Dream big pt. 2 - Tastings

It is now the beginning of 2018 and I had never made Olokoi for any of my friends or even my husband. At this point, my husband and I had already been together for 18 years! (married for 10 of those years). Oops lol. I know, it sounds crazy, but I always just thought that this was moms sauce and so I would have it when I went home to visit.

The first half of 2018 was about taste testings. I would do tastings exactly how my mom would perpare for a party. She would always serve the sauce with gyoza. Mom would make the gyoza filling, which is a blend of beef, pork, green onions, garlic, soy sauce, and black pepper. She would then wrap every single gyoza by hand, fry them up and then make a batch of Olokoi just for the gyoza. She still does this today if I ask nicely :) Mom would also prepare this same perfect setup for all of dad’s work functions and it was a winner every single time. My parents and I like to say that we’ve already done 40+ years of tastings. I had a wonderful example to look up to, so I did just as mom did. I would serve Olokoi with hot gyoza and well, just like the tastings that preceded mine, Olokoi was loved every single time. Thank you for showing me the way, mom!

Well now that I knew Olokoi was loved by all, I had a big problem. I had no idea what to do outside of tastings. All I knew is that I had to start doing something. I didn’t know what to do first, who to call, etc. No one in my family had ever started a food company so I was definitely doing this from scratch. I tried researching online, but I only got so far and then got frustrated.

So my curiosity lead me to research local sauce producers. Lucky for me, I found Shaka Sauce. I clicked on the Contact link on their website and started typing. I introduced myself and let them know that I wanted to bottle a sauce, but didn’t know how to begin and wondered if I could ask them a few questions. Within a day of sending that email, the owner (Matt) had contacted me and offered to get coffee to discuss. I was so happy, I couldn’t believe it. A few days later we met at my favorite bagel spot, Shirleys Bagels.

I showed up with a notebook, pen, and a mind ready to receive all that he had to share. Matt was incredibly generous and kind. He walked me through the steps of how to start, who to contact, where to get bottles, where to print labels, etc. I remember feeling so blown away at the time, why would a perfect stranger be so willing to help another stranger. I asked him why and he said, “it’s not my knowledge to keep”. I’ll never forget that and I think about that often. So when people ask me today how I started and why I am willing to help…I say the same thing. It’s just the right thing to do.

Here was my to do list:

1. Find a co-packer (the company that will produce Olokoi)

2. Get a business license

3. Get a sellers permit

4. Register business name with the county

5. Get an EIN

6. Open a business checking account with my new business name and EIN

7. Work on artwork for label

Items 2-6 were pretty easy to do, it was just paper work. However 1 and 7 took the most time, because those are the most important items on the list. This list took all of 2018.

I had started working with a local co-packer and was so excited to get started with this company. I couldn’t believe it…sitting in their conference room with sample sauce bottles everywhere, thinking…wow, this is actually happening.

I visited the co-packer several times, we did 1 test batch and that was it. This co-packer unfortunately had to close its doors and now I had to start all over. Feeling defeated, I reached out to my friend Dean who is the founder of ThunderKing Coffee and asked him if he was familiar with any co-packers. He was familiar and he pointed me in the right direction. I had a meeting with the company that Dean suggested, NDAs signed, and we got to work.

This new co-packer said the first thing I had to do was work with a food scientist. That is the person who takes your home recipe, converts it to a bunch of percentages for commercial production, and then also does the nutritional analysis. This is a fascinating process and I got to be part of it all. Food science is really amazing!

Since I am the only person leading this project, I had to really harness my project management skills. While I am working with the new co-packer and scientist, I am also working on the logo. Art is critical and I had the best artist to reach out to, my brother-in-law, Alex. He is incredibly talented. I didn’t know what the label for Olokoi was going to be. I had no creative ideas or suggestions so he went ahead and just gave it a shot with what he thought would be Olokoi’s logo. He made a really awesome first run of the label. It was a beautiful tiki style logo with coconuts and palm trees. I loved it, but he said, “this isn’t it”. Coconuts and palm trees are too common and not as creative as it could be. He encouraged me to tell him more about Palau and our customs. I did and from what I shared with him, he made the beautiful logo that we have today. He is a true genius and I am forever grateful. He made my mom so proud and that means everything to me.

Now that I had a logo and nutritional analysis, I was able to produce a label. Alex put all those pieces together for me. With a label in hand, I was on the hunt for a company to print the labels. I only visited 2 places and ended up working with The Label Shoppe. I highly recommend this place to everyone if you need printing needs! They are wonderful people and do an amazing job every time.