Family, Farmers, & Wildlife with Syed Khaleque & Amer Rabbi and of Auntie Rana’s
In this episode, Syed and Amer share how family tragedy, living around the world, and experience in the packaged good industry all led them to launch their own food brand, Auntie Rana’s. They share how their marketing strategy resulted in landing 300 influencers, 4-5 retail partners, and loads of press by the week of their official launch. The discussion covers their 100 year family history in business, their connection to and passion for the food industry, and why they’ve decided to donate 5% of their product to wildlife conservation. Syed and Amer and excited to be the first to introduce North America to the Naga chili, which is beloved for its fragrance in other parts of the world. The conversation then goes on to talk about the challenges they faced launching the brand, their hopes for the future, and what a better word means to Syed and Amer.
Takeaways:
Syed and Amer’s father passing started them on the path to launching a food brand.
Having lived in California, Bangladesh, Singapore, Montreal, Toronto gives them a unique view of global foods and tastes.
Their experience in the food industry and large consumer goods companies guided their launch.
Auntie Rana’s brand secured 4-5 retail partners on launch day.
Launching with over 300 influencers will help promote the product.
Auntie Rana’s gives 5% of profits to animal conservation causes.
They’re the first brand to introduce the Naga chili to North America.
Launching with 4 different products gives them both product range and focus.
Their family has been in business for a hundred years.
Sound Bites
“Our family's been through a lot of turmoil. The 2008 financial crisis kind of wiped out all of our assets and our homes and everything. Then our Dad got cancer in 2016.
“Naga chili is absolutely beloved in Eastern Bangladesh to India's Seven Sisters because of the fragrance. It's wildly amazing.”
“My mom always said you’ve got to try everything three times. That's why our palate grew so much.”
“These are the areas that the exact same wildlife is affected by the agriculture. We’re trying to help those areas.”
“Reading history is powerful, because every mistake you're going to make, someone's already made it. Why not just learn from that?”
“If you're not passionate about it, you're going to burn out.”
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