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Caroline Dai
The 12 grams of protein actually all comes from Whole Foods. The tofu themselves. We don't additional protein isolate. Like we got questions sometimes like, hey, like whey protein isolate prices all time high didn't matter so high. How does that affect your business model? It doesn't because the protein is literally just on the tofu and functional and delicious. So I think we're very intentional on staying savory and focused on Savory Lane. We're getting on board to Amazon pretty soon and then also we're launching to the UK very soon. So we're targeting Q4 for the UK launch, and that's primarily driven by high demand from that market. We get so many messages and inquiries from that market for us to launch there.
00:50
Caitlin Bricker
Wait, so how long have you been in business for?
00:52
Caroline Dai
We launched five months ago.
00:55
Caitlin Bricker
Hey everybody, this is Caitlin Bricker, Managing Editor at Startup CPG. We are back with another founder feature. Today I'm sitting down with Caroline Dai, founder of TofuGo, a savory protein snack made of tofu with 12 grams of protein from whole foods, zero sugar and zero natural flavors. Caroline grew up eating tofu daily and her Chinese family moved to the US at 13 and spent years in business and finance before realizing the market was missing savory clean protein. She launched in March of 2026, posted a video from her living room two weeks after that launch, and then it went viral with over 350,000 views and is now in over 40 states and Canadian provinces with an army of repeat subscribers. We're diving into what went viral and why.
01:44
Caitlin Bricker
The ancient Chinese culinary craftsmanship behind the product, why she stays intentionally savory and focused her data on Velocity that changed retailer conversations and her vision for TofuGo as a nationwide brand accessible to vegans, fitness enthusiasts and families alike. We hear from founders on this podcast every week and if you're a brand looking to connect with buyers, investors and industry experts in real time, you need to be in our community. Join our Free Slack community with over 40,000 members. Get access to exclusive events and trade shows where you can meet industry stakeholders like buyers and investors in real life. Tap into free resources and of course, listen to the podcast. Text CPG to 833-605-7002, that's 833-605-7002 or head to startupcpg.com and get connected. As always, enjoy. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast.
02:48
Caitlin Bricker
This is Caitlin and today I'm here with Caroline Dai, founder of TofuGo. Caroline, welcome to the show.
02:54
Caroline Dai
Thanks for having me. Happy to be here.
02:56
Caitlin Bricker
It's great to have you here. I'm very excited about your brand. I feel like this is a product that will for sure blow up. So before we go any further, can you tell the audience what TofuGo is?
03:09
Caroline Dai
Yes. I'm Caroline Dai. I'm the founder of TofuGo Tofu Go. It's a savory protein snack made of tofu with 12 grams of protein from Whole Foods and zero sugar.
03:19
Caitlin Bricker
Perfect, short and sweet, just how we like it. I am a big fan of your products in particular because I go through these phases where I do eat jerkies, but every now and then I just get the ick from meat products. But I love tofu and I have never seen a product like yours until now. So what inspired you to create TofuGo?
03:43
Caroline Dai
Yes, I started my career very traditionally, went to business school, did merchant acquisition and finance. I was constantly snacking sweet protein bars and drinking protein shake at my desk because I was so busy and one day realized that I was consuming more than 50 grams of sugar just from protein products alone. Got really tired of the sugar artificial ingredient and actually was first searching for something that I want. Savory with no sugar, made of whole foods, no additives. Couldn't find anything on the market that I love. So thought why not put on my founder hat and create something of my own and something. Since we launched, it's just been nonstop. We've gone viral, were featured in top media and it's just a lot of exciting announcements to come as well.
04:25
Caitlin Bricker
Tell me a little bit about these viral moments that you've had.
04:28
Caroline Dai
We posted a video of me talking about Tofu Go in my living room two weeks after we launched back in March, and it just quickly blew up to people from all over the world. All of a sudden were getting DMs from creators saying we'd love to feature TofuGo organically to our community. How do we get hands on the product? And then people from uk, Europe, Australia reaching out. We'd love to have Tofu Go in our markets. When can you launch in our market? And just it's was so such an overwhelming time since it was just five months ago we launched. So it's been a whirlwind.
