Delicious Karma

Delicious Karma® launched in August 2012 and is a social shopping site that makes it fun and easy to discover, learn about, and buy exceptional artisanal and gourmet specialty foods, at great prices, while also supporting the community of artisanal food producers.

Delicious Karma customers have access to highly curated, delicious-tasting, all-natural, hard-to-find products and learn the stories of the passionate, talented artisans who make them.  Customers enjoy special “insider” promotions, product reviews and recipe ideas from our team of Taste Gurus, the ability to engage and share with friends, and a chance to earn Karma Kredits that can be used for product discounts or to support our Karma Kauses.

Delicious Karma is passionate about supporting the artisanal food community.  We have committed to donating 1% of our time, 1% of our profits, and 1% of our equity to philanthropic efforts, our Karma Kauses, which foster and support small food producers and educate consumers about the healthy benefits of eating real, good foods.

Delicious Karma...discovering delicious goodness!

   Jim Ritchie  |  CEO & Founder  |  Company Profile  |  LinkedIn

Along with his regular CEO duties, Jim leads all Engineering activities (and even writes and deploys code too!).

Jim is an experienced technology executive with 20 years starting and growing software businesses. In 2002 he founded Embedded Solution Partners, Silicon Valley's 20th fastest growing company in 2006.  Previously, he held key technical and sales roles at Wind River helping them grow from $8M to $400M+.  He studied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Puget Sound, while also managing to play four years of NCAA soccer. 

   Michelle Ritchie  |  CMO & Founder  |  Company Profile  |  LinkedIn

Michelle leads branding, marketing, social media, PR, product, philanthropic "Karma Kause" partnerships, Taste Guru program, and website content and design.

Michelle is an accomplished strategic marketing leader with strong general management experience and a passion for food.  In her last role at Jamba Juice, she grew the Consumer Products Division’s contribution to the company’s EBITDA from 0% to 30% within the first year.  She’s also held key roles at Clorox, Williams-Sonoma, and several e-commerce and food start-ups.  She has an MBA from the Wharton Business School and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Lehigh University.

   Siobhan O'Connell  |  Director, Operations  |  Company Profile  |  LinkedIn

Siobhan leads all operational efforts as well as provides vendor and customer support.  She also assists with marketing efforts.

Siobhan has lived and worked all over the world, developing strong skills and experiences in marketing, sales, relationship development, hospitality, and fundraising.  Siobhan earned a Masters in Education from Columbia University and bachelor’s degree in government and political science from Lehigh University. She holds an Intermediate Certificate (with merit) from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and is studying for the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW).

   Cindy See  |  Senior Manager, Sales & Merchandising  |  Company Profile  |  LinkedIn

Cindy is responsible for sourcing new vendors and products for Delicious Karma, negotiating pricing, and managing ongoing vendor relationships.

Cindy is a skilled sales leader with a long career in the food industry. As a fourth-generation food professional, her passion for food was instilled at a young age and has given her the ability to drive strong results for companies such as Bolthouse Farms, and develop key relationships with accounts such as Whole Foods and Safeway.  Cindy graduated from the University of Oregon and studied through Semester at Sea.

   Sammy  |  Chief Fish Taster  |  Company Profile

Sammy is responsible for keeping Casey (below) in line and is the final decision maker for things related to seafood.

Sammy holds an advanced degree in napping, with a double minor in stretching and eating. These skills have assisted her considerably in her roles as desk paperweight and Tasting Team contributor.

   Casey  |  Assistant Meat Taster  |  Company Profile 

Casey makes sure that all Delicious Karma meat products are of the highest quality, truly grass-fed, and are as sustainable and ecological as possible.

Casey graduated from Dogston University and holds a BA in Sniffology. She has lots of fun-loving enthusiasm and uses her keen sense of smell to help "sniff out" the very best products for Delicious Karma.

PROBLEM

Increased interest and knowledge about food, cooking, and its impact on our health and overall well-being has led to a greater desire to understand where food come from and to buy foods that are great-tasting and made with wholesome, less processed, natural ingredients.  However, it can be challenging, time consuming, and expensive to find really exceptional artisanal foods.  Additionally, for artisanal food producers, it is difficult and costly to secure distribution and to gain consumer awareness.  These small vendors also do not have the technical capabilities or the operational efficiencies to market and sell effectively.

SOLUTION

Delicious Karma® is a social shopping site that leverages technology and custom social features to make it easy and fun to discover, learn about, and buy exceptional artisanal and gourmet specialty foods.

