Caroline (00:02.128)
Today I have Leslie Danford with me. Leslie is the founder and CEO of Vita Minis, the first scale brand functional food and beverage for families. She's always been passionate about nutrition, but she is not a foodie. In 2020, she combined her personal interests with her formal business training to launch the company. Previously, she worked in beverages and consumer products at large corporations, and she earned her MBA from Harvard and her bachelor's from University of Chicago. So welcome, Leslie.
Leslie Danford (00:29.966)
Thank you, thanks for having me.
Caroline (00:32.688)
So I want to start with the beginning of your journey. You worked for many years in the corporate space and then in 2020 you decided to start Beat -A -Minis. So how did you go from idea to concept to physical product?
Leslie Danford (00:41.102)
Yes.
Leslie Danford (00:46.062)
Oh wow. You know, I think if I look back on it, it was very, very incremental. So the idea had been percolating for a long time. So I worked in the alcoholic beverage industry and we would see a lot of research coming through around functional beverage, better for you, nutrient density, clean label. And I knew at that time that...
we were never gonna do anything with those innovations in the alcohol space. So I would just kind of like file it away in my head. Meanwhile, I had always been a nutritional enthusiast. So like the idea probably was percolating years and years before I finally got around to doing it. But when I got laid off during the pandemic, I was out of work. I first jumped headlong into job searching, but in 2020, I mean, I got laid off right at the start in March. No one was hiring. So...
Honestly, I started tinkering around because I that was like what I could do, you know, it was like well I can't there no one's hiring right now, so I'll just Explore these ideas and one of the first things I did was interview friends and family about their needs in the space so that I remember I typed up a formal interview guide and it was even if this was somebody that I chatted with as a friend all the time I would say okay today we're doing an interview and I took notes and the questions were things like
What are some things you struggle with when it comes to your health and nutrition? What do you like about products out there? What do you don't? So it was almost like a, like a, like a survey or something, like a customer survey. And that insight, plus just my background and knowing what I wanted, which was something that was whole food, clean label, but not a pill or a gummy, because I don't, pills make me nauseous and gummies have too much sugar. It kind of like all came together. And once I had the idea,
One of the challenging things about this kind of a product, because it's like these little shots, you can't really just like make them in your kitchen, which is, I think, an easy way to tinker if you're doing another kind of food. So I did have to find a co -manufacturer to make it for me. But I found one after much, much, much hard research and like digging and calling and everything, found one who would do a small run for me, like just a tiny amount so that it didn't feel like a huge risk.
Leslie Danford (03:06.958)
So it's very incremental. It's like, okay, I'll just look into this and then I'll just tinker around with that and then I'll just make a few of them. So yeah, that's kind of how it went.
Caroline (03:16.496)
So when you say small run, as someone who has their own product and has brought an idea to manufacturing to life, I mean, you don't have to tell me specifically, but I mean, are we talking like 500, 1000, 5000, 10 ,000?
Leslie Danford (03:29.998)
Yeah, it ended up being 5 ,000 bottles, which is not nothing, you know, but it was a small enough amount that I thought I can go through this. If people don't really like it, I can give it away. You know what I mean? And the dollar amount was such that if I lost the money, it wasn't going to kill me. It would be painful, but it wasn't like a make or break. And I didn't have any investors. I was just, it was my investment in this product myself. And so I had this conversation with my husband where we were like,
It could be all for nothing or it could be something and it's like a small enough amount that we felt comfortable with it. But yeah, I started out with 5 ,000. There's a co -packer that I'm now talking to that I've been trying to work with for the last couple of years. Their minimum run is like 30 ,000. So that gives you some context for this was just like a teeny amount. But the bigger companies really, you have to have volume to like use their line.
Caroline (04:22.192)
Yeah, no it does. I'm very familiar with that and thank you for sharing that because that leads me to my next question because, okay, you found this co -packer that was able to do a small run for you but in addition to like the nitty -gritty things like designing your website, doing the marketing, running your social media, you know, getting into retailers or are we doing direct to consumer? Like how did you, did you do those things or did you outsource those things?
