We recently connected with Zoya Biglary and have shared our conversation below.
Zoya , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I stopped eating raw fish about 4 years ago when I developed an intolerance to it. Every single time I ate sushi, my stomach would hurt afterward. I did an online deep dive into researching the raw fish we consume in America and was horrified to learn of the pollution, parasites, mercury and micro plastics that existed in so much of our fish. Then I learned about how disastrous the commercial fishing industry was to our oceans and it’s safe to say I permanently lost my appetite for raw fish.
So you can imagine my delight when I came across an ad online for plant-based raw fish! It was extremely expensive but I ordered it anyway and waited anxiously. Once it arrived, I made a sushi spread and tried it. I was disappointed, to say the least. It lacked flavor and was full of artificial food coloring.
My immediate next thought was “I could make this better” and I spent the next year doing exactly that.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have a background in both business and food. I spent nearly a decade in the social enterprise space- growing a brand and donating proceeds to help provide hearing aids to people in need around the world. Most of the young kids who were hearing impaired just needed a simple hearing aid to be able to rejoin their communities. It was during this time that I learned how important it was to have people feel included.
Fast forward to creating Fysh Foods, it was clear that many people shared my struggle with not eating raw fish whether it was due to allergies, pregnancy, being immunocompromised or vegan. I started dreading any time my friends wanted to go out to a sushi restaurant- which often times was for special, celebratory dinners. I wasn’t satisfied with an avocado roll or a chunk of tomato in the place of tuna. People want to feel like there’s something special on the menu for them.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
I used my modest life savings to fund the first year of Fysh Foods but started to run out of money. Right as I was on my last month’s budget, I had a video go viral on social media of me peeling an apple. I grew a pretty big following and quickly started to monetize by doing paid brand deals with food brands. I used the money from these brand deals to fund my company.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
I learned how to create the product myself. My good friend was a talented chef and we spent a year doing research and development in our kitchens using various plant-based ingredients until we created the different versions of Fysh. It was a ton of effort and incredibly frustrating at times. We use only real fruits, vegetables and spices to achieve the different colors and that alone took 6+ months to perfect.
I sourced all of the ingredients from the internet and various markets and when it came time to packaging and creating real orders, we rented a commercial kitchen and I ordered very simple packaging online. I hired a graphic designer to create my logo and sticker for packaging and we were off to the races.
A lot of this would have been much easier if I had a huge chunk of funding to hire out the right people for the job from the start. Doing it myself was tough but I appreciate the wide range of knowledge I acquired along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fyshfoods.com
- Instagram: @zoyaroya @eatfyshfoods
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoya-biglary-2016b633/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@zoyaroya/shorts
Image Credits
The photo of myself is c/o myself. The product photos are c/o Trevor Paul Photography.