The Startup CPG Podcast


In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Jocelyn Ramirez, Regina Trillo, and Stefanie Garcia Turner of Tuyyo Foods - a heritage-rooted modern Latin food company born from the merger of three separate brands. Toto Verde's umami chef-crafted taco seasoning, Tuyyo's redesigned agua fresca stick packs with electrolytes, and Nemi Snacks' high-protein chips made with nopal and prickly pear all came together under one name. Tuyyo means "you and me" and "yours" in Spanish, a name rooted in community and the belief that food is the great equalizer.


Jocelyn, Regina, and Stefanie each ran solo CPG brands before deciding, over car rides between trade shows and late-night calls, to merge into one company instead of competing for the same shelf space. In just 10 months, they've rebranded, launched at Whole Foods and Raley's, and built a company that divides marketing, sales, and operations across their individual strengths.


Caitlin and the three co-founders dig into why they chose to merge instead of go it alone, how they brought retailers into the conversation before making the change, and their current revenue-share Wefunder campaign to fuel inventory and growth.


Listen in as they discuss:

  • Why three solo Latina founders decided to merge their brands instead of competing for the same shelf space
  • The Uber ride and late-night calls that turned into an official merger conversation
  • What each founder does and doesn't miss about running a business solo
  • Why they landed on the name Tuyyo, and what it actually means
  • How they brought retailers into the rebrand conversation before making any changes
  • Splitting responsibilities by strength: marketing, sales, and operations
  • Building at record speed: 10 months from merger to retail launches at Whole Foods and Raley's
  • The family stories behind each founder's path into food, including a grandmother's aguas frescas and a mother's tamales
  • Why community and farmer relationships are central to Tuyyo's mission
  • The revenue-share Wefunder campaign to raise $500K for inventory and growth


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Creators and Guests

Host
Caitlin Bricker
Managing Editor @ Startup CPG

What is The Startup CPG Podcast?

The top CPG podcast in the world, highlighting stories from founders, buyer spotlights, highly practical industry insights - all to give you a better chance at success.

Stefanie Garcia
You've heard so many stories from the solo entrepreneur journey and it's really tough but it's also super lonely and just going at it and trying to build the business and knowing like I know I have something that's resonating but like it's not quite there and I can't figure it out myself. And being able to partner with other like Latinas that are like minded going after the same objective and then bringing in their thought process, it really was like a light bulb moment of here's how we can make it better.

00:47
Jocelyn Ramirez
There's just like little things like that where I would have been like I don't know what I could do, like this is it, this is too much. And then the other two are just like the level headed like don't worry, go cry in the corner. We're going to figure this out.

00:59
Regina Trillo
There were so many things going on and we divided and conquered. So that has been also an amazing experience of hey, we've got each other.

01:08
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 Jocelyn, Stefanie and Regina of Tuyyo Foods, a heritage rooted modern Latin food company born from the merger of three separate brands. Toto Verde's Umami chef crafted taco seasoning, Tuyo's now redesigned Agua Fresca stick packs with electrolytes and Nemi snacks, high protein chips made with Nopal and prickly pear. Tuyyo means you and me and yours in Spanish, a name rooted in community and the belief that food is the great equalizer.

01:42
Caitlin Bricker
We're diving into why three solo founders decided to merge their businesses instead of competing how they're executing at record speed with retail launches at Whole Foods and Raley's already happening, what it feels like to finally not carry the weight of CPG alone and their revenue share fundraising campaign to scale this beautifully aligned mission that centers immigrant stories, farmer relationships and building with community, not just for it. We hear from founders on this podcast every week. If you're a brand and you want to get new opportunities right in your inbox, text CPG to 833-605-7002 and we'll get you hooked up. As always, enjoy. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin and today I'm here with Jocelyn, Regina and Stefanie of Tuyyo Foods. Ladies, welcome to the show.

02:34
Caitlin Bricker
This is the first time I think I've had a three one conversation, but I am very for this.

02:40
Regina Trillo
Hello thank you for having us.

02:42
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, thanks for having us.

02:44
Caitlin Bricker
It's so great to have you all here. Before we kick things off and dive into all things Tuyyo Foods, let's tell the audience what Tuyyo Foods is. Jocelyn, you care to give us some insight?

02:54
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah. Tuyyo Foods is a heritage rooted, modern Latin food company.

02:59
Caitlin Bricker
Perfect, beautiful. And from my understanding, all three of you came from different CPG brands and decided to come together as one. So I need to hear more. I guess we'll start with you. Jocelyn, can you tell us what you were doing prior to Tuyyo Foods becoming this big brand all in one?

03:22
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah. Prior to Tuyyo, I had a company called Toto Verde and the products that I had on shelves was Umami chef crafted taco seasoning that came into the merger. Two of those SKUs came into the merger.

03:35
Caitlin Bricker
And Stefanie , how about you?

