Angela Bauer with Truly Good Foods

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host,

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business, and this is going to be a good one. Today, we have with us Angela Bauer with Truly Good Foods. Welcome, Angela.

Angela Bauer: [00:00:30] You’re welcome, Lee. Thank you for having us.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’ve got going on. Tell us a little bit about Truly Good Foods. How are you serving folks?

Angela Bauer: [00:00:39] We’re manufacturer and distributor of all kinds of snack products. So, anything from nuts, dried fruit, snack mixes, sweet and savory to candies and granola bars, energy type bars.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:54] Now, how did you get into this line of work?

Angela Bauer: [00:00:58] We’re a second generation family business. So, we’re not a lemonade, but we’re a family business. So, I worked at other places but, I guess, I kind of inherited this job as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] So, now, what was it like being part of a family-owned business? They have some unique challenges.

Angela Bauer: [00:01:15] So, we’re about 44 years old, so my parents started it when I was in high school. I’m the youngest of four children. And now, it’s just my sister and I. The others have all passed away. But it’s always challenging because you’re dynamic. So, your family, of course, come into the business and it evolves as you go. But you’re always your particular spot in the family, I was always the youngest, so I think I still get that treatment here. But, anyway, it’s good. It’s like everything. There’s the good and the bad with it, and you just got to see it and accept it and move on and work with it.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:51] Now, what did your parents see about this industry that attracted them to it?

Angela Bauer: [00:01:56] Well, my father back in the ’50s ended up just kind of coincidentally being in the nut business, like the peanut nut business. He thought it was going to be nuts, like knots and bolts kind of business that he went in to apply. But, really, it’s serendipitous. Anyway, so he ended up in that career. And then, with the ’70s, there was a merger and the buyouts, and he found himself leaning to find a job and just worked in the industry. And to the point he worked with some folks and kinda reinvented himself. And this is going to be a little bit more than just peanuts and caught on to the future. That’s it. That’s how I’m here.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:33] So, now, how did it expand beyond nuts into other kind of snacking food groups?

Angela Bauer: [00:02:41] So, we started in the late ’70s, the trend, obviously, a lot of things trend in California come this way. And when he was out, he started to see people doing different trend mixes, he then looked at it and thought how he could do it better, what else could he do, and that’s really how it brought about in the ’70s as bulk foods and coops and health. And that’s really how he kind of build more snack mixes along with nuts and dried fruits, and just anything else that people would want to eat that are shelf stable kind of snack products.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:16] So then, you pay attention to kind of the trends in the snacking and food industry in order to kind of create and evolve your products that you have into that kind of trend?

Angela Bauer: [00:03:28] Yeah. Of course, you always got to pay attention to the trends. And food and snacks, in particular, seem to be more and more trendy than they ever have been. And sometimes, it’s almost overwhelming to just catch up to the trend and something else is gone. Or sometimes the trend is super trendy and a lot of the complications in the world out there. But when it comes to eating, people say one thing and they do another. But we have to keep an eye on it all the time to know what to do and what not to do.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:55] And then, what about the sourcing of the food products, is that a challenge?

Angela Bauer: [00:04:02] It can be. I mean, right now, obviously, with the pandemic, a lot of us ae having supply chain issues. So, that’s certainly there. Other than that, a lot of the products we buy are from the US. I mean, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, but some products, you’re only going to get overseas – cashews, Brazil nuts, and macadamia. They don’t grow in the US. So, it have always been an important item. And, now, it’s a little more challenging. But I love it when people say, “Oh, I want to go and source locally.” So, kind of the local cashews. I’m like, “Well, no. Unless you go live in Africa or Brazil.”

Lee Kantor: [00:04:39] I guess the average person isn’t aware, I guess, of the supply chain in and where things are from. As long as it shows up on their shelf, they’re kind of happy. They don’t understand how complex that is to make something appear on the shelf.

