S9 Ep48: Taste Training: How to Turn Picky Eaters into Food Explorers with David Fullner and Danny Auld
“In the CPG industry, so many individuals are just so friendly and eager to help emerging brands and founders succeed. Ask for help and they’re always willing to make an introduction.” —Danny Auld
"We didn't know what we needed to know until we knew it. But part of that is also asking questions. Until you ask, they don't know if you have the answer or not. So, you always need to ask. Always need to connect with people." —David Fullner
Early childhood nutrition is more than just filling tiny bellies with food. It's about creating lifelong eating habits that can shape health, curiosity, and cultural understanding. The first few years of a child's diet can determine their relationship with food for decades to come.
Danny Auld and David Fullner are the co-founders of Kekoa Foods, a groundbreaking baby food company born from their personal mission to provide nutritious, globally-inspired meals for children. As an educational psychologist and former entertainment industry professional, they've developed a revolutionary approach to introducing complex flavors and healthy eating habits from infancy.
Tune in as Justine Reichman explores with Danny and David their innovative "Taste Training" program, uncovering how parents can help children become adventurous eaters, why 93% of kids aren't eating recommended vegetables, and the transformative power of introducing global flavors from the very first bite.
Connect with David & Danny:
David Fullner, the visionary CEO and co-founder of Kekoa Foods, turned his passion for cooking, gardening, and healthy living into a bold mission after the birth of his son in 2013, when he saw the lack of flavorful, high-quality baby food options. Motivated to create something better, he began crafting organic baby food blends using fresh vegetables, herbs, roots, and spices — a unique approach his son instantly loved. What started as a personal solution quickly evolved into Kekoa Foods, a company now known for challenging industry norms and prioritizing taste, wellness, and ingredient integrity. Under David’s leadership, Kekoa Foods is reshaping the future of baby food to ensure every child has access to clean, nutritious, and flavorful meals.
Dr. Danny Auld is the co-founder and President of Kekoa Foods, where he leads business operations, sales, financial strategy, and production logistics with a strong focus on excellence and community impact. He manages fundraising, investor relations, and compliance while also shaping the company’s public presence through digital content, influencer partnerships, and nationwide food donation initiatives. With a PhD from Fordham University and a background in academic leadership, Danny brings strategic insight and a passion for meaningful change. Beyond his professional work, he enjoys cooking, family time with his husband and co-founder David, and their son, and actively mentors young professionals while supporting efforts to combat food insecurity and promote youth development.
Connect with Kekoa Foods:
Episode Highlights:
01:49 Kekoa Foods: Providing Nutritious Food to the Youngest Eaters
04:14 Introducing New Flavors to Young Eaters
08:00 Enhancing Flavor and Ensuring Safety
13:00 Taste Training Program
18:40 Funding and Networking in the CPG Industry
23:43 Strategic Retail Expansion
Tweets:
Forget everything you know about baby food. Explore how two dads are creating globally inspired, veggie-packed meals that kids actually love as @justine.reichman sits with @kekoafoods co-founders, Dr. Danny Auld and David Fullner. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season9 #KekoaFoods #HealthyKids #KidsNutrition #ParentingHacks #BabyFoodRevolution
Inspirational Quotes:
03:51 "When a baby tastes something new for the first time, a lot of times, they'll make a face. And we as adults interpret that as, they don't like it. But for them, it's not that they don't like it, it's just new." —David Fullner
04:58 "We eat what we know. Children are exposed to the cuisines of their cultures, and that's what they eat, and they grow up with it, and it becomes familiar and comforting. And so, if you limit your child, that's what you're going to see." —Danny Auld
07:24 "We're solving the problem for our son to make sure that he has healthy, nutritious food, we also wanted to introduce that to the world, to have them have the ability to have that adventurous food and nutrition as well." —David Fullner
07:40 "It's not uncommon how people start to do things for themselves and out of passion, and in filling a void or solving a problem, they end up creating an amazing company." —Justine Reichman
14:43 "We're really trying to not only make wonderful products, but also to educate folks about the importance of eating better and healthier throughout their life." —Danny Auld
15:34 "Children are much more receptive to foods as they get older. They're in that ‘no’ stage, and they're trying to assert their control over their life and not have their parents constantly telling them what to do." —Danny Auld
19:07 “In the CPG industry, so many individuals are just so friendly and eager to help emerging brands and founders succeed. Ask for help and they’re always willing to make an introduction.” —Danny Auld
