How Tattooed Chef Built a Breakout Brand in the Frozen Food Aisle — with Sarah Galletti, founder and CEO

On this episode of Girl Gang the Podcast, we're interviewing Sarah Galletti - Founder of Tattooed Chef.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Girl Gang the Podcast. I'm your host, Amy Will, and the founder of Girl Gang. This podcast is brought to you by Girl Gangthelabel.com. Head to our website after the show to browse our directory of female-owned businesses and enjoy exclusive discounts from them. Read our online magazine, The Edit, for interviews with female creatives, plus tips, tools, and rituals to level up your own career. Shop our line of merchandise, including our signature support your local Girl Gang collection. For every item sold, we team up with a charity to support women's education, health, and empowerment. Shop today and use code Girl Gang to receive 20% off at GirlGangthelabel.com. Show us your listening by tagging us on Instagram at Girl Gang The Label. Thank you so much for tuning in.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Hi, I'm Sarah Galetti. I am the founder and creator of Tattooed Chef Foods.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Alrighty, so let's talk about how you got started and your career path. What was your first job leading up to where you're at now?

SPEAKER_02 0:55

So my first job was working in uh Calabria, actually, Calabria, Italy. And I was working at a pasticceria and a gelateria, and I was making gelato and um cornetti, which is croissants and pizza. Um, and um it was a really cool experience, um, super hands-on, and um just really enjoyed my time there. I was there for about maybe three to four months, um, and just really connected with with the people, obviously, and and um I'm Italian, so it was connecting with my my Italian roots as well. So um, yeah, that was my first, that was my first real hands-on job in the industry.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

And then when you were working that job, did you picture where you would be ending up now, or what was that process like through your journey where you um kind of conceptualize the tattooed chef?

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Yeah, so I I went to um like originally, so I went to like film school and I was I was really just trying to find a way, you know, like where can I be creative? What can I do? Um, and so in in going to film school, I realized that like uh, you know, I needed to um like find um another medium because obviously the the film industry is like super difficult to make it. Um I was in a few bands as well, I was like drumming for a few bands and I was like, how can I make it in the music industry and then make it in the film industry? I think maybe I I need to to rethink this process. So um I went to Italy. I l I just went to Italy, I went traveling and um and I went uh to work at this place, and then from from there I came back um I came back to Los Angeles and I literally had a dream about um Tattoo Chef, like the design and the um the name and that I wanted to focus on sustainable ingredients and I wanted to focus on plant-based foods and and so um I started to draw it out. Like I just I drew out the design. I I really I saw Paisley, like I, you know, we have like Paisley d design and and um and then and then from there um I just I just I just went with it and uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

So Okay, so when you have this dream, do you like wake up in the middle of the night and jot it down?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Yeah, um so like a lot of my weird, crazy ideas, they do happen like in my dreams or um you know late at night, right? So uh that night um the next morning I woke up and and I was like that was that was interesting and it was more vivid than my other dreams. And maybe that means something. Maybe that is something I need to really hone in on. So um I I kinda I remember I went to dinner with my parents like two days after, and I was like, um you guys like you know, I'm really thinking about doing this tattoo chef, this this concept of um of like sustainable foods, sustainable ingredients, plant-based. Um and I came up with this, this, I dreamt this idea, it was tattooed chef foods. What do you guys think about that? Like I asked them, like, what do you guys think about it? And they were like, well, like Sarah, so like at the time, this is actually a really funny story. At the time I didn't have any tattoos. So like I'd like literally like you know, they're like, Well, Sarah, like, do you think that this like is this is this you? Like, is this does this resonate with you? And I was like, Yes, it really, really resonates with me. And I can't really describe it, but it just feels so something that's so important to me. And so as I was developing the designs, um, I I just felt like even more attached to it. And I went and searched online to see if the tattoochef.com was like taken. Um, and it was. And I was like, oh my god, is this a sign? What do I do? Um, so I actually reached out to the person who had tattoochef.com and I was like, hey, can I can I take it? Can I can I buy it from you? Like I really, like I'm real, I really want this. And the guy was like, well, like, you know, it's gonna cost, you know, X amount of money. And, you know, in my head, I'm thinking, well, like, this, is this really even, is this really something? Is this something? Like, is it? And and uh, but I was so like I was just so um like just intense about it. Like I just really wanted it. So I ended up buying it from the guy and then just can like you know continuing on from there and and uh yeah, so oh my gosh. Okay again, don't know if that makes any sense what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

