Clint Matthews, co-founder of FMI Emerge subscriber company Start Right Foods, crushed his recent pitch at FoodBytes! by Rabobank in Chicago this past September. Start Right Foods is a frozen breakfast company creating delicious waffles and waffle sliders with a goal of “empowering a healthy, active lifestyle with convenient, high-protein breakfasts.” FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a next-generation pitch competition and networking platform that builds lasting connections between the most promising food and agriculture startups, corporates and investors, helping them pioneer a more sustainable future.
In Clint’s TED Talk worthy pitch, he walks the crowd through his success story from start to finish, making the road-blocks he and co-founder Kyle Rood faced seem like they were overcome with ease. He starts out by asking the crowd to raise their hands if they have skipped breakfast this week, to segue into why Start Right Foods was founded. As two former D1 athletes, Clint, Kyle and their team seek to offer convenient, healthy options in the hectic 21st century where breakfast is often overlooked.
Clint and Kyle started out making waffles by hand in a rent-by-the-hour kitchen, delivering to vendors in their own pick-up truck. Through hard work and dedication, they built their own production center in late 2017 to increase capacity and improve quality, and added waffle breakfast sandwiches to their repertoire. Start Right Foods started 2019 with 300 stores and is projected to be in over 1,000 by the end of Q1 2020.
Clint’s drive and passion for growing his company is a reflection of why we do what we do here at FMI Emerge – helping small brands achieve their highest potential and scale sustainably. !