20:08 "It's always about asking and having to put your pride a little bit aside. Sometimes, just ask somebody, can you do this for me?" —Danny Auld
20:55 "People want to help. They want you to succeed. They want to connect. They want to partner. It's about building up that confidence." —Justine Reichman
21:18 "We didn't know what we needed to know until we knew it. But part of that is also asking questions. Until you ask, they don't know if you have the answer or not. So, you always need to ask. Always need to connect with people." —David Fullner
27:07 "There's money out there; there's opportunities out there. You don't have to give up equity if you don't want to." —Danny Auld
27:22 "If you don't get it the first time, don't give up. Keep applying; keep looking at these opportunities." —Danny Auld
Transcription:
Justine Reichman: Hello, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine. And today, I'm excited to share with you that we have two Founders, proud fathers, David Fullner and Danny Auld, whose innovative baby food company is not only supercharging childhood nutrition, it's expanding pallets with exciting recipes guaranteed to inspire a new generation of foodies. You're not going to want to miss this. Whether you are new to the community or you're joining us for the first time, I want to welcome and tell you that this is not one to miss.
Hi guys. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really excited to have you here and learn all about Kekoa. Kekoa Foods is named after your son. So we have Danny and David, if you guys would just introduce yourselves to our audience, whether they're listening or tuning in, know a little bit more about all of both of you.
Danny Auld: Sure, I'm Danny Auld, and I am an educational psychologist turned CPG, co-founder of Kekoa, which I co-founded with my husband, David Fullner.
David Fullner: And that makes me David, co-founder and husband. And I spent 20 years in the entertainment industry, and that is a perfect segue to being a CPG owner.
Justine Reichman: Okay. How does that correlate? I thought maybe you would come up with something crafty and clever on how it was going, but that's okay.
David Fullner: Well, I guess you could say I could manage things quite well.
Justine Reichman: So for those that are not familiar, and if someone in our audience was asking, what would you tell them about Kekoa Foods? How would you best describe it?
Danny Auld: Sure. Kekoa Foods is a company that has an organic, globally inspired palette, expanding line of pouch berries that include many veggie forward recipes, as well as a couple of fruit forward recipes. And our goal is to provide these to our youngest eaters, and ensure that they love to be adventurous healthy eaters, eating nutritious food for life.
Justine Reichman: And I think that's so important, because I'm an adventurous eater. And there are so many children out there that I watch and see with their families who only eat things like chicken nuggets, french fries or pasta. I don't know if it's because of what they're given at younger ages. I don't know if it's because, nowadays, we really cater to what our kids want. But I think expanding their palate right away just seems like such a great opportunity for them to be more open to all the different kinds of foods out there.
"When a baby tastes something new for the first time, a lot of times, they'll make a face. And we as adults interpret that as, they don't like it. But for them, it's not that they don't like it, it's just new." —David Fullner
David Fullner: We've been together for a while, so I guess we are talking at the same time. We actually created a program based on that exact problem called taste training, and we launched it with Dr. Nicole Avena, who is a neuroscientist. And so we've partnered with her to help educate parents on the fundamentals and the importance of taste training. And because you have potty training, you have sleep training, but then there's really nothing out there to talk about. What should I do to make sure that my child is eating really healthy food? And it's not one and done. If you're going to go have your child brush their teeth and they say, no. Well, you're going to brush your teeth because you don't want bad teeth. So you have to keep at it and keep trying new things. It takes a long time for someone to develop a taste or a liking. And an interesting thing is, when a baby tastes something new for the first time, a lot of times, they'll make a face. And WE as adults interpret that as, oh, they don't like it. But for them, it's not that they don't like it, it's just new. And so if you keep at it, they actually will enjoy that taste, and be open for further adventurous eating as they get older,
Justine Reichman: So they get curious. Is what you're saying? If I'm hearing you, those faces, we should not look at them and say, oh, my God, they hate it. Let's give them something else. They want to try it again. I think I can relate to that. Because sometimes when you try something new, or you try something and you're not sure what it is or what it's going to taste like, the first bite, you kind of go, I'm not sure.
