Startup Corner: Colleen Sundlie, Date Lady Inc.

Minimally viable product …
Date syrup and organic date products made with high-quality ingredients.

Problem solving …
Satisfying the sweet tooth and delighting the palate with nature’s candy: dates!

Seed money …
It was $120,000 from a Small Business Administration loan, an uncle and our own savings. Raw product and freight was our biggest initial expense, and this is actually where a big chunk of the funds went.

Hurdles overcome …
Finding good packaging that gets our product from point A to point B safely, while maintaining quality. We started with a square glass jar and had a lot of leaking and breakage issues (but it looked good!). We’ve since switched to a more resilient glass jar and also BPA-free plastic squeeze bottles. Also a facility to call our own that allows for all our needs: office, warehouse, refrigeration, commercial kitchen and room to grow. This has been a huge leap from the warehouse we used to rent.

Next phase …
We plan to continue our growth online and concentrate on our relationships with the retail locations we are already in. We have a few more products we’re perfecting and hoping to launch this year.
 
Pivot …
We’ve made changes to our packaging (including increasing our case size) and pricing to become more efficient and profitable in selling to our retailers in a way that has benefited their margins as well.

Biggest mistake …
I probably would have concentrated more on online sales in the beginning rather than trying to gain wide distribution in retail. We’re selling a food product the majority of the United States doesn’t even know exists. On store shelves, that’s a hard sell. Online you can drive people through social media and other channels to Amazon or your website and load up the selling points, drive your brand and educate them on your product.
 
Worst advice …
To get with as many distributors as possible. There may be a time for that, but for now it seems obvious that you really lose touch with your customers and lose control over many aspects of your sales channel.
 
Greatest need …
Awareness! Date syrup is really an unknown to most, and maybe even sounds a little suspect to some. In the Middle East and even Europe, dates and date syrup are widely used by consumers and even touted by celebrity foodies, such as Yotam Ottolenghi.