S9 Ep35: Instant Noodles 2.0: Bringing Flavor, Health, and Sustainability to Your Favorite Comfort Food with Thuong Tan
“It's having a genuine interest in your consumers, not just a transactional experience— That is the best way to build community.” —Wen-Jay Ying
“I'm going to create something that I love and my friends’ love— because even on a bad day you have to wake up to run your business.” —Thuong Tan
Comfort food has the power to transport us, to soothe the soul, and to bring us back to simpler times. For many, that comfort comes in the form of a steaming bowl of noodles - a quick, satisfying meal that has stood the test of time. But what if we could reimagine this beloved staple to be both delicious and better for our bodies and the planet?
Thuong Tan, the visionary founder of Noodelist, has done just that. With a background in luxury branding and a deep-rooted passion for noodles, she's on a mission to elevate the instant noodle experience with a plant-based, sustainable solution that doesn't sacrifice flavor.
Tune in as Justine and Thuong discuss the journey of creating a healthier, more sustainable instant noodle, the challenges and triumphs of entrepreneurship, the power of branding and marketing to stand out in a crowded market, the benefits of having a co-founder, the importance of teaching young ones to eat healthy, and more.
Connect with Thuong:
Thuong Tan is the founder of Noodelist, a plant-based instant noodle company that offers a healthier and more sustainable alternative to traditional instant noodles. With a background in international business and a passion for food, Thuong embarked on a mission to create a better-for-you instant noodle product that delivers on both taste and nutrition.
After completing her MBA in luxury branding, Thuong was inspired to leverage her marketing and branding expertise to develop Noodelist. The company's products feature clean, plant-based ingredients and are packaged in eco-friendly materials. Thuong's goal is to make nutritious and delicious instant noodles accessible to a wider audience, from busy professionals to health-conscious families.
Under Thuong's leadership, Noodelist has gained a loyal following for its innovative approach to a classic convenience food. Thuong continues to drive the company's product development and expansion into new distribution channels, with a focus on making a positive impact on people's diets and the environment.
Episode Highlights:
01:42 Loving Noodles
07:06 Walking the Entrepreneur Path
14:28 Challenges and Insights in Entrepreneurship
19:02 Marketing and Strategy
24:14 Building Healthy Habits to the Younger Generation
Tweets:
Healthy eating shouldn't mean sacrificing flavor. Explore a noodle brand that's redefining the instant meal experience with bold, plant-based recipes as @jreichman sits with Noodelist founder, Thuong Tan. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season9 #plantbasednoodles #healthyinstantnoodles #comfortfood #smartfoodchoices #femalefounder #womeninbusiness #foodinnovation
Inspirational Quotes:
00:46 “A front new solution is a better-for-you solution.” —Justine Reichman
04:13 “Life is too short for a bland-tasting food. So healthy but it has to be tasty as well.” —Thuong Tan
06:10 “I'm going to create something that I love and my friends’ love— because you have to wake up even on the bad days to run your product.” —Thuong Tan
07:38 “For entrepreneurs— to be better in the world and make an impact on health, wellness, or the planet— not being able to do that kills the soul a little.”—Justine Reichman
08:10 “Go do it. You will learn so much. Failing is learning, and you get so much experience. If you're willing to do it and you have that mindset, the universe can align with you and your support network, and it will go well one way or another.”—Thuong Tan
16:32 “There is no obstacle. It's just navigating through it to figure out what the right path is.” —Justine Reichman
17:17 “It's super lonely being entrepreneurs. But having a co-founder, a partner from day one helps you a lot.” —Thuong Tan
17:52 “Go and start doing because you will figure out on the way. What you know, what you have at that moment is more than anybody would think you're capable of.” —Thuong Tan
20:59 “Just choose one channel and put it all in that especially in consumer and marketing.” —Thuong Tan
26:06 “For kids to grow up healthier, you need to have them know the healthier versions when they are younger so they get that habit.” —Thuong Tan
Transcription:
Justine Reichman: Good morning, welcome to the Essential Ingredients. This is Justine, and I'm so glad to be here with you today. This morning, I have with me Thuong Tan, who is the Founder of Noodelist. This is her second career. She started this because she has a passion for noodles. She went back to school to get her MBA. And when she did, there was nothing else she could imagine doing than building a better-for-you instant noodle solution. I don't know about you, but I used to love instant noodles. The ones that came in the styrofoam container, the ones with all the MSG and all the flavor, and it would literally take three to five minutes. So a front new solution is a better for you solution, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, all sorts of better for you ways to eat the instant noodles, including not in a Styrofoam cup. So you're going to want to stay tuned for this. Can't wait to speak with you here and hear from new on tan about the noodles.
