Exciting News! We recently teamed up with Garage Grown Gear to supply yummy, healthy Yumbini to outdoor adventurers. They created a great story about Yumbini! Please check it out.
In putting the story together, the journalist asked a lot of questions which I found refreshing and creative. I thought you might enjoy hearing our whole conversation:
- Where is Yumbini made and by whom? How many employees are part of Yumbini.
Yumbini is made and packaged by a co-packer in Northern California. We consider our kind and flexible co-packer a competitive advantage so we do not divulge their name publicly. Sandra Murray is the free-lance designer who created our beautiful labels. She is also an extremely accomplished potter. You can see a picture of her unique clay and woven creations on our blog. And of course, we source from several fantastic ingredient and materials suppliers to get everything we need to make Yumbini. But the only actual company employees are my husband, Aki, and me. It is a true mom and pop operation. But that is not to say we are novices. We both have over 40 years’ experience in the food industry, he in sales and me in product development. - What was the final push that you needed to actually create Yumbini?
My family will tell you I am always experimenting with food. Through the years, I have had many different new product ideas that I played around with (and fed to everyone). It was not always popular. I remember one of my kids asking, “Why can’t we just have regular food?”! I started thinking about Yumbini in 2018. But I still had a very busy consulting business to run, so I did not finish final formulas until the end of 2019. Then of course you know what happened in 2020. Needless to say, that was a difficult time for the food industry, being an “essential business”, and everyone scouring the grocery shelves to stockpile food. But during lockdown, I was able to establish the company, make a production trial, and develop the label design. Our first production was in March of 2022. It turned out to be perfect timing in terms of the pandemic. But probably the “final push” was that our youngest two kids (twins) graduated from college that year. I knew that, with college tuition over, if I was ever going to launch a business, it was now or never! - “We aim to leverage the transformational power of food for all, to improve our health, our thinking, our lives and our world. It’s the gift of Jan’s career.” This is simply beautiful. Was this always your philosophy around food?
I think, not surprisingly, my philosophy has evolved through the years. People will say “food is fuel” for your body. But I think it is much more than fuel. The scientist in me will tell you that the food you eat very literally becomes your body and allows it to function. Food is also sharing. It conveys love, and connects us to our family, culture and ancestors. What is more important than that? I learned a lot about this from my kids. I noticed that when I provided them nutritious hearty food with plenty of vegetables, they were calm and happy. Homework, clean up and bedtime, which can be chaotic with kids, were easy. I guess with Yumbini, I am trying to do the same on a larger scale – feed those healthy vegetable dishes to the whole world! - Did you have a keen interest in food from a young age? Where did your passion come from?
Yes! My mother was a home economics teacher and my father was an engineer. So I was practically destined to be a food scientist! When I went to college, freshmen were required to declare a major. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but one of my mother’s friends had heard of food science. I thought, “well, I like food, and I like science – why not?” It turned out to be the perfect major for me and I have never looked back. Even after 45 years, I still enjoy the interesting challenges, nuances and possibilities of working with food. - These days, food scientists get a bad reputation for creating ultra processed, nutrient lacking foods. You, however, are using you powers for good. How do you think about the contribution of food scientists to our culture?
Wow, what a big subject! I could talk forever about this. Thank you for recognizing I am trying to use my powers for good! One of my hopes for Yumbini is that it inspires other companies to introduce foods that really are healthy instead just sounding that way. But first let me give you my definition of the difference between a food scientist and a chef. A chef makes food that looks and tastes great right now. A food scientist makes food that looks and tastes great, AND is safe to eat 6 months to two years from now. It’s a big difference. Also consider that, in simplest terms, food is plants and animals. But most plants and animals, once they are harvested, begin to spoil very quickly, or require some treatment such as cooking to make them edible. And the harvest is often too much to eat at one time. So that is job one for food scientists: turning plants and animals into safe, appealing foods with a long enough shelf life that people can eat them before they spoil. I think preserving the harvest (and providing us all something to eat through the winter!) is one of mankind’s greatest achievements. In the developing world, a huge percentage of food still spoils before people can eat it. But in the US of course, the food industry has moved way beyond preserving the harvest! Our current food environment is crazy! I don’t know how the average person can navigate it at all. I think there are many reasons for this. I try to address some of them in our blog at yumbini.com. But let me just say this. The reason food companies make the products they do, is that they sell. So vote with your dollars. Defend yourself against bogus health claims by getting educated about proper nutrition. This alone is a minefield so stick to respected sources like the NIH, Harvard, and nutritionfacts.org. - What has been the most rewarding part about starting up?