Products 

All products must fulfill our “Quality Promise” to consumers, which means they must taste great, must be unique, must be minimally processed, and must meet our strict all-natural requirements (no artificial ingredients, preservatives, or other ingredient on our unacceptable list). Products must be hard to find and not distributed by major retail stores such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Amazon.  Unlike other retail formats, customers also learn exactly where the food comes from, including the background (or “story”) of the producer.  They also get ideas on how to use our products via recipes and usage ideas.

Curation 

Products are all highly curated, which saves customers time and effort and gives them confidence knowing they’re buying exceptional products vetted by experts.  This helps builds brand trust and loyalty.  The curation process first starts with our Product Guidelines & Requirements, which all products and vendors must meet.  Once vendors confirm they meet these standards, they are then reviewed by our in-house Tasting Team and, in some cases, a Delicious Karma Taste Guru (relevant chef or food expert).

Social Shopping 

We provide a fun and engaging online social community that enables customers to connect, learn from, and share with other users and friends via customized Facebook open graph actions. Customers can invite friends to join, see what they Crave, Buy, and what they say about products they have Tasted (including reviews, photos, recipe ideas, etc.).  Customers can also save and share products via their own personal “Craves” board, which shows product images and a real-time feed of who Liked it, Craved it, bought it, pinned it, and Tasted / reviewed it.

Karma Kredits 

We reward loyalty and engage customers by giving them a fun way to earn points, or virtual currency, to redeem on Delicious Karma.  Karma Kredits are awarded for making product purchases, getting friends to join, sharing one’s “Food Personality Type” (a fun quiz that allows us to personalize customer shopping experiences), and for other actions that help support the Delicious Karma community.  Karma Kredits can be used for products discounts, given as gifts to friends, and very soon, can be donated directly to our Karma Kauses.  

Social Mission 

We believe in giving back, so have committed to donating 1% of our profits, 1% of our time, and 1% of our equity to our Karma Kauses to help foster and support small food producers and the greater artisanal food community...and to promote the benefits of eating real, good foods.  This makes our customers feel good and fosters good will.

VISION

To become a preeminent healthy lifestyle brand offering exceptional, wholesome, trusted solutions for health-minded consumers.

MARKET OPPORTUNITY

• The $75 Billion Specialty Food Market is large and growing fast, at 12%+ per year.  The market is projected to be $87 Billion by 2014. 
• It is a market significantly underserved by technology innovation, so is ripe for disruption. 
• 59% of all consumers buy specialty foods.  We estimate <1% is purchased online.  Although online growth has recently accelerated quite significantly, this is lower than the overall consumer goods industry average of 9%, indicating tremendous opportunity.
• 41% percent of specialty food consumers will purchase upon a recommendation from friends or relatives, indicating great opportunity to leverage social sharing to drive sales.
• Nearly 80% of specialty food consumers like to experiment with new ingredients.  Delicious Karma has been specifically designed to fulfill this desire to learn about, explore and discover, and buy new products.
• Nearly 50% of specialty food consumers purchase foods that support charities.  This positions Delicious Karma well as we are the only online specialty food site with a clear philanthropic mission.
• All indicators point towards accelerated growth, especially as e-commerce continues to outstrip brick and mortar commerce.

REVENUE STREAMS (current and future)

• Online market sales.
• Monthly sample boxes.
• Subscriptions.
• Delicious Karma branded products.
• Virtual goods. 

Deeply Engaged Network of Users.   

We’re building a community of engaged, loyal users.  Our users come to our site not just to shop, but to also discover, learn, share, and have fun.  Food is inherently social…and we’re just getting started with making the online shopping experience more robust and engaging, going well beyond traditional user-generated content (i.e. ratings and reviews).  We’re building a brand with whom users are developing a personal, emotional relationship. 

Expert Curation.

Products are highly curated by our in-house Tasting Team and panel of Taste Gurus, a group of highly-respected chefs and food industry professionals.  This proven process, and these carefully-chosen experts, ensure products are truly exceptional and meet our strict all-natural and quality product requirements.  This helps establish Delicious Karma as a trusted source and a respected expert/authority.

Technology and Automation

We’ve created a platform that previously did not exist for artisanal food vendors.  Delicious Karma is designed to give small food producers a better way to connect with potential customers across the country.  It helps market their products and also provides them with the necessary operational infrastructure and more efficient automation.

Strong Vendor Relationships.   

We have discovered artisanal and gourmet vendors all around the country with whom we have built strong, ongoing relationships.  Many of these vendors are small, with extremely limited distribution and capacity.

Compelling Social Mission

A healthy food supply is important not only to one’s personal health, but also to the greater health of our society.  We have created a philanthropic mission for our company, giving back to the artisanal food community via our "Karma Kause" partners and 1-1-1 philanthropy model.  This appeal to a higher cause provides significant good will.