It definitely did because I mean I'm uh for we're I'm just like on the border of going broke for how many domains I have on Go tabs.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Seriously, or like keeping or or keeping tabs on like when they need to be renewed and like getting a bunch of like you know, uh hey, you need to renew this.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Like, oh fuck it, let's just do another five years. You never know. You never know. We'll just do the bulk one. Another extra five years exactly. No, that completely makes sense. Okay, so you have no tattoos, you have this vision, you get the domain from this guy. Yeah. What what's that next phase look like in conceptualizing it?

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Yeah, so um my background, so my father, he was in the seafood industry, and he had been a part of um, you know, having manufacturing facilities, and he, you know, going to him with this concept was was fun. Um, and he really like took it in. And um, you know, I think for a lot of companies, distribution is difficult, and I think uh that we already kind of had that concept. We were already able to um have distribution um in the United States. And so we did a lot of um my dad, he did a lot of seafood private label business with Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. And I decided when I decided that I wanted to be in the industry, I started to work with him. And I kind of was coaxing him and saying, Dad, you know, seafood kind of not really cool. Like maybe we should, you know, really start focusing on other items. Um and so I just started to create a product for Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, which ended up being like huge private label business. So we did um like the first cauliflower pizza crust. Um, that's that's ours at Trader Joe's, at uh Whole Foods. Um we did um, and literally that took me like a long time to develop. We were the first ones to really develop it in, you know, mass production. Um and then we're like we started to do rice cauliflower, and we started to do that with Whole Foods. So we started to kind of build this new um product list as I was getting involved, and we were starting to realize that seafood was not part of our, you know, item list anymore. It was all plant-based items. Um, and so after being so heavily involved with Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and kind of understanding the market and what people were looking for, uh that's really when you know the brand came into play and really wanted to to bring even more wacky, unique ideas into the tr into Tattooed Chef. So it was kind of a a really interesting space because obviously branded is a whole nother world than private label. Um and you know, we're a family-owned business. We we can't, you know, put a bajillion dollars into, you know, slotting at a at a you know at a retailer. You know, it costs a lot of money to to just start putting product in. We didn't have money to waste. Um, so we really hit the clubs hard. And in working with the clubs, it wasn't about you know putting in a ton of money to market a product. They just really saw us and wanted to um take a chance. They they really like the branding and the the the design and the products. And so we were able to just get you know these these items out into into um clubs. So we kind of are doing things backwards. It's like we're going, we went into club and then we're gonna do, then we want to get go into retail and then we're gonna sell online. So we've had this really interesting, it's been a really interesting process, really. And we've tattooed chef has only been around, I think, for about a year and a half. And it's, you know, we have super trending products um just because we've been able to work so closely with some of the biggest, you know, retailers, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods. So it's been pretty interesting journey. But yeah, we don't do seafood anymore. Literally, that's gone. Like, you know, it's come it's just a hundred percent plant-based at this point.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Can you let our listeners know for people that don't, what the difference between your own branded product and then private label is?

SPEAKER_02 10:40

For sure. Um, private label is product that you're creating for that specific retailer. So, you know, um, it's under their brand, basically. At Trader Joe's, you know, there's trader Giotto's or there's trader jose and stuff like that. So like we're literally creating product under their brand. And Whole Foods obviously has 365. So we did a lot of 365 business as well. Tattooed Chef, it's our it's it's just our own ideas. As long as you're in your integrity and you are creating product that's true to yourself, that's all that really matters. Even if somebody else thinks it's like the wackiest thing in the world, if you truly believe in it, others will too.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

