An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Everything is going to take three times longer and cost three times more than you think it will. Be prepared.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Caue Suplicy.
Brazilian-born, former professional triathlete, Caue Suplicy, is the Founder and visionary behind Barnana. His goal of introducing Americans to delicious, better-for-you and better-for-the-planet snacks is being realized as Barnana is now the #1 organic plantain chip brand in the U.S. During the pandemic, Barnana doubled its sales, introduced innovative new products, acquired its longstanding Latin American supply and manufacturing partner, and assembled a world-class executive leadership team, all with Caue at the helm. Caue is particularly proud that his brand has experienced this growth while strictly maintaining his core value of paying its network of 1,400 smallholder farmers — many of whom are Indigenous to the Amazon — a 30% premium for growing organic bananas and plantains using regenerative farming methods. The impact of this farming income reaches 6,000+ people directly in rural areas of Ecuador, and 3,000+ indirectly. Barnana was one of the first food brands to use upcycled raw ingredients to make its products and reduce climate-harming food waste. To date, Barnana has upcycled many millions of plantains and bananas. Caue’s passion for upcycling bananas and plantains into delicious snacks helped catalyze the burgeoning upcycled food movement.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I grew up in Curitiba, Brazil, and was the child of two eco-conscious, intelligent parents who fed our family a very healthy diet of organic, whole foods. I had a dream of becoming an international professional triathlete and my mom and dad supported my vision from the start. My father is an architect and he fashioned a dehydrator from an unused window from a project and started making dried banana snacks for me in our backyard. Nothing was added, and the chewy texture and naturally-sweet taste was the perfect fuel for my workouts. When I came to the United States, I realized this banana-based ‘candy’ would be a huge hit as my teammates begged me to share. I always wanted Barnana products to be organic, but it was my mom who encouraged me to work with the small farmers to help support their environmentally-conscious way of life. I’m so glad I listened to her, because our farmers are the secret behind Barnana’s success. When I started, nobody was talking about the massive problem of food waste. We started upcycling bananas and plantains because the fruit was perfectly good and nutritious and cost less than the perfect-for-international-shipping specimens. Using the imperfect fruit saved us money and provided more income for the farmers. And, this process diverted fruit from becoming methane-producing food waste that’s a big contributor to the climate crisis. I started with one account in a natural food store, and I personally delivered the product from my car. Now, I see entire walls of Barnana products at Whole Foods and we have a highly popular item at Costco nationwide. I never expected to get this big or have this much impact.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A big part of the philosophy of the school I attended was the Golden Rule, to treat others as you’d like to be treated. It’s stayed with me my whole life and can be applied in so many ways, personally and professionally. I use it when we do business at Barnana in general, especially in how we treat our farmer-partners. Also, the better-for-you organic snacks we make are things I eat myself and give to my family and friends. We make foods that we love to eat ourselves. That’s not true of many companies.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
When Barnana was beginning, I read “Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar Inc.” by Gary Erickson. It talked to me because it’s the story of how he started his company and all the challenges he faced and decisions he had to make along the way. He tells how he, as a cyclist, was looking at things in a different way than the typical business founder. As a professional triathlete myself at the time, I related to him. His book was both educational and inspiring, particularly his reasons behind big decisions, such as why he kept the company private. After I launched Barnana, I met Gary at a trade show and gave him Barnana samples. He became a fan and that was very motivating.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
That’s true. When we launched people told us they’d tried the same thing without success. You have to have a good idea, a delicious-tasting product if you’re in the food industry, an excellent team, money, and then be in the right place at the right time. And a little luck definitely plays into success. There isn’t a simple formula or everyone would do it. Just focus on what you do best and be as well-rounded with your team as possible. Hire people who are better than you in areas where you don’t excel. Never underestimate the value of experience. I’m thankful I had my well-seasoned team onboard when the pandemic hit and the entire food system experienced incredible challenges. And remember that all of the basic functions of a business are equally important. Also, I didn’t have formal mentors but I had a lot of incredible people helping me along the way. Our investors were tremendous. One important thing to remember when starting on this path is that you can go to school to become an entrepreneur, but you need to have a certain level of strong drive inside that you can’t learn in school. The fact that I was a professional athlete really helped in business because building an organization from scratch is like an endurance race. Whoever stays in the longest, adapting to inevitable challenges along the way, has the highest chance of succeeding.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Start with the Internet and search for competitors both direct and in a larger category. For example, direct competitors to Barnana’s Organic Ridged Plantain Crisps are other better-for-you salty snacks. A step beyond that is all chips, then all salty snacks, and then the universe of all snacks. Visit websites for industry trade associations and look at their member list. If your product, like ours, has a special environmental benefit, check lists of their members. Barnana is a founding member of the Upcycled Food Association and the UFA team is very helpful and supportive of start-ups using upcycled food ingredients. If I was starting out today, I’d make a call to them and ask questions about my competitive set. I also spoke with many experts in nutrition, like registered dietitians and nutritionists specializing in athlete counseling.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
There are lots of different ways to start a food business. I started by making batches of Barnana Bites at home and sampling them with family, friends and my athlete buddies. I got a lot of excellent feedback. Having an e-commerce website was important to me, so I went to Go Daddy to see if Barnana.com was available. Someone already owned it, but it was about to expire, so I waited three months and was able to buy it when the owner didn’t renew it. I bought it in an online auction. So, make sure you grab the URL you want. Be sure to check on trademarks for your business and product names. Trademarkia.com helps search for existing trademarks. At the same time, I met with a business lawyer who explained the different benefits of various corporate structures, such as S Corp, C Corp, LLC, and advised me on trademarks, patents, etc. (In addition to our corporate structure, we decided to go the extra step and become a Certified B Corp because it was important to our values.) Hiring the right lawyer is essential and will save you many headaches and problems down the road, such as with helping prepare the proper paperwork for a patent we own for a proprietary plantain production method.