“A front new solution is a better-for-you solution.” —Justine Reichman
Well, Thuong, thank you so much for joining me. I know it took us a little bit to get this coordinated, but I think our guests are going to be pleased to get to know you, learn more about you, and hear all about noodles. A plant based instant soup with noodles, which I had the pleasure of trying, and I was super excited to do that. So before we go on, and before I just awe over my new favorite plant based noodle soup, I want to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself, talk a little bit about the mission behind noodles, and what inspired you to start this plant based instant noodle soup.
Thuong Tan: Thank you, Justine, and your amazing audience. Thank you for having me on this podcast. So my name is Thuong tan. That's a Vietnamese name, half Chinese who grew up in Finland. So the personal passion was that I always say that I'm an Asian born who can live without rice, and I grew up in Finland where the starch is potatoes. I'm not a big fan of potatoes either. I've been in Silicon Valley for 20 years where my friends go out for burritos and tacos. I'm like, not that fan either. What do I eat and love? Noodles. I've always been a noodle girl, spoiled by my mom's homemade Vietnamese noodle soup. I move out early because I'm two steps behind International Studies and travel, and I don't cook. So my go-to since I was eight. Of course, I started learning to cook snacks, instant, when I was eight, but I didn't cook. So my go-to noodles are instant noodles.
Justine Reichman: I remember those.
Thuong Tan: Yeah, that's your quick one. But then 10 years ago, I did my MBA in luxury branding that happened in Shanghai, and I got a light bulb pulp coming up when there was a marketing project to do something with the 7P of your favorite products. Of course, instant noodles. What really amazed me was 100 billions more now of servings of instant noodles are consumed every year globally. 100 billion? And then I went back to the shelves and did a quick snow like benchmarking. They're all the same brands. I mean, the levels are the same. Lots of brands. I'm in Silicon Valley, San Francisco. Everything is the healthify, the version of it, but not instant noodles, which everybody knows and loves. So I thought, hmm, maybe there's a niche for better for you instant noodles. And I'm 40 something, and my friends have teenage kids that love instant noodles, but my friends wouldn't buy them, the traditional that's out there, because the moms being a good mom and dad, high sodium, low nutrition, it's no way. So that was my first spark. Yes, there's a need for better for you. And growing up in Finland where we are very good with recycling and sustainable, and so our mission was to make something healthier with sustainable packaging. And my personal mission is, life is too short for a plant tasting food, so not being healthy is NOT. It has to be tasty as well.
“Life is too short for a bland-tasting food. So healthy but it has to be tasty as well.” —Thuong Tan
Justine Reichman: I couldn't agree more. And I remember as a kid when you didn't know how to cook, and all you know how to do is heat up water, right? How easy were those noodles? And then as you got older and you're in college, you're like, oh, these are so cheap. I can buy these by the dozens. What were they? 99 cents or something forever ago? There was a lot of salt. As you were saying, a lot of different things. And if I remember correctly, originally, the packaging was styrofoam.
Thuong Tan: It is. That was an amazing invention back in the days, how the Japanese got the American audience to eat the noodles. It is convenient, so hats off to the innovation of instant noodles to begin with. That's a five minute thing. And then the cup to go. But then these days, oh, no. Styrofoam is so bad.
Justine Reichman: So bad. It sounds like your roots run pretty deep into being better for you and a sustainable part of the ethos of who you were growing up. It sounds like you really aligned that with this. So when you started to do this, it sounded like you were in business school, and this came out of that. Were you thinking about what you should start? Were you in a place where you're like, okay, it's time for me, I want to kick off a new business?
Thuong Tan: Well, that's you. I'm not a traditional entrepreneur, because I really loved the job that I just took a year off to do. MBA and being in Silicon Valley inspired this. Everybody has their own startup and idea. And if I would do something, it has to be something that I could wake up every day, so it has to be food. And I love branding. I love marketing. Up creating an actual product. And I don't code. Anybody's coding, so when I geek, I love the food, and I love the branding. I always admire the story with the packaging and the name of it. So I'm like, yes, I'm gonna create something that I love, my friends love, because you have to wake up even on the bad days to run your product. So instant noodles. It's boring to say that you're selling instant noodles. So our tagline is, what are you selling? Or what do you want to deliver? Taste of instant joy, instant happiness. Because I don't know you, but when I'm hungry, I'm super angry. So when I get my fix of noodles, I became happy again. So we said taste of instant happiness. Go back to the question, how did I start it? I was 40 already, so it's now and ever. And I thought I was very comfortable. I really loved the job, why would I take this risk? But then you think back, what do you have to lose? Money. I can go back to work, but I would always regret it if I didn't try. What would instant noodle 2.0 be if I didn't just go and jump out of my comfort zone and do it? And I did it.