Leslie Danford (04:46.542)
Yeah, so let me think where to start with all that. So I mean, the very beginning to come up with the formula, I did partner with a food scientist, formulator, person. So it was affordable because it was an individual who could help me. And that was really essential because to make a product shelf stable and like stable in a package format, you have to formulate it properly. So I had the vision, he had the technical side. So I outsourced that.
Anything I could do myself with some confidence I did do even if I didn't like doing it so like cold -calling hundreds of co -packers and things like that. But there were some things that I didn't have the knowledge to do like building out the website. In retrospect, I do believe Shopify which is the platform I use is straightforward enough I probably could have figured that out. They have some templates where you kind of upload images and content. I probably could have done that myself.
looking back on it, but honestly at the time I thought I don't know how to do a website I'll just get help with that. And social media, it was a combination I did a lot of it myself but I did have someone do professional photography for the website and for the products which was really helpful for social. So it's like I leverage somebody else's really great imagery because I think you know when you're just shooting it yourself.
doesn't look quite the same. But again, in retrospect, I don't know that I really needed to do that because I think people like the really raw, authentic content too. So I'm trying to think if I missed any other areas. I did a lot of just researching, digging around, I joined some other startup communities where I could ask other people dumb questions. So if it was a basic thing that I could figure out, that's what I would do, do it myself, kind of trial and error. But if it was something more technical, I did have to outsource it.
Caroline (06:38.992)
thing that and I went down a similar path which you'll know with I'm on Shopify I had to hire someone to do the website I could have done the templates now that I'm more into it hired a commercial photographer all the things but the accounting I couldn't learn
Leslie Danford (06:53.198)
Oh, yeah, I do have some background in that. So I worked in finance for a bit and I did go to business school. So I knew enough to be dangerous, but I do I recognize at some point I will need help, especially like the tax side of things. It gets very technical. But I figured like if I knew what a bottle cost and what I was going to sell it for, that was like the basic building block. And then the rest of it can build from there.
Caroline (07:08.72)
Are you?
Caroline (07:17.712)
Are you just selling in the United States or are you going into international territory now?
Leslie Danford (07:21.198)
in the United States only for now, primarily because of labeling requirements. I think it's just when it comes to foods and beverages, it gets a little bit hairy. So I figured there's a lot of growing room here first.
Caroline (07:34.128)
Okay, you mentioned financing in the beginning and you started off with self -funding and I know as you continue to scale that is tough because you need money to make money.
Leslie Danford (07:44.494)
Yes. So I did fundraise eventually from friends and family, and I'm currently fundraising through angels, like individuals. But in the beginning, it was just me. And it was nice in the beginning. It just takes some of the pressure off. I mean, you, of course, have pressure on yourself, but you don't have to prove as much because in those early days, you just have no idea what you're doing. You don't know if it's going to work. You have no data. You have no evidence. So I think back on that, and I know some people do raise money.
in those very, very early days, but when I think about it, it would have to be someone that just knew you, like your mom or your best friend or something. Because if it's somebody that's even like one step removed, they're gonna wanna see data, traction, evidence, all of that.
Caroline (08:29.648)
I love that you went that route to the angels and then the family and friends because I feel like sometimes you just think when you think outside funding you think automatically private equity and you don't have to go from zero to 100 like that, you know?
Leslie Danford (08:38.51)
Oh.
Yes, I mean, I have talked to a few bigger funds, but they all want larger companies. And so I really now view angels and friends and families like a necessary middle ground. I think in past years, people did crowdfunding, which is also a great option. But when I looked into it, it's a lot of work. I mean, it's almost like a full -time endeavor for a couple months to build out the platform and you're almost campaigning.
and then you're getting investments in the right, you know, a couple hundred dollars, maybe a thousand. Whereas if you can court the right contacts, you could get a check for 25, $50 ,000 from one person. You're just going to get a lot more leverage if you're a solo entrepreneur going that route. But I mean, that can only take you so far, right? So at some point, if I do need more money to get even bigger, I'll have to come from somewhere else.
