Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Samuel Walsh, Co-Founder of SAHA's Toum, located in New York, NY, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I run a company called SAHA that makes a garlic dip and spread from the Middle East called Toum, for which we offer three flavors (Original, Jalapeno, and Mint & Basil). Toum is in the same family as hummus, baba ganoush, and tzatziki and can be eaten as such, but it is most popular as a BBQ dip with hot meals, pairing wonderfully with meats, fish, veggies, and bread and rice. You can dip out of the container like hummus, put a spoonful on the side of your plate, mix it in (with salads and rice-based meals, for example), and use it as a spread on a sandwich or just for garlic bread. SAHA's Toum is made from simple ingredients and is naturally vegan and gluten-free. Toum is very popular in Lebanon, where it is from, and toum mean's "garlic" in Arabic. Saha means health in Arabic.
We produce our toum in Queens, NY, and our product is available in ~30 stores in the NY metro area. Our customers vary from natural food stores to vegan establishments and meat shops. Generally speaking, our customers are looking for healthy, fun, and exciting new flavors. I run the company by myself and share ownership with my business partner Hamza.
Tell us about yourself
I am American, but I lived in the Middle East region for seven years between Jordan, Lebanon, and Qatar. While in the Middle East, I fell in love with its cuisine and, upon moving back to NY, missed the tastes of the region, many of which were not available in the US market. I connected with a friend of mine from Jordan (also living in NY), and we decided to bring some of our favorite Middle Eastern flavors to NY and share it with our community. We started the company from scratch, making toum in our kitchen based on Hamza's mother's recipe and getting everything set up while working other jobs.
I am now working full-time on SAHA while Hamza remains an investor and advisor. I could not be happier and prouder to be representing a Middle Eastern product sold here in the US and bringing part of the culture I came to love to my home country. Sharing our toum and hearing excited, positive feedback is a powerful motivation, as is working to make my dream a reality.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is succeeding in bringing my dream of selling toum in NY to life. SAHA's toum can now be found in most areas of the NY metro area, and we are hoping to continue expanding further.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
As a business owner and the only full-time employee, everything about the business rests on my shoulders, from manufacturing, sales, and marketing to accounting, legal work, and procurement. The CPG food world is new to me, so I've had to figure everything out as I go, including who I should work with, what I should spend money on, and how we will position our product. If you're not moving the company forward, nobody will.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Stay small and agile as long as possible. Once your product launches, you will almost assuredly run into issues or realize that something could be significantly improved. Start with an MVP, launch, and be ready to make improvements.
- Be ready to put significant effort into your business. Nobody understands your product and goals like you do, so if you don't push things forward, nobody will.
- Enjoy it. It takes far too much effort (and risk) to launch a company if you do not enjoy the process.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://sahatoum.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sahatoum/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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