05:02
Caitlin Bricker
I think that kind of goes to show that you do not need to have these pretty perfectly polished videos or a gorgeous background to go viral. How many views would you estimate you had on that video?
05:15
Caroline Dai
I think that's on my track. It was like 350k views.
05:19
Caitlin Bricker
Oh, that's it.
05:22
Caroline Dai
And then I think after that, went viral pretty consistently as well. Like even just us going to a store in New York got like 50k views overnight. We're just like so surprised by the level of engagement. But yeah, I go with that. I think something more authentic and digitally native. The audience connect even more comparing to some of like other higher level production we've done.
05:44
Caitlin Bricker
I have gotten some good laughs from your recent videos because you probably know what I'm gonna say. You featured one of my colleagues, Quinn, in a couple of your videos. You wanna tell our audience what these videos were about?
06:00
Caroline Dai
Yes. I'm so glad that it adds humor to your day. Yeah, we test different formats, different hooks all the time. Some of it might be like pov, some of it might be just funny moments that happen. So Quinn came to our booth at Summer Fancy New York and completely surprised us. He's like, oh, actually speak Mandarin Chinese. And were all of a sudden chatting in Mandarin. And then a light bulb moment went on my head. I was like, this be great for our social media. So I think that video also took off. But yeah, it was really great. We connected on kind of the cultural heritage of tofu as a dish, something I grew up eating in my Chinese family. And Quinn just completely wowed us. We did not know there's a side to him at first.
06:38
Caroline Dai
We're actually filming hot guys eat tofu content with him. So it was kind of like two content that we got with Quinn.
06:45
Caitlin Bricker
Well, there you go. Another surprise. We had such a good laugh as a team when we saw those videos come up. For anybody that's listening that doesn't know, Quinn grew up in China, is fluent in speaking Chinese, and he surprises a lot of people when he goes up and just starts spitting, talking to people. And it sounds like you were one of those people. I was certainly surprised. I don't know any words in Chinese, but here we are. Makes for pretty good content, that's for sure. And for good conversation. We enjoyed meeting Quinn, of course, most people do. So tell me more about your upbringing and how tofu was weaved into your upbringing and the dishes that you were eating as a child growing up and maybe even now.
07:31
Caroline Dai
Yeah, I grew up in a Chinese family. Both my parents are Chinese and we're a family household that eats rice and noodles and tofu every day. It's a staple dish, I think tofu and just soy. Overall, it's very mainstream in Chinese culture. So anything from like tofu to soy milk it's very much a staple and something I did not have to think twice about. Moved to the US When I was a little bit younger. Moved to Seattle when I was 13 and quickly realized that tofu is seen as more of a quiet ingredient. You know, it's such a strong resource made of whole foods protein. I think it's so versatile. You can do so many flavors with it. But the last decade, the interactions I have with tofu, I feel like it's been way too quiet and way too humble for too long.
08:13
Caroline Dai
So I really want to shine a spotlight by making tofu go as a craveable and convenient and healthy snack.
08:20
Caitlin Bricker
And how did you choose the flavors for. You have two SKUs right now, correct. How did you choose the flavor profiles for those skews?
08:28
Caroline Dai
Yes, we currently have two flavors. We have soy barbecue, which is soy sauce inspired, and then spicy chili, which is a very mildly spicy made of soy sauce, and sich and peppercorn. We're also developing more flavors that in the works. More exciting announcement to come. But we really look at, you know, from a mainstream American population perspective, what are some flavors that people love? And there's a gap in the market. Right. Like, you really talked about these jerky, like Applewood barbecue, like, very mainstream flavors. So we thought, why not try add a highlight on these Asian flavors, like similar dishes that people love in their favorite Asian restaurant and bring them to a more mainstream audience.
