S9 Ep9: Granola Redefined: The Tasty, Nutrient-Dense Twist on a Classic with Adrienne Lufkin
“For something that you eat every day or consume every day, shouldn't it be the best quality ingredients that you can possibly have?” —Adrienne Lufkin
For something we consume on a daily basis, the food we choose should be of the highest quality possible. Granola has long been a breakfast staple, but many store-bought varieties are packed with added sugars and artificial ingredients. It’s time to shift to a granola that’s good for us.
Adrienne Lufkin, the Founder of Struesli, brings a unique perspective to the granola game. As a former private chef, she learned firsthand the power of using food as medicine to support her clients' health needs. Now, she's on a mission to share her better-for-you granola with the world.
In this episode, Adrienne takes us through her entrepreneurial journey - from ideation to securing investors, building a talented team, and expanding Struesli's distribution. Tune in to learn how she's revolutionizing the granola category and providing a healthier breakfast option for all.
Connect with Adrienne:
Adrienne Lufkin, seasoned private chef and founder of Struesli, combines her love for food, health, and human connection through her recipes. With a background in crafting clean and nutrient-dense meals for clients and her personal struggles with Crohn's Disease and Migraines, Adrienne is passionate about supporting people along their health journeys.
Episode Highlights:
01:04 Adrienne’s Personal Health Challenges
04:43 From Chef to CPG Founder
09:51 Funding and Team Building
15:38 Balancing Roles and Responsibilities
20:54 Product Expansion and Distribution
24:15 What’s Next?
Resources:
Discount:
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Tweets:
Granola just got a major upgrade! Tune in as @jreichman interviews Struesli Founder, Adrienne Lufkin about how she’s redefining the breakfast staple with her clean, nutrient-dense recipe. Use code: essential15 to get a discount. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season9 #Struesli #GranolaRedefined #CleanIngredients #CPG #TeamBuilding #BusinessBuilding
Inspirational Quotes:
01:06 “I call it granola redefined because it’s clean ingredients that taste the way granola should taste.” —Adrienne Lufkin
03:50 “For something that you eat every day or consume every day, shouldn't it be the best quality ingredients that you can possibly have?” —Adrienne Lufkin
09:28 “It could be the smallest moment, but it was that moment that creates the shift.” —Justine Reichman
11:27 “It's always the founder that we're investing in.” —Justine Reichman
13:50 “More important than the talent is the integrity and the character of the people.” —Adrienne Lufkin
14:37 “Listen to your instincts. Your instincts are what drove you to start the process or create the product that you're creating.” —Adrienne Lufkin
15:19 “You have to have people on your team that you enjoy working with because you will spend a lot of time with them so you want to have a team that you have fun with.” —Adrienne Lufkin
19:21 “Just changing the way that we think about things in our head; being open to receiving and collaborating, we can do more.” —Justine Reichman
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman: Good morning, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman. With me today is Adrienne Lufkin. She is the Founder and Co-CEO of Struesli.
Welcome, Adrienne.
Adrienne Lufkin: Thanks so much for having me. It's really great to be here with you.
Justine Reichman: Oh, it's great to have you here. It's great to chat with you. I'm really excited on a personal level, but also for the podcast. Because while I have so many intolerances, and I look at your granola, which we'll get into in a second, it had a recipe that really spoke to me because it took away some of the things that I am concerned with and try to avoid in my diet. So for those that are not familiar with Struesli, could you make a short intro on what it is so people have a little context for this conversation?
“I call it granola redefined because it’s clean ingredients that taste the way granola should taste.” —Adrienne Lufkin
Adrienne Lufkin: Struesli, I call it granola redefined because I had a really hard time finding a granola that sort of checked all the boxes for me, and I had been making versions of this for years for friends, family, clients and myself. I thought, why not share it with others? It's really stripped down clean ingredients that taste the way granola should taste, and it's a better for you granola, and that's sort of what it is.
Justine Reichman: Kind of your 32nd pitch.
