An Interview With Martita Mestey
Branding is everything. Great branding means a brand with personality, not just another colorful or beautiful package. It’s important that your brand reflects your personality and aspirations. Creating a mood board is a great place to start!
As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rym Selmi.
Rym was born and raised in the South of France. She left France in her early twenties to travel the world. Rym studied finance and started her early career working in the banking industry, before creating her own company MiiRO. She is now living in the US with her daughter and husband.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?
I stepped into the world of low-sugar candies when I was pregnant and developed gestational diabetes. I started to do a lot of research around sugar and bought every single chocolate bar and candy brand marketed as low sugar to satisfy my sweet tooth. I was disappointed by the taste (and often aftertaste), flavors, and lack of indulgence. This experience led me to create a range of chocolate and baking goodies that contain less than a teaspoon of sugar for a whole bag/bar, and that are plant-based and keto friendly. That is where MiiRo was born.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I initially thought I had to create a recipe the way you create a recipe in your kitchen. I was so wrong, and this led me to almost break a machine in our test center.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Most people try to find a formulation based on what other companies have done. As a result, they just launch the same products. This becomes a problem because the original company they copied has been around longer and has managed to create brand loyalty. My advice is to really bring something new or add value or seriously improve a current product. Try as much as possible to come up with a formulation that is different and unique to your brand.
Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?
I was advised in the past to not overthink it and just do it. That is the most important advice I could offer to anyone just starting out.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
I think there is no harm in working with a consultant. Business owners should just be very careful with their budget, and work to do as many things on their own as possible. Going at it alone will give you the opportunity to learn for yourself, learn from your mistakes, and grow.
Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
First things first, a product that tastes good. When developing your product try to ask to gather feedback from as many people as possible.
Second, take that feedback, and use it to improve your product. Every taste test, every person letting you know what they like or do not like is a moment to see how the product can be better.
Third, branding is everything. Great branding means a brand with personality, not just another colorful or beautiful package. It’s important that your brand reflects your personality and aspirations. Creating a mood board is a great place to start!
Fourth, create a 6-month strategy and a 2-year strategy. Don’t create a strategy with the idea you’ll be able to raise money right away. Business owners always want to talk about the successful fundraisers, but never prepare for the unsuccessful ones (many raises will be unsuccessful when you are starting out).
Fifth, be prepared for the worst and excited for the best. Take fundraising for example. Prepare yourself with the idea you won’t be able to raise in the first 2 years, that way you will be prepared for that scenario if/when it comes.
Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?
I think social media is a fantastic way to get consumers excited about your product. While having a viral moment can be game-changing for a brand, do not make the mistake of thinking that one moment will last forever. Capitalize on the momentum.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
At MiiRo, we give away 10% of our revenue to those in need. We value sustainable and ethically sourced products, so we source our cocoa beans from countries where there are fair labor and wage practices and use all recyclable packaging.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Rym Selmi of MiiRo On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.