Caroline (09:32.912)
So I wanted to talk to you, I'm big into healthy lifestyles, healthy eating, clean eating, whole foods, exercising, all the things. But you know this, we have these monster companies, Kellogg's, Kraft, all these, shoving these marketing messages down consumers throats, so they have these huge mazillions of dollars of ad budgets and they're selling us these things as healthy drinks, food, whatever, fill in the blank at the grocery stores. They're all processed, they're all full of crap.
Leslie Danford (09:39.182)
Awesome.
Caroline (10:02.608)
So how do you gain market share with such an amazing clean product when you're up against that?
Leslie Danford (10:09.774)
Yeah, it is daunting. And it's funny because when I developed the product, my formulator was like, you have to put sugar in it. You have to put this in that because that's what consumers want. You have to. So I understand why the industry is that way. It's like the whole system is built to operate in that way.
But what I think really works is try to find where your leading edge person is. Like, where are they? So for me, I started to get real traction in a store here in the Midwest called Fresh Time, which is similar to Whole Foods, like a natural grocery, but with a more developed supplement section. Those shoppers already know what you just said. They already read labels. They understand. I don't have to explain to them what zinc and magnesium are, which it's funny because I've done some sampling in other...
channels where it's like people are like vitamins. What do you mean vitamins? It's like what? So I think if you can start where those leading edge people are, that's where you can build up the traction and the knowledge. I do think overall the whole landscape is shifting. I mean, the likes of the like the crafts of the world are looking into how to get into these spaces. It's going to take them a while. But as a startup, you're nimble, you can move faster and get going.
and then ideally they can buy you, you know, a couple of years down the road.
Caroline (11:29.552)
Okay, you mentioned the sugar thing. I want to talk to you more about that. So, and you don't have to give away any secret ingredients. I'm not asking everybody that, but I mean, what I've seen in some of the supplements and things I consume are, you know, honey or bee pollen or, you know, coconut water. I mean, did those things work for a shelf life from a shelf life standpoint? Yeah.
Leslie Danford (11:51.277)
to sweeten the product. You know what I ended up doing with vitamin D is I wanted the product to be based off of contents that delivered some of the nutrition. So for example, this Immune Support is orange pineapple juice. So a good chunk of the vitamin C is coming from the orange juice. And that's it. So I didn't add any sweetener. So I'm really relying on the juice as the base to be the sweet flavor. But there's no added anything in there because you're right. I mean, honey or
Agave, or it's all the same. Like I think some people think like, oh, it's better if it's not corn syrup and probably is. But if you're trying to cut down on like the grams of sugar that you're consuming, it's all the same in my mind.
Caroline (12:30.384)
So VitaMini's mission is to getting attritional needs met easy, fine and guilt free. Can you unpack that further? Like what are the benefits? How should it be consumed? All the things.
Leslie Danford (12:40.526)
Yeah. So I, one of the things that kind of led me to make the product was same as what you were saying. I noticed all of these pills and gummies have tons of sugar, weird ingredients. I don't like that. Especially if you're taking something regularly every day or so. So that I knew. And then I also wanted something that was easy. So like pills, maybe they're easy, but they feel like a chore.
and they do make me nauseous. Mixing, like yeah, you could juice all these different fruits and vegetables. That's so much work, you know what I mean? So I had to be clean, easy, and then beyond that, just digestible. Like I said, pills make me nauseous and liquid is the best format for absorbing vitamins. So I wanted it to be like clean, easy, effective, and taste good because really if it doesn't taste good, you're not gonna do it.
So that's kind of how I came up with it. And in terms of the benefits, so immune support has as much vitamin C as three oranges, as much zinc as four avocados, and as much magnesium as five cups of spinach. So you're basically getting a real punch of these great nutrients that help your immune system. Lots of other benefits too. Magnesium is great for sleep, muscle relaxing, zinc is good for cell regeneration, vitamin C for your skin. So in addition to keeping you from getting sick, you get all these other benefits.