03:36
Stefanie Garcia
So I had the original, what we call Tuyyo 1.0, doing the instant aguas frescas in canisters. So like a multi serving. And since coming into the merger, we designed and repackaged those into single serve stick packs with electrolytes.

03:54
Caitlin Bricker
And I just saw the rebrand at Summer Fancy food and it is excellent. I loved the colors in Tuyyo before, but now I feel like the vibe,.

04:02
Jocelyn Ramirez
It's vibing as it was meant to be.

04:05
Caitlin Bricker
Good, good. Well, you're hitting it. It's being hit on for sure. Regina, what were you doing prior to this merger?

04:12
Regina Trillo
I was with Nemi Snacks. It was also a Latin inspired food company and were making high protein, high fiber chips in Mexican flavors using Nopales, the prickly purple paddle in the snacks.

04:23
Caitlin Bricker
And what made you all come together? What was that moment where you decided, actually we don't need to be solo founders anymore. Why don't we just come together and turn this into one big brand?

04:36
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, I mean, you kind of sound like me in the back of an Uber going to the airport with Regina. That was the first time this came up. We had just traveled all around Texas at Central Market stores doing demos together and just trying to cost save. And in every car ride that we had and like before going to sleep every night, were just like, what about this? And have you tried working with this person for social media? And were just sharing resources constantly. And so at the end of that trip, Regina suggested, why don't we have a recurring sort of standing call where we can just continue to be that support for each other. And I was like, how about this? Like, how about we bring our brands together and it stayed at that. It stayed a conversation point.

05:17
Jocelyn Ramirez
Maybe about a year later, Stefanie and I were prepping for Newtopia. And so we had a call where were just trying to gather where we're staying and events were going to. And at the end of that call, she's like, what if we bring our brands together? And whether it's a holding company or, like, just trying to figure out a way to make this stronger and with more people behind it, more very competent people behind it. And I had that OMG moment. I was talking to Rhina about this. Like, would you be down for it to be the three of us? And she said, yes. And we decided, let's go to Utopia. We'll chat in person, and then let's lupin Regina afterwards. Literally the weekend of Newtopia, Regina, out of the blue, text me, can you talk? And I'm like, yes, call me now.

06:00
Jocelyn Ramirez
And then she's like, I'm ready. Let's do this. Without me telling her about the conversation with Stefanie . And so it was another, like, whoa, this is truly manifesting. I did put this on a New Year's, like, 2025, like, manifestation for the year of, like, I want co founders and I want to grow this with other people that will feel like family. And it just felt like one of those moments where, like, the universe was like, ask and you shall receive. And then we just got on a call after that. We kept recurring calls. We kept kind of thinking through it. We had a retreat in person in Chicago and where we really laid down, like, how we would want to work together. And, like, the rest is history. It's been 10 months, and it feels like it's been much longer than that.

06:47
Jocelyn Ramirez
But it's been such an. In a good way, in a very good way, because, like, we've definitely covered a lot of ground and then also just really laid down the foundation of how to build this in a way from a business perspective that feels sustainable, but then also from a partnership perspective that feels very aligned.

07:05
Caitlin Bricker
I would love to hear from all three of you. Let's start with you, Stefanie , if you don't mind. Are there any pieces of your business operating on an individual level that you felt like, oh, I'm really going to miss this, or I'm actually really excited to pull my resources and do this together?

07:21
Stefanie Garcia
Definitely the latter. Like, I mean, you get it. You've heard so many stories from the solo entrepreneur journey, and it's really tough, but it's also super lonely and just going at it and trying to build the business and knowing like, I know I have something that's resonating but like it's not quite there and I can't figure it out myself. And being able to partner with other like Latinas that are like minded going after the same objective and then bringing in their thought process, it really was like a light bulb moment of here's how we can make it better. I mean, I really don't miss anything, to be honest.

08:05
Caitlin Bricker
Good answer.

08:06
Stefanie Garcia
I don't miss like anything.

08:08
Caitlin Bricker
Regina, how about you? How did you feel during this merger and during these conversations, did you feel like there was any pieces that you were going to be missing working on as a solopreneur or were you just excited like Stefanie to just go all in as a team?

08:23
Regina Trillo
No, I was excited and I was all in. Also the same as Steph, because I think when the three of us got together and it was during that conversation, not the first conversation we had in August, but the retreat that we did like three weeks after that first conversation, I was really looking forward to figuring out how to do it better and how to do it stronger. And the three of us, we have complimentary skills and we had a lot of conversations about what do you enjoy doing, what do you not? And when you have a business and you're a solo founder, you take on a lot. You take a lot of things that you have to run for the business that you don't always enjoy.

08:56
Regina Trillo
And luckily the three of us had already data of what we did that was working and what was not working. So that also helped us like just make the decision of what next and what each of us are going to do. And I was so happy to dump the marketing to Jaws and have full trust in what she was doing and the sales also on Stefanie and me, keeping on the operations side of it. Maybe next year it'll be different. Hopefully not. But as of right now, it's been an amazing journey and I think it's exceeded my expectations because I had only experienced business as a solo founder. And I really appreciate how decisions take significantly less time not only to make, but to execute.

