TASTY A NICHECarved OUT

I am so delighted to have the opportunity again to chat with Jenny Goldfarb, Unreal Deli Corp. CEO. She spent some time chatting before a busy day to update us on her successes, challenges and how to come out on top after one heck of a year.

Congratulations on your success since your feature in our last issue! Things are moving and ABC’s Shark Tank has had you back. What happened on the second visit?

After the initial Shark Tank airing, everything was going along swimmingly. We were not yet retail ready, but retail was indeed the plan for us ultimately. Although, we did have the food service packaging intact, and we distributed to restaurants, marinas, etc. ready to serve. Restaurants were loving us, and we actually started working with Quizno’s. Shortly thereafter, the pandemic hit. Sales flatlined and my father became terribly ill unexpectedly. By two miracles, my dad was saved by way of plasma donation and the business needed to make a fast pivot into retail, although nothing ever pivots quickly into retail. I explained to Mark Cuban that the restaurants were barely ordering anything at all, and he said to reach out to every grocery store and tell them you are ready. With a bootstrap and scrappy mentality, me and my team worked around the clock to make beautiful packaging, and we created our second item – Unreal Roasted Turkey. We created the retail packaging for both and now we are in approximately 700 stores including mainstream locations such as Ralph’s, Wegmans, Fresh Time, Giant and many more on the horizon waiting for the green light.

Extremely exciting.

The Turkey deli slices, can you elaborate?

We wanted it to be heavily vegetable based, not just wheat gluten and spices. We use plenty of white beans, celery and onions. The entire vegetable gets pureed and put into the “meat.” We tested many versions, and we feel as though we finally perfected the taste. What can we look forward to from Unreal?

We went back to Quizno’s and suggested a way to really have them make a mark – all vegan virtual kitchen. So, after collaborating with other vegan suppliers (cheeses and sauces), we are sending a “kit” to five Los Angeles stores testing eight fully vegan subs – the world’s first all-vegan sub shop! We hope to expand this in the near future.

I feel overwhelming humility and total excitement for what I get to do! Number one goal is closing down factory farms. Number two goal is having a successful business. I am here for the party! I want to make plant-based food super-delicious and mainstream. Unreal Deli is for everyone.