer, as its name suggests, so we are good at developing successful brands. Not many breweries have five successful brands in their own right.”
The Crafty Brewing Company is a Lidl exclusive, both internationally and in the domestic market, and Cronin says it has become one of the most successful Irish craft beer brands over the past few years.
“It has won seven WBAs and I’m unaware of any private label brand that has won that many WBA awards,” he says. “We also have other retailer exclusive brands. Tesco have Solas and Dunnes have Grafters and they have won WBAs, so the 30 awards that we won in 2020 are across all of our beer ranges.”
Future Investment And NPD
Cronin is excited about their new brand that will be rolled out in 2021, a development that is the culmination of the growth they experienced in 2020, their investment plans, and the ramping up of their brewing operation.
“We implemented a three-year plan following the restructuring of the business in 2017 and we came through that successfully, hitting all of the markers that we set, and we set out on a new five-year strategy in 2020,” he says.
“While the pandemic threw us a massive curveball, our volume growth of 11% shows that we are on track with the plan, and in the next four years we will be investing in new packaging lines and new tank farm additions, and we will have to invest in a new brewhouse at some stage.
“We brew 32 brews a week and, starting in April, we will move to a 24/7 operation at our existing brewhouse. We are launching a new brewery-led brand under the Rye River brand name in the second half of 2021. We believe that this will provide the next surge of growth for the business.
“We have developed a successful story in craft brewing without having any of our brands carry the Rye River name, so we decided to bring a brand to life that recognises who we are. Apart from the Rye River Seasonal range, which is small batch, this will be the first of our everyday beers to have the Rye River name.”
The company has been developing this brand for the past 18 months, working closely with Zuilmah Wallace in The Thinkhouse in Bord Bia, and with Cork-based Greenhouse, who carry out all of Rye River’s brand work.
“The new beer, which will launch domestically, will be heavily export orientated when markets open up, and I think our reputation for being really good brewers will stand to us, as we will introduce Rye River to new markets with this new brand,” he says.
What will also stand to them, no doubt, is their BRC standard. “We have achieved a high quality mark that proves we are a world class brewery, and I believe that we are the only independent brewery in Ireland with this accreditation.
It took 18 months of investment to ensure that we achieved it, but the BRC standard is a massive door opener when you enter the international retail market.”
Room For Improvement
He acknowledges that the Irish craft beer sector is a very competitive market, making it difficult to secure retail space. “However, competition and choice is really important for the consumer and we have seen growth in the independent craft beer category in Ireland over the past five or six years,” he says.
“In 2014, 1.4% of all beer in Ireland was craft beer. In 2020, with the popularity of craft beer being accelerated as a result of the pandemic and the ‘drink less, drink better’ movement, it is probably about 2.8% of the beer market in Ireland, which is a doubling of the market since we started out.
“And there is room in export markets for the many Irish craft breweries that offer great branding and consistency to do well.”
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