We recently connected with Megan Halphen and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

Food margins are typically lower than other goods so you have to have a higher level of sales to stay afloat. Given even higher cost of raw materials, packaging, and surprisingly labels it is really difficult to maintain profitability without raising my own prices. Having a niche product that really stands out and is versatile is the key to staying in business long-term. There will always be a commodity version of everything. That’s not what Magnolia Face Co. beverage syrups are about.

Megan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Food Scientist that went in to B2B sales. When the pandemic hit and I could no longer travel for work, I was itching for a creative outlet. I’ve always preferred a good beverage over a good snack so I started making my own craft cocktails at home which led to making my own beverage mixers at home. While the barrier to entry was at its lowest point in my lifetime, I decided to bottle my product and sell at markets. I knew if I was making my own drinks at home, so was everybody else. These products make being your own bartender/barista really easy and fun!

While at the time no one else was producing their own small-batch beverage syrups, since then a few other players have entered the market. None of our products are similar and we’ve found that each of our brands resonates with a different type of consumer. I’m really proud of my Lavender Syrup- you can use it in cocktails, matcha, coffee, lemonade, & tea!

Since then, in order to maintain differentiation, we’ve built a mobile bar. The Mobile Magnolia offers beverage catering services to private events. It’s pink. It’s retro. It’s fabulous and you won’t find anything else like it in DFW!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I manufacture my own products. I went to Texas A&M and hold a BS in Food Science. My regular 9-5 job led to me suppliers for my ingredients, equipment, and packaging. As I grew my business and wanted to offer online sales I had to pivot from home-production under the Texas Cottage Food Law, to getting a manufacturer’s license and producing in a commercial kitchen. The process hasn’t changed, it’s still small-catch and hand made.

Finding a commercial kitchen that had availability with a lower minimum hourly quantity was a real challenge. Most commercial kitchens want to support business’s that have already scaled or catering companies that are require many hours of use. Lesson learned was that I needed to negotiate, and offer to be flexible, like working at night when the demand for kitchen use was nonexistent.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

A combination of a physical presence at markets and engaging with customers/potential customers online. While most people are shopping online these days, many people like to taste test a consumable product before committing. Announcing the date/time of my market locations on social media helped bolster an increase in in-person shoppers. These customers then turned into online customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.magnoliafare.com
• Instagram: magnoliafare.co
• Facebook: Magnolia Fare Co.

Image Credits
@withtheoneyoulove @furlowphoto @peytonklemmcreative