Another critical element is to find someone to make your product. I found Barnana’s first co-packer in an unusual way. I went to a grocery store and looked at products similar to my vision for Barnana. I saw that chocolate-covered raisins were a small version of what I wanted to create. I called the brand and they put me in contact with the Director of Operations of their co-packing company to see if they would work with me. He put me in contact with the CEO of another co-packer who was open to talking with me. He graciously made some samples and we shared them at the Natural Products Expo West when it was a much, much smaller show. It turned out to be the perfect place for us and we’ve been exhibiting ever since.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?
I wish someone had told me:
- Everything is going to take three times longer and cost three times more than you think it will. Be prepared.
- Invest in hiring good people as soon as you can because they’ll save you a lot of money and heartache along the way. You get what you pay for with talent.
- Hire long before you think you’ll need certain skill sets. Try to be one step ahead.
- As an entrepreneur you need to experience things for yourself, even though you’ll be given lots of advice about what to do and not do. Sometimes you have to learn by making mistakes. Learn quickly from them and don’t make the same mistake twice.
- Listen to those you admire. Ryan Black, founder of Sambazon, told me to stick with organic. It was great advice that I’ve followed. It’s not the easy way, but it’s the right way and has paid off. Barnana is now the leading organic plantain and banana snack brand in America.
- Bonus: Stick with your gut. Try to gather as much information as you can. Believe me, you’ll get lots of information from lots of people, but this is your dream and your values. Stick with what you believe is right.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
It depends on the type of product the reader wants to invent. I know about sweet and salty snacks. I recommend they find out if the product already exists. If it’s a food product, make samples and get reactions — insist they are honest and open — from a wide range of people to gather as much feedback as possible. There’s opportunity for all types of products, but some will have bigger mass appeal. If you want to scale your company, try to understand if people who are different from you would also like the product. Then, get a physical prototype to test and sample.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
At the beginning, I think you should try to do it yourself because it’s your idea and you want to make sure your vision is incorporated into the product and business. If you experience challenges trying to bring your idea to life, then is the time to get a consultant. But do your own work first. If you’re starting a company, it’s very important that you’re invested in yourself and keep the passion alive.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
It depends on how fast you need to take your product to market. If you haven’t discovered other competitors, I recommend bootstrapping as long as you can without taking the money so you can be independent. But, if you need to be first-to-market before competitors, you might need to get investors more quickly. Before going to VC, check for angel investors. But, the most important thing I’ve found is that when you bring investors on board isn’t as critical as who those investors will be. I had investors from the beginning and they were very aligned with what I was trying to do. I’ve found that investors buy the person and the vision. Some investors might want to buy into a hot new brand but they don’t necessarily buy into your vision. If you go with them, they might try to change your vision and business.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
This is the best part about my journey. Barnana’s success allowed us to deepen our commitment to organic farmers by acquiring Agroapoyo, our Latin American supply and manufacturing partner for the last eight years. As a result of the transaction, the owners of Agroapoyo are now equity shareholders in Barnana. This step was taken to cement a long and fruitful partnership that was built on mutual respect and shared values around the environment and job stability for over 1,400 small farmers who supply and support Barnana. Barnana and Agroapoyo have supported farmers in Ecuador to become organic certified, which helps increase their monthly income by more than 3x. I love helping our farmers continuously improve growing practices, including increasing yield and maintaining biodiversity. I also think Barnana has made the world a better place because we created delicious snacks people love, and thereby we’ve helped propel the upcycled food movement. People buy our snacks because they are ridiculously craveable. We’ve made it easy for people to do good with every bite.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I think we’ve done that with upcycling. When Barnana started, we didn’t know that food waste was such a big issue related to the climate crisis. As we grew, every time people heard about our upcycling of bananas and plantains they wanted to learn more. Lots of people were inspired by our ecological efforts and the fact that our growers were paid for crops that previously would have ended up as food waste. Some of these people even started their own companies that center on upcycled food ingredients. We are very proud that we spearheaded the upcycled food movement, including being a founding member of the Upcycled Food Association. It’s great to see all the brands and organizations doing incredible things and raising awareness about the importance of food waste reduction.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I’d love to share a meal with Ji Sinegal, co-founder of Costco. He exemplifies my ideal of benevolent management, believing that if you treat employees well they’ll do the same with your customers. As a result, Costco has the lowest employee turnover rate in retail. I’d like to thank him for setting up a level playing field whereby a great product can be successful without having to buy shelf space with slotting fees or pay for co-op advertising. You can’t buy your success at Costco. If their members love your product and it sells, it stays in the mix. Barnana’s Organic Ridged Plantain Chips have been a mainstay in Costco for three years years now and this success has led others to stock our products.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Caue Suplicy Of Barnana On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