Danny Auld: I just want to say that so many times, we'll talk to someone at a demo that we're doing, and their first response is, oh, my child doesn't eat vegetables, so I don't think they'll like some of your products. And I'm like, well, what do you give them for vegetables? They're like, well, I tried giving them broccoli one time, and they didn't like it. So I just don't give them that anymore. But the thing about eating in foods is we eat what we know. And so if you go around the world,children are exposed to the cuisines of their cultures, and that's what they eat. They grow up, and it becomes familiar and comforting. And so if you limit your child and don't give them vegetables, and don't keep offering these unique flavors that are really healthy and nutritious, then yeah, what you're going to see is the chicken fingers and the french fries, butter with noodles, all of which are really lacking in good nutrition.
Justine Reichman: And that makes total sense to me. I know I was a very adventurous eater because my parents fed me all sorts of things from the time I could eat. I'm not saying this is the best for a kid. But my mom and dad were feeding me sushi when I was like three or four, and lobster, meat, steak. Whatever they were going out for, I was eating it. From Mexican food to whatever. And I think today, it allows me to be really open to things. Not particular, but not picky.
David Fullner: Our son, one of his favorite food is sushi.
Justine Reichman: How old's your son?
David Fullner: He will be 12 in a few weeks.
Justine Reichman: Wow, exciting. So tell me a little bit about the back story.
"We're solving the problem for our son to make sure that he has healthy, nutritious food, we also wanted to introduce that to the world, to have them have the ability to have that adventurous food and nutrition as well." —David Fullner
David Fullner: So Kekoa Foods was actually born out of the love of our son, because he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a gestational carrier, and he was 8 weeks premature. And so for his fighting spirit, a local native cultural practitioner gave him the middle name Kekoa, which means "brave warrior". And so when it was time for him to eat solid foods, I wanted to make sure that he had the most nutritious food possible, especially being 8 weeks premature. So I made all of his food from scratch and did research, and realized that you can actually introduce herbs, spices and vegetables, and a wide variety of food beginning at 6 months. But of course, every child is different so you want to talk to your pediatrician to make sure that it's the appropriate time. But at 8 months old, he was eating curry vegetables, and that's very advanced. And so as I kept posting it on social media, we had friends and family saying, your son is eating better than I eat, and I'm an adult. Where can I get this? And we thought, well, that's actually a fun idea for a company. Because as we're solving the problem for our son to make sure that he has healthy, nutritious food, we also wanted to introduce that to the world, to have them, to have the ability, to have that adventurous food and nutrition as well.
Justine Reichman: Wow. What an idea. What a way to get there, too. But it's not uncommon how people start to do things for themselves out of passion. Filling a void or solving a problem, they end up creating an amazing company, and that's one of the reasons we do the podcast because we feel like that inspires others to also build and innovate in the same space. I'm curious about all these herbs, because I feel like they can be spicy or they can be particular, and there's people that don't like things like turmeric, ginger, or I don't think Cilantro is in yours, but some of these flavors can be very specific. When you first introduced it, we thought it was spicy, and we shouldn't give spicy food to a kid. What were your thoughts going into that?
Danny Auld: Yeah. So all of the spices that we incorporate are savory, but there's no heat to them. So David developed a special curry blend that doesn't have any pepper in it. We have a shawarma. Again, there's no pepper in it. It's just a savory flavor. What we find is when adults try the curry a lot, it's very polarizing. So people either love curry as an adult, or they hate it because they've just never grown accustomed to it. But when a child under two is introduced to it, again, it's that novelty and it is exciting. So we find so many kids that are really enjoying the curry vegetable mango, even though their parents are like, I never want to eat that.
