Jeremy Weisz 18:27
Talk about some of your mentors. Obviously, where people have helped you along in the journey. Obviously, Eitan is one of them. Here on your story page, you have several advisors. You want to talk about some of the advice and lessons they helped you with and gave you.
Shimrit Lev 18:45
We are very blessed. This is something that we definitely can say. We are surrounded with amazing different people with a lot of experience, like Yossi Ackerman and Phil Dubovi and Mickey Roll, as you can see here on your screen, but with a lot more. Gitit and I, we are the heart of the company, but we don’t know everything, and we are usually on our daily basis, trying to have advice from people who did it before. Like Mickey roll, she’s um, helping us with our clinical research and with our R&D, with our development and Yossi Ackerman, Phil Dubovi, has another point of view of the business, of the strategy. So we are really blessed actually, we feel really blessed.
Jeremy Weisz 19:56
What was a memorable piece of advice one of them gave you, because I’m sure on the branding side, Eitan, I don’t know him that well, but he seems pretty blunt, like he’ll tell you how it is, and if he doesn’t like it, he’s gonna tell you, um, what’s a piece of advice for one of them that kind of helped the trajectory of the company do?
Gitit Lahav 20:22
Wow. One piece of advice, we have been working with them in the last three years. Shimrit, do you remember something specifically?
Shimrit Lev 20:34
Not now. But maybe because I’m a little nervous, but no.
Jeremy Weisz 20:40
I mean, did like, for instance, Mickey Roll, you have any advice around the research part, because that kind of involves what type of partners? Because you can go a lot of different routes with the distribution of this, right? And I’m sure that you chose a route, maybe on the medical side because of the partnerships.
Gitit Lahav 21:04
Yeah, example that in most of countries, we are food or food supplements. We are not medical device. We are not pharmaceutical. But one piece of advice that Dr. Mickey Roll gave us, it was the to go ahead with the clinical research, even though that we don’t need to do, I mean regulatory we don’t need to do. But when you’re doing clinical research, and we just completed one on diabetes type one in Tel Aviv hospital, it can open your doors regarding distribution in different markets. So this was exact example for one piece of advice. I’m sorry to say that we still don’t have the results from this research, because we were double-blinded and we were not exposed to the results. They’re now collecting the data. But it was a very, very good advice, in our opinion, because it can really help afterwards with marketing, etc.
Jeremy Weisz 22:09
Talk about the consumer research you did.
Gitit Lahav 22:15
We have conducted the consumer research on 80 participants, trying the Sweet Victory gown for two weeks, three times a day. And I have to tell you that we were really, really blown away from the results. It was even more than what we expected. We expected to see that people eat less sweets because we know the effect of the gum. It’s really immediate, and it’s very, very easy to demonstrate. I mean, we are not meeting people that have the doubt if it works or no, because I think we are very lucky to have a product with an immediate effect, which is very, very rare. I mean, I never saw any other product, especially not a dietary supplement, that have an immediate effect. So because of the effect, there is no doubt. But it was very interesting to see that the effect is not like a gimmick, something for one hour blocking the receptors, and that’s it.
It was very interesting for us that as long as the participants continue to take the chewing gum, and if it will be specifically from the first day, and further the control and the craving for sugar, the craving for sugar really, really went down in 80% and the control went up in 80%. And for us, it was something new to understand that the effect getting stronger while with prolonged use. And another thing that we were very surprised to see, it’s the 90% lost weight. Until then, we always very, very careful not to talk about losing weight, because we are not a product to help people losing weight. We are product just to help people to have more control over their food choices. But of course, when you have more control on the food choices. So, yeah, obviously it’s a byproduct. Yes, exactly. So we were very, very impressed, really. We were very surprised and, yeah, you can see the whole research on our website.
