We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tania McCormack. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tania below.
Tania, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.
When we founded FishSki Provisions we wanted our business to have a voice and a purpose. We bring easy to make southwestern foods to the market and with that we feel it necessary to support the outdoor adventures that inspire our flavors. At least 3% of every sale is donated to conservation and recreational access. Current and past support efforts have included stream restoration efforts by the Boulder FlyCasters Chapter of Trout Unlimited, trail restoration on Colorado high peaks, Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Rio Grande watershed awareness, Native Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout reintroduction in Sand Dunes National Park, and Colorado Trout Unlimited’s Youth Camp.
After our recent move to New Mexico we are actively looking for local projects and co-founder Rob McCormack has already joined the Taos Trout Unlimited chapter.
Tania, 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?
FishSki Provisions was a backpacking recipe and a fan favorite amongst our friends on fishing trips. We have a strong love for the southwest, including it’s outdoor adventure sprit, and its unique culture extremely evident in the local flavors. All FishSki recipes are inspired by these two loves.
Our first product, Hatch Green Chile Mac & Cheese, is an easy to make recipe featuring all air dried ingredients. We chose air dried over freeze dried to ensure product quality and excellent flavor. Ironically, our decision assisted in price point (we are more than half the cost of other backpacking meals) and made us a pantry staple as well. We turned traditional boxed mac and cheese on its head through the bold flavors of our beloved southwest.
From there we grew our product suite to include Hatch Red Chile Mac & Cheese, and Jalapeño Hatch Green Chile Cheddar Grits. Both were very well received by our consumers.
FishSki grew from our own hard work and determination. After five years we have expanded the company from a small online following of dedicated friends and family, to now a presence in over 450 stores across the country. Mostly through organic word of mouth and promotion. Recently, we moved our business from Colorado to our own manufacturing facility in Alcalde, New Mexico where we have been welcomed with open arms by the community. This facility also allows us to provide co-packing capabilities to other small businesses, a hole we identified during our own growth.
We look forward to continuing to spread the flavors of the southwest through easy to make comfort foods.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When the pandemic hit and we were all on lockdown super markets quickly ran out of everything. We recognized a surge in purchases on our website, as well as empty shelves in stores. Our distributors could not keep up and were unable to restock our product.
We buckled down. While everyone was home watching episodes of Tiger King (don’t worry, we saved time for this as well), we produced more product, and drove around the state stocking super markets. We also fulfilled our Ecommerce inventories so that Amazon, Walmart, and more had plenty of FishSki for those stuck at home.
The results were astounding. Our product reached many new customers within days.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
When you offer a spin on a classic product like mac & cheese, it better be delicious, and the price point better not be too high. And if people have to go off of a bag to be convinced? The packaging design has to represent why this product over the others in a bold way that catches the eye.
First – the recipe had to be perfect. We did rounds of testing with top ingredients and many friends and family weighing in. We also had to be authentic about the flavors. If we’re claiming the southwest, our Chile had to be Hatch. Top ingredients means higher prices. So to make sure our price point was not too high we heavily analyzed other areas for savings like packaging, production, shipping, and storage. All of these were important to be as tight at possible so our product could continue to be best in flavor.
Lastly, the eye catching brand. The southwest story had to be apparent to a person going to grab that box of Kraft or Annie’s. Our brand design is inspired by block print, a popular art technique (New Mexico is especially know for its strong art scene), as well as by the recognizable geometric shapes inspired by southwestern Native Indian cultures. The use of bold colors representing the flavors is our last trick to grab that shopper’s attention.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fishskiprovisions.com/
- Instagram: fishskiprovisions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fishskiprovisions
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fishski-provisions
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTyPcjJR0v0VRxkqClRvMdg