Today we’d like to introduce you to Jigisha Patel.
Jigisha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Chikfu, chickpea tofu, evolved out of a personal need to find more vegan, high protein, plant-based option to supplement my dietary needs. After having attended a plant-based food conference, I realized that I should include more plant-based protein in my diet instead of protein from dairy or meat. So, I started making chickpea tofu at home for me and my family to have an option to get these nutrients elsewhere. After a few months of experimention, Chikfu had become more than an idea. I started feeding dishes with chickpea tofu to anyone who was willing to try (tacos, stir-fries, you name it!). I also started incorporating it into many of my old and tried recipes by using Chikfu in place of paneer or soy tofu.
At this point, I thought I’d do a simple search to see if there was any chickpea tofu available at grocery stores or online, but did not find any store who was selling it. This experience made me realize that there might be others in my shoes who were also looking to add more plant-based options in their diet. So, I decided to see if I could be the one to take this product to market. I started selling chickpea tofu at two farmer’s markets in the Dallas area (Dallas Farmers Market and White Rock Farmers Market) to get customer feedback as well as do market analysis and see if this was a product that others needed too. The feedback was very positive from our time at the farmers’ markets. We loved meeting customers of our products in person as well as getting to meet other local Dallas food entrepreneurs.
While we were at the farmer’s markets, we got the opportunity to sell Chikfu in a couple of local grocery stores in the DFW area. We started out by selling Chikfu at two all-vegan grocery stores – Lucky Mouth Grocery in Bishop Arts & Mashup Market in Denton, TX. Eventually, Whole Foods came knocking on our door. They were intrigued by the product and wanted to try it. It took several months of sending samples, getting set up for sales and working towards the launch, but eventually, at the end of September 2020, we were put on the shelves. Our chickpea tofu is now carried at all 14 DFW area Whole Foods stores. It has been a roller coaster of a ride so far. A lot of hard work for sure, but it is exciting to see where we are today & I look forward to seeing where we can go in the future.
Has it been a smooth road?
I think everyone in business had some of the same struggles as we did due to Covid-19. We were planning to go back to the Farmers Market in March when they were going to open up again after having closed for winter. But due to Covid-19, those openings did not occur. We had to get creative for our sales; we did start selling our products online to help with this.
You also have the typical challenges of a small, young food business. Balancing manufacturing, marketing your product, sourcing ingredients from suppliers and handling accounting – the list of things you have to do every day is limitless. It’s hard to figure out what needs the most attention sometimes, but it has been a learning process.
I am also brand new to this space – I have never worked in food and beverage before (unless you count cooking in the home)! So that in itself has also been a challenge, but it’s been rewarding to learn about a completely new industry through starting a business.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a family-first company. I started the business, but I have gotten help from my family along the way. This makes us stronger and has helped us through the tough times, where we were really close to wanting to call it quits. All of us value healthy living through a plant-based, clean lifestyle. We made chickpea tofu for ourselves to eat, so in a sense, we are feeding others only foods we would eat ourselves. Every customer is by extension a part of our family.
I’m really proud of being able to bring better-for-you, cleaner vegan products to the market that don’t contain any of the major food allergens. This is huge for a lot of parents who have children with food allergies. It is also so exciting to see how far the plant-based movement has come from less than ten years ago. I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years, and I have never had so many food options in my entire life. I love being able to contribute to the growth of the plant-based category of foods.
What sets us apart I think is the novelty of the product. Most people know about traditional tofu, but when they hear the phrase “chickpea tofu” they usually do a double take. This was really apparent when we sold at the farmers markets. It was actually kind of funny the reactions we got from people when we would ask them if they wanted to try chickpea tofu. The best feeling was when we got someone to try the product who started out initially confused or even unsure, but ended up loving the sample that we shared with them.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Plant-based is growing and we really believe it is the future. When people go fully or partially vegan (flexitarian), they are doing it for a wide variety of reasons, whether that’s animal cruelty, their health, the environment, etc. People feel a real emotional attachment to their food. So when you see people make this huge change in their diet or lifestyle, you know this trend is here to stay.
Contact Info:
- Website: chikfu.co
- Email: contact@chikfu.co
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