Justine Reichman: I like green curry. Share one of your recipes with me, and we could trade. I'll give you mine. You give me yours. We'll taste them out. I know it's really spicy, but I like a little kick. My dad and my partner also love spicy food. So whenever I find hot, spicy salsas or sauce, I buy them. I try them, and I think my tongue is going to fall off.
Danny Auld: I would agree. David and our son really like spicy food. I like flavor with a hint, but not as much to the extreme that they like.
Justine Reichman: So I'm curious, you guys have been around what? About three years?
Danny Auld: Yeah, this is our fourth year. We launched 2022. And before we launched, we did a Kickstarter just to kind of test the concept and see what people's responses were. And it was really exciting. People were like, I'm so happy to see vegetables in baby food, because it's so many purees of fruits and not as many veggies. And as part of doing this, my background is education, and David and I decided to partner with the Newark YMCA. So folks who wanted to support us as we launched our company were able to purchase the product and have it sent to Newark where they have a housing facility. So they have up to 200 families at a given time, and up to 80 infants. And so when we launched our product in 2022, we then did a panel with a nutritionist, as well as a grassroots organizer to talk to the families about the importance of good nutrition reading nutrition facts panels and ingredient labels. We were also able to contribute the food that our backers from the Kickstarter had purchased and donated to Newark.
Justine Reichman: Way to kick that off, partnering with Newark and the whole thing is very smart.
David Fullner: Thank you. It was just great to meet the community there. A lot of the parents, they're focused on making ends meet and paying their bills. So reading labels isn't really the top priority. It's checking that price point first. And so we launched on Amazon, and later added our Shopify store. And it was really in October of that year that we got our golden ticket. David and I were presenting to the buyer via Zoom. It was still a Zoom presentation for the Sprouts Farmers Market baby category, and we just loved the varieties that we had, and the different vegetable combinations. So we had three that were on the market at the time, and four we had just tested with our co-packer. She was like, I'm gonna stop you right there. If you can get all seven, I'll give you a nationwide rollout by May. So David was like, thank you. And my response was, well, we have more slides to go through.
Justine Reichman: That's amazing. I'm curious, because we do have listeners and people that are tuning in that might want to go through a similar path. How did you get to the people at Sprouts? What was your path?
David Fullner: It's a long story, but I'll make it short. We worked with the Rutgers Food Innovation Center at the very beginning, and they have a fantastic program to help launch, or do research, or help small brands really bring their product to fruition. And so we partnered with them, and then they were offering at the Fancy Food Show a table at their innovation center where we were able to demo our product at the time. And one of the foragers of Sprouts Farmers Market came over, and then we had followed up with him after the show, kept talking and kept the conversation going. And then he said, we are doing our last pitch slam via Zoom, and we want to have you to be part of it, and you can meet the buyer. And we thought, that's fantastic. And so we met the buyer, and got the national rollout.
Justine Reichman: That's amazing. So that was a few years ago. So today, what does the rollout look like for your product?
"We're really trying to not only make wonderful products, but also to educate folks about the importance of eating better and healthier throughout their life." —Danny Auld
Danny Auld: Yeah. So we're in Sprouts nationwide. We have expanded to additional retailers as well. So we're in Central Market in Texas, in the Pacific Northwest, we're in PCC, Market of Choice, and Hagan in the Midwest. We're in Pete's Fresh in Chicago, Woodman's, we're launching in fresh time in all stores now. It should be any week that they'll be getting the products on the shelf. On the East Coast, we're in Wegmans, as well as ShopRite and Fairway. So yeah, we're just really excited. We're really resonating with buyers and customers who are looking for more veggie forward combinations for their children and their families. And as David mentioned about the taste training program, it's really helping people to kind of understand it. Because something about food, people are quick to say, oh, let's just dismiss this. And we don't have to worry about my child eating vegetables or eating healthier products or foods, but then we see what happens, right? Children aren't eating vegetables. 93% of children in the US don't eat the RDA of vegetables, and 50% hardly eat a vegetable on a given day. And then this is awful. It was shocking to me, but then it kind of correlates with our outcomes in health. We see type two diabetes, obesity is a huge issue, especially considering what a wealthy country we are. We have access to such quality food, and yet what's become normal is the unhealthy. So we're really trying to not only make wonderful products, but also to educate folks about the importance of eating better and healthier throughout their life.
