Celebrity chef David Chang revolutionized fine dining when he opened Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York in 2004. Gone are the white tablecloths and stuffy menus. There was minimalist furniture and steaming bowls of noodles.
Marguerite Zabar Mariscal, CEO of the Momofuku restaurant group, says David was inspired by the care, skill and high-quality ingredients used by Japanese chefs. “No one had really seen this kind of intensity applied to what people perceived as more humble offerings,” says Marguerite.
Today, Momofuku brings the same intensity to its consumer packaged goods (CPG), Momofuku Merchandise, which sells crispy chili, instant noodles, soy sauce and more. “There just hasn’t been as much attention paid to this section of the supermarket or what’s available directly to the consumer,” says Marguerite.
Here’s how Momofuku diversified its business, adding a line of successful FMCG products to its popular family of restaurants.
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Produce restaurant quality products
Marguerite says the company has taken a unique approach to developing products. “We got a tip early on from someone who said you want someone to be able to take a bite of something and make it taste like Momofuku,” Marguerite says.
So the company reverse-engineered the process and integrated the products into its restaurant dishes. Restaurant chefs use the brand’s seasoning salts, soy sauce and chili crisps at Majordomo in Los Angeles and Noodle Bar in New York. “The very first products we made were labeled ‘restaurant quality,’ which was kind of a cheeky little joke, but we meant it,” says Marguerite.
Find a flagship product
When the Momofuku team entered the FMCG business, they actually thought soy sauce would be their biggest seller. After all, it’s one of the most popular condiments sold in the United States. It turns out that most people only buy soy sauce once or twice a year, while chili crunch was flying off the shelves.
“We’ve really started to see products like chili crunch, where people put it on eggs and everything they eat on a daily basis, scale a lot more quickly,” says Marguerite. That’s when the company adjusted its product line and invested in expanding more flavors of its best-sellers.
Create a content ecosystem
Momofuku Goods has also expanded the company’s content empire. Marguerite is proud of a Facebook group of 15,000 members dedicated to talking about the products. Members share recipes, post photos of the dishes they prepare, and even participate in tastings.
Email Advertising is another effective content channel for business. The subscriber list has over 500,000 people and an open rate of around 65%. “We send them something they can use, whether it’s recipes or tips and tricks,” says Marguerite.
To learn more about the benefits and challenges of launching a CPG food companylisten to Marguerite’s full interview on Shopify Masters.