S9 Ep44: Entrepreneurial Flavor: Breaking Barriers in the Healthy Snack Market with Seena Chriti
“I don’t have an MBA. I only have a food knowledge background, and that doesn’t make me an expert, either. But I know how to inquire and how to connect. So I have just been digging and grinding through my process, always finding the answers when I need them.” —Seena Chriti
Episode Description:
“I don’t have an MBA. I only have a food knowledge background, and that doesn’t make me an expert, either. But I know how to inquire and how to connect. So I have just been digging and grinding through my process, always finding the answers when I need them.” —Seena Chriti
Snack innovation is more than just creating a product—it's about telling a cultural story through flavor. Every bite carries the potential to bridge traditions and challenge culinary expectations.
Seena Chriti is a culinary arts graduate from Mexico City with a deep passion for food, media, and cultural storytelling. Her entrepreneurial journey transforms traditional Mexican snacks into modern, health-conscious offerings through her CPG brand.
Tune in as Justine sits with Seena to share her journey of launching a culturally inspired snack brand and how she navigated challenges in product development, market positioning, consumer education, scaling, cultural food innovation, and more.
Connect with Seena:
Seena Chriti is a Food and culture expert with TV and print media experience. Her focus is on visual media, such as TV and video production of Food segments. Her passion is the relationship of food with culture, history, art, its meaning, and symbolism.
Seena has worked in television, newspaper, and magazines, always highlighting the historical or symbolic value of food so that it is never taken for granted since it is considered one of the most important aspects of human life. She believes that food is the only element of culture that enters our body and becomes part of us.
Episode Highlights:
01:52 Meet Seena
04:26 The Role of Incubators and Accelerators
08:41 Consumer Feedback and Product Adjustments
14:21 Exciting Innovations
20:38 Consumer Perception and Market Challenges
Tweets:
Snacks are silent storytellers of culture, tradition, and innovation. Join in as @justine.reichman and @paktlifoods founder, Seena Chriti share a delicious way to bridge generations through reimagined snack experiences! #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season9 #SnackInnovation #EntrepreneurialJourney #AncientGrains #FoodStartups #CulinaryInnovation #HealthySnacks #CulturalCuisine #CPGBrands
Inspirational Quotes:
01:43 “Not all snacks are created equal.” —Justine Reichman
03:52 “I don’t have an MBA. I only have a food knowledge background, and that doesn’t make me an expert, either. But I know how to inquire and how to connect. So I have just been digging and grinding through my process, always finding the answers when I need them.” —Seena Chriti
06:35 “The most natural way was to sell in Farmers' Markets. It's the easiest way for you to present a product to the market and to get feedback instantly. It was a way for me to get product recognition and validation right away.” —Seena Chriti
10:15 “This is a very educational product, and it has to be told in a very easy way for people to grab it.” —Seena Chriti
10:33 “You have to have a product that speaks for itself. I can't be in the shelves talking about it.” —Seena Chriti
14:00 “When we kick off a new venture, we're very scrappy, but there's a point where you have to become strategic.” —Justine Reichman
15:30 “If you look at all these different snacks and foods that we've had over time, and you look back a couple of decades, they weren't always so healthy. But now, the focus has really pivoted to being healthy and transparent.” —Justine Reichman
18:47 “I would love to grow, but again, it has to make sense.” —Seena Chriti
20:13 “Innovation requires a lot of energy, and it's not just a whatever packaging. It needs a lot of investment, so it's hard.” —Seena Chriti
Transcription:
Justine Reichman: Good morning, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I want to just say hi to my friends and community that are weekly listeners and viewers, and to those that are new, welcome. Thank you for tuning in. And if you are new and have never been here before and you're listening to the podcast, know that you can also watch the videocast on YouTube. And if you're watching the videocast and you want to tune into the podcast because you can't quite get enough time sitting still, you can watch it wherever you travel to. So you can find us at iTunes, iHeartRadio, wherever you listen to your podcast, it's called Essential Ingredients.