Angela Bauer: [00:04:52] Yeah. That’s probably true. Yeah, most people don’t know a lot about it. I mean, as anybody, I don’t know a lot about other areas but I expect it to be what I want it to be. So, yeah, it’s interesting. It’s a lot more complicated than we always think everything looks, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:05:10] So, now, what’s the most rewarding part of the job for you?

Angela Bauer: [00:05:14] You know, because the business is kind of like — I have three children, but the business is sort of like my fourth child. I mean, I love my family first and foremost, but right after that, it’s the business. So, you know, it’s really important to us because, obviously, it’s not only work and source of income for me but, obviously, this is what we have, and the customers, we take a lot of pride in that. And quite frankly, I mean, you know, a lot of people are exiting the food business and the snack business, and we can sell out, and we could certainly do that. But we choose to stay because, I think, there’s a little bit of love and pride in our customers and in our employees that keep us. My sister and my husband are here. Sometimes I wonder, “Why are we still doing this?” But that’s the reason why.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:00] Now, is your customer kind of the end user-consumer, or is your customer kind of the store or the health food boutique, or it could be the airline or, you know, kind of a commercial entity?

Angela Bauer: [00:06:16] Well, you know, it’s kind of both. I mean, obviously, it’s a consumer. If you don’t like what I make, then I’m dead in the water, right? But where we do so directly, of course, is through the food service and retail channels. So, yeah, we’re selling more like to colleges and the hospitals, the cafeterias. We’re selling to the business and industry cafes. We do sell something in the airline. So, maybe you go in to the lounge to get a snack, I mean, all these things in COVID where we’ll do like that, I have to kind of remember what that was like, but that’s where we’re selling. And so, we’re kind of like — we’re probably a product that you’ve eaten and seen but you probably wouldn’t know that it’s us because we’re not really up there in the public. A lot of times, it’s poured in another container and served to you at a restaurant, for example, or a hotel.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:01] Now, when you’re coming up with kind of products, you’re kind of productizing some of your nuts and snacks and fruits. And then, you’re creating kind of new products around them using the same materials, right? Isn’t that a big part of the innovation and the creative elements of your job?

Angela Bauer: [00:07:21] Yes. I mean, it’s really kind of simple. I mean, we’re not really inventing. We do a new product or invent something, it’s really not all that complicated. You know, just another flavor on a nut or taking a different combination and making up some new and interesting mix is what we do. So, for example, we just did a Key Lime Crunch. So, we took a little Key Lime color a bit, and we worked like a crunchy cereal around that and some other items, and some covered items, and just made that up. So, that’s practically research. Maybe getting a little flavor or another coating on it- cashew, or pistachio, or a peanut that’s turned around and used in our Happy Hour Mix, stuff like that, sweet and sour hot bar mix, or that kind of thing. Bar, it’s not really a bar mix, but when you think about that, it’s more of a savory mix. That’s our innovation.

Angela Bauer: [00:08:16] And then, how do I put it? I put it in a Grabeez cup that can go in your golf cart or in your bookbag or, you know, you put it in a snack bag, you grab one ounce, and then eat it when you’re hungry later in the day. So, that’s the small innovations that we do.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:32] Now, when you’re coming up with those innovations, is that something that kind of the retailer is saying, “Hey, it would be great if we had this in, like, 100 calorie snack packs. Can you take this thing and put it in a 100 calorie snack pack?” Is that collaborative? Or are you kind of dictating to them, “Hey, have you thought of this?” Or, “Hey, Nashville Hot Chicken is popular now, why don’t we do kind of a hot version of that mix that’s popular?”

Angela Bauer: [00:09:00] It’s a little of both. I have to work with our customers. Sometimes, our customers just look to us to say like, you know, “Can you do it?” And then, other times, they’ll say, “This is kind of some constraint.” So, we’ll try to work around that. So, we have had a portion control and whether it’s one ounce or 100 calories. And then, “By the way, can you make it healthy?” Usually, we’d say, “We like that.” If the customer will say “Look, here’s the two or three most important things I want. I mean, what can you give me?” Because sometimes, if they try to figure it all out and it comes to, “Hey, can you quote me this or can you make this?” we’re like, “We can. But you know what? If you would just let me have a few parameters, we could probably do a better job at giving you two or three alternatives. And maybe, like, one of those are better and maybe we do need a third option.”