You have a deep-rooted value and sustainability, which we definitely love highlighting here at Girl Gang. It's like my husband and I on our in our personal journey, we love that and the brand we want to bring to light, how it's a lot more accessible than I think people realize to just take some steps to a more sustainable lifestyle. Was sustainability something that was deep rooted in family values from you growing up, or was it like life experience later on? What um kind of carved out that passion and purpose for you? Because I also imagine as you're building this and you want to be deep rooted in it. I mean, fast forward to today, it's very trendy. I imagine when you were getting started though, getting that pushback and needing to stick to your values was a bit intense. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

I think that uh sustainability wasn't really a thing when we were really getting started. I think even plant-based wasn't even really a thing when we were getting started. So I like a lot of the times bringing product to uh these retailers without any meat in it, and you know, they'd be like, I'm sorry, what are you giving me? Like, this is not this is not gonna work out for us, you know? Um, or even like without pasta in it. Like we do a cauliflower mac and cheese, and originally when we showed it, it was like, well, where are the carbs? Like, where's you know, give me, give me some, you know, substance here, you know. So um, but uh, you know, over time people kind of I feel like we were bringing awareness to them. And I think in sharing our story, which is we are manufacturers of our products. So we have a manufacturing facility in Italy, we have one in Los Angeles. Um, we actually contract the fields and farms in Italy to get product. So cauliflower literally comes on a truck to our facility and it's washed and processed in our facility. And I think that that is such a rarity in this business because a lot of people depend on copackers to to make their product. And what's so different with with us is that we are literally, you know, um getting the crops from the fields, processing it, m putting it into uh cauliflower Mac, for example, and straight to the consumers uh, you know, hands. And that has been insanely rewarding. Um just to even say that we do that. It's just super fulfilling. And for me, I've always been a massive animal lover, um, and uh just always really connected to to the way we process um uh you know meat. Um and even in Italy, like the way that they do process meat in Italy is is interesting, uh, meaning like it's disturbing. Um so you know, for me, I think my family uh growing up, they are Italian. Um I think they always cared about good quality ingredients. I don't know if they necessarily ever had like a concept of sustainability. Um, but I think now just their focus on good ingredients is kind of what made me kind of want to be into the sustainability of things, if that makes sense. Um so it's again super rewarding that we get to to to to do that. And it is a rarity because like these a lot, there's so many companies out there that are getting product and they really don't know what it is. You know, they're selling product that they don't know if it's organic or non-GMO or you know, and they're putting it out there and and and that's fine, you know, you whatever whatever you want to do, but I just really think that that differentiates us from a lot of businesses out there. Um, and we we just we we care about uh you know where we're getting the raw materials to make your food. So it's super important.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah, and being in full control of that is really so rare. So I feel like the whole process of setting that up. I mean, what was that like? I know you had mentioned your family and how they had like good distribution, mentioning that they care a lot about the ingredients. I feel like it was probably um very organic for you to come together and understand the things not to do that would be not a sustainable practice. But I don't know, can you kind of highlight what the process was like of putting that together? Um, my goal would be for someone listening that wants to start any kind of business that wants to have a foundation of being eco-friendly.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Yeah, so that's what's really cool about Italy is like there are so many just you know, farmers out there that are growing zucca, which is butternut squash or pumpkin, you know, that are growing cauliflower. They're just they're just planting the seeds. There's there's a crop um that uh that you that you have to get behind. And we have a person who does sourcing and they go out and they meet with, you know, different um, again, different farmers and stuff, and they're like, so what are you what do you grow? Like what is something that you're really like, what is what do you have? And they'll be like, oh, we have cauliflower, we have zucchini, we have red peppers, we have such and such. And then from there you tell them that you want to to really build a partnership with them. And I think that that is an important piece of it because if you don't build that partnership, then I feel like things could fall through very easily. So, you know, so we go to them and we connect with them and we literally plant crop in time to sell to the mass market. Um, this last couple of years have been Italy has had some really, really bad weather. Um, so a lot of the times we have commitments and we have to say, you know, hey, like we're we're you know, we're doing our best. Uh we but that you know, these these crops are um they're not growing as we want them to. So it just shows you the realness behind it because hey, we can go buy zucchini in uh, you know, Mexico or something and and you know, or in uh wherever else and and just process it in not a sound way, but we don't. We're very transparent with how we're growing and manufacturing product that's super important.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