Adrienne Lufkin: Kind of my 32nd pitch.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Adrienne, I know that before this, you were not an entrepreneur. You were not running a business in the way that was a CPG product, but you were a chef. Can you talk to me a little bit about how your experience as a chef shaped what you're doing today and inspired the move to build out this new CPG product?
Adrienne Lufkin: So I started my career as a private chef, cooking for clients, many of whom had different autoimmune conditions or fighting cancer. I really learned to tailor my way of cooking to help support and nurture their dietary concerns. And over the course of this was like 20 years ago when I was in the middle of my career, and in the course of making these meals, these really nourishing meals for my clients, I realized that I should probably be eating this way too because I suffer from chronic migraines and Crohn's disease, both from a very young age. And it wasn't till I was cooking for these clients in this way that I, myself, started eating this way and really learned that food is medicine, and learned that I felt better. My symptoms were decreased, and I just overall felt better eating, emitting certain things and swapping out certain ingredients for better ingredients, or more nutrient dense, less inflammatory ingredients, and that was sort of the beginning of Struesli.
Justine Reichman: I'm curious, as a chef, you must have cooked so many things for your clients, for yourself, for your family. How did you land on granola?
“For something that you eat every day or consume every day, shouldn't it be the best quality ingredients that you can possibly have?” —Adrienne Lufkin
Adrienne Lufkin: Again, I had been making versions of this for years. And for me, I eat granola every day. It's something that's just part of my daily routine. I feel like, for something that you eat every day or consume every day, shouldn't it be the best quality ingredients that you can possibly have. That's how I feel because you're adding this to your system on a daily basis. I don't know how it happened, but I just had a light bulb moment a few years ago and thought that I've been making this granola for myself, my family and my clients. And we all benefit from it. I think the market is ready for something like this. People are becoming much more aware, much more savvy, reading labels, wanting clean ingredients. And I thought that there's a place for this now.
Justine Reichman: And so I think that that's sort of where people's ideas come from. They come from either a need, a passion, something that we see is missing out there. But as a chef, I consider that running a business when you're chefing for other people, but it's different than building out a new CPG product. So when you made that shift and took that leap, can you talk to me about how you're feeling with that? Because that seems like it's a new direction. But equally, it's a big change. It's a big change even though you're still building a business. But it's a new place that you're headed here, and you're conquering something much larger here as you build out a product that can be sold across the country and around the world.
Adrienne Lufkin: It was a big change, and I had no idea what I was getting into when I started it. It really just started with a phone call. I told my husband, I had this idea about sharing my granola with other people. How do you think we should do this? And it just started with the phone call to a marketing consultant who then put me in touch with a consultant who had developed a product that made it onto the shelf of Whole Foods, and we started having weekly conversations about, how would we make it? Where would we make this? What would we call it? What kind of packaging do we want? And sort of mapping out what the process would be and the steps we would have to take. So it was really helpful working with somebody who had done this before.
Justine Reichman: Was this individual somebody you hired, or were they acting as a mentor?
Adrienne Lufkin: It was just a conversation as a mentor. But then I decided that I really wanted to pursue this. I did hire him as a consultant to help me because I hadn't done anything like this before, and I didn't even know what the word co-packer meant. Now, I'm very familiar. It was a big learning curve, but he was instrumental in just showing me the ropes and helping me kind of get this idea moving along. So that was how my journey began. And along that process, many times I would say, I don't think I want to do this. I think I'm good. I really believed in it, and it's delicious. It's not only good for you, but it tastes really good. And I felt like this is something really unique and different. I can't not go for it, like I'll regret not giving it a try. So I pushed forward. And our first sort of test in the marketplace and with people that weren't just friends and family, we went to FNCE, which is a Food and Nutrition Expo in Orlando. This was in 2022, and it was like, do or die. If the nutritionists and the Registered Dietitians don't like it and don't really get the concept of, this has no added sweetener, no fillers, no flavorings, really just clean premium ingredients. If they don't like it and don't get it, then we're kind of doomed.