“For entrepreneurs— to be better in the world and make an impact on health, wellness, or the planet— not being able to do that kills the soul a little.”—Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: Amazing, because so many people are scared to take the leap. I was listening to a Mel Robbins podcast the other day, and she was talking about when she had listened to, I think, some other podcast. Jeff Bezos, I think it was. I think that she was quoting that if you look back when you're 80, are you going to say you're upset because you didn't take the risk? Or because you did take the risk? Odds are you did. You're never going to be upset that you took the risk exactly to be upset with the risks she didn't take. And I thought that was really true. For entrepreneurs, it almost seems like settling to not be able to. It is through what you want. If it's to be better in the world, if it's to make an impact both on health, wellness or the planet, not being able to do that, I think really kills the soul a little, right?
Thuong Tan: I look back, if I had more inspiration whatever's in the 20s, and just somebody just inspired me, or just did it back then, I should have done it 20 years ago. So whoever I'm talking to is the younger generation that are in their 20s, not just say, go do it. You will learn so much. Failing is learning, and you get so much experience so just do it. What can go wrong if you're willing to do it and you have that mindset, I think the universe can align with you and your support network, and it will go well one way or another.
“Go do it. You will learn so much. Failing is learning, and you get so much experience. If you're willing to do it and you have that mindset, the universe can align with you and your support network, and it will go well one way or another.”—Thuong Tan
Justine Reichman: I think it's about driving too, right? Drive ambition, and you really need to have a lot of follow through. So if you have an idea which you did, you also were just going through your MBA, so it really supported your idea and next steps. But there's many people out there that don't have that. What do you say from having your MBA? Did it put you in a different place, a different mindset, to be able to take this leap of faith?
Thuong Tan: It gave me a framework. I actually want to learn. How do you luxurify products? Because my previous career was to help finish companies to enter the US market. We have amazing product, amazing services, but we didn't know how to package them. So I went to learn that. And not knowing that, I got that framework and inspiration to do something that I love, to eat daily, to make it a next level product. So that was definitely an inspiration.
Justine Reichman: Where would the inspiration from the plant based come from?
Thuong Tan: My food scientist. Since I'm not from the industry, all I know from the food is that I love eating. What was the CPG stand for? Consumer Package Good. And so when we were creating our soup based on two flavors, as I said before, first and foremost is the taste. I feel sad like, how about plant based? What do you mean by plant based? You mean vegan? It was like, no. If your mission is to try to be better for the planet and sustainability, let's try to make something not with an animal. So you mean we're making a chicken flavor without chicken? I was this skeptic, but I went for it at first. We did a tasting with a different customer group, and they didn't know what they were eating. A soup chicken is a soup base without harming a chicken. So I'm like, yeah, let's go for it. And that was five years ago. It wasn't plant based. Wasn't a mainstream word yet. Target and Walmart didn't have a plant based category or section, so we went for that name.
Justine Reichman: As you grow the business and as you expand, or other flavors and other SKUs that we'll come to see that also will have that same mindset of being plant based, or will you expand and maybe be gluten free? Or one of the others?
Thuong Tan: We have two flavors now, and they are in Vietnamese cuisine. It is inspired by lemongrass chicken ish, and then kind of like Tom Yum. And the third one, it will be my other favorite noodle soup, it is Vietnamese bunghua way, so it's kind of beef ish. So that will be the third one that we'll go gluten free. We already have a gluten free option. But then the special about noodles is the green noodle made out of moroheiya super plant, which is Egyptian spinach. So that is the (inaudible), but that makes the green color. And gluten free, it's rice. So it's not the traditional, if you have the very strict traditional ones. But we do have gluten free already.
Justine Reichman: I was using that as an example, or start a launching off pad to understand where you guys are growing, and what other things you hope to bring to the market?