Justine Reichman: Specifically around the taste training, what does that look like?
Danny Auld: We have seven products. And basically what we do is we take the more savory veggie forward flavors that we mentioned children may need to try a couple of times before it becomes accepted and normal. And then we just kind of introduce those flavors over a couple of weeks. And then it's time for the next bundle to try three more flavors. And then we end it with the fruit forward flavors, because we know that children love apples. Many children love mango, so it's a little bit easier for them to kind of accept something that then includes ginger or paprika. But the idea is to introduce them early and often, especially during that period between six months and two years, because children are much more receptive to foods as they get older. They're in that NO stage, and they're trying to assert their control over their life, and not have their parents constantly telling them what to do. And they're also going out into the world more. They're in daycare centers. They're off to school, preschool. So when you have that opportunity to really control what your child eats at a very young age, that's the best time to expose them to healthier foods, and to ingrain those positive behaviors.
Justine Reichman: I'm curious. I understand what the taste training program does. And I'm wondering though, like, let's just say I have a couple kids, and I want to hear about this taste training. Are there instructions that come with it? Is it something we do with you online? Can you explain that a little bit?
Danny Auld: Yeah. We have the information on our website. You don't even have to use our products. It's introducing a gentle herb or spice to bring out the flavor of the food without having to sweeten it or add salt to it. And so you can just start doing it with your own groceries that you're purchasing. Try broccoli one night for your child, maybe add a touch of lemon juice. Or maybe the next day, do a little sauteed garlic and oil. And then maybe the third day, add it with another vegetable just so that the child can try it in different combinations and formats. Because maybe that first time, it's not too exciting for them. But that fifth time, you really hit the winner with them.
David Fullner: And the great thing about our pouches, traditionally, you look at food in the pouch and you think, all right, baby. But because our pouches are so nutritious and they have such wonderful flavor to them, parents are incorporating our pouches into other foods, continuing through toddler and then into childhood, and even adults are eating it as well. Because you can take our curry vegetable, mango or shawarma artichoke and cauliflower, people are mixing it with rice or noodles. So like a butter noodle, you'll have a shawarma artichoke and cauliflower noodle, which now has a lot of, one pouch for an adult is 25% of your RDA vegetables. So you mix that with the noodle, and they have something familiar, which is the noodle. But then they have the flavor and the nutrition of the shawarma. Or they're mixing our beet, fennel and kale with some salad greens. Or if they're using kale, squash, kale and turmeric, they'll warm it up and eat it as a soup.
Justine Reichman: Wow. So basically, if anybody wants to do this, whether they're eating your product or not, you walk them through the process on the website. We'll put the website in the show notes. I just wanted to make sure that we understood. I understood and got the concept of the program, but I wanted to know how people can access it. I want to go back a little bit as you were talking about Sprouts, and you talked about that you originally did a Kickstarter, and then you did this, and that's kind of a big roll out to do a nationwide thing. So CPG company, it begs the question, did you raise money? I mean, you said yes, which is what I would have done, and then figured it out after. But were you funded? Or was it self funded? What was that process like? Because I can't imagine it was that straightforward.