Justine Reichman: What was the moment when you realized that you had something that was next level, going to be on the shelves of the stores and people are going to be looking for this.
Adrienne Lufkin: I would say that was the turning point. We did a survey at FNCE, and got a lot of feedback on what everyone that tried it. We gave out lots of samples, and we got feedback on the differentiators. Do they like the Tiger Nuts? Did they like the no added sweetener, the high fiber content, the low net carbs? So all these things, and it just came back with such a positive response. People wanted to buy it at the show, but we hadn't even really mass produced it yet. We had just done a small run for the show. So that really was the turning point of, we're going to go for it.
“It could be the smallest moment, but it was that moment that creates the shift.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: That's exciting. And I love to hear sort of those moments for people, because I think that it could be the smallest moment, but it was that moment that creates the shift and allows you to recognize the impact you're having. I appreciate you sharing that. And if we just go back a minute, so you started this, you came up with this idea, and when you first came up with it to create a CPG product to get on shelves of markets is very expensive, right? Obviously, you were doing recipe development, you have packaging, you've got design, you've got supply chain, you've got all the co-packing. All these different things. So when you thought about that, did you see yourself self funding this in the short term? Did you say, I can't do this without raising money. What was that like for you?
Adrienne Lufkin: My husband and I decided that we were going to self fund it to a certain point, and then we were going to bring in investors. So that was sort of the path that we took.
Justine Reichman: When you come to it as a chef it is a really new experience. Did your husband have any experience in raising money?
Adrienne Lufkin: I'm very fortunate that my husband, not only is he my biggest fan, and he's also a mentor to me. He's a venture capitalist so I'm very lucky. I say it almost adds more pressure because the people that have invested in me and invested in Struesli in our inner circle in a way, I just feel like that more added pressure because it's so personal. I really want to succeed for my team and the brand, but also these people that really invested in me really care about me because that's who they're investing in is my dream.
Justine Reichman: It's always the founder that is what we're investing in. And the team that you surround yourself with and seeing, can this vision go to the next place? Can they execute? How driven are they?
Adrienne Lufkin: Yes.
Justine Reichman: What was that moment where you decided, okay, we're self funding to hear. And then where was that threshold that you're now like, okay, we're really gonna go for investment. What were those milestones that you were looking for in order to take it to that next level?
Adrienne Lufkin: Oh, my gosh, I'm trying to remember what was the turning point of, we're going to bring in investors. I think once we hit a certain threshold in revenue, we knew that this was going to be something. I can't remember what that threshold was, but that's kind of how we decided.
Justine Reichman: I always say that I always had a vision. I had a vision for what I do now, I've had a vision in the past. Or I don't want to say. I had a vision like I saw something. I'm a creator, and I come up with ideas, an idea person. I can also execute, but I also see the real benefit to surrounding yourself with people that know how to do certain things better than myself. So I ask you, what role does that play for you as you came to this as a chef, first time business owner, first time founder. What did you look for to be able to take that where you were going?
Adrienne Lufkin: I definitely know what I don't know, and I know what my strengths are, my weaknesses are. I really try to surround myself with a team of people that are really great at what they do, and are stronger in roles than I am because I learn from them. The person that I am now is completely different from the person I was when I started in the best way possible because I've just learned from them. I've learned from other entrepreneurs, I've learned from other mentors. I've just met so many amazing people in this industry. But definitely having a team of talented people around me, and what I would say is more important than the talent is the integrity and the character of the people that are working with me. I just think that's very hard to find in people, especially nowadays. I'm so blessed that the team I have is dedicated and supportive, and just really invested in the success for all of us.
