PRODUCTION , The Summary
On Friday, we moved into production!First of all, I want to thank all of our Backers. Not only has substantial monetary support been provided to us, but the words of encouragement have kept us going during our times of delay and regrouping. I thank you all very sincerely for your help. We plan to begin delivery of rewards on a rolling basis as Seasoning Stix come off the lines and are bottled, packaged and shipped. We are certainly expecting the entire crowd funding commitment to be fulfilled within the next few weeks, if not sooner.I will be posting some photos and maybe a video tomorrow outlining our significant progress.
The Details
Here’s a summary of our crowd funding for Seasoning Stix including, an overview of our Kickstarter and Indiegogo programs, the challenges we faced, what we have developed, deliverables and next steps for our developing company. T
Total Raised – We raised funds totaling just under $115,000, which included both the Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns.
Total Expenditures – With initial patents costs, development, engineering, equipment, supplies, travel, the lease on the new facility and other associated costs, our total expenditures are well over $350,000.
Major Challenges - The challenges were numerous for two reasons:
First of all, we were more successful than we anticipated with our Backers overwhelming our initial estimates. Total production to fulfill initial commitments will be over 11,000 units. This required us to modify our equipment platforms and much of our business plan.
Second, new equipment had to be developed. We quickly learned that current culinary production techniques are inadequate for our purposes. The most significant challenge we faced related to blending of the formulations. While off-the-shelf mixers and blenders were able to handle very small quantities, these technologies failed at any reasonable volume levels. After trying ever more powerful off-the-shelf mixers and blenders, we designed an ultra-powerful custom mixer mated to a specialized pump system that was custom made in a factory in China. The technological issues did not end with the mixing. We also quickly learned that currently available drying, cutting, sorting, and packaging techniques do not apply to our product.
In several cases, we turned to nonfood related technologies in order to solve our unique requirements. We borrowed heavily from these nonrelated areas adapting techniques to “food grade” status through the use of copious amounts of 304 and 316-stainless steel. This was not only expensive, but also very time-consuming.
I am so proud of everyone who worked on this project and the solutions that were developed to overcome our technological obstacles.
What We Have Developed
We believe what we have developed is a completely new method for seasoning meat, fish and poultry that will revolutionize the seasoning market. We hope we have created something that will intrigue not only experts within the culinary world, but also the person who simply wants to prepare something delicious with minimal effort.
From purely a culinary manufacturing perspective, we have developed two manufacturing facilities and several manufacturing techniques virtually from scratch. Not only are Seasoning Stix protected by three US patents, the manufacturing techniques needed to produce the product are not easy to replicate.
Certainly, innovation occurred as a result of your support.
The Florida site likely holds the most innovation with new techniques for blending, mixing and actual production having been developed. The Florida location should be capable of very high production capabilities, which we certainly hope will be needed. The Southern California site, is a lower volume production facility, but is still impressive in its own right.
Next Steps
As we have indicated on numerous occasions, we have considerable interest from a host of angel investors, VCs, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. All of these are on hold until the Kickstarter and Indiegogo rewards have been delivered. We expect a rolling delivery of Backer rewards beginning as soon as blends comes off the manufacturing and bottling lines.
We are certainly expecting the entire crowd funding commitment to be fulfilled within the next 30 days, likely sooner. Generally speaking, we will try to deliver rewards in the order received.
Upon full delivery of Backer rewards, we plan to move into immediate production of several new blends of Seasoning Stix and Sriracha Seasoning Stix. We expect Seasoning Stix to be available initially online via Amazon and later in selected specialty grocery chains.
We are also extremely excited about our licensing opportunity relative to Sriracha Seasoning Stix in conjunction with Sugamade, Inc., which has gained a licensing agreement with Huy Fong Foods, the California-based manufacturer and marketer of the REAL Sriracha hot sauce. We will be the exclusive manufacturer for Sugarmade, Inc., which will then market the products to the public. Manufacturing issues have delayed the introduction of this new product, but with production now underway, we are expecting orders for Srirach Seasoning Stix to begin mid-April.
Sugarmade has a very aggressive forecast for the product based on the strong interest they have received from Sriracha fans.
Thanks Again!
I want to say thank you one more time. This has been a long road for me and I have learned so much during the process. Your words of encouragement have meant the world to me and I look forward to keeping in contact with all of you as we move forward into full production and marketing of Seasoning Stix.
I hope you enjoy your rewards this spring with friends and family. All of you will be on my mind as Seasoning Stix International, LLC moves to its next phase of development.
Thank you so much,
Kathy ?
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