Thuong Tan: I would add in some other flavors. Flavors are one, and then it's frozen. I want to pick something different, that you already have these garnish, it is already there. Another Asian inspiration is, I eat a lot of beef jerky, but that's beef. It will find something that's plant based. So there are a lot of well done jerkies made with shiitake mushrooms. I would add that as our garnish to boost up the noodles meal. And actually, my very original and how I got my first Angel check was like, I'm gonna make instant noodles with boosters. That was five years ago. What do we humans need? We need mind boosters to work better. Muscle boosters. I think back then, I was using like sex boosters or whatnot. It was sold. But soon it will be a serious thing. I think I was testing my audience, what if I have collagen boosted noodles or something that makes you healthy that you boost in vitamin C, vitamin D, but we have that already in our noodles. It's an amazing, super plan this morning that needs more marketing and communication.
Justine Reichman: Well, by the way, just to talk about your marketing and your branding, it's beautiful. And it sounded like that was a big part of your skill set. I was looking at the website and all the photography and everything, it's just beautiful. Did you do all that?
Thuong Tan: Yes, that's my third. I like the Asian inspired Silicon Valley mindset, and with the Nordic design. Meaning, the simplicity. So the branding and marketing behind it look and feel is Father and Son from Win Win design. So we did that together. We wanted to stand out with the packaging. If it was just brown, it wouldn't set out. So we went for the premium black. And then the name of the noodles, there's an empowerment with the name. When you're hungry, you have a bowl of Noodelist. Like the IST ending is like a cyclist. So then when you're eating, be it a Noodelist. And once you eat, then the noodle, and then I wanted to one day become, if you see Nike Swoosh, you don't need to read the NIKE, just the Swoosh would tell you. So then I tell them to create a logo, a symbol that one day people just recognized by the symbol of the Noodelist. So he put the N with the hat, so that hat is your empowerment. Wear whatever hats you want to become a novelist, a cyclist, or optimist, whatnot. And then the little dog down here, I have a fake dimple. I'm biting my cheeks, but that's why I like a happy mark. So we eat in our noodle bombs to become happier. That's what the logo stands for.
Justine Reichman: That's really lovely. So when you kicked off this company, you were in business school. You were talking to friends, and you came up with this idea. And you had a background in the luxury market, in branding and design. Kicking off a new business, and being an entrepreneur, you need to tap into so many different skills. What was that like, pivoting from being an employee to being an entrepreneur? Because I'm sure that it's overwhelming. You're used to doing a job, and now you're doing every job, almost.
Thuong Tan: Yes. I was actually a government employee. So very comfortable, very fun and a good job. And then you jump out of that comfort zone. So I just quit. Because it's a government job, I couldn't do it on the side so I quit, and spent the first few months mingling with this new network of the consumer package good to learn when and how it is working, learn from the industry and just ask people help, and open my mind for the new setup that was my skills. I'm good with people, good for asking help or hustling around how to find out something I don't know about, and just pure amazing network and people supporting and believing you that's been helping me to get one step at a time. If I go back, I don't know any part. I didn't know it's called corrugated box, or what's co packing about it. Anything is learned by doing, and thanks to COVID.
“There is no obstacle. It's just navigating through it to figure out what the right path is.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: Yeah, I learned so much during that time too. And you really look inward, right? And you're like, okay, I gotta figure it out. There's nobody else here. And I think that if we look at entrepreneurship, it really allows people to tap into that skill set. It's more of like, okay, how do I get this done? And there is no obstacle. It's just navigating through it to figure out what the right path is.
Thuong Tan: It's good that you don't know what you don't know, or the hot thing you don't know. Because then you would like, oh, why do I go over this? It's just you tackle one step at a time, and just ask for help.
Justine Reichman: So now that you're a few years in, and now that you've gotten out, what would you say to those entrepreneurs that are starting out?
Thuong Tan: In general, or in the CPG?
Justine Reichman: From something that you've learned as an entrepreneur and going through the process. Maybe you can share a couple lessons that, while they might have taken you down the wrong path, were important lessons to get you where you were today.
Thuong Tan: I was a solo Founder, but then I was lucky to find a business partner the second year. I would say it's super lonely being entrepreneurs. So having a co-founder, a partner the day one, I would start with that. But that was too enthusiastic. I have this idea, and I knew what to do, so I just went and did it. But having a co-founder, a partner from day one helps you a lot to share, and I would have had a bit more patience to raise a bit more of Angel funding before jumping out of the plane and opening the parachute, like one of my Angel investors was saying. But I don't know, I didn't do anything. I would just encourage people to go and start doing because you will figure out on the way, because you never be 100% sure that there's never enough money, right? There's never enough knowledge. And I think it's enough to know what you have at that moment. It's actually more than anybody would think of you're capable of.
