David S. Landay Of Charlie’s Table: 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand

No matter how unique your idea is, it is a good idea to speak with a professional once you have a solid idea of what you want to do — and before you spend a lot of time and/or money doing it. Also, speak with a food scientist to learn about the practical ramifications of your product. In the case of Charlie’s Table, while we tested shelf life in our home refrigerators at about 34 degrees shelf life was shorter in test stores because store refrigeration is allowed to be up to 41 degrees. An amazing food scientist provided tips for extending shelf life that fit our m.o.

As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing David S. Landay.

David has a history of founding/running organizations, starting with Wharton/Harvard Law and continuing through being the youngest president of a public life insurance company in the country, a published author, Broadway producer, founder of a variety of non-profit organizations including Broadway Cares and board member of a batch of national non-profit organizations. He still serves on the board of the non-profit Until There’s A Cure.

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 was the younger of two children — a holiday-observant Jewish family in the Jewish section of Baltimore — a boy scout — two years ahead of myself by high school — a cheer leader in an all-boys school.

A fantasy of becoming Gene Kelly, I was slated to join the family insurance business which meant University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Recruited as a coxswain for crew because of my still growing size, it wasn’t long before I added Penn Players and Mask and Wig to my life (with a highlight of dancing on the stage of Town Hall in NYC.). Ultimately, I became a theatrical writer and producer, but not before years of practicing law — and being the youngest President of a public life insurance company for a few years.

Thinking of all the various aspects of my childhood, the one that comes to the fore to understand how a top 10% of his class at Wharton and Harvard Law schools ended up in his 80’s starting a gluten-free pasta business to help people starts with the old adage about apples and trees. My father dropped out of pre-med at Johns Hopkins because his father died and he needed to take of his mother and sisters — one of whom was intellectually disabled because of an accident. My mother grew up under the domain of a money centric mother who married the poor boy instead of the rich suitor. The only time our family was sure to be together was for Friday evening dinners. The rest of the time both my parents would likely be doing community or non-profit work or helping people one-on-one.

Another major aspect: A summertime round the world trip during law school, living locally with initial exposure to eastern philosophies (I even met the Dalai Lama in Nepal) brought home the multitude of answers to the same life questions — with the overriding answer: follow your instincts. It’s been my guide ever since.

Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?

Daniele Kucera, owner of Etc Etc restaurant in Manhattan’s theater district, and I were leaving New York hospital where we were part of a care team for our amazing friend, Charlie Hamlen. Getting on our bicycles (At age 79, I’d been riding a bike for 50 years in NYC but never rode across town with anyone), Daniele shared that he had become gluten sensitive. As a person born in Italy, with memories of a grandmother who cooked pasta on the wood burning stove, he couldn’t imagine living without pasta. He spent a year with his chef creating a pasta that his guests could not tell was different from the fresh pasta he also served. His statement to me: “I want to get it out to help a lot of people.” My sweet spot. (Even as a Broadway producer, what I enjoyed the most was standing in the shadows next to the stage watching audiences leave their lives for a few hours — cry — laugh — and have a memorable good time.)

My response, after 30 years as a non-profit entrepreneur, “I start things. We should talk.”

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Picking a broker because there was an online mention about him on a credible web site. He talked a good game and was helpful with advice and helping us to learn the area. When it came to actual sales — vs. his reports on what various potential buyers said — it turned out to be all talk. In fact — he eventually disappeared — truly disappeared off the face of the earth. The reminder lesson: lead like Churchill: Trust, but verify.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Not doing enough real life home work.

To minimize error:

• Speak with at least one professional consultant in the area.
• Look for a group of food entrepreneurs who share experiences and tips. e.g. NYU Community Table.
• Learn how to conduct focus groups and/or surveys — and do them.
• Partner with at least one person or groups who complements your strengths and fills your weaknesses and shares your vision
• Pay close attention to messaging and visual design: it’s what the consumer sees.
• Think about how you will pay for what you need — now, and as you grow.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

• Figure out who you think would buy the product and get their feedback on the concept. Repeat the process multiple times with diverse elements of your market. Consider recording the sessions and listen to the recordings. Things often sound different on second listening — or a word or phrase you missed initially may be critically important.
• Think of all the different ways to produce, market, distribute and sell your products. Run your numbers every way you can imagine.
• Look for an inexpensive way to start. For instance, in the case of a food company, you can save both time and money by utilizing an incubator kitchen in your locale where you can produce your product on someone else’s equipment (and meet people with similar problems).

Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?

• Write down all the steps you see which are necessary to take your idea and make it reality. Add details as they come up.
• Discuss your goal and means of achieving it with at least one professional consultant or person who has successfully done a similar feat.
• Set your priorities — and stick to them other than in exceptional situations. It will make it easier to focus and “find” the time.
• If necessary, set aside a specific amount of time each day (or 5 days a week).
• Let the people you live and/or work with know about your priorities.

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?

No matter how unique your idea is, it is a good idea to speak with a professional once you have a solid idea of what you want to do — and before you spend a lot of time and/or money doing it.

Also, speak with a food scientist to learn about the practical ramifications of your product. In the case of Charlie’s Table, while we tested shelf life in our home refrigerators at about 34 degrees shelf life was shorter in test stores because store refrigeration is allowed to be up to 41 degrees. An amazing food scientist provided tips for extending shelf life that fit our m.o.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

A test I’ve used through time: if someone else doesn’t believe in my idea enough to support it, think at least twice before going ahead with your own money — even if it is money you can afford to burn and not affect your lifestyle, that of your kids or their kids. (Even if they don’t exist yet.)

Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?

• File a patent: get a top notch patent lawyer. You can’t afford to make a mistake if your idea really is patentable — and you don’t want to waste a lot of time if it isn’t.
• To source raw materials: Sorry. No experience. The consultant should be able to help.
• To source a good manufacturer: Again, the consultant we’ve been talking about is a good source. So are other companies making a product similar to yours. For example, our premiere product is fresh gluten-free pasta that we also wanted to be non-GMO and kosher. A friend of Bennett’s has baked goods that fit the categories. He introduced us to our co-packer.
• To find a retailer or distributor: From our experience, I would suggest going to a few local retailers, let them know you are just starting out, and ask if they will carry your product — perhaps without charge to them. They get to keep the sales receipts. This may seem like a no-brainer at first thought, but remember they are giving up valuable shelf space for your product, cannot be sure that you will be able to make and deliver over the long haul — and are doing you a favor. When all is in place (product and packaging), look for a good broker that works with the type of retailer best suited for your product. Local distributors may also have a sales team.

Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

In no particular order:

• A product that has a chance of disrupting a very crowded market segment. In our case, pasta. Just like Diet Coke which took over the diet market started by Tab. Diet Coke dramatically expanded the diet soda market because its taste was so close to Coke. Charlie’s Table aims to convert traditional semolina eating pasta consumers with our gluten-free pasta which works for everyone at the table.
• A potentially large enough market for the product to make your endeavor profitable. If you will be seeking investors, a very large potential multiple return on investment with a likely downside base. Research indicates 30% of all consumers want to eat gluten-free.
• Build the right team that knows how to grow the business: compatible people who not only have the know-how to start a business in general and share your values. Include at least one person who has experience in the general field.
• Think carefully about your ingredients and packaging. Clean, natural ingredients are required by more and more consumers. Preferred packaging is biodegradable.
• Money — whatever you think you will need — then ensure you have access to double or triple it for safety. The last thing you want is to develop a great product and/or identify additional high growth product lines then be unable to move it forward.

Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?

Talk to people — all kinds of people. Test your ideas first with friends, then with people you don’t know and with people don’t know you.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I have used the last thirty plus years of my life dedicated to helping people. The spark that started our company was the thought of helping a lot of people with our food. The success of Charlie’s Table will be recognized by our success in improving the lives of individuals in many ways, from providing people who eat gluten-free with a comfort food that tastes and acts like the fresh pasta they ate before while increasing visibility and support of food insecure gluten-sensitive members of our community, making restaurant dining safer for gluten-sensitive guests, and, yes, providing great tasting gluten-free food to allow everyone to enjoy sharing meals with others!

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.

Every food company to dedicate a portion of their time and money (gross sales/net profits) to helping people who are food insecure — and volunteer time such as to organizations that deliver food to home bound people in need or at Thanksgiving and Christmas to providing meals.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.