Angela Bauer: [00:09:47] But, otherwise, like in the Key Lime, Key Lime is a hot flavor. We sold a lot into the Florida market. But it’s really that strong flavor even nationwide. And so, we had a vendor that had a Key Lime piece, so we said, “Hey, let’s do something with this.” because we know we taught the customers enough to know there’s a demand. So, we always are trying to listen to what customers want, and keep it in mind, and see if we can make it turned into something that is commercializable, if that’s a word.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:14] Now, is it frustrating for you when there’s, like, so much information about nutrition and health that kind of is contradictory? Like on one hand, people are like nuts are healthy. And then, on another hand, they say that they’re fattening. You know, it becomes one of these things where, like, this a natural, healthy, vegan product, there’s a lot of pros to it. And then, there’s a lot of misinformation about, you know, some of the health around nuts.

Angela Bauer: [00:10:44] You hit the nail on the head, I’m smiling, you can tell by my voice. Because I love it when a customers says, “I want something healthy.” And my next question is, “What do you define as healthy?” Because, like you said, there’s vegan, and there’s vegetarian, and there’s fat, and there’s no added sugar, and there’s less added sugar, less sugar, and then there’s no artificial colors, and no artificial ingredients. But how do you define artificial ingredients, and GMO, and on and on? None of any can jive. We’ve got to really narrow it down right away for people. And I’ve been in the business so long that I’ve seen the trends come and go. But you’ve got to be careful, it sort of can make you a little cynical even as a consumer or as an eater, right?

Angela Bauer: [00:11:26] But back in the ’90s, when fat was bad and all of fat-free stuff, we went through to that. We joked, nuts was the four letter word for bad, for bad fat. And then, it stick around for a few years. And then, now, we’re like where everybody is in love with us because it’s healthy and it’s a good fat. And I’ve always kind of joked that, pork used to be the other white meat. It’s been around for a while, and you remember how they would advertise pork. And I said, “You know, really, nuts are the other not white meat. They’re also of high protein.”

Angela Bauer: [00:11:55] So, yeah, it’s kind of funny. It’s the same product, but it’s a different world that’s evolved around that. It’s kind of challenging and it can be frustrating to see. But, yeah, that’s just how it is, So, it’s really not that normal nutritional perspective like that in other areas of the world but, yeah, it’s all is made in.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:15] Yeah. That’s good. I think that there’s so much misinformation around health, weight loss, even like veganism and vegetarianism. Just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy. I mean, sugar and salt are vegan. You know, you don’t want to load up with only eating that. That’s not going to be good. So, there’s a lot of confusion, I think. And the lay person doesn’t really understand the nuance of it.

Angela Bauer: [00:12:44] Yeah. It can get kind of discouraging to some degree. If you do try to eat healthy – I don’t know, maybe that’s just my personality – but sometimes, I’ll be like, “Okay, I’m eating healthy, and I’m doing whatever.” And then someone is like, “Oh, well, that’s not really healthy. There’s going to be that.” And at some point, you just say, “I give up. Give me the box. I need the box,” because, I don’t know with anything that goes in any package is healthy anymore based on outside standards. You still have to sort of figure it out and here comes another new study.

Angela Bauer: [00:13:12] So, I think there’s a great plus for the attributes but everything in moderation. Sometimes, we try to find a way to caution people who come to us and say, “We want a healthy snack.” Like, some people kind of dictate who they’re buying for, and you can have healthy, but you also have to make sure people are going to eat it. And I think people have gotten a better understanding with that. We’ve had some people really want healthy when they start out, and we kind of try to warn them, and they find out, “Oh my.” People come back, “Well, we like healthy, but we just got to take it and sacrifice the taste.” And we said, “Right, because if you make it healthy but it tastes bad, then they’re just going to throw it in the trash and it’s really a waste of everything.”

