Above, pics I snapped along The High Line in Manhattan en route to Wong, the big apple’s first Asian restaurant to emphasize local and seasonal fare. The food was amazing! I highly recommend going if you love delis Asian food and supporting our local farmers.

Clockwise from left to right, whole raw lobster hand shelled using high pressure, whole grain vermicelli, black alkaline water, my new must have hot sauce! Just a small sample of products from the food show.
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Last week, I went to the Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC. Although I’ve been before, the sheer enormity of it is overwhelming each time. Food companies near and far from around the world were in attendance. I felt like a food nerd, in awe of all the brands I love, talking with the founders, and discovering new products that are coming to the market. I loved every minute of it, even if it gave me heart burn at times. One of our staffers came along with me to the show. One thing that has stuck in my mind is her comment about how she’s been paying attention to the people in the industry and noticing how nice they are. I can tell you from first hand experience that people in food are really great! I think creating food is a universal, fulfilling and relatable expression of creativity that also has the ability to evoke emotion, and it brings out the best in its creators.

Asulia is not ready to exhibit, but we hope to be soon! While I was looking, chatting, and, of course, eating at the show, I discovered a company with packaging all too similar to what we’ve been working on. This means we’re back to the drawing board. When I got back home, I immediately went to work and sketched out a bunch of new design layouts and sent them to our packaging designer. My obsession with aesthetics probably doesn’t help the cause, but I’m determined to make it beautiful and unique.

This means delays in other areas. Our crowdsource funding video can’t be finalized until the packaging design is complete. Launching a crowdsource funding campaign without finalized packaging is possible, but it’s far from ideal, so we’re going to wait until we get it right. When you launch, you need to be able to show supporters that your project is not just a figment of your imagination, but that it’s real. I also want to be able to deliver the dumplings to supporters right away, since the whole point is to get the project sent out.

Our permanent website has been coded, but the new revised packaging will also have an impact on the final site. As a result, we will not hit the launch button for our permanent home until the packaging is finalized, so we can tie it together with the website design and create a cohesive look and feel.

I recently came across Inc magazine’s videos you should watch before you start a business. I loved Simon Sinek’s comment about motivation that people “don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” I can’t wait to share my story when our permanent website launches! It’s the reason I get up every morning and push forward when people think I’m crazy for not switching to a shelf-stable product. I have no doubt that I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, right here, right now.