09:05
Caitlin Bricker
I have to say, the first time I saw your brand was at Sarah Wine Rub shop, Little Nosh in Denver. And all of us were like, what is this? She is fantastic. Love her. But were like, we've never seen this before. And we got a couple of them at her shop. They were gone pretty much instantly when we got back to our place. So we really enjoyed them.
09:27
Caroline Dai
Yeah, I think that velocity and kind of the soap sold out. Speed speaks for itself. And that actually gave us a lot of data and confidence pitching to retailers as well. Because sometimes there will be pushback from just everyday people being like, is tofu too niche? Is Asian flavors too niche? And we actually have strong velocity data to support that. We are very much a mainstream product that a lot of people crave.
09:50
Caitlin Bricker
What is the feedback that you're getting from retailers who A, say yes to you and B, maybe are saying no or not right now to you?
09:58
Caroline Dai
I think the biggest, like, positive feedback is we love something with savory. A lot of retailers come exclusively looking for international flavors. Any negative feedback, I would just say, like, maybe two SKUs not enough maybe, like, we need to expand to more SKUs. Some retailers, they love, like, an exclusive flavor, so we're working really hard on that and just making sure we're like, nail on the head on certification, Right? Like everything from non GMO to organic. We're working on our certification right now. So I think as we refine the certification and packaging, we are getting more towards. Yes. Into more doors.
10:32
Caitlin Bricker
That is awesome to hear. This might be an unpopular opinion, and I think I've said it on this podcast before. I am a fan of single SKU brands. In two SKU brands, I don't think brands need to take up an entire shelf worth of space. How do you feel about that?
10:49
Caroline Dai
Yes, I would say I very much agree with that. You know, even, like, brands I really admire, there's like, one or two hero product that just really stand out. Like, no other flavors can compete with that product. So I think very much for us, since we're so new and innovative, it does take more education on, you know, what the product is. And on top of that, kind of like explaining different flavor profiles and different options. So everything right now, because the product is so innovative and differentiated, the two SKUs work really well for us at the moment.
11:19
Caitlin Bricker
I think it's great you touched a little bit on this, but your packaging, how did you land on the packaging that you have now?
11:26
Caroline Dai
Yes, I have a very talented designer helping me with packaging. So it's very different from, like, the ChatGPT version I created in the first draft that looked not as good, but I actually look into the Chinese background I was talking about as an inspiration. I was looking at Chinese red envelopes for New Year. So it's like a red and gold color. I love to bring that element and that culture heritage into the TofuGo brand. So when you see, like, a soy barbecue, it's red and gold, and then spicy chilies, orange and gold. So very much like the Chinese element.
11:59
Caitlin Bricker
I really like that I have that background now, because as soon as you said that, I'm like, of course, yes, this all makes sense now. And I really like that.
12:07
Caroline Dai
The.
12:07
Caitlin Bricker
So you get three pieces of tofu in the packaging and they're individually wrapped, which I really appreciate too, because maybe you have one, you just want a little snacky, and then you have the other one that's still wrapped in case you want one later. Or you could just eat them both at the same time. Who cares? Smart. And I need to know more about just R and D and bringing this product to life, because I use tofu Multiple times a week in my household. Like I said, I'm kind of averse to meat products. So I go hard on the tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, all the things.
12:39
Caroline Dai
That's awesome.
12:40
Caitlin Bricker
Thanks. What did R and D look like for you when creating this product? I'm so curious about preservation and getting it into the packaging that it's in now. Staying fresh, because it does taste like fresh tofu when you eat it, which I think is so unique to any products that I've tasted before. So I just need to know everything.
13:01
Caroline Dai
Yes, it's more about the water content. So we remove the water and braise them with the soy sauce and citron peppercorn to make them flavorful. Typically when you buy tofu from the grocery aisle, it is usually refrigerated or frozen and it's usually more higher water content comparing to a snack form. But what we did is we partner with a really great co manufacturer who is so experienced in this actually very like ancient Chinese culinary craftsmanship to help us to produce the product at scale.
