Episode 238: Part II: Kai's Transparent Take on Building Your Biz Conscientiously
We are back this week with part II of last week’s episode 237 with Kai Nortey! In this episode 238 of the Food Biz Wiz podcast, you’ll continue to hear Kai and Alli discuss more about Kai’s transparent, no sugarcoat experiences as a CPG founder.
If you missed part I in last week’s episode, we recommend that you check out that episode first (find it linked here)! Kai Nortey is the CEO & Co-Founder of kubé, PBC (Public Benefit Corporation). Kubé is a Black woman-owned artisanal, premium, and luxurious full-fat coconut ice cream womanfacturer and social enterprise, based in Oakland, California. They make their own clean, full-fat coconut cream from mature coconuts, then blend it with organic plant-based food ingredients.
Specifically, you’ll hear more about…
🍨 How Kai has arrived at her non-negotiables in their business
🍨 What the costs of taking VC from investors who aren’t aligned could be
🍨 Why it’s worth exploring all your options and pivoting when necessary
🍨 And what you can do to empower yourself before investment conversations!
As always, we want to hear: what perspective or wisdom did you need to hear most from Kai today? DM us via LinkedIn or Instagram and let us know!
📨 Find the Food Biz Wiz team on Instagram or LinkedIn here!
👉 Here’s the book that Kai mentioned on securities and how to determine your investment offerings: Raising Capital on Your Own Terms by Jenny Kassan.
MEET KAI NORTEY, CEO & CO-FOUNDER OF KUBÉ ICE CREAM:
Kai Nortey is the CEO & Co-Founder of kubé. kubé, PBC ( Public Benefit Corporation) is a Black woman-owned artisanal, premium, and luxurious full-fat coconut ice cream womanfacturer (small scale), social enterprise, and brand in Oakland California (since 2016). We are licensed by the California Department of Food & Agriculture. We make our own clean, full-fat coconut cream from mature coconuts, then blend with organic plant-based food ingredients. We pre-package small, 5oz size containers of our six popular flavors and sell B2B and B2C. We also have a triple bottom line in restorative economics & food justice, racial & gender equity, and environmental sustainability (where we donate our coconut byproducts to Deep medicine Circle Farm in Monterey).
Kai is also a visionary and socially conscious, Black woman, business leader who is tenaciously building restorative and regenerative food justice models without synthetic chemicals. As a youth, Kai grew up with a huge organic vegetable and fruit garden in Oakland, California, and loved eating fresh fruit and greens from her backyard. She learned about restorative and regenerative food models that provided healing minerals and healthy fats to the body, without the need for synthetic chemicals.
Kai comes from an interdisciplinary background in social work, biology, biotech cancer research, marketing communications, and healthy food models that do not depend on pesticides or synthetic chemicals. After Kai became lactose intolerant in 2009, Kai gave up dairy, and eventually became vegan. At kubé, we are licensed by the California Department of Food & Agriculture. We make our own clean, full-fat coconut cream, from mature coconuts, then blend with organic plant-based food ingredients. We pre-package small, 5oz size containers of our six popular flavors and sell B2B and B2C.
She also learned that the more people ate dairy the more likely they were to develop cancers. She decided to make the most luxurious, artisanal, vegan, full-fat coconut ice cream in various plant-flavors. Customers are amazed by how much kubé tastes like dairy ice cream without any coconut flavoring. At kubé, Kai and her team produce their own clean, full-fat, organic coconut cream by cold-pressing mature coconuts to make the most luxurious, vegan, full-fat coconut ice cream in various clean and bold plant-based flavors from fruit, seed(i.e.,vanilla), espresso, roots, essential oil and citrus essential oils.
Find kubé at their site here, on Instagram, on Facebook, and on X here!
SPONSORED BY MY MASTERCLASS:
Didn’t have a chance to join my LIVE Wholesale Success System training this week on Tuesday or Thursday? Then come sign up for a time to watch my free Masterclass! As we put Q1 behind us, we want to make sure that YOUR Q2 is armed with actionable strategy on how to increase YOUR sales. Check out our Masterclass for these tips, plus hear more about joining us in Retail Ready®. Click here to sign up for a time to watch our Masterclass!