"It's always about asking and having to put your pride a little bit aside. Sometimes, just ask somebody, can you do this for me?" —Danny Auld
Danny Auld: So to date, we're essentially self funded with some debt financing. We did look into the investor route, the equity route, and it was a really tough time when we launched. We launched in 2022, and CPG investors weren't really putting their money into new companies because the state of the market was questionable. So a lot of folks were reinvesting in their own portfolio brands, but we were building a network while we were doing that. I have to say the CPG industry, so many individuals are just so friendly and eager to help emerging brands and founders to succeed, so they're always willing to make that introduction. We mentioned that we know Djenaba who runs Hudson Kitchen. That was an introduction from another person in CPG, and then she made introductions for us. David mentioned Rutgers Food Innovation Center. Some other resources that have been tremendously helpful for us are startup CPG, so they have a Slack channel, and they advertise all kinds of opportunities for brands. Naturally, the Network is a wonderful organization. They have a chapter in several parts of the country, including the Bay Area here in New York, and then some other things that helped. We did an accelerator program in 2023, so that's now called Beyond CPG, and mentors there are always willing to make introductions for us. We could kind of turn to them like, hey, we're trying to get this ingredient, and the current supplier we have doesn't have it anymore. Do you have another option for us? So it's always about asking, and having to put your pride a little bit aside sometimes. Just ask somebody, can you do this for me? Or can you hook me up? And the overwhelming response has been very favorable and always willing to help.
"People want to help. They want you to succeed. They want to connect. They want to partner. It's about building up that confidence." —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: Well, yeah, it is nice when the community is so integrated, and people are always willing to help. I love that. If there's anybody I can connect with anybody, I would. And I think that that's the same across the board. And I think a lot of that isn't just in the startup world. I think it's the culture. From my experience, I feel that it is as intimidating as it is to start a new business. Once you get in there, people are really helpful. People want to help. They want you to succeed. They want to connect. They want to partner. It's about building up that confidence and feeling like you're in that community, and you too can share and connect.
David Fullner: Yeah. There was a point where everyone was never in the CPG world. They all eventually came here, and similar to us as small business owners, we didn't know what we needed to know until we knew it. But part of that is also asking questions. As Danny had mentioned, there are so many people out there with the knowledge that you're seeking. And until you ask, they don't know you if you have the answer or not. So you always need to ask. I always need to connect with people. And that's one thing that we love to do because people have connected us and paid that forward for us. We love doing that for other brands as well, or even more experienced brands, or brands that have been around longer than us. We may know something or someone that they're looking for at that time, happy to connect, happy to bring people together. That's why this industry is so wonderful, because people are willing to support and help each other.
Justine Reichman: So one thing I wanted to ask you, and I thought about it earlier. But when we were talking about the name, the name of your company, and it's your son's middle name. I was wondering, what was his reaction? This was a few years ago. He wasn't a toddler. He knew what was going on. Was he your taste tester? Obviously, this is his food.
David Fullner: These are our recipes based on what I actually fed him. And so, yeah, he was taste tester number one. And if it wasn't approved by him, then we had to go back into the kitchen.
Danny Auld: We started iterating the idea for the business. We were doing some videos, and we tried to incorporate him in some. I think he was about five the first time that we did that, and he just thought it was silly. It was basically blooper roles. And then as he got a little bit older, he was getting kind of embarrassed. But then we had neighbors over for taste testing, and all the children in the neighborhood love the products. And so they were like, this is really cool. This is amazing. So you could see him shifting a bit like, yeah, I guess it is cool that I have a company.
Justine Reichman: Embarrassments, right? So what's your plan going forward now? You've accomplished so much in the last few years, and it's a hard industry to break into. It's expensive for shelf space. What is your strategic plan for going forward?
Danny Auld: From a sales perspective, keep going. So driving sales, increasing brand awareness, and making sure that we're just doing the best that we can with all the retail partners we currently have, and then being strategic about new opportunities that we take on. So for example, a lot of people want to be in Walmart. We're launching right now. We actually launched this week on walmart.com, so we're looking to drive awareness among the online shop. At Walmart and then work with the buyer when we're ready so that we can look into expanding into the stores and walking before you run situation. And then in terms of products, I know this one has a few ideas.
David Fullner: I have quite a few ideas for new products coming soon, but you'll have to wait and find out.
Justine Reichman: Is it about building new flavors? Or is it a departure from that squeezy package to just something else that you're innovating?
David Fullner: I would say a little bit of all of the above.