So again, I just want to welcome you now, to those newcomers as well as those loyal followers. We have a very exciting guest for you today, Seena Chriti, who is from Paktli Foods. I'm super excited to bring her to you today. She is a brand on a mission to bring delicious Mesoamerican snacks, so a brand new audience. So stay tuned for this really interesting conversation to better learn and understand what Mesoamerican snacks are, where you can find them, and why they're better for you. You're not going to want to miss this, so stay tuned.
Good morning, Seena, it's great to have you here.
Seena Chriti: Thank you, Justine. Thank you very much.f
“Not all snacks are created equal.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: I'm so excited to learn about Paktli. I know we ran into each other, and I saw your booth at Expo West. I tried your snacks, and I loved them. Not all snacks are created equal, and yours were really tasty. There was a lot to choose from there, so talk to me a little bit about what Paktli is.
Seena Chriti: So Paktli is a snack inspired by the Mexican alegrias. It is made with puffed quinoa, millet, amaranth and chocolates. The Mexican alegrias are made with puffed amaranth and honey or chocolate, and we decided to make it a very elevated version of the Mexican alegrias. Paktli means joy in the language of the Aztecs, and alegrias means joy in Spanish. I wanted to honor the name also, and I added the quinoa and millet to make them more relatable to the market.
Justine Reichman: So what's your background originally that brought you into creating a CPG product?
Seena Chriti: Yeah, that's a beautiful question. I studied Culinary Arts in Mexico City in a beautiful University Downtown with a bachelors that lasted five years, with a focus on food and culture. That's my main love, food and media, and making food known in different media outlets. I've been involved with TV, magazines and newspapers all my life, and I always wanted to have my own manufacturing company. And particularly, this snack has been following me in my head for 20 years, and it started handmade exactly like I wanted it. I brought it to the Farmers Market. But now, it is growing into a CPG company. That's a term that I only learned after I started my company. I've learned so many things. At first, I just wanted to create a snack. And now, it's a CPG company.
Justine Reichman: Amazing. So coming from media and food, with that being your background, it sounds like you had a lot of experience in those fields, but not necessarily as an entrepreneur. So what was it like to make that journey from working in those outlets, to now launching a snack, which has become a CPG company as an entrepreneur.
“I don’t have an MBA. I only have a food knowledge background, and that doesn’t make me an expert, either. But I know how to inquire and how to connect. So I have just been digging and grinding through my process, always finding the answers when I need them.” —Seena Chriti
Seena Chriti: I don't have an MBA. I only have this food knowledge background, and that doesn't make me an expert either. But I do have research basics, so I know how to inquire, and I also know how to connect. And I'm very resourceful. So I have been just digging and grinding through my process, always finding the answers when I need them, and really being open and receptive to my intuition. And I have really built not only a network of people that helped me, but I've also become a resource for others, and finding the right places to help me incubate in my journey. And I also have been very lucky to be part of incubator kitchens, and also accelerator programs that have given me a lot of the tools to continue on my journey, ongoing learning process.
Justine Reichman: Share a couple of the key reasons why you find those incubators were so integral to you being able to build the company that you have today. What were the three takeaways from that?
Seena Chriti: Yeah. So at first when I was researching the recipe in my house, getting the molds, the image and the design all together at once, I found an incubator kitchen in Cincinnati that gave me the place where I could get my license to be able to have a food business, which I wouldn't have been able otherwise. And they also told me, we have a Farmers Market, so you can also sell there. So it gave me those two outlets to start. Once I was in it, then I started getting into the ecosystem of food businesses in Cincinnati. So then I got a grant from Main Street Ventures that gave me $30,000 so those things have been integral to my growth. And like I said, I've been part of some accelerator programs. So 10,000k Goldman Sachs was a huge one. And for me in Cincinnati, that helped me to build a growth plan where I had to be very ambitious with it. And after two years, I saw and I accomplished it. And then last year, one of my key ones was I was part of the PepsiCo greenhouse accelerator program for Latino owned businesses in the US. And that one was incredible. I had mentors from Pepsi for six months, so everyone has given me a takeaway.
Justine Reichman: I know you launched the company in 2020. And as you said, you kicked off, you're selling it at the Farmers Market. Can you talk to us a little bit about how you went from Farmers Markets to stores?