Jeremy Weisz 24:37
Yeah, I was watching one video where I don’t know who the person was, but someone’s talking to them and saying, do you like chocolate? And they’re like, chocolate’s my favorite thing in the world. I don’t know if you know what I’m talking about. And then they chew the gum. They’re like, so there’s no way that you would ever not like chocolate, right? And then they chewed the gum, and then they tasted it, and they’re like, this is terrible.
Shimrit Lev 25:03
Love it. Yeah, every time someone try the product and then try something sweet, it’s amazing to see. It’s amazing to see.
Jeremy Weisz 25:14
So I could see you’re getting together, you each have these individual kind of “whys” and why you want to create this product. Then you go out and you create kind of a homemade version to test around to see is this going to work? You looked at the different types of ingredients that could work for it. You knew it was going to be a gum. Now you need to get it out there. You need production and you need distribution. So what do you do first? Did you reach out to people from raising money, perspective from production? What do you do next?
Gitit Lahav 25:49
What we did in the past, what we’re doing right now, because we are still doing what we…
Jeremy Weisz 25:55
When you first started.
Shimrit Lev 26:02
We started at the beginning to knock on doors, to go ourselves. At the beginning, it was for Strauss in Israel. With them, we did the first pilot, industry pilot with our formulation. It was amazing. And then it was when we realized that it would supplement and it not food. So we started to look for a manufacturer that can produce chewing gums. It’s also a food supplement with all the needed certifications. And it was out of Israel, because in Israel, it was none at that time. So we went to Italy, and that’s how we met with our facility, with our current facility, and then we realized that we need to import the product in Israel. So we started to think about the strategy to work with distributors that already can import goods into their markets. And this is actually how we started and with the first article that came out, we were amazed by the dozens of inquiries from distributors around the world that were amazed because of the product and the functionality and the promise behind the product, who reached out to us to start to ask for distributions right in their market. So that was the beginning.
Gitit Lahav 27:55
And for your question, Jeremy, so first of all, we need to find a facility, because we don’t want to have our own facility. So maybe we will have in the future, but right now we don’t. So first of all, we need to find a facility that can do our formulation, very, very good, and then normally, we find the partner to sell it.
Jeremy Weisz 28:17
So talk about the distribution part and where you started, because it sounds like you started in Europe.
Gitit Lahav 28:26
We started in Europe. We started with one facility. Now we have two and a half. We have one in Europe, one in Israel, and one in the US, in Maryland. But we just did a trial production, not industrial production yet over there, because we are not yet launched in the US. So we started in Europe. We started in Sweden, which is very interesting market for us. Also Nicolette chewing gum started over there, and Nicolette is a chewing gum to help people stop smoking, another addiction. So we learn a lot from the journey that they did. And next market that we launched. It was really one months ago, two, three weeks ago. It was Hungary.
Jeremy Weisz 29:11
Why Hungary?
Gitit Lahav 29:13
Why? So when we choose a country, and normally, we are looking on different aspects, first of all, we are looking about the awareness of wellness of the people in the country. And second, we look on regulation to see if it’s easy, if it’s fast, or if it’s low. Normally, we will choose the fast regulation. We don’t have time for two years of regulation. The complex markets with complex regulation we will keep for the second or third state, and third element that we are looking is a good partner that we can trust, that have the passion and want to bring such an innovation to their market. And Hungary was a very good match with all the three elements. And the regulation was quick. That’s why Hungary was the second market. So right now the product is available in two markets, but very soon it will arrive to Israel. We are right now in the middle of production for Israel, and after that, three markets more, until the end of Q3 for this year. So we are growing. We are expanding slowly, but we’re doing it.
Jeremy Weisz 30:23
And possibly by the time people listen to this, it’ll be in the US as well. What does a good partner look like for you?
Shimrit Lev 30:32
Someone that have the experience with food supplements that knows how to import goods, food supplements in the country. Someone who already did restorations in his market, knows how to put our product on the shelf and to make it available for the consumers on the right shelf, who have the right connections, but most of all, someone that really can connect to our vision, to share with us the vision and love the product and really want to make his market healthier.