Lee Kantor: [00:13:57] Now, what was kind of the impetus of you getting involved with the GWBC? What kind of compelled you to get involved with that organization and get certified?

Angela Bauer: [00:14:09] Right. I think it was in the early 2000s, we had a customer say, “Are you a woman in business?” And I go, “Well, I guess, let me think about it. Yes, we are because my mother and my sister are majority of the owners if you add us all together. So, I guess we really are.” And they’re like, “Well, would you mind getting certified?” I said, “Why? I mean, we pretty much kind of do anything our customer asks us to do if it’s not illegal, immoral, and unethical.” So, the process. And that was quite challenging because we started in the ’70s. So, getting all our records were typewritten manuscripts and just seeing everything in and sending it over.

Angela Bauer: [00:14:43] And so, we really were certified because a customer brought it to our attention. I asked her, she said it was important. I mean, that wasn’t even something I knew about. And here we are later, 20 or so years later, and GWBC has been great and WBENC. It’s been fun to see how they’ve evolved and really helped us. And I really applaud them in the certification process because I know that some people go, “Gosh. That’s a lot of work.” And they ask a lot of really kind of personal type questions, and that’s it, but, you know, that’s to their credibility because I want to be certified, and I want somebody is going to certify us. It’s not really this check a box, if I’m getting a check. And they really do a good job of making sure that you are a certified women-owned and that you are actually woman-operated. It’s not just any way like that. And I like to have integrity like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:37] Now, have you benefited from maybe some of the collaboration with other certified woman-owned businesses or some of the connections that maybe they match made you with maybe some enterprise level opportunities?

Angela Bauer: [00:15:52] Yeah, absolutely. There’s a lot of examples of that. So, I don’t really want to kinda cal out just one, but a couple of things. One is, I think, it is sort of like a small family. I mean, I feel like most people are very open and friendly that they call each other to ask for some advice or help. Or sometimes we all come together and kind of share experiences and learn, which is super helpful because I’m in a family business. So, where else am I going to get some outside experience, right? I need another outside world to learn from.

Angela Bauer: [00:16:23] And, definitely, with the shows and matchmaking and stuff, it’s nice that being reminded that it’s not a pass the jail card in a game of monopoly, but it’s a more friendly way to do networking and business and prove what you already have and get you another ally inside an organization to see if it’s a fit. And if it’s a fit, I mean, we’re all here to do our job and sell our product or service, or what have you. And we think that’s a great job of getting you teed up for that.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:00] Well, congratulations on all the success. Is there anything we could be doing for you? What do you need more of right now in your business?

Angela Bauer: [00:17:08] I mean, everybody eat more nuts, especially my nuts. You know, the pandemic has been really hard on us because we’re more in the food service world and the retail grocery world. So, we just kind of survive that. So, I don’t know that you would necessarily know or see our products but, certainly, if you do and you support us or support people who maybe can help us, you know, our corporate name is Tropical Nut and Fruit but we kinda go in a nationwide presence as Truly Good Foods. It’s our branding, you know, our little tagline. So, you could say, they’re truly good.

Angela Bauer: [00:17:42] We help represent one type of snack. We’re not just healthy. We’re not just junky bad for you, or whatever. We’re a little bit of everything technically. If you think of our snack foods, you can order even on our own, we got a consumer website. You can order direct on walmart.com or amazon.com, things like that so that consumers can reach us. So, we’re just appreciating the support. And thank you for having me today. I really appreciate.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:09] And then, that website one more time if somebody wants to learn more.

Angela Bauer: [00:18:14] The best would be www.trulygoodfoods – it’s all one word with an S -.com. The consumer website directly, you can get there, the commercial one. But the consumer one is www.yorksnuthouse – because that was my parent’s name, York, Y-O-R-K – yorksnuthouse.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:37] Well, Angela, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Angela Bauer: [00:18:42] All right. Thanks, Lee. Eat your nuts. Bye.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:44] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.