Justine Reichman: But what's your timeline on that?
David Fullner: As Danny said, we have to do it. And do it financially in a very financially sound way. So we have to make sure that we have the financial resources to roll things out, get all of the testing done, the formulations and all of that completed correctly. So we don't have a definite timeline, but hopefully later this year.
Justine Reichman: Okay, that's exciting to stay tuned. You'll have to keep us posted.
David Fullner: Lots of flavor, lots of vegetables, and continuing our mission of helping to feed, not only kids, but adults healthy, delicious food.
Justine Reichman: Yeah. I like the peas and mint, and I think they're great to throw in my bag so that when I get a little hypoglycemic, or I've been busy running around from meeting to meetings, I can just eat that. It was just beautiful when I opened it. I was like, wow. You're still innovating, you're still being scrappy, if you will, with regards to financing yourselves. For those folks that are out there that want to keep their business themselves, what would you say to them about what you learned and what you might do differently so that they can maybe have a little bit of an easier time, and learn from your journey?
"There's money out there; there's opportunities out there. You don't have to give up equity if you don't want to." —Danny Auld
Danny Auld: There's definitely resources out there that are offering grants as well as low interest financing. So an organization to check out is Hello Alice. So they really believe in supporting female founded and minority owned businesses, including LGBTQ. And while being certified owned is great and that opens a lot of doors, Hello, Alice doesn't necessarily require that. They're willing to work with folks who are representing that even without the certification. As LGBT founders, we've worked to start out quite a bit. They have a strong presence on the West Coast, in the Bay Area, as well as in New York and through the state of New Jersey. We've gotten a lot of great funding. So they've provided us with some grants. And because of them, we were able to exhibit at the Fancy Food Show in New York in June of 2023 which was a really wonderful brand awareness opportunity for us. It led to a lot of press for us, and a few new retailers that started to purchase become retail partners with us. So I would say that there's money out there, there's opportunities out there, and you don't have to give up equity if you don't want to. And then we applied for an SBA loan very early, and we didn't get it. So another big piece of feedback would be, apply for things and go for it. But if you don't get it the first time, don't give up. Keep applying. Keep looking at these opportunities. So once we were in Sprouts and we hit the revenue threshold that was required, suddenly the SBA loan became an actual opportunity for us. So there's definitely funding out there that you can get, but without having to give up your company as well.
Justine Reichman: Those are some great recommendations and resources, and I really appreciate you sharing them because we have so many folks that listen to these podcasts that have a germ of an idea, and then other people that are excited and really far out there. But equally, between the innovation with the better-for-you product, with the training program and how to educate the people around the table, and the moms and dads that are buying food for their families, as well as the founders that are looking to innovate, I think we've covered it all, provided resources for all, and it's just been such a great conversation. I appreciate you sharing all that. For those folks that are interested in purchasing the product, what's the best way to go about that?
Danny Auld: They can go to kekoafoods.com, and we should have thought of this before, but we'll create a promo code. Maybe something brief. What would you suggest, Justine?
Justine Reichman: EI, and then whatever the percentage is.
Danny Auld: Sure. Let's do 25, for 25% off. And we'll make sure to email that over to you so you have it.
Justine Reichman: That's awesome. So for those folks that listened all the way to the end benefit of the discount code, Danny and David, thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciated this conversation. It was full of so many interesting facts, tips, and resources. It's just going to be a great conversation for those folks that are tuning in today, I think. Thank you again for joining me.
Danny Auld: Thank you so much for having us. We greatly appreciate it. Justine, it's been such a great conversation, wonderful conversation.
Justine Reichman: It has been. And I want to thank our listeners and viewers who tuned in today as well. We have a new episode every week, and we bring on Founders like David and Danny, and it's really great to be able to share these conversations with everyone. So if this was interesting for you, don't forget to share it with your friends. You can hear us on Spotify, where or anywhere you listen to your podcast. And if you want to watch the video, of course, our channel on YouTube. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at essential.ingredients. Thanks again for tuning in.