13:29
Caitlin Bricker
Just going to do a quick Google. I've never done this before, but I'm just curious. Beef jerky protein content, about 7 grams of protein. And how many grams of protein is in a serving of TofuGo?
13:43
Caroline Dai
So the whole pack is 12 grams of protein out of 45 grams of products. So it's classified as high protein.
13:49
Caitlin Bricker
I think that says it all, especially in today's world where everybody is so protein focused and there are still naysayers that don't think that you can get enough protein from a vegetarian or vegan diet. Your products, it's not like I'm sitting there eating a block of tofu. They are slim pieces and it's amazing how much protein you're getting packed into a tiny package.
14:14
Caroline Dai
Yes, I think that's something we're really proud of. Not only that, but also the quality of the protein. So the 12 grams of protein actually all comes from whole foods. The tofu themselves. We don't additional protein isolate like we got crushes sometimes like hey, like whey protein isolate. Prices all time high. Didn't matter. So high. How does that affect your business model? It doesn't because the protein is literally just on the tofu.
14:36
Caitlin Bricker
It's so impressive. I mean, you and I both know that tofu is such a great protein on its own. But to now see it in this packaging and in this format is really impressive. And I think it's setting a tone for other brands that are looking to create vegetarian Protein products. So nice job.
14:54
Caroline Dai
Thank you.
14:55
Caitlin Bricker
Where do you see TofuGo going in the next five years or so?
14:59
Caroline Dai
Yes, we're in conversations with a couple national retailers at the moment. So, you know, hopefully exciting announcement coming soon. But they've expressed strong enthusiasm and carrying TofuGo in their stores. But I picture TofuGo as a very, like, nationwide product. I think what's really surprising to me as a founder is were able to launch primarily D2C at first and then expand nationally. Like, all of a sudden, we're like, in over 40 states and Canadian provinces and people as far as Hawaii or Michigan or Miami, they're ordering TofuGo on a subscription basis. I think that's been really positive for us to see our demographic. It's a mix. It's not just vegans and vegetarians. It's people who are wanting more protein. It's family who want more healthy snacks for their kids. It's, you know, fitness people who want more protein after their workout.
15:46
Caroline Dai
So I would love TofuGo to be a nationwide product. And it's really accessible to people as well.
15:51
Caitlin Bricker
I love that. I also love hearing that you are getting people subscribing to your products because I feel like from my personal experience as a consumer, it's hard to find a brand that you want to subscribe to in the food and beverage category. Household products, no problem. It's something that you just like, set it and forget it. So what are you doing as a brand to incentivize people to subscribe TofuGo?
16:14
Caroline Dai
Yeah, I think it's two things. First of all, discount. So anyone subscribing toEFL goat, they get 20% discount on top of the existing price. And second's convenience. Right. Like, we have fulfillment both on west coast and east coast, so they get it very conveniently. They can also set how frequent they want the subscription. So some people maybe don't want like, every month so they can kind of update the frequency. But I think it's because of the product. It's so unique. It offers that high protein from Whole Foods, no sugar, that's really hard to find, maybe in their, like, local stores, existing set. So I think by making it more affordable, more accessible and more functional. So I think that's been a really key driver of subscription.
16:53
Caitlin Bricker
You are doing such a great job with your formulation too, because, yes, of course it tastes great, but you are also hitting on that high protein, no added sugar, and you don't have natural flavors either, which is the next frontier for subscribers, so many consumers that are unlocking this and understanding it and asking questions. Was that something that you had in mind while formulating the product, or was this just happy, not an accident, but you're like, oh, we're doing that. We don't need to worry about that in 10 years.
17:22
Caroline Dai
Yes, it's very intentional. From day one, like, I think growing up in both China and America, I understand how sugary and processed the American grocery aisle is. And from day one, I wanted to create a product that I feel comfortable giving it to, like my grandma giving it to kids around me. Just something really healthy and not just like a fake healthy, but actually healthy.