When you are coming up with a new dish to be selling, what is that creative process like? Do you have like um does it just kind of come to you and you jot it down, or do you set aside different times during throughout the year? Or if you could shed light in the creative process of putting together a dish, I would love to hear that.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

So I definitely don't have any time like where I set aside, um, because I feel like I mean, yeah, so no time set aside. Usually, like a lot of my creativity um stems from like listening to music or just like strumming a guitar, even because I feel like when you strum a guitar, it's like then your mind just kind of it opens up a little bit and like it allows other ideas to come through. So like I'll do that, or even talking to people. Um, you know, somebody would say, like, will say, like, hey, um, like I'm really into kombucha right now. And and so I'd be like, that's that's interesting. Like, I wonder what else you can do with kombucha, you know. So um we're doing like a uh Raspberry Kombucha smoothie bowl um for Costco, but you know, there's just always different like ideas um that come to me super randomly. Dreams, I just see a concept or an idea, and then I just go do it. I don't know. Like I think my creative process because um I just don't feel like it's just weird. I'm just weird.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

I can't explain it. No, that is so perfectly how you're describing it. So basically for me, I'm extremely ADD. And so if I ever try to like sit down in front of my computer and do graphic design, for example, or like try to design a sweatshirt, it's never gonna happen. A goal of really going through that is explaining maybe someone that gets traditional creative blocks, showing them like I try as many times as we can to showcase the creative process so people realize, oh, there's not just this like one way that I read in the artist's way that you journal three pages a day and then you're a creative person. No, it comes in all different ways, shapes, and forms.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

You're giving me the chills because it's no, seriously, like if anybody tells you you need to like study being creative, like can you imagine that concept? It just doesn't exist, you know, and creative creativity literally comes from nothingness, but also so many things. So it's not really it, there's it's there's no linear con way of of of being creative. And but that's what's so cool about being creative or expressing it, is that it can just be like, you know, you getting like a like a wad of paint and throwing it on the wall. And it's just like it's it's expressive and it's creative, and that's what it is, you know. And who's to even define what is creative or not?

SPEAKER_01 20:56

I mean, come on, you know, so and like most of my ideas, I haven't done any formal studying on this, but most of my ideas do come from like a half-conscious state. And the more I talk to people that are like creatives, living out their full potential of creativity, I see that as a commonality. Getting ideas at one in the morning, dreams, even when I take a bath, like it's something about when you're forcing it and just trying to push through the stimulation, it doesn't happen. But then when you just surrender to it, accept and take ownership of I want to be a creative, I just want to create whatever that looks like so many different ways, shapes, and forms. I feel like on a daily basis, you're open to little like nudges the universe is trying to give you.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

It's an awareness to like when something is nudging you, to be like, oh wait, maybe that is something. Maybe I should take that, pocket it or take it, utilize it, you know. So it's it's true. It's it's that we do need to listen more to ourselves. Um, because we we don't. We, you know, it's sometimes it's easier to just not be expressive or, you know, just kind of, you know, walk the The you know, the straight line, and so sometimes it's really important to to listen to those things, and who cares what anybody thinks, just be yourself, you know, because that's the ultimate, and again, that's why we're all here.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Was there a hero dish you made where you felt like the puzzle pieces were coming together?