“The most natural way was to sell in Farmers' Markets. It's the easiest way for you to present a product to the market and to get feedback instantly. It was a way for me to get product recognition and validation right away.” —Seena Chriti
Seena Chriti: So coming from a background of my college and what I knew about cooking, for me, the most natural way was to sell in Farmers Market. It's the easiest way for you to present a product to the market and to get feedback instantly. So it was a way for me to get product recognition and validation right away and feedback. And I also started in local stores, mainly coffee shops, to understand what my target market was. And the Farmers Market has been the most magical way for me to obtain what I need. So one of the key takeaways in the beginning was when a woman came to me at one of the markets, and she said, I am in Cincinnati. So she was a Kroger buyer. And she said, I'm a fan of your product. I buy at my local store, but I have feedback that I want to give you. So she said, your snacks are too large. They used to be like a big handmade circle. And she said, they're too crumbly. I need them in bite size, in a pouch. That's the only way that you will grow. And she became my angel, and I kept seeing her in expos, and she's a very important figure in the natural world that she found me in the market. So to me, markets are magical. I also found my co Packer at Finley market one day browsing, talking about chocolate. So yeah, my advisor was a Farmers Market's buyer.
Justine Reichman: Talk to me a little bit about what people's reception is? How do they receive the product as you're showing it in your very first experiences at the Farmers Market? What are you hearing and seeing from people?
Seena Chriti: I learned a lot. I learned about patterns of who likes to buy in the family. In the beginning, I was shocked to see a lot of women coming. And then when a man would come, they would say, oh, it's very nice. Let me give it to my wife to see if she likes it. So they needed the approval of the wife to buy. But I have also been surprised, a lot of women ignore me, and the husbands come and buy from me. So I'm just always learning to be open and to be receptive to whatever comes my way. I've learned so much, and I've received so much feedback. I really have confirmed a lot of my ideas in the markets.
Justine Reichman: What did you learn, though, from them? I know you learned from that woman that it was too big and too crumbly, but were there any other really integral takeaways that you learned from the people, your consumers, that helped change the product?
Seena Chriti: Yeah, that feedback that she gave me was confirmed all along. A lot of people would come and tell me, oh, they're too large. I cannot eat them in my car. I also received people that said, this is such a good snack that I don't care about the size. I just want to buy it myself. And they became repeat customers. It was very important for me to express that we are Latino owned, and that the people that helped me are hand making it with me, with seven Latin women that would make 3,000 pieces. So that was an integral part of my story, and I really felt compelled to say it. Now, things are changing and growing. So now, I'm with the Co Packer with a machine that makes it in a bite size. So now, I don't have that story of it being handmade so beautifully. So now, I have to recreate something also satisfying for the customers to be proud of. But yeah, I think my biggest takeaway of the markets has been that educational part because people are like, wait, why chocolate? Healthy? It sounds too healthy for me. Or I don't need to be vegan, so I don't want to try it. Or I'm not gluten free, so I don't want to try. You can still enjoy a snack. It's just chocolate with puffy grains, but they happen to be clean. So sometimes, I wish I would just be selling a donut so that people don't need an explanation about that. This is a very educational product, and it has to be told in a very easy way for people to grab it.
Justine Reichman: What role does education play for you in getting people to better understand your product?
“You have to have a product that speaks for itself. I can't be in the shelves talking about it.” —Seena Chriti
Seena Chriti: It's integral in my journey, but you have to have a product that speaks for itself. I can't be on the shelves talking about it, so I have worked with consultants in order to help me say the message, as well as possible in my packaging where people are not deceived when they see the product. They expect crunchiness, and it's not crunchy. It's puffy. So I had to explain in the package that it's a puffy, pillowy snack so that people wouldn't be deceived. Even though I'm not telling them it's crunchy, that's what they expect. So all of those things that I have had to work on.
Justine Reichman: It's a learning curve. There's a learning curve to these things. And I'm sure that building this product is getting on with the job. You're learning how to do all these different things. So with this learning curve, how did it feel like for you to go through that process?
Seena Chriti: I feel very privileged and honored to be able to be on this journey. I am very thankful that I have been able to achieve what I have. It may not be yet a profitable company that is sustaining my family, yet. On the contrary, I'm giving it all my time and resources. But what I have learned so far, and the basics that I have achieved are of such high value. Now, it's ready for it to scale, and I have a completely retail ready product.