“Go and start doing because you will figure out on the way. What you know, what you have at that moment is more than anybody would think you're capable of.” —Thuong Tan
Justine Reichman: What made you decide to go after Angel funding?
Thuong Tan: Angel funding? Well, I just had an idea. I was 40, and people knew me. Knew the way I was as a person. The way I work, people believe in me that that was actually helping me to kick started earlier. Actually, they were giving me the trust to kick off. I actually pondered about this idea for four years before, after the MBA school. So I think it's their trust and encouragement that, hey, I'm writing your check. Why don't you do it already? I'm like, wait a minute. I can't do it. I have a government job. I need to quit that first and clean, slate and start it. So that was it. Friends and family, and I wouldn't say their third F is not full. It's like, fantastic friends, I would call them. And that helped. And then one was writing a check, and the other just followed. I was so lucky to kick that. Oh, and people love this, and it's not a gimmick. We had a wedding party with my husband after 15 years together, so animations, we didn't need any gift so people were giving us money to our honeymoon fund. Guess what happened to that honeymoon fund?
Justine Reichman: That is your Noodelist fund.
Thuong Tan: We invest in Noodelist. So that was the thing as well.
Justine Reichman: Wow, that's amazing. So now that you've had this a little behind you a little bit, and you're growing the business a little bit about that process when you had the product and you're like, okay, I want to go get it in front of people, and I want to be able to sell this. What was that like for you?
Thuong Tan: I actually pivoted before I was even able to launch, because my original vision was to go to market. It was tech cafeteria because these big companies that are already offering free snacks with the single cup. COVID hit, and everybody stay home so that's how we pivot into this four box, four meals, and it was D to C. Well, during COVID, I just drove around the Bay Area and deliver it directly from my Mini Cooper. That's how I learned the most. And then learning from the industry, there's a wholesale. You need to have a broker, and then a broker gets to the distributor and all kinds of different channels. And then the channels that I envision to the corporate that's called Food Service. You're learning so many categories, and you are small in your limited budget so you can't go all over, which is a mistake that I did. They're the shiny object in dilemma that entrepreneurs are having. If I go back to learning is just focusing on one, very narrow one customer group. I had two, but still focusing on just one. And just choose your one channel and put all in all in that, especially in consumer and marketing. If you're talking to a busy working parent versus a college kid to different lengths, it's a different message. Again, learning by doing, okay, do I need to do Duty to see, or to go Whole Foods? Or do I go Good Eggs where we are. It's an amazing e-commerce market. Know your consumer. Know who's buying, and how often they're buying?
“Just choose one channel and put it all in that especially in consumer and marketing.” —Thuong Tan
Justine Reichman: I think it's amazing. And so what was the response when you were bringing it to stores in the beginning?
Thuong Tan: Good and bad, because instant noodles are engraved in consumers' minds. 99 cents. and we are $4 a meal. I have known this is so engraved in people's psychology, it's fine to go out and pay $6, $7 for an ice latte. But then you are shy about $4 instant noodles, which are all the local, organic ingredients. We work with local businesses, family owned, and even female owned, if possible. All of this that I'm doing is made in America. In the end, people, consumers say one thing. I understand, and then you act the other way because of the pricing. That is the thing. Of course, this will scale, and the actual pricing will go down the economy scale, but you need a lot of work and sell it more and get more of these. We have amazing customer groups that support us, but we need more.
Justine Reichman: As you evolve, are you hoping to see that price drop with the larger quantities and everything?
Thuong Tan: Definitely. And then also seeing this to grow in a totally different channel.
Justine Reichman: Talk to me about what kind of channel.
Thuong Tan: I'm thinking more. If you go to a sports game, you always have the same pizza and pasta. Disneyland where people actually have a certain budget to eat. I'm thinking of those entertainment audiences that go somewhere, that they have some other options. I just came back to South America, they have this instant noodle stand like a cafe, like a pop up. I would say, when you have these salt and store ice cream places, imagine that there will be instant noodles or just savory. I'm a savory snack girl. If I need something to snack on, it's savory. Asia has a lot of this street food stand, I would see something totally different like that. And more often in cafeterias Starbucks, not just the instant oatmeal. You should have instant noodles there. I actually was eating instant noodles at Starbucks in Shanghai when I was doing the MBA 10 years ago, but it's catering within the audience. So here, it's a bit slower. Boba wasn't a thing 10 years ago. Now, it's all over. So maybe the instant noodle will be the go-to instant old oatmeal, or not at your regular Starbucks, or beef.