17:42
Caitlin Bricker
And good for you.
17:43
Caroline Dai
And I've been testing with like my experimentation, like, ever since. I eat tofu go and tofu more in my diet. Actually. It's better for my gut, it's better for my digestion. I feel actually more toned as comparing to a more sugary diet, which, you know, not surprising to anyone.
17:59
Caitlin Bricker
That's a great benefit. I always love to picture, you know, when you see like a video of a lion after they eat a big meal or like catch their prey, they're like, all right, I'm just gonna lay on this rock for the rest of the day and digest. I don't get that. When I eat plant based products, I'm like, cool, I just had a meal. Now I can go about my day. I don't need to just like rest and digest right now.
18:22
Caroline Dai
Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, for me, I feel like I'm just constantly snacking in smaller portion anyway. I try to avoid like a really big lunch coma. Cause I know like the rest of the day wouldn't be as productive. But I think that also speaks to a lot of diets of Americans is lighter portion, smaller portion. Like looking at like a midday squares of that format. So popular.
18:42
Caitlin Bricker
Ooh, that's a really good comparison. You do have a very similar format to midday squares. And I also know your products aren't refrigerated, but the refrigerated bar set, I feel like is also having such a moment right now. But it comes back to that convenience factor because you're able to get whole food products in very convenient formats that are satiating. People are walking away, they feel good and they feel full.
19:08
Caroline Dai
Totally.
19:09
Caitlin Bricker
It's really good. So what are you working on now? You said that you're working on more flavors. You probably can't give me too many details about that.
19:17
Caroline Dai
What can you tell me with respect to flavors? It will also be Savory. I think we're very intentional on staying savory and focus on Savory Lane. We're getting on board to Amazon pretty soon, so we're working with a really great Amazon agency on helping us successfully launch in that channel. More retail in the workshop. And then also we're launching to the UK very soon. So we're targeting Q4 for the UK launch, and that's primarily driven by high demand from that market. We got so many messages and inquiries from that market for us to launch there.
19:49
Caitlin Bricker
Wait, so how long have you been in business for?
19:52
Caroline Dai
We launched five months ago.
19:53
Caitlin Bricker
Okay, that's what I thought you said. And you're already going international. That is crazy. Congratulations.
20:01
Caroline Dai
Thank you. Yeah, we did not really expect that, but just, you know, months after months, people have been chasing us from the UK market. And even as far as people reaching out, I've never met before. They're like, I'd love to help you launch. Like, who can I connect you with? I was like, I probably need, like, a warehouse store. I probably need to, like, talk to other founders based in the uk and they're like, dumb. I'll introduce you right away. I want to buy this product. I want to, like, buy it for my community. Anything we can do to help, which is so surprising. But, yeah, I think that international expansion is more coming from, like, bottoms up demand rather than, like, us as a brand. Be like, we want to be like, this is in our roadmap since we launched.
20:37
Caitlin Bricker
Wow. I'm kind of speechless right now. I think that is so impressive. And the fact that you have incoming demand, people are coming to you inbound requests for your products to go overseas is crazy. That says a lot. Typically, a brand at your stage, you're doing the outreach and you are making the requests to retailers and consumers to buy the product, but you now have paved this beautiful way for yourself to get that inbound request. That is so cool.
21:04
Caroline Dai
Thank you.
21:05
Caitlin Bricker
Wow. All right, tell us a little bit about what it looks like to set up your product for international distribution. What is that looking like for you?
21:14
Caroline Dai
It's pretty straightforward. Like, we're. We're doing both US and Canada right now, so we have somewhat experience in operating different markets, but it's getting connected with a really great 3pl, and you're making sure, like, that distribution pricing model makes sense for us.
21:28
Caitlin Bricker
And any tools that you've used to build TofuGo that you feel like are worth shouting out to anybody listening right now who's building a brand, shout out.