Justine Reichman: So going from one industry to now being an entrepreneur, to kicking off your business, first at the Farmers Market, now in the stores. What was the biggest obstacle to date that you experienced with going from a smaller format like the Farmers Market to rolling out to a much larger format like the grocery store?
Seena Chriti: I think I am now going through that pain point of understanding what my obstacles are. The main obstacle, which was a throughout from year second up until now, was actually finding the resources and the right technology to make the buys. It took me a long time to locate the right technology, and then to find the money to be able to buy it. I had to become a certified woman and minority to get a loan from the state with a 0% interest to buy my $100,000 machine. So now, I have the machine. And now, I'm scalable. Of course, I had to go through all the process of rebranding and re-understanding, so that is done. But now, I have only sold in 40, 70 local stores. I didn't need a system. I didn't need anything. And now, I don't have inventory systems or CRM to go through my client. My roadblock now is understanding how to grow without getting messy, how to actually flow. So all of that is another huge learning curve, and I'm still on my own. I can't pay an operations director and a sales director, so I need to figure this out very soon before I start growing. And I'm already national in home goods. I already launched in a thousand stores, but I need to implement systems.
“When we kick off a new venture, we're very scrappy, but there's a point where you have to become strategic.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: Yeah, it's really important. And I think it's the difference between, when we kick off a new venture, we're very scrappy, but there's a point where you have to become strategic. And so it sounds like you're at that pivotal time where you've gone from being scrappy because you're doing it all yourself, and you're getting it all done, to now realizing you need to implement and be a bit more strategic about how you go about doing it so that you can continue to grow and explode at some point. So are there any other traditional snacks that you see that will be part of your future growth?
Seena Chriti: So the original snack in Mexico is actually bonded with something called piloncillo, which is a combination of molasses with honey. It's a very, very interesting flavor. I tried to do that at first, but I wasn't able to make it stable enough. So I would like to venture into natural binders like Agave syrups and things like that. I like the idea of using the ancient grains because not only does it tap into Mexico and Latin America, but it is also with the trend that is now so sought after of puffed ancient grains, which are becoming really huge. If I go into other types of snacks, I just want them to be very clean. I don't want to be another chip, even if it's already too conventional for me.
Justine Reichman: I think it's also interesting. Because traditionally speaking, if you look at all these different cultures, the snacks and the foods that we've had over time, and you look back a couple decades, they weren't always so healthy. And now, the focus has really pivoted to being healthy and transparent. And I think when you speak of cultural foods, oftentimes, we are trying to figure out how to make that 2.0 version. How do we make that version better for you products? And it sounds like you're going through that process in this moment too to explore something that's culturally really important, and you want to bring to the market here. But equally, think about how to do it in a better way.
Seena Chriti: That's exactly my target customer. The one that is open to trying foods from other countries, especially Mexico, which is a very popular country where people like their street food, but they are also looking for healthy versions of those authentic, ethnic foods. That is the customer that I'm looking for. The one that is adventure. The other day, I was sampling in a store, and I started describing my product as a Mexican product that's healthy, that's gluten free, organic. And he started backing off more and more as I was talking. And at the end, he said, I'd rather stick to my old American stuff. And he left. I was about to yell at him and say, hey, hey, it's okay. We are made in the US, but we are giving you something different. I was so impressed by his reaction.
Justine Reichman: I think it's interesting. Because people don't want to transport things from all over the world. They want them to be made here. There's less of an issue around fossil fuel and all these different things, so it's interesting to see how people react. And there's a real focus, both on whether it's organic or local, and which one do you choose, and what's better for the environment, and what's better for us. So I honestly think had he known it was made in America, but infusing the culture of Mexico, maybe there would have been a different response.
Seena Chriti: Yeah, he didn't have the patience for me to tell him more information. But I was very shocked by that, and it happens a lot also in Farmers Market's. When they start rejecting just by the fact that it's not within their habits, so if they're not big and they think they cannot try a dark chocolate-
Justine Reichman: Yeah, I sometimes think we're better off calling it something completely different, just a snack and leaving all the other things out, because I think it creates a barrier for those that are afraid of it. Understanding that some of what they eat is vegan, and some of it is gluten free, it's just not there's no signage attached to it.