Justine Reichman: So for other founders that are tuning in and listening today and watching, are there maybe three different things you might recommend to them as they look to curate their teams, to fill in the gaps and the voids that they have based on their skills
“Listen to your instincts. Your instincts are what drove you to start the process or create the product that you're creating.” —Adrienne Lufkin
Adrienne Lufkin: I would definitely say, listen to your instincts, and that has served me pretty well. Your instincts are what drove you to start the process or create the product that you're creating. So I would say, definitely listen to your instincts in all things, in people and decisions. I think that's really important. Just definitely try to surround yourself with those that bring to the table something different than what you can offer, because that helps, obviously, round out your business and what you're trying to achieve. And I always say that you have to have fun. You have to have people on your team that you enjoy working with because you will spend a lot of time with them so you definitely want to have a team that you have fun with.
Justine Reichman: If we work so much and we spend so much time working, we need to enjoy what we do.
Adrienne Lufkin: Totally. And I always say like, this is food, and food should be fun.
Justine Reichman: When we first started chatting, I remember that you're saying to me that you're the founder, but not the CEO, or you're the Co-CEO. And I literally like semi quoting you. So I know that that can be a hard position to be in and a difficult decision to make for many founders. How did you find the strength in yourself and the confidence that you needed to be able to say, you know what? I've got the vision down and I can do this, but I need somebody else. Because knowing that you need that other person, I think, comes from a place of strength and confidence.
Adrienne Lufkin: That's so nice of you to say. It's true though. I want success for the brand. I want success for my team, and I felt the best way to achieve that is to bring somebody in that has done this before, has the experience that I don't have in areas that I don't have experience. I got the food part, I got the recipe part. I have the personal relationship skills among other things, but he knows the operations. So I think we do balance each other out in that way. He is the CEO. But as I said before, I'm in the trenches every day. I eat, sleep and breathe this brand just as much as he does, and I think we really compliment each other. And I think that is actually kind of a unique thing. I don't think there are many Founder/CEO relationships.
Justine Reichman: I know that many times, founders, myself included, will hire consultants and experts to work with us to be able to round out the things and fill in the voids that we have. So initially, when we think about this, you had this gentleman as a mentor. He turned from being a mentor into being a consultant. And many times, people can just surround themselves with tons of consultants, still be CEO and founder and run their business very successfully. You made a choice instead to bring him in as CEO, not Director of Operations, or not VP of Operations. You brought him in effectively as your partner, so to speak. What made that decision for you? Why did you choose that?
Adrienne Lufkin: I guess for me, it was kind of a no brainer. He had done this before and I hadn't. I have children, I have a husband, I have a household, and I have other things. I have chronic migraines, I have Crohn's disease that are both super stress related symptoms. My symptoms are stress related, and so I know what I can handle and what I can't handle. I knew that I would need a partner in this journey, basically.
Justine Reichman: I think that's a very big step. Because so many times people think, I don't want to give away a portion of it, or I don't want to bring somebody else in. I have to compromise, or I don't get the whole pie. But I think that if we change the narrative a little, it allows us to be able to do even more. We have more skill sets to rely on. We've got a bigger opportunity because we have networks from both people. We have experience from both people. So I think that just changing the way that we think about things in our head, being open to receiving and collaborating so that we can do more. And to be honest, there's so many times when I wish I had a partner because it's much more fun to do things together.
Adrienne Lufkin: That is a really good point. It's definitely more fun having a partner on this journey for sure, and having him allows me the time and the flexibility to do what I do best. And I don't think I would have that time, or be able to carve out that time if I was doing his job too.
Justine Reichman: I think it's super important. Was there ever a moment where you thought, okay, well, if I give up all this control, I'm going to lose my vision or our values.
Adrienne Lufkin: I think the amazing part is that I don't feel like I'm giving up control because we are so in tune with each other and like just really good partners. I definitely don't feel like I'm losing any control. If anything, we really compliment each other. And honestly, have a very similar vision. I don't think it would work this way if we didn't.
Justine Reichman: That sounds like a very special relationship and maybe not easy to find while intentionally fortuitous. It's something to aspire to have, and it really supports the idea of networking and connecting with people in space so that you can build that community that trusts, the resources and the support. I'm curious, Struesli has how many different SKUs right now?
Adrienne Lufkin: Right now, we have three. I'm working on my next one, so there'll be another one coming.