Three things. One is that I feel like I am able to contribute to society with a good product. And Yumbini gives me a platform to help people better understand nutrition, health and the food industry. I get to talk to nice people like you about my favorite subject: food! The other thing is that Yumbini has provided my husband and I something to do together in our retirement. He initially did not want to be involved at all. But shortly after launch, it became obvious that I really needed help on the sales side. Our skills are very complementary. We met each other at work way back when, and it is fun to work together again. Third, Yumbini gives me a creative outlet. I love developing new products, but also the website, recipes, blogs, guest articles, newsletters, doing photography, and creating flyers and sales materials. - What has been the most challenging?
As I said, I was completely unprepared for managing sales. Thank goodness my husband can practically do it in his sleep. He’s also good on the number crunching side, which bores me to death! - What niche does Yumbini fill in the outdoor provisions space? Did you see this as a potential market when you first created Yumbini?
I think Yumbini has four advantages over many of the outdoor products out there. First, it tastes great. I like to hope that my 40 years of experience shows in the flavor. Second, the price point is lower than a lot of comparable products. Third, it is vegan, which can be hard to find in quick food. And it is naturally vegan, by which I mean, it is simply seasoned beans and rice, not trying to imitate meat in any way. And lastly, of course, it is healthy. Not healthy with bogus claims, but high in nutrients you need, and lower in ones you don’t. So moderate in salt, low in saturated fat, high in fiber & iron, with 14-15g protein and no added sugar. And yes, when I developed Yumbini, I did see outdoor as a potential market. But on the other hand, I want people to eat Yumbini all the time, not just when they are camping! - What inspired the selection of Yumbini flavours and which one is your favorite?
I can’t claim a favorite Yumbini flavor because they are all my children! The flavors are all inspired by favorite bean and rice recipes around the world. But I have found a lot of these traditional recipes are similar. I wanted the Yumbini flavors to be distinct, with each one looking and tasting different from the others. To me, the two spicier flavors, Smoky Chipotle and Curried Turmeric, were the most obvious, so I developed them first. Then I wanted to include a variety that was slightly sweet like traditional Cowboy beans or baked beans. I didn’t want any of the flavors to contain added sugar, so I used dried apples for sweetness. That flavor became Cowboy BBQ. During tastings, many people, especially those with kids, asked for a milder, non-spicy flavor. So I developed Mild & Creamy – mild but not boring! During all the development, I was limited in which beans are available. For example, I would love to do a product with chickpeas, but they are just too large to cook up as quickly as the other Yumbini flavors. And, as you know, I purposely do not use any animal-based ingredients or allergens, so ingredients like chicken broth, cashews, sesame, dairy and coconut are out. It drives Aki crazy, but I am already thinking of more flavors. So if you have any suggestions, let me know! - What do you hope to be saying about Yumbini is 5 years?
I hope to be able to say we helped people discover that beans can be quick, delicious and fun. But best of all, after eating Yumbini, they feel healthy and energetic. I hope we can be seen as an example of a responsible food company, making products to improve peoples’ health and lives and being a calm voice in the sea of internet misinformation. - When you aren’t creating delicious, nutritious meals, what do you spend your time doing?
I love to be outdoors. Usually in my garden where I grow lots of fruit and flowers. We are currently in the process of removing the lawn and an old defunct swimming pool. Then we will have a very large space with enough garden projects to keep me busy for years! I also enjoy reading, sewing and fixing things around the house.