Seena Chriti: I have a friend who was a very successful cracker brand that's gluten free, and she doesn't even call it on her packaging because she doesn't want to scare people off. And she knows that gluten free people will know.
Justine Reichman: When you look forward, you've been doing this company since 2020. It's 2025 now. When we look at the next few years, what are your goals? What are you hoping to achieve?
Seena Chriti: I'm hoping to continue learning and to be sustainable. And yes, I would love to grow. But again, it has to make sense. So I will launch in Sprouts' innovation section in September. It's only a three month trial after that. I don't know. I would like to, at some point, connect with Whole Foods, and see if I can explore something there while I understand my operations and my production process to be always on top. And yes, I would like to be a very sustainable company soon.
Justine Reichman: Oh, I think I loved your product when I tried it there. How many flavors do you have? I have four flavors. Can you talk to us a little bit about the flavors?
Seena Chriti: I have white chocolate and milk chocolate. And then the two dark ones are vegan with dark chocolate, with blueberry and cacao nibs, and extra dark chocolate, which is 70% with cranberry and cashews. And they all have the same base of puffed amaranth, quinoa and millet in the same proportion. Amaranth is the smallest, and quinoa is the middle, and millet is the puffiest. So that one gives a lot of volume.
Justine Reichman: Wow, amazing. So perhaps you'll see other flavors down the road.
“Innovation requires a lot of energy, and it's not just a whatever packaging. It needs a lot of investment, so it's hard.” —Seena Chriti
Seena Chriti: Yeah. Yes, yes. I have a few that are being evaluated now. Hopefully by next year, they will be out. I just wanted to consolidate the bites first, and the first flavors, and then see what goes next. Because innovation requires a lot of energy, and it's not just whatever packaging. It really needs a lot of investment, so it's hard.
Justine Reichman: So before you kicked off Paktli, what was your favorite snack?
Seena Chriti: I don't know. I think that Mexican alegria has always been one of my favorites. But to be honest, mine are much better now. The quality of the chocolate of the ones in Mexico, did you ever try it when you lived there?
Justine Reichman: I don't remember, where do they sell them? Do they sell them to Hum X, or do they sell them at Superama?
Seena Chriti: Everywhere in the streets, they're round.
Justine Reichman: Yes, I've seen them. Yes, yes, yes. We're gonna have to try those again.
Seena Chriti: Yes, yeah. And the ones with maple chocolate, the quality of the chocolate is really inferior now, like they don't taste well. So now, my Mexican friends are all begging me to sell them. Because when I go, I just give them away to my friends and they're like, where can I buy this? Because I don't care, I spend so much money taking samples to Mexico.
Justine Reichman: Well, Seena, it was so great to catch up with you. I'm really excited for your product. I'm really excited to see you in more stores. For those folks that want to connect with you, maybe they are in the business, maybe they're curious about investing or collaborating. What's the best way to connect with you?
Seena Chriti: Thank you very much. Yes, I'm open to many types of collaborations with brands, with professionals and investors, of course, and stores. They can contact me at Seena, S-E-E-N-A @paktlifoods.com. My website is paktlifoods.com, P-A-K-T-L-I-F-O-O-D-S.C-O-M.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Thank you. So Seena, for those tuning in today, whether they're watching the video or they're listening to the podcast, we've come to the end. Is there a special discount we can offer those listeners?
Seena Chriti: Yes, they can go to my website and can use the code 10, then the percentage sign, OFF, all taps, (10%OFF). And to be honest, it can be used repetitively.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Well, thanks for sharing that tip with us. We'll make sure to let our community know. I want to thank you for joining us. I want to thank our community and our friends for tuning in today to learn about your journey and the importance of culture, and its role in food, and how people are diving into that in today's environment where transparency and sustainability are so important, so thanks so much for tuning in. And if you watch us on YouTube, don't forget that you can download us on any place you listen to podcasts, whether it's iTunes or iHeartRadio at Essential Ingredients with Justine. We'd love to have you download and subscribe, leave us a message or a review. You can also follow us on Instagram @essential.ingredients, we'll follow you back. And we'd love to connect and hear what you want to hear from us.