Justine Reichman: It would be great, because you can have a sleeve there too. And you know what? I was also thinking as you're sitting here talking about this, I'm thinking about nursing homes. I'm thinking about hospitals. I'm thinking about places like that where traditionally the food needs to be healthy, but hasn't been very tasty.
Thuong Tan: To remind me, schools that I just want to sell. These are the schools of Finland and Europe. We have free school food, and I think that the state of California has changed the route that you have to offer. I would like to be able to provide. I just want kids to have healthier options during school lunch besides pizza and whatnot.
Justine Reichman: So there's a lot of places you still want to get a Noodelist in?
Thuong Tan: It's hard to go directly, so something like, as you said, thanks for reminding that channel to go to nursing homes and schools. Oh, another good, big group that I didn't think about myself is outdoor camping.
Justine Reichman: Oh, definitely you can.
Thuong Tan: It's light to carry and packed with enough nutrition. I'm still working on this lower sodium a bit, but it's much lower than the traditional one. But the outdoor people love the sodium because they need it after they're exercising and sweating, so they love the sodium.
Justine Reichman: So I'm like, which gives you a whole nother avenue like REI and all those different sporting goods shops, gives you another category to play in.
Thuong Tan: It does. But then I need to change the packaging. So these are the challenging parts with the actual product. It's not like a line of code. You just hit the delete if you want to do a change of packaging. It's a set of minimum quantity, but it's just a matter of deciding which channel to focus on.
Justine Reichman: As you're thinking about that, what are some of the criteria that you might consider as you go and determine what your next channel will be?
“For kids to grow up healthier, you need to have them know the healthier versions when they are younger so they get that habit.” —Thuong Tan
Thuong Tan: To go back to the mission. Do I want to have as many people to enjoy it as possible, and forget about the branding and the name, the fun part? I would go for them, as you say, for the nursing homes, and to be able to provide it for the bigger audience, and actually for good. And for kids to grow up to be healthier, you need to have them to know the healthier versions when they are younger so they get that habit. So I think that will be the mission that's close to my heart.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. I've learned so much. I'm so inspired by what you've done and how you've created this product. Giving up a job to then pursue something that you are passionate about, A, is better for you and better for the planet in of itself, and is inspiring. And then to start a business when you haven't been an entrepreneur in the past can be scary. And like you said, even lonely. So I think some of those things that you share, which is getting a co-founder or bringing somebody on as a partner can really help share the burden, and make it a little less lonely. And learning who your audience is are some great tips that you've shared with this audience. And just before we go, I'm wondering if there were three things that you wanted to tell the audience that were building better for you products in the CPG world? What are three things that you think they should consider?
Thuong Tan: What was it? It's super hard. Don't go for it because it's full of big players. And now when I look back, it's very hard for the small one to go up with this attribute, because the fact is it's dominated by big players. What I really want to see changing in the industry for real is the reduction of palm oil. I think those should be regulated. I don't think we need another brand in the category. I think we need the change with the current offering within the food and drinks industry, like less sugar, less fat. Really making it more healthier with the current offering out there, I think we have much more things to do in that than creating. It's going to be fun creating another train, creating another food line, but I think the bigger problem and what needs to be changed is really tapping the sustainability, like less packaging because you don't need to have many rounds of packaging and the use of palm oil.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. Thuong, thank you so much for those folks interested in getting Noodelist, where might they be able to find it?
Thuong Tan: Do not buy from the big corporations, so go for the small business. Please go directly to our website, noodelist.com, use the promo code HAPPINESS when you check out. And our website has a list of stores that you can find us as well. You want to support a fellow small local business during this time, that would be awesome.
Justine Reichman: Awesome. I will support you, and we're excited for everyone to hear your journey. It's really inspiring, and you've done such a beautiful job with the product, both in design, as well as in taste. And it really does show you that you can build something that's better for you and that's tastier. I want to thank our guests and everyone that tunes in each week to be part of the Essential Ingredients Community, it's so meaningful to me. I want to thank Thuong for joining me today to share with me a little bit about her journey and what it was like to build a business as a second career, and create a better for you solution.
So again, thank you everyone for tuning in with us today and sharing your story. And I want to thank our guests. For those of you that tune into the podcast, don't forget that we also have a videocast available on YouTube. And for those that are watching the videocast, don't forget that you can get the podcast when you're on the go from wherever you listen to your podcast at Essential Ingredients. We look forward to hearing from you. And don't forget to reach out to let us know what else we can bring to the table for you on the Essential Ingredient Podcast. Thanks again.