Justine Reichman: Do you see Struesli expanding out of granola? Or is it just going to be different flavors of granola? I don't want to say JUST because not just flavors, but will you stick within granola? Or do you see it expanding to other things?
Adrienne Lufkin: I have ideas for other things.
Justine Reichman: You're always thinking. You're always thinking, that's exciting. So right now, if somebody wanted to go out and get Struesli, where might they find it?
Adrienne Lufkin: Well, we are on streusli.com and Amazon, available through Instacart in various cities, but we're mostly concentrated in the New York City and surrounding area in LA as far as retail, and then kind of sprinkled throughout the rest of the country and expanding as we speak.
Justine Reichman: When you went to get into these, I'm sure that was a challenge. You hadn't done that before. I know your CEO, that must have seemed a little overwhelming, and it can be very expensive. Can you talk to us a little bit about how you approach that?
Adrienne Lufkin: I first started just locally where I live because I had a personal relationship with a lot of the stores in my area and just got Struesli on the shelf just from that personal relationships that I had with the store owners. That was an exciting time being able to see it in the stores that I shop at, having it on the shelf. So that was knocking on doors and doing my pitch to different retail locations starting locally, and then kind of expanding. And then eventually, we got to a point where we hired a sales broker that we work with in New York City, and that really unlocked and opened a lot more doors once we got picked up by distribution. So that sort of was the path that we took.
Justine Reichman: So do you look at yourself? Because I think you are. You mentioned the words food is medicine and healthy. So do you look to focus on health food stores, the Erewhon of LA, the Good Earth which focuses on organic, those kinds of places. Are you familiar with them?
Adrienne Lufkin: Yeah. We definitely tend to focus on those higher end health food stores. We are in year one, and then maybe not so much, quote unquote, health food, but stores that offer better for you options. We're in Citarella, and so those tier of stores right now.
Justine Reichman: I used to shop a lot at Citarella when I was in New York. It's a good one. I did love Dean and Deluca, and I did love some of the others because they had been there for so long. But there's also a Fairway too, which is more of a grocery store. But that was fun too.
Adrienne Lufkin: We are in Fairway.
Justine Reichman: Had them Fresh Direct. So lots of ways to get Struesli. I love to hear that, and I hope to hear that you'll be in Northern California soon, because that's where I am. Do you see that on your horizon?
Adrienne Lufkin: We are in a couple stores in the San Francisco area, Rainbow, one is called Little original Joe's. We are working on expanding our distribution in California, so we'll start to move north and get to a store near you.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. You have these great products that we would love for people that tuned in today to be able to check them out. For those that listen to this whole videocast or podcast, is there a discount code that we might be able to offer them?
Adrienne Lufkin: I'd be happy and thrilled to offer your listeners a discount. Essential15, how about that?
Justine Reichman: That sounds great. We'll add it to our Amazon store too. So for the folks that are listening and tuning in today that want to get Struesli, check out our Amazon store. We'll make sure to put it there for you. Adrienne, it was so great to chat with you today. I love listening to you. I love hearing all about Struesli. I really had so much on a personal level to talk to you about Struesli, but I thought I should leave that out because I didn't want to take the conversation and put it all about me. But I was super excited for your product. I'm super excited for other people, because I know that so many people are going to connect with the fact that they too have intolerances. They too have allergies. They too want reduction in inflammation, all the things that Streusli focuses on. I hope that we can come back and talk more about this, and talk about some of the things that you're looking to do, and how you hope to help them with your food that's medicine in the future.
Adrienne Lufkin: Thank you so much for having me. It was really great chatting with you and sharing all things about Struesli with you. And yeah, I definitely would love to come back, maybe when we have our next flavor.
Justine Reichman: That would be great. And so for those folks tuning in today, don't forget to tune in every Tuesday on Essential Ingredients. A new episode comes out each week. If you haven't followed us, follow us at essential.ingredients on Instagram, and we look forward to seeing you each week here on Essential Ingredients.
