Fall 2018 Update
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Two Months As Mikki ✨
The three of us are finally getting used to “Mikki” and not slipping up our old company name: ya know, “It-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (Kathy is really going to appreciate my Harry Potter reference here). Our retailers were all wonderful and made the process seamless. As well as our customers who embraced our new name with nothing but love and support. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!
Looking for a Co-Packer 👀
As we talk to more and more people in our industry, we realize that one of the company’s main focus should be finding a co-packer to help us with our production. With our business model, a co-packer is necessary to grow, to scale, and to be profitable.
In our research, we’ve come across a few obstacles:
Dairy, even soy milk, isn’t something that a co-packer would usually want to introduce to their production line. We will most likely need to find someone who is making similar latte products or other dairy drinks.
Washington has very few co-packers and of all that we’ve reached out to, our drinks do not align with their specialty. However, we learned that Oregon and California have way more options, and we have started reaching out to co-packers in those states in hope of finding someone who can do a craft product like Mikki!
‼️If you know of anyone who has the knowledge or expertise in co-packing, pasteurization, or scaling, we would love to connect! ‼️
Houston, We have a problem… 🚀
Earlier this month, we put a short pause on production because our plant-based milk supplier suddenly stopped making soy milk. The letter we received said that they are upgrading their facility and will not be making more until the end of the year. They did not have any more in inventory, neither did any distributors, and we only kept enough inventory for a few weeks.
We immediately tried other soy milks in the market but nothing was as good. We've come close. But not perfect. We took it as an opportunity to R&D a new plant-based milk alternative with the hopes of making it in-house. Go big or go home, right?
Our promise since day one:
- Quality & Consistency
- Commitment to sourcing at least 80% of our ingredients from businesses in the Pacific Northwest (with soy milk, there are only very limited options)
In the end, we tried six types of plant-based milk alternatives: hemp, cashew (ick!), oat, almond, coconut, and soy. We decided to stick with soy as it tasted the best and came up with the recipe for our own soy milk! Making our own soy milk in-house is a little more complex and requires special techniques and machinery. That being said, we are exciting to be resuming production with a new supplier.
I mean sheesh, what a valuable lesson in supply chain and that relationships are crucial to building a successful business!
Mikki Retreat! Backpacking in October ⛺️
We learned the hard way why camping season ends with September. Our original destination required snow gear so we headed further north towards the Canadian border. The hike up was misty, cold, wet, and dark. We set up camp drenched and frozen that it took two naps huddled up close to each other to warm up enough to brave the elements outside of our tent. We quickly ate our rehydrated dinner-in-a-bag, chatted about our childhoods, and went to sleep. The next day we woke up to light snow and sunshine!! We hiked out of the basin, dropped our packs, and summited. At the top we did some impromptu yoga before making our way down through fiery fall color and sweeping wildflower meadows. We caught up on much needed sleep and it was one of our most memorable experiences as friends!