21:36
Caroline Dai
To startup cpg, like, as a platform, I think this has been really helpful and just getting so many good resources. Like we're applying for like the Whole Foods grocery run as well, the founders and founders in New York as well. So there are definitely a couple of different events that we're keeping our eyes out and want to be a part of. But I think startup CPG as a platform has been amazing. I think that's like, goes hand in hand with founders tools, right? You're not like searching in kind of like the wide area for resources and people to connect with. Rather, it's like more centralized platform and we can meet people who can make meaningful decisions to help us to grow as a brand.
22:12
Caitlin Bricker
I promise I was not compliment fishing when I asked that question, but it's much appreciated. I do think that we have a good thing going on here and I'm glad that you see that as a great resource. I was at Summer Fancy Food and you were sampling or you had your booth right near our section and were so busy that I never got a chance to go over and say hi. I'm glad Quinn did, but I would love to see you in our section someday.
22:38
Caroline Dai
Yes, for sure.
22:39
Caitlin Bricker
I'm sure it's going to happen. All right, before we wrap things up, any pieces of advice that you want to give to founders who are listening and building in early stages right now?
22:49
Caroline Dai
I would say the best piece of advice I got as founder is just put on your iPhone and pretend you're like, facetiming someone. And that's the best way to get your face in front of an audience. Like, looking back, I wish I would even sooner, like, before we launch, to build more of a, like, viral moments. Like, I've seen other brands who do it, but I think I've gotten to a point that like, five, six months ago, I was not comfortable doing that, but now I don't even think about it. Like, I love doing it and sharing more of my journey with my community.
23:18
Caitlin Bricker
I was gonna tell you this after we stopped record. I'll just tell you now. You are a very impressive podcast guest. Like, it feels to me like you've done media training. Have you done anything like that in the past?
23:30
Caroline Dai
No, I'm just talking about, like, my love of tofu and growing up in the Chinese family and so forth.
23:36
Caitlin Bricker
Well, I think that says a lot because this is not a rehearsed episode. You're not reading off a script. You're speaking from your heart and you're speaking about what you know and what you love. And it comes off very clean, very crisp. It's great. You've been a great guest.
23:51
Caroline Dai
I appreciate that. Thank you. I appreciate being a guest here.
23:54
Caitlin Bricker
Of course. All right, one last request from you. If there are retailers listening right now who want to bring TofuGo on board, or maybe they're on the fence about bringing Tofu Go on board, what do you want to say to them?
24:07
Caroline Dai
Hi, Whole Foods. We've already met a couple foragers from who's in the all love Tofu Go. But I think Tofu Go from day one, it's a very like Whole Foods focused product. And when I look at the Whole Foods aisle right now, I see a white space when it comes to a plant based, savory protein snack made of whole Foods. So we'd love to chat more, we'd love to come to Nashville and meet you guys. But yeah, we love meeting every retailer and just from all across the nation, all across the world.
24:36
Caitlin Bricker
There you have it, dream retailer. Just a little shout out. All right, now, where can everybody follow you online? What's your social handles? What's your website?
24:45
Caroline Dai
Yes, it's TofuGo Snacks across the board. So Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and our website's www.tofugosnacks.com.
24:53
Caitlin Bricker
Perfect. Caroline, you've been such a great guest and your products are excellent. Thank you so much for your time and I hope I see you really soon.
25:01
Caroline Dai
Yes, we'll see you in la. That's a coffee.
25:04
Caitlin Bricker
Oh, yeah, it's gonna happen. All right, I'll talk to you later. Bye bye. CPG BF now arrived together at the end of another episode of the Startup CPG Podcast. As you may know, we're not just the top globally ranked CPG podcast. We're a community of tens of thousands of CPG founders and experts. And you should join us if you haven't already. Head to startupcpg.com to sign up. You'll get an invite to our Slack community, hear about events near you, and get access to opportunities that connect you with buyers, investors and other brands. It's free. So what are you waiting for? I'll see you in Slack and in real life. Thanks for listening.