Jeremy Weisz 31:22
In the other countries or in the US, what is that? Is that a certain type of distributor, or what does that look like in the US?
Shimrit Lev 31:33
Professional market right now.
Gitit Lahav 31:36
In the USA, it’s a different strategy. We do not have a distributor, and we are not looking for a distributor in the US. We’re looking for different partners, such as clinics, doctors, nutritionists. We can tell you that we send samples of the chewing gum for three chains of weight loss clinics in Florida, New York and California. The feedback was amazing, and some of them really waiting for the product we have already we find the right facility that can make amazing, Sweet Victory American chewing gum. So now we are on the budget issue because the US it’s an event that we need separate budget for.
Jeremy Weisz 32:28
So in the US, you wouldn’t start with distribution in stores. You’re really going to go after maybe someone has chains of weight loss clinics, or they have maybe diabetes clinics or other types of really go after the medical market, and then, do you see them then having it inside their facilities?
Gitit Lahav 32:54
Yes. And CVS and Whole Foods is a dream, but it’s not for the lunch, and it’s not for the first maybe even at second or third year. It’s a dream, but for later and to position the product as we want it to be, we find out that, yes, starting with a professional marketing clinics, as you said, correctly, diabetes or weight loss is much better for us from different reasons, also for marketing budgets.
Jeremy Weisz 33:28
Yeah, it’s very interesting. So talk about the launch, the US launch, and what you’re doing, gearing up for that.
Gitit Lahav 33:37
It hadn’t started yet. Jeremy,
Shimrit Lev 33:40
We started with connections with clinics. We sent a lot of samples for a few clinics, chains of weight loss clinics. We did even study, small study, with the clinics in Florida. And this is what we did so far. We did a pilot in Maryland, as Gitit said, and we are establishing our connections with clinics for the beginning, and we are a figure out the budget that we will need for the launch.
Jeremy Weisz 34:20
Talk about bootstrapping versus raising money for the venture.
Gitit Lahav 34:29
We did both. What do you want to hear about? At the beginning, it was really, really bootstrapping. We were not thinking in the first year, I think also about raising money. I think we did thousands of chewing gum in our home kitchen. And even the first industrial trial that we did that looked like a normal chewing gum was without any budgets, and it didn’t even cost us money. You find ways how to make things without it cost you money and different collaborations and different connections that you have personal connections, and we did raise money after winning first place in an innovation competition, startup competition in Tel Aviv University.
One of the judges was Jeremy Koller from CPT Venture in London. He financed the startup competition every year, and he’s one of the judges. So he knew the triangle because of the competition, and he was our first investor, and it was two years ago and it really changes everything once you have the investment coming, because then it allows you to do the branding with Eitan, and it allows you to go with R&D faster. We have an amazing R&D plan on the herb itself. We’re going to create a new ingredient out of it. So it really can make everything go faster.
Jeremy Weisz 36:16
I’d love to hear, the journey is not linear. It’s not easy, right? There’s a lot of ups and downs. I’d love to hear one of the hardest points of the company, and then we could talk about a celebratory — like a high point. But what’s been a tough time, tough point for the company?
Shimrit Lev 36:48
I think that every day has its own tough point, and its own a high point. The high point, of course, was after raising money, or after we had the first product. The tough points, it’s where we are operating without budget, then it’s tougher. But startup, it’s always a rollercoaster. There is no one point that you can talk about. So it’s always a roller coaster. This is the startup life in my opinion, in my point of view.
Gitit Lahav 37:34
We need to have a strong gut.
Jeremy Weisz 37:38
How do you think about the price point and decide on pricing the product, because I imagine, it’s not like an inexpensive product to produce.