And then gut health has as much fiber as a cup of broccoli and as much probiotics and two cups of yogurt. So it's really the fiber kind of feeds your gut and helps with regularity. And then the probiotics adds new bacteria to your gut microbiome.
And they're learning more and more about how much gut health is linked to everything, like your mental health, your stress levels, even your immune system. So the two kind of go together. So in terms of how people use it, that is something I really look for a lot of feedback from my best customers to ask them, like, how are they using it? We have a lot of people that just pop them into lunch boxes, purses. It's less than three ounces. You can take it on an airplane. So it's kind of like a convenient little take -along.
Leslie Danford (14:45.87)
We have a lot of people putting them in smoothies as boosters. And then, yeah, I'm trying to think a lot of like different things. A lot of people keep them in their fridge, just grab one, you know, when they want a little snack or like I've heard some customers say after lunch that feeling when you like want something sweet, they'll have a vitamin E because it kind of like checks that craving and they feel like they're doing something good. A lot of people taking them with breakfast. That's a very like routine driven meal, which I love. So, um,
Yeah, there's a whole range, a whole range of ways.
Caroline (15:17.104)
gonna ask that next is are people taking them first thing in the morning or you make a good point about after lunch, a little sweet something?
Leslie Danford (15:24.11)
It's a range. I think morning is, I think a lot of people sort of seem to try to check the box in the morning. Like, okay, I got my nutrients. I got all my good stuff. But other than that, it is such a range all throughout the day, all different occasions. Because it's just juice, it's not one of those things where it has to be on an empty stomach or you have to eat. It's very flexible. So whatever, I really think like whatever will get you to take it. Because the thing is like, we all have so much to do and you don't want another thing that you have to do. So whatever works for you.
Caroline (15:54.704)
Do you see from a strategy standpoint, you doing more direct to consumer online or more taking over more retail space?
Leslie Danford (16:01.294)
It's a really good question. I believe, especially for consumable products, you have to be both.
During, when I first launched a company during the pandemic, I wondered like, are we ever going out back into the real world? But it's obvious people like going to the grocery store. They like perusing and exploring and discovering things. So you have to be there. But at the same time, the pandemic also pushed more people to shop online, do subscriptions. So what we're doing, our strategy is, um,
Retail kind of drives the online and I've noticed that like my Amazon business for time before we jump on the call my Amazon business has grown as I've Expanded in retail because people see the product and they just look for it on Amazon So in retail stores, you can taste it. We do a lot of sampling You can buy a single bottle which is like a lower price point and then it has this QR code if you like it you come to our website drop your email and then we sort of funnel people towards a 12 -pack and a subscription
So if you really love it, buy a 12 pack and then get on a subscription, save yourself some money, save the shipping fees. And that's like the way we kind of do it. Cause if you think about it, this is 4 .99, a 12 pack is 49 .99, you're not gonna spend the 49 until you've tasted it. So that's kind of how we're thinking about both together.
Caroline (17:16.912)
So in addition to Amazon and certain stores you mentioned in Chicago area, how can our listeners find you?
Leslie Danford (17:23.854)
So Fresh Time is in the Midwest, they have 70 locations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, that area. And then Fruitful Yield in the Chicago area is another 10 locations. And then we are on Amazon. We are on our website, vitaminesbrand .com. Definitely drop your email, send you a coupon. And then I just, just launched on Walmart, like within the last couple of weeks. So that's exciting.
We still have to optimize the search terms. If you just put vitamin E, sometimes you just see a lot of vitamin brands. But working hard to expand our distribution more and more.
Caroline (17:58.32)
Walmart's huge, so congratulations there.
Leslie Danford (18:00.526)
Thank you. It's just the online is at the stores yet, but I'm like, if we can do well there, you know, maybe we'll get places. Thank you.
Caroline (18:06.768)
Thanks for being here.
