What was the inspiration for your business? What inspires you daily?

The convergence of food, innovation, and sustainability.  We always say we want to give people a reason to get excited about being eco-conscious. 

What’s been your road to success and critical success factors along the way? 

The most important element of building our business are the relationships we’ve made along the way with people that want to help us realize the LOLIWARE vision and achieve the successes we’ve had so far.

Describe a mistake you made with your business. How did you fix it?  

For LOLIWARE, it’s important to make sure we have the right amount of funding to meet the goals we’ve set for ourselves.  If we could do it again, we would boot-strap just long enough to have proof of concept and move to fundraising sooner rather than later. 

What’s your best piece of advice for fellow entrepreneurs? 

At any given time, know what three things you need and what three things you can offer others.

Where are you going? What is the vision for your business in 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?   

Create a “Biodegr(Edible)” revolution!  See LOLIWARE become a go-to product for sustainable events from backyards to stadiums.

How did you land your first retail account?

We sell through e-commerce and food service and our first major food service account is with Four Seasons Silicon Valley who we met at a recent tradeshow called Catersource in Las Vegas.

How do you position your products in mass, natural and online? 

LOLIWARE is a premium product sold online for smaller events like cocktail parties and birthdays, and to food service for larger events like concerts, outdoor festivals, and sporting events.

How do you develop relationships with retailers and educate them about your company’s story? 

Being part of the action in person is the best way for us to do this right now. We just traveled to Four Seasons Palo Alto to host a tiki party celebrating the launch of LOLIWARE’s signature poolside cocktail. It gave us a chance to introduce the product to customers and share our story with the Four Seasons team. We also give our customers inspiration for what to serve in LOLIWARE with drink and dessert “look books” and through visual social media like pinterest and instagram. 

What most helped market your product in the beginning? 

Forming one-on-one relationships with caterers and other food service professionals.

What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?

Whitney Houston to get us through late work nights, but we don’t feel guilty about it!

What's the inside scoop on yourself? 

Chelsea can ALWAYS find us a juice bar no matter where we travel.