Gitit Lahav 37:51
It’s very good question, because you don’t have a lot of things to compare to, especially when there is no other sugar-blocking chewing gum in the market. But there are a few things that you first of all, there is something that it’s relevant in the market. For example, in the market of food supplement, the ratio should be one to six between the production cost and the consumer, what the consumer pays. So there is some like rules and but after that, you can try to compare to other functional chewing gums, such as Nicolette or nicotine chewing gum, because it’s a good pointer to understand and also you can check what there is in the market for losing weight, for example, because you say, okay, my audience, want to lose weight. So let’s see what is there and how much it costs other products that helps to lose weight. And I can tell you that our product, a pack of 12, cost between $6 and $8 which is pretty cheap for better supplement that help you to…
Jeremy Weisz 39:05
It’s really inexpensive because I think Nicolette gum is like, is much more expensive than that.
Gitit Lahav 39:10
It’s very expensive. But I think the difference is that nicotine gum a normally, they sell it in a pack of, like, hundreds or two hundreds or very, very big pack. So the cost is like $60, $70 it’s expensive, but you need to eat. I think that nicotine chewing gum, you start with, like 18 chewing gum a day, and sweet victory too. It’s really enough for you. So maybe this is also one of the difference.
Jeremy Weisz 39:40
Yeah, no, it’s just really impressive what you both have done. And I’m looking forward to seeing it. If someone’s listening to this, it’s probably in the US market. Who knows? But seeing it in the US market and I’ll definitely be spreading the word to all the people I know functionally. Actually, I had one guy on who started natural stacks and he started direct to consumer, and then went, he’s gone into grocery stores as well. So, there’s just a lot of great functionality to your product. So I’m looking forward to you getting it into more people’s hands. I just want to say thank you to both of you for coming on and sharing your story. And it’s really inspirational. People can check out the website, and hopefully can get it at a who knows store near you, maybe at some point online. But sweetvictory-gum.com, to learn more and thank you both for being here.
Gitit Lahav 40:47
Thank you, Jeremy, one last question, have you tried the gum?
Jeremy Weisz 40:52
No, I could have used it last night when they put out apple pie after dinner, and I really didn’t want to eat it, but it looks so good that I did eat it.
Shimrit Lev 41:02
We should take it.
Gitit Lahav 41:04
Yes, yes, we should send you some sample.
Jeremy Weisz 41:08
It’s interesting because there was a craze for a while. I don’t know if it’s still there, but where it was almost the opposite, where you would I forgot. I don’t know what it was, the one where you eat the lemon and it tastes right, yes. And so people were doing it like there’s almost like they’re buying for people, just as a gag. It wasn’t really functional, not that I know of.
Gitit Lahav 41:34
It’s not functional, yeah, and it’s very expensive normally to use it, but it’s a really, really funny gimmick. There is only seven Ultra change taste, Alta in the nature, and only two of them are edible, which is miracle in fruit, what you tried, and Jim NEMA what we use. And we will be happy to send you some, Jeremy.
Jeremy Weisz 41:55
I love it. And I’ll be your first distributor in the US. Not official, but it reminds me too, of like it would do. I had Joe Sugarman, who started Blue Blocker Sunglasses, who, I think at its high point, was selling 300,000 pairs a month, and they were doing it through infomercials where they’d video someone putting the glasses on and like, going, wow. And I feel like this is a similar type of effect with your product.
Gitit Lahav 42:24
I saw this video. I saw this video, yeah, yes, exactly.
Jeremy Weisz 42:30
Maybe someday you’re going to be on infomercials, and people will just be buying tons of it. So if anyone’s out there who wants to get them distributed in infomercials, but it reminds me of the Blue Blocker’s success, and a lot of just that immediate effect.
Or you look at the old school infomercials like OxiClean, where it’s like dirty, and they put it in there and they swirl it around. Actually, I had Rick Cesari on, who did work for some of the top infomercials, like George Foreman grill and OxiClean and juice man juicer. So we’ll have to make sure he watches this one. So I appreciate you both. Everyone, check out sweetvictory-gum.com to learn more, and we’ll see everyone next time.
Shimrit Lev 43:19
Thank you.
Gitit Lahav 43:20
Thank you.