09:39
Regina Trillo
And I think that's been why we've been able to do this at record time of it's 10 months and we're in stores already, the branding is done, we're in distributors, we have like everything is happening as if we had our brand in a way early 2025, when were not even thinking about, I mean were thinking, but we didn't express the want and the need for emerge the three of us. But no, it's all been good so far.

10:04
Caitlin Bricker
Another great answer. I can only imagine that sentiment is carrying across to your retail partners too. Because if you're able to execute so quickly and make those decisions so quickly and be in alignment so quickly, they're like, we're set up for success. What else could you possibly ask for? Jocelyn, you're in the hot seat now. Anything you miss from being a solopreneur?

10:27
Jocelyn Ramirez
I mean, honestly, no, I'm in agreement. Like, I think that we really did split up the areas in which, like, we feel like we're more experts in. Right. So I'm doing the marketing. Regina mentioned operations, Stefanie sales. And I will admit, like after a big event like Expo west and following up with like all the sales leads and all the forms, I don't miss that. I really don't like. I'm glad Stefanie 's like willing and able to take that part of the work on. We could have a whole other podcast about sales or buyer forms.

11:00
Caitlin Bricker
I mean, I know it just from startup CPG side of things. We are form heavy over here. Apologies to everyone.

11:08
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, it's a little bit of insanity sometimes. So there aren't things that I miss. I think I'm excited to like keep growing in this area that I am already love to do, but then like expanding my skillset even more is really awesome.

11:23
Caitlin Bricker
I am super curious. How did you decide to take the Tuyyo Foods name instead of any of your other names prior to the merge?

11:32
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, I mean we talked about a lot of different names. Caitlin, were like, mesa this and what's a two syllable word that's easy and that translates. But this is still Latino and like we're trying to figure it out. And then like every time we'd have a conversation, we just keep coming back to Tuyyo. But like, if it was like Tuyyo at some point were like, it's Tuyyo. Like it's going to be Tuyyo. We can give it a whole new meaning. It can feel like a new brand even though we're using an existing name. And then also from a logistical standpoint, the fact that Tuyyo foods is already set up with Kehi Unfi, like is already working with a lot of channels that were going to have to work with anyway. It made it more streamlined and easy for us to just get started.

12:13
Caitlin Bricker
Okay, so two questions. What does Tuyyo mean?

12:17
Stefanie Garcia
Yeah, so it's two things. It's tu hi yo, which is you and me in Spanish. And it also means yours, Tuyyo, with the one Y, T U Y O. And when I was thinking about names in 2020 when considering doing this, I really wanted there to be an aspect of community to the brand as a whole. And, like, I'm a big believer, like, why be in business if there's no benefit to anyone else out there? I don't think, like, that's not the way I want to do business. And so that just kept resonating is like, Tuyyo, like, it's yours. You and me. Everybody comes to the table to share food and drink. It's like the one equalizer, I think, in everybody's life. Like, we all need food.

13:03
Regina Trillo
Yeah.

13:04
Stefanie Garcia
And I just felt like Duo really embodied that.

13:06
Caitlin Bricker
It makes a lot of sense. And I have to ask you, Rihina, from an operational standpoint, we just touched on it. What did it look like to now onboard more products into the Tuyyo line? When it came to distribution and retail, were people like, whoa, what's going on? How do you approach that? And how do you communicate that to retailers and distribution?

13:28
Regina Trillo
It's been a challenge and we looked at it at just different timelines for communicating and who we'll be communicating it with first. The first people that we communicated with were our retailers. And we actually brought them into the conversation of, if we did this, would you be on board? What do you think about this? We actually shared why we chose Duyo. We asked for their feedback. We shared everything with our branding. Our draft number one, number two, number three, we kept sharing it with them and we made a list of the retailers that we wanted to be, want them to be part of this journey as well, because at the end of the day, we would be on the shelves too, and we wanted to make them part of this journey.

14:03
Regina Trillo
So that first conversation was also then, what do you need from us and what is the timeline that we have? Because there's now more SKUs. I mean, even on the backend, operationally, the challenge of dealing with more suppliers, different comments and, you know, and everything that happens on the day to day behind the scenes, but on the front facing for the retailer was, what is our timeline? When do we need to tell you? When do we need to transition? What do we need? Different distributors, some also working direct distribution with a retailer. So, I mean, the three of us, since the beginning, we started communicating almost daily on what needed to happen. We brought in an operator that helped us for about three months to look at what were the opportunities, what were the challenges as independent companies as a now A unified company.

14:48
Regina Trillo
And how could we leverage that? When it came to our suppliers, retailers, etc. We brought in a team of attorneys, we brought in a CFO and the designers. So it felt we structured the process and the merge in a way that a, you know, were not alone anymore. And in a way that was disciplined because we had an internