Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / The woman who started a cricket farm in her backyard & went onto launch the future of pet food, with Chippin founder Haley Russell (part 1)

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The woman who started a cricket farm in her backyard & went onto launch the future of pet food, with Chippin founder Haley Russell (part 1) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Hayley Russell for Female Startup Club. Hey everyone, it's Dune here, your host and hype girl. Today on the show, we're learning from Hayley Russell, co-founder of Chippin, the pet food biz for dogs.
• 0:23
  Chipin creates high-quality pet foods that reduce the eco-pawprint by developing products from all-natural proteins such as insects, overpopulated fish, and algae, while also being science-backed and with traceable nutrition. In this episode, we're covering how she started a cricket farm in her backyard, a big pivot she made early on based on a eureka moment, and how she's approaching growth today.
• 0:49
  And if you haven't heard me going on and on and on about my book launched, firstly, I'm surprised. But secondly, make sure you mark February 28 in your mind and your diary because that's when our launch week celebration kicks in. You can keep in the loop with us via our free industry newsletter at femalestartupclub.com or on social media. Let's get into this episode. This is Hayley for Female Startup Club.
• 1:16
  Hayley, hi, welcome to the show. Hi, thanks so much for having me. I'm so excited to dig into your story today. I'm such a dog lover. I'm just like this person that's become so weirdly obsessed with my dog that I'm just like, what is life without her? So I feel like I'm talking to a fellow dog.
• 1:38
  Super dog lover. Yeah, you absolutely are. I mean, it's our fur babies. What is your dog's name? Sweetie. She's like a tiny, tiny chihuahua and she's just like a bundle of joy. Oh my goodness. Love that. I actually read what your dog and your co-founder's dog's name were, like Wren and, but I've forgotten the other one.
• 2:00
  I have a, Ren was the inspiration for the company. So she's golden doodle who upon showing interest in eating crickets served as a spark of inspiration to eventually create what is now Chippin. And then I adopted, and then I adopted a pity mix named Kingfisher about three years ago. And so all the dogs in my family are named after birds. Oh.
• 2:30
  Love that. Love that. Tell me about Chippin. Tell me about the brand and the ethos behind the brand. It's all about chipping in and doing something that's really great for your pet or like a family member and the planet.
• 2:46
  And so really started inspired by this experience of not being able to find a pet food that was high quality, super tasty and eco friendly. And I just thought it was crazy that we've seen so much momentum around plant based foods for people we've seen.
• 3:05
  really a transformation in consumer products in general when it comes to shoes or apparel or even cleaning goods. And then when I was looking at pet food options on the market, there really wasn't innovation that delivered on great food that's also great for the planet.
• 3:25
  And so that was a personal experience. And then when I found out that if you're considering all of our USA pets, I'm based here in the US, as their own country, 180 million cats and dogs. If you look at the meat, they rank fifth in global meat consumption. And so then it became not only an individual challenge, but also the
• 3:51
  this massive global challenge, really. That is so crazy. And it makes, I mean, it makes so much sense in general, but I can't believe I never really thought about that because I don't eat meat and I'm so excited about the future of, you know, lab-grown meat and, you know, what's coming, like the innovation that's coming out in the food space in general. Food tech is so cool. But I've never actually thought too much about what she eats in her kibble. Yeah.
• 4:19
  That's so weird. Yeah, it's really, it's kind of crazy. And that's in part why there hasn't been innovation, because it's something that once people realize it, then there's sort of this wow moment of, oh, my gosh, this is insane. Why didn't I think of anything? But so much of the marketing around pet food is centered on your dog as this wild animal.
• 4:41
  with wolves on the packaging. And so there's sort of this assumption of, okay, well, my dog's gonna eat big game for dinner. And we found a way to deliver on that protein need while using 80% plus less resources.
• 5:01
  Gosh, that's amazing. I love that. I want to rewind to, you know, what got you thinking about this business in the first place? And what got you thinking about crickets in the first place? And like, you know, why this? Where does your entrepreneurial story like really get started?
• 5:19
  Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things that I really didn't mention, but the way that we go about creating these eco-friendly pet foods is we tap into all natural proteins like insects. So we have cricket protein-based dog treats, algae, California-grown spirulina, and then also overpopulated species. So we have both a dog food
• 5:44
  and treats that are made from wild caught silver carp that we source from waterways in the Kentucky area.
• 5:55
  So entrepreneurial journey started very early. I've always had an interest in creating my own businesses. Even as a young kid, I was making little belt businesses or camps or whatever I could do. I liked the idea of creating something new, building it from the ground up and enjoyed navigating the uncertainty while also working.
• 6:20
  solving problems. And so I started my career in finance after school, spent a couple of years at a bank, then shifted to working in the food and beverage space in a variety of different roles, generally operational. And I have always been really passionate about
• 6:42
  food, food systems, thinking about the impact of our food choices is really, it's one of those things, especially when you're looking at the climate emergency that we're in today, you can make a difference in 30 minutes by choosing a more eco-friendly meal, whereas it's really challenging maybe to get a new car, for instance. And so I've always seen food as a
• 7:09
  powerful thing from a nutrition and environmental perspective. And so I was super interested in protein. And my brother mentioned to me that there were some cricket protein bar companies. So this was a little while ago. And I just did a deep dive then on cricket protein. I've never heard about cricket protein before. That's incredible. Yeah.
• 7:36
  There was the Food and Agriculture Organization came out with, I think it was a 2016 report in which they declared insects as very promising for food and feed. And it was the most downloaded report ever.
• 7:50
  ever in their history. And it spurred this mini boom, at least here in the US and little insect based companies on the CPG side, and then also on the supplier side. And so I was tracking it and played my own little part. And then ended up I was in business school, and I got a handful of grants from the University of Pennsylvania and made my own
• 8:14
  Little cricket farm where I was partnering with entomologists, bug experts. Wait, wait, let's pause here. I've got so many questions. First question is, were you originally thinking about this as a food source for humans before it became what it is today? Yeah.
• 8:34
  Yes, I originally didn't have, I did not have a plan, but I knew that I knew that protein and the way that it is made is a problem. There are so many animal welfare issues, really passionate about that.
• 8:49
  There are a lot of human health issues, the amount of animal proteins consumed. And so I knew that I was interested in changing the food system and that protein was the area of focus. And I started somewhere. And for me, that was working on a little cricket farm. And so you say that you had a grant or you won a grant. Sorry. How did you win it and how much did you win? Yeah.
• 9:19
  It was while I was in business school. And so the first one was a $5,000 grant that I applied for. I submitted a written application and a little video of myself talking about the potential of insect-based protein.
• 9:36
  for people and how 2 billion people worldwide eat insects. And then with that $5,000, I purchased all the equipment that I needed and set up this little cricket farm and started to work with partners and making it something real.
• 9:56
  Can you talk me through, like, can you paint a picture of what a cricket farm looks like? Like, how big are we talking? Obviously, they're tiny. Is this a really small scale setup? Or is this like you've taken over like your parents' backyard and you've got like a whole dwelling out there?
• 10:12
  We're talking a relatively small space, but I, as most entrepreneurs do, you look to inspiration from other industries. So I borrowed from the cannabis industry and got a really large tent and had the ability to regulate temperature, humidity.
• 10:33
  air flow, light, everything that you need to create a happy and healthy environment for crickets, which are naturally swarming species. And, you know, they have very specific conditions under which they thrive. And so it was, you know, probably I'm horrible with
• 10:52
  square footage, but it was sizable. Five people could stand within the farm and then we had a vertical setup with kind of three different layers and a lot of happy chirping crickets.
• 11:11
  Oh my gosh, that is so cool and something I have just never heard about in my life. I love it. So what happens? You build this farm at your house. So I build the farm. It goes great. But ultimately what I realize is I am not a cricket farmer. Yeah.
• 11:35
  And this is going to be a big lift for me to scale this. And I see that there are other suppliers that are ramping up. They're doing an awesome job. And ultimately what I take away is that this is a more humane way of doing
• 11:59
  harvesting protein. It's something that I was comfortable with. And it led to this moment where my golden doodle Wren, I saw, wanted to eat a cricket. And that then put me on the course for thinking about
• 12:16
  Oh my gosh. Okay. I have one more question about the cricket situation before we can move on to the next part of your story about how you're actually building the brand at this point. One more question is, are you like creating recipes in your kitchen with crickets? Like, are you guys just like eating crickets at every meal? What's the situation? I want to know.
• 12:35
  It was more of a research and development kind of setup. So I ended up applying for a USDA Small Business Innovation Research Grant and was a finalist for that. So it was more of a learning experience. And then we did harvest a handful of them, never sold them to other folks, but then harvested some and did some sampling. And that ultimately led to this
• 13:04
  realization that people were having challenges from a psychological standpoint and eating insects, given the way that we're socialized to fear them. And, and that it's a great form of protein. And there's no hesitation when it comes to pets, and it's so high quality. And so, hey, maybe there's this win all around, where we can think about reimagining the whole pet foods,
• 13:32
  food chain and tap into different forms of protein to do that. So you have this eureka moment. You've got the realization. What are the kind of next steps to getting this brand up and running? Like, how do you start building this business?
• 13:49
  It was not immediate. I had the realization, I had a full-time consulting job lined up with a really awesome company, was in business school. And so it wasn't one of those stories where I had the moment and then immediately I was running and we're scaling, chipping. It definitely was a little bit more of, I knew there was something there,
• 14:15
  I was interested in pursuing it. And so I kind of slowly then started to mock up in my home kitchen some dog treats made from cricket protein and tested them out and wanted to make sure that it was a viable product that people would actually be.
• 14:37
  interested and willing to be a true their dogs. And then I also invested up front a ton of time talking to veterinarians and animal nutrition scientists, because this is something totally new. And so before ever going to market with a product, which we went to a market with our first product late 2019, started working out full time and went full steam ahead. In advance of that, spent a ton of time talking with people to ensure that this
• 15:07
  truly was a science-backed source of protein that is just awesome from a nutritional perspective. And when you say like you were, you know, going out there and trying to like prove out the concept by talking to people, like how were you trying to prove out the concept? How were you finding out that other dog owners were interested in that?
• 15:26
  There was a lot of on-the-ground hustle. And as any entrepreneur does, we still are. But in those early stages, I mocked up some early cricket treats in my kitchen. And then I created versions A through E and would go to some dog parks, sample there, see what people, how people responded, see how dogs responded. And then I also, through a network of people
• 15:56
  Friends and friends of friends would run around and drop off samples to their apartments because dog parks are actually really challenging. They get a good read because they're so the dogs are so overstimulated. So, yeah, so drop off product. People would then record on their phones.
• 16:14
  on their phones, how the dog responded, which version they liked better. And so I just started to get feedback in a pretty basic way, but it provided really clear insight into what people liked when it came to texture, selling points and anything from the shape of the treat so that a dog can eat it comfortably.
• 16:43
  Oh my gosh. Yeah. I didn't think of the shape. And also I imagine smell would come into it too. Sometimes my dog has things that I'm like, this stinks. Like she cannot have it in the house. Yeah.
• 16:53
  That is one of our biggest selling points. And one of the huge reasons why people stick around with Chippin is it smells great and it doesn't leave your hands with an icky, stinky residue. And so you can't see insects. And now we have a vegan treat and a treat made from a fish protein, but we started with the cricket protein. So there's no disgust factor in the dog treat itself.
• 17:22
  Yeah, I was reading your Amazon reviews, the plenty, plenty five-star Amazon reviews. And I kept seeing that coming up, which I thought was really interesting. You said a moment ago that you were doing, you know, like iteration A through to E. At this point, are you, you know, funding this through your savings? Is it not expensive at all to do this? What's the kind of money piece of the puzzle in the early days?
• 17:52
  This was very early prototyping. And I, after moving on from the small scale cricket farm, then did some additional pitches. So I did a startup pitch circuit and was able to get our first around 70K or so in funding from grants that we use to
• 18:21
  continue to iterate on the product and ultimately get our first trial run with a co-manufacturer and even our first mini product run also at that same co-manufacturer. And like when you say mini product run, how many units are you talking that you're able to kind of launch with? Just a couple thousand. Like a small amount. I mean, that's still a lot.
• 18:48
  Yeah, it's still a lot. It's a lot to sell a few thousand things. Yeah, well, Dog Treat, it's around $10. So you can get on the ground and sell through them pretty quickly.
• 19:04
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• 19:19
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• 19:40
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• 20:01
  How do you then go from, you know, then till now? Like if we're thinking about the key milestones of your journey, like how do you launch the brand out into the world? How do you start getting people to notice you and become interested? Because I also imagine there is still a bit of an education piece to this puzzle and getting people to be like, oh, that's new and different. What's the journey like?
• 20:26
  There's absolutely a big time education process. And it's been interesting because the cricket protein treats, there had been some basic education already done because people knew about it for themselves generally. But as we've launched new products like this, overpopulated silver carp food and jerky treats,
• 20:49
  the education part of things has just been huge. And so a couple, I guess, to start with a milestone note, and then we could talk a little bit more about customer education and kind of how we share out our story.
• 21:03
  You know, went from the prototype, started with just two flavors of a treat, had that. And what we did was set up a series of events. So we would go to, at the time, co-working spaces just before the pandemic hit. A different world.
• 21:25
  It was a different world completely. So we were just getting going right before the pandemic hit. So we had some co-working spaces, distribution through a handful of pet specialty shops. Like really, we just hit the pavement to get distribution out in the real world, recognizing that digital acquisition is so expensive and also can be challenging to get that really loyal customer.
• 21:54
  And so started with on the ground distribution. And then what we did was we had our own social media. So we're on Instagram at chip in time. TikTok kind of hadn't quite blown up yet. And we had our own social media.
• 22:12
  started to build out our following and really, really made sure to talk to anybody that was engaging with us. And so one of the things about our brand is
• 22:27
  It's very community centered. We're all in this together. We're all chipping in to try to make a difference in the world. And so that comes through in every touch point of the experience, whether it be our social media presence or customer care on our website. And so one of the things that really helped us accelerate digitally was getting to know people
• 22:52
  that had any bit of interest in what we were doing. And ultimately, we ended up building these kind of casual conversations into a Pawbassador program, which is kind of like an ambassador program. But it's a bunch of dog parents and their dogs who are sharing out what we're doing. And that was just huge for us to start to create some social media buzz and
• 23:22
  build out content, and then also educate other folks on what we're doing through people that were amplifying our message. When you say you were like engaging with someone and trying to have conversations with anyone who showed interest to you, what does that actually mean? Was that like going into the DMs and like switching a conversation from a comment to the DMs and being like, hey, so you have a dog or is there something else?
• 23:49
  It means going into DMs and having a real direct conversation with people. I love that. So cool. And I just feel like I'm part of this WhatsApp group of dog owners in my area. And it's just like such a little, you know, cult group because we're all just like, so like share any information, you know, share all the things. I feel like dog people really stick together.
• 24:15
  Well, yeah. And also nutrition can be very confusing. And so that is one of the value adds to getting to know people that are interested in the product. And then for people right now, we only have so many products. So also we try to get to know people for whom they're looking for something and maybe we don't offer it now, but it helps us then to...
• 24:43
  a lot of high touch conversations. And so from kind of like building out that, focusing on community, building out your ambassador program to say today, what are the kinds of things in your marketing mix that are really driving your acquisition and that are kind of like really working for you besides that kind of like community building?
• 25:05
  It's been really interesting. I think when you look at the pet food space, the sales channels are very fragmented. And so unlike a maybe human D2C company where you can just launch on your own website and stay only there, you have a differentiated product,
• 25:25
  Pet is a little bit different because you have Chewy, where so many different foods and treats are sold. Amazon has become a major platform. And then you have a lot of different pet stores. And so people cross-channel shop a lot for pets. And so it's that...
• 25:50
  And us having to play in a couple of different channels has actually also translated to us having a pretty diversified mix of ways in which we're also connecting with people, reaching out to them and then acquiring them.
• 26:06
  And so a couple of things that have been pretty interesting, maybe that are a little bit different, is we've really been leaning into affiliates. And so you can think about things like top 10 best dog foods or best eco-friendly products for new dog moms. And that's been a way where we've been able to get the word out with people.
• 26:32
  a permanent placement and a controlled customer acquisition cost that's been really exciting and interesting for us. So like through online publications, you mean? Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's so interesting. I had someone tell me that recently on the show. How does that actually work? Do you just, you know, determine who you think would be a good fit and you just like cold outreach or you have someone who specifically manages that for you?
• 26:57
  We have a teammate who is very focused on affiliates, but it's a combination. He knows some affiliates and then some of it is a lot of knocking on doors. Right. That's so interesting. Virtually. Yeah, I've got it. And so for you, like you obviously have your e-commerce site, you're in pet stores. I think I read you're in a few hundred pet stores nationwide. And then your other channel is Amazon. Are there any other channels in the mix or they're kind of your key ones?
• 27:27
  We have an interesting base of e-com marketplaces in addition to traditional retail doors that have been awesome ways to reach our target customer. And so we've partnered with Grove Collaborative recently. Do you know them?
• 27:47
  I don't know what that is. Please tell me. Okay. Growth Collaborative is based in California, and they have an eco-friendly marketplace started with cleaning goods, distributed nationwide, really at a big time.
• 28:05
  big base of people onboarded and a heavy focus on subscription. And we're the first pet food brand that they're launching with. And so we just launched a couple of months ago. That's been really huge as we're creating a category with them on their platform. And we've found that it's been fantastic from a broader awareness perspective.
• 28:30
  And then in line with that kind of partnership, which is a bit bigger, we're also working with a handful of smaller eco-focused marketplaces that are online and some fast delivery services like Fast AF. I see. And what about things like, or what's the, I don't know much about this, so...
• 28:57
  You know, I don't know how it goes, but what about working with vets and like partnering with those kind of like professionals? Is that something that's on the roadmap or already exists or, you know, it's not a vibe?
• 29:09
  It certainly exists for us from the perspective of product development. We have a board certified veterinarian who reviews all of our products and is on contract with us, which is pretty extraordinary for a small brand like ourselves. And so Dr. Beth Hamper is somebody who.
• 29:30
  we're thrilled to work with. And then in addition to her, we have a handful, a group of veterinarians that love Chippin and will share it with their customers. One of the things that's a little bit of a challenge as a smaller brand is that a lot of veterinary clinics are actually owned by much bigger pet food companies. And so there's a
• 29:59
  crazy competitive dynamic where i didn't know that yes they also know that it's a great acquisition channel and so for us it's impossible for us to distribute our food in many places where a much bigger player is um is is backing the clinic
• 30:21
  Oh my gosh, I didn't know that. I feel like that should be disclosed because... You would think. That's an interesting point. But we have a lot of veterinarians that absolutely love Chippin and then working with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist is just huge. Yeah, I bet. How big is the company now? What's your setup at the moment? Yeah.
• 30:46
  We're still a small team. So we're a little under 10 team members. And then we do a handful of different partnerships as we're doing different events or collaborations. But we've kept it pretty close as we've started to scale. Love it. What is the best and worst advice you've ever received?
• 31:15
  I don't know if I want to share the worst advice. I think when I receive bad advice, I try to just look at it. Block it out.
• 31:26
  My approach is to just ignore it. Since we talked a ton about crickets today, one of the funny and bad piece of advice I received at one point in time was that I should not pursue chippin' at all and I should just become a cricket broker. Oh my god. That was comical looking back. So worst advice was to not start chippin'.
• 31:56
  yikes yeah so for any early entrepreneurs um forget the naysayers and just move forward and um if you have conviction in your idea um make it happen um best advice um
• 32:14
  One thing that I found in the beginning stages of starting Chippin was I would temper some of my ambitions for the company or maybe even undersell myself at different points in time. And so I think as people assisted me with how to pitch the company to any number of folks, whether it be a big retailer or...
• 32:43
  investors, really just conveying confidence in yourself and the idea that you have and going big with the story is really critical. And I've had a handful of people mentor me and
• 33:09
  that we possibly could of where this company can go. And that's something where once you start to do that, I think the excitement and momentum just builds for yourself and your teammates and other people can sense it. And so I think it's like really don't undersell yourself.
• 33:29
  I love that. That's so cool. Definitely dream big, definitely set big, juicy, ambitious goals and take the action to get there. Amazing. Thank you so much for both of those.
• 33:44
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 34:09
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 34:31
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.
• 34:48
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 35:13
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 35:35
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that. Thank you.