Creative Capital: The former marketer who makes plant-based homemade dips
I am a sucker for good branding, and so the minute I took a look at the products from Loaded Gun Kitchen, I had very high hopes. Chief among those – fusion vegan dips, created by former marketer Chan Fang Lynn. Having tasted all three available dips, I tin wholeheartedly attest that they are delicious.
My favourite of the 3 is the Kick-Ass Carrot Kimchi Hummus. I already accept plans to incorporate it into multiple dishes. Only that is not to say the other ii aren't equally good. If, subsequently reading more about Loaded Gun Kitchen and its impressive young founder, y'all want to try some, just order the Menage a Trois, a option that gives y'all 1 of each.
HOW DID You lot Make up one's mind TO START LOADED GUN KITCHEN?
I got the idea during Excursion Breaker (CB) when I hopped on the vegan bandwagon out of curiosity. I decided to get institute-based for a month, purely to find out what the hype was about. I became obsessed! I bought vegan due east-books to report recipes, and would stay up till belatedly watching vegan YouTubers make crazy things like Watermelon "steaks" with simply establish-based products. I was intrigued by how much flavour could be derived from purely institute-based ingredients.
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At that time, my dad spoke to me about the growing interest for home-made products during CB. I toyed around with the thought of a sweet spread, merely was unconvinced as the market place was saturated. I allow the idea sit for a while then it all clicked when I was making hummus 1 24-hour interval. Why not make a product equally versatile every bit the hummus – I was spreading it on everything – but with bigger and more exotic flavours?
Loaded Gun Kitchen products were born out of more experimentation. During that fourth dimension, my ethos became clear. Everything I create must exist what I call "big tasty", while being whole-foods based and healthy.
Do YOU Have A TEAM OR IS THIS A SOLO BUSINESS Effort AT THE MOMENT?
The moment I started developing the products, I knew I needed a kick-ass marketing plan. Product evolution and marketing took equal time every mean solar day. I pulled together a small artistic team who worked aslope me to develop the brand presence. I am so lucky to take had a team who understood where I wanted to become with the brand - the aesthetics, the vibe, the tone… I could non have done this without them.
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When it comes to 'running the make' proper, I've been working pretty much solo since launch in September. I oversee everything from operations, marketing, social content, production, sales, customer service. I'd love to somewhen calibration merely I recall it is key at this stage to have a bird's eye view of the entire consumer aqueduct.
HOW DID YOU Come WITH AND Test THE RECIPES?
I actually modelled them later flavours I myself love. I created a list of what I relish eating, and began narrowing the list downwards to what I thought might work together. Yous'll notice that my flavours are a fleck of a mash-up of cultures. Looking back now, my initial creative list was very ambitious. But I hang on to information technology considering those ideas, germinated at the start, may come in handy one solar day in the time to come. All the same, to become to my core three products, the recipes took a lot of tweaking, experimenting and seeking feedback from friends and family. Those with cracking palettes, who accept had experience every bit chefs, and brilliant abode cooks all had something to contribute. Today, if I refer to my initial listing of ingredients for the recipes, they are totally dissimilar!
The brand is all about experimentation. Fifty-fifty today, I am still in recipe development and am surprised when I manage to create meals with the products. Have, for instance, a meatless puff I recently fabricated with the Kombucha BBQ Pinto Bean. Information technology'south so unproblematic to put together, and fits into the whole experimental and fuss-gratis vibe of the brand.
HOW LONG DID Information technology Accept YOU TO GO FROM Business organisation Idea TO Actually BE UP AND RUNNING?
Information technology took three months. I started conceptualising the idea in early June, and sold to my first customer on Instagram in early September, just before the official launch. Entrepreneurs say they always think their 'first' and I understand why now. I'll always recollect she texted me that she was a "happy offset customer" and gave me the 'fist bump' emoji. I feel like it'south kind of the Insta-'first dollar', like those that business owners frame up in their shops.
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Loaded Gun launched solely with Instagram in September and the website followed suit a month subsequently. Now, 95 per centum of customers are purchasing via the site. I particularly enjoyed building the site – with assist from my team – and charting the customer journey from initial outreach on Instagram, to website and production consideration.
DID You ALWAYS KNOW Y'all WANTED TO RUN YOUR Own BUSINESS?
No. But I always knew I wanted to practice something I was passionate nearly. Just I also knew it had to make sense financially, and exist sustainable. Growing upwards, my Mum – who herself ran a business concern, as did my grandmother, who I'k proud to say was a well-known kebaya maker –always encouraged me to do something I loved. Mum would tell me she would fifty-fifty bankroll me! But I struggled for many years to discover my stride, and never wanted to take her up on her offer unless I knew I had a business programme that could be sustainable.
DID Yous HAVE A SPECIFIC Client IN Mind WHEN DESIGNING YOUR PACKAGING, BRAND, WEBSITE, COPY?
Yes, that customer was myself. I am a wellness junkie. I eat kale, practice yoga and believe in the healing power of crystals. I used myself every bit a baseline and broadened the audience, eventually keeping in heed athletes, home cooks and mothers. Basically people who want to fuel themselves and their loved ones with the all-time food possible.
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One of my goals is to brand institute-based eating more accessible and widespread, and so I feel that my products have to appeal to everyone, vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians, and very importantly, meat eaters themselves who want to become more than plants into their diets.
WERE YOU ALWAYS INTO MAKING THINGS IN THE KITCHEN? WHAT GAVE YOU THE CONFIDENCE Yous COULD PULL THIS OFF?
Yes, I make very simple things, nothing fancy lah. I like fuss-costless, elementary cooking. Anything also complicated, I prefer to pay and leave it to the pros.
