We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Javion Blake a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Javion, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?
In the food industry which I&I Foods by Jus Chill, Inc. operates there are a lot of gatekeepers. Unfortunately, those gatekeepers are not there to ensure that your CPG food products are healthy and safe, instead they are there to make sure what products get to the consumer is very profitable. That is a very good concept in a broad sense because sustainability in business models is one of the most important metrics. On other hand, producers must create products that are ‘optimized’ for distribution versus being good for consumer health and wellbeing. This is one of the major reasons you hear about the “broken food system of America”. It is not that everyone making your food are greedy capitalists looking to just get rich, it is more that they must reduce the cost of goods sold (GOGS) drastically in order to ensure that the gatekeepers who typically add no value to the finished products can get their cut off the margins.
It is very easy to believe that what I mentioned above only works for the discount food segment, but you would be mistaken to think that is the case, as this is true even in the natural foods industry. So, the next time you grab that new “healthy” CPG food product, you better make sure you read the labels because you might just be getting “organic variation” of the same “dirty ingredients”. A clear balance between distribution and healthy products must be established but in the current setup, it is very highly unlikely you will get what is marketed. As mass production is the name of the game when you are operating in the natural foods CPG industry. Making it cheaper and faster is really the only principle that drives decisions internally. That might just be a relic from the American mass manufacturing school of thought. However, as a consumer I recommend that you check the labels and do your research because the gatekeeper in the system makes it less likely you will have products optimized for health even when it says that in bold letters.
On a positive side, I have definitely come to know several new and upcoming food entrepreneurs that are working to change this reality and really focusing on the customer’s best interests. So, I am optimistic that this tide will be changing over the years. However, it might be a while before that becomes the reality, especially if those entrepreneurs must go the traditional forms of retailing to reach you; the consumers. I think that consumers need to take some time to discover some of those upcoming brands that are really delivering products they are marketing. That will accelerate the shift. If your “healthy brands” have to go through venture capitalist funding round to reach you at your local grocery store, again, I would recommend you read your labels carefully to get the full picture of the product you are about to consume. As the highest likelihood is that it has been optimized for distribution and high gross margins to overcome the gatekeepers.
Javion, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
In short, I am a Jamaican immigrant who moved to the Rocky Mountain regions of the United States to first pursue an education in Engineering; more specifically a Bachelor’s of Science (BSc.) in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace followed by Master of Science (MSc.) in Industrial & Management Engineering. I was very fortunate to have gotten an internship while I was pursuing my graduate studies to work as a Product Design Engineer. That really opened my eyes to the possibilities that exist to turn a thought (or idea) and raw materials into finished products. I have always had a love for finding solutions since preteen years. However, these experiences aided my development in viewing these solutions from a more commercial perspective and formulating a system for sustainability.
Armed with this new commercial perspective, I was prepared to revisit a problem I witnessed while growing up in Jamaica which was lack of economic mobility and food waste. One fruit in particular stood out as a gross example of waste food with a significant amount of nutritional values; Breadfruit. Having a very limited shelf life in its natural state, Breadfruit is a fruit where over half of the yield goes to waste each year. Plus considering that Breadfruit trees are one of the highest yielding fruit trees in the world, that is a lot of fruits that could be used to make deliciously tasting naturally gluten-free, superfood and paleo products. So, I asked myself the question one day; “what would happen if I slice Breadfruit really thin” after watching a food documentary about potato chips. I would pursue that question for a few weeks until I was able to get some samples created and shipped in Ziplock bags. After that I would bring these samples with me, literally, everywhere I went. I would offer them to everyone willing to try them, and most of the taster were folks that have never heard about Breadfruit. Several tasters recommended that I trademark/patent the term ‘Breadfruit’ not knowing this was already a naturally growing and producing fruit tree. This was the early days of the Jus Chill Breadfruit Chips which many have either heard about or tasted since the company’s founding days. We have since created several other product lines using Breadfruits; including our Breadfruit Pancake mixes and Breadfruit Cake/Muffin mixes. Additionally, we have added two new flavors to our Breadfruit chips product lines; namely Jamaican Jerk flavored Breadfruit Chips and Yardie BBQ flavored Breadfruit Chips. These are all simple ingredient products made from superfoods which are helping developing country farmers as well as reducing food waste. We look forward to increasing our presence in new locations as we ramp up our production capacities.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In business you must continue pivoting, at least in the early days, if you want to become successful. You want to remain true to the border mission and vision of the company, but you have to be flexible enough to consider different approaches to the business model, customer segment, and revenue channels. This is due to the fact that when we start businesses, we start with assumptions, and hopefully some amount of enthusiasm, however as you start to execute you find that some of those assumptions are baseless or just outdated once upon a time truths. It could be that the environment has changed, or it could be that your team might not be as committed as you originally anticipated. In these cases, you must reassess your capacities. I have had to pivot several times, but I look at these pivots more like testing my assumptions then adjusting my sail to harness the wind as opposed to signs of failure which leads to discouragement. I am not afraid to incorporate new methods when I have gotten new insights. An example was the initial approach I had planned to produce the Breadfruit Chips. Firstly, I wanted to source the raw product and ship it to the manufacturer to produce our products. This was going according to plan until COVID-19 derailed that plan. So, we had to take in production in-house using a commercial kitchen then I quickly realized that was not scalable when the orders kept piling faster than we could produce with this model. Now, we had to pivot our production strategy again. We formed partnerships, and some eventually fell through because of one reason or other, usually surrounding integrity. We have since pivot, and now our current approach requires us to leverage internal capacities with a more scalable model. We have been seeing much of the benefits of this most recent approach, however, it requires more focus and dedication from our internal team. As the saying goes, ‘one has to give in order to get’ and we are currently in our giving stages. We know that offering great inputs will yield great rewards, and thus we work graciously.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Naturally, I am a very trustful person. I like to do good for others, and it is very common that we assume that others think very similar to us, or merely have a similar set of values. However, I have come to realize that ‘values’ are not universal. One of the things that I have come to learn is to avoid offering up ‘blind’ trust. Instead, I have learned to perceive individuals more on the repetitive actions and habits. I have come to learn that it can save some headaches. Overall, I think that having a very clear framework on dealing with people that you will encounter in business will be one of the most important skills you will have to develop to succeed. In short, understand where people are currently then making deals based on the current stage of growth; not some future state of being. It sounds very simple, but if you get that early on, it will most definitely save you some pain in the learning stages. In the end, everyone is doing their very best. Accept that. Understand that. However, avoid letting that truth limit your potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://123juschill.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iifoods_juschill/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iifoods/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iifoods-juschill/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IandIFoods
- Other: Amazon Breadfruit Pancake Mix: https://www.amazon.com/Breadfruit-Gluten-Free-Grain-Free-Dairy-Free-Ingredient/dp/B09RWL9R9Z/ref=rvi_sccl_3/143-3624199-9982555?pd_rd_w=PpV9m&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=QEFPEGKNZT1R869FWDP6&pd_rd_wg=HCAUF&pd_rd_r=6dc77c98-cca9-46f8-a61f-2884a954771d&pd_rd_i=B09RWL9R9Z&psc=1