SPEAKER_02 22:19

I think for me it was the cauliflower crust. Um, because I feel like a lot of people, like at the time, nobody really knew what it was. Um, and let alone nobody was really able to make it in mass production. Um, so I think like, and it took me a really like typically an item for me, like I'll I'll get it, like, you know, maybe like on the first try or like the second try. Like I just I'll get it, right? But this cauliflower crust was a pain in the ass, you know, like it was just so difficult to create, but super rewarding. Um, and so I think that that's what it was. I mean, I went to Italy and I tried to do it in Italy and it wasn't working, and then you know, it came back to LA, and then I started to fiddle around there, and it and and just like when it all came together, it's like I didn't even realize it was coming together. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, but then it just did. And then I was like, oh my god, it is this real? Did it just work? This is amazing, you know. So I think for me it was like the cauliflower crust, um, which was like a you know a moment. Um, and then also I think like our asay bowls um also because there is a science behind it, and I don't think people really understand because you know, these asay bowls that you get at these bars really, you know, they're packed with sugar. I mean packed with sugar. Um and of course they're they have tons of flavor and and they're good because they are packed with a ton of sugar. So for me to figure out a way to make that smoothie concept um for people in their homes without putting that sugar in it was super rewarding as well. Um so like we we you know we have this, we our asay bowls have um the only sugar that's added is like from the granola packet, because each asay bowl comes with its own separate granola packet. So essentially, if somebody didn't put the granola in it, then there wouldn't be any sugar in it. Um so like coming up with that process was was super fun. Um, because a lot of companies right now they're just making like acai sorbet and they're calling it like an acai bowl. Um, don't really know how, but but like, but that's what's happening. Um so yeah, acai bowl and the cauliflower crest, I think have been super, super exciting process.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Like we were discussing earlier, all these different ways that you can live a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. I feel like that just must be so rewarding making it accessible to people. I personally went on that journey and I feel like probably through a handful of the products that you've made where I'm like, oh, this isn't a huge ask. I'm not veering away and just like eating raw foods now. I'm still having the things I like. I'm just slowly incorporating the ingredients.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

What's interesting about our brand is that we're not like the pretentious plant-based company. Like, I feel like it's super important to um make food that people who are scared of eating plant-based vegetable, you know, items um want to as well. So, like a lot of stuff that we get, um, like a lot of emails that I love getting is like when um like a girlfriend will be like, hey, like my my boyfriend like doesn't know that I'm giving him this cauliflower crust and he's been eating it like he thinks it's pizza, and he's just been like, you know, like I love those kinds of things because it's because it's again, it it sh it shows that our brand, like we want to make things that other people who don't typically just eat vegan or gluten-free, um, will enjoy. So those those emails are just super fun. But like we have a lot of those emails where girlfriends are like, yeah, my boyfriend just been eating like all the cauliflower crust and he doesn't even know, you know. So that's been really, that's been super fun. Um and then like um like as far as like dietary restrictions, like we're always trying to, you know, kind of put some sort of spin on it. Because I think that just like reducing the amount of meat consumption. Like, I don't want to tell somebody that their lifestyle needs to not include meat, right? But like if we can just somehow reduce the amount that we're consuming, that's all I really care about. Um, you know, and it's like a lot of our products do have cheese in them, um, you know, and some don't. I mean, I don't want to limit it in any way uh because hey, cheese is good. Um, but we do make sure that it's RBST free, you know. So there are aspects that you can that you you can be more conscientious of what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Well, thank you so much for sitting down and chatting with us today. If you can let our listeners know where to find out more about you and Tattoo Chef and get your products. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Um, so you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, um, and Spotify at Tattoo Chef Foods, and um, you can get our products at Costco, Sam's Club, and Walmart.

unknown 27:33

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Thank you. For your Spotify, so do you just have like a playlist of so for Spotify?

SPEAKER_02 27:39

So originally I was a musician. Um, and uh so every single month I do a taste the jams playlist where I just like you know curate uh a playlist from smaller bands, but also some big bands, and just like you know, just have fun with that so people could just discover new music. I think it's fun. It's fun for me too.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

That's so cool. Knowing you said it and knowing your background. I was like, damn, I'm definitely gonna follow that. That's cool.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Thank you so much for tuning in. If you liked this episode, please take a moment to leave us a review. It helps us out so much. Remember to head to Girl Gangthelabel.com to redeem your 20% off discount with code Girl Gang. Take a moment to remind the females in your life that they inspire you and support your local Girl Gang.