I learnt near of my bones cooking techniques when I was studying overseas from YouTube, to exist honest. And since moving back to Singapore, I worked the heck out of my air fryer. For many work lunches, all I did was chop broccoli and salmon and pop it into the air fryer. That's a meal sorted.
Before the inception of Loaded Gun, I was unemployed for almost half-dozen months. I was downwardly in the dumps. Then, COVID-xix hit, which did non assist matters. But when you hit rock bottom, the only matter to do is to stand up up and do something for yourself. I figured that if the earth was on interruption, it was then a perfect fourth dimension for me to recall about what truly fabricated me excited and satisfied. I institute my answer.
YOU LAUNCHED Only A FEW MONTHS AGO. HOW HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN And so FAR
Information technology's been awesome. The response has been overwhelming. I'yard so happy that several KOLs (Key Stance Leaders) like Charmaine Seah, Anita Kapoor and Kelly Latimer take been enjoying the dips and helping me spread the word about how plant-based eating can be exciting.
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ARE YOU CURRENTLY VEGAN?
No, simply I swear past eating more vegetables and less meat. Every bit the writer and activist Michael Pollan says, "Consume food, non besides much, mostly plants". On the days that I cull to be 100 per centum establish-based (considering my body wants and craves it), I feel lighter and more energised.
Practise Y'all FEEL THAT YOUR PRODUCTS Appeal PRIMARILY TO VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS OR TO A WIDER AUDIENCE?
It's a niche production, with many promising factors that the masses would enjoy. For case, aside from it beingness used as a topping in grain bowls & on pizzas and pastas, I think that the real magic happens when yous alter them for use as marinades, sauces or condiments. They are versatile, and with them, making a tasty meal is possible within 30 minutes. Or they are elements that add together 'oomph' to a dish when you're using them as toppings. I took a very specialised vegan production, a dip, and made it versatile. I've had some customers suggest they can even exist used as ravioli or dumpling fillings, which I thought was super artistic.
Some customers have experimented with some crazy but delicious pairings. Carrot Kimchi Hummus with oysters, Kombucha BBQ Pinto Bean with watermelon and Sweet Miso Cashew Cream with butter popcorn!
WHY SHOULD CONSUMERS CONSIDER ENJOYING More Constitute-BASED Food PRODUCTS?
I like that you used the word 'consider', because many people I've met and spoken to about my products immediately shut me downwardly with phrases like "I don't do vegan" or "vegan is wearisome". I conducted a mini survey and the results showed that people have this preconceived notion that vegans are lame and annoying.
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TELL Usa Nigh EACH OF THE Iii FLAVOURS You lot HAVE RIGHT NOW.
They all suit unlike moods and accept bold yet singled-out flavour profiles. When I'm feeling indulgent, I'll go for the Sugariness Miso Cashew Cream, paired with cheese and some wine. It'due south the richest of the 3. A generous corporeality of raw Jamaican cashews are blended and I hand press cashew milk to create the silky texture every bit well. I employ this equally a topping on pizza, and my aunt recently used it to stir-fry Chinese-styled pork mince.
I opt for the Carrot Kimchi Hummus when I want something dissimilar. Information technology's creamy from organic white hulled tahini, tangy from the homemade vegan kimchi and a lilliputian spicy from the Korean ruddy pepper flakes (gochugaru). Y'all can make pasta with this by calculation pasta water, a little heavy cream and two to iii tablespoons worth of the dip.
The Kombucha BBQ Pinto Bean was the most outrageous to develop considering it involved understanding the scientific discipline backside fermenting Kombucha. My main goal was to develop a healthy BBQ sauce, every bit most BBQ sauces are laden with saccharide and artificial flavourings. I substituted this with Organic Blackstrap Molasses and used Dark-green Apple Kombucha to create a lighter barbeque sauce. The event is a light, tangy sauce that I like to apply as a coat for craven wings.
WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE AND WHY?
It changes! Merely for now, it would be the Carrot Kimchi Hummus. I like that it's bold… diabolically punchy, every bit the label says! It is a trivial tangy, but likewise a little earthy from the tahini, which balances it out. And at the moment, that is the mood I'm feeling.
It'south worth noting that it took me a long while to figure out how to maintain proficient consistency, especially with fermenting the vegan kimchi.
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I KNOW IT IS Yet Early ON, Simply HAS ANY Office OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL Journey SURPRISED YOU IN A BIG WAY SO FAR?
I learnt, and continue to larn, so much almost myself as a person, most business and as a "chef" in my home kitchen every twenty-four hour period. The biggest takeaway, or surprise, is that the phrase "follow your passion and you'll never have to work a twenty-four hour period in your life" really holds true. This does not feel like work to me. It's my craft, and it'due south safe to say, later on almost 500 gift sets sold and making kilograms of dips, I'one thousand not tiring out anytime presently.
ARE There MORE PRODUCTS IN THE PIPELINE?
Ideally, I'd like to expand the product range into sauces, and peradventure even vegan article of clothing. Maybe even kitchenware like aprons – I love fashion too and it's been difficult to find a fashionable apron. The possibilities are endless, and I can't wait to show the globe what Loaded Gun Kitchen is all about.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR LOADED GUN KITCHEN? WHERE Practice You lot Want TO TAKE THIS Business concern?
As Singapore moves towards a more constitute-based lifestyle, I promise Loaded Gun can be the edgy cookhouse they can rely on for surprising flavours that will rock their worlds. I would want to aggrandize internationally in years to come besides. I know the London and L.A. vegan scenes are buzzing, and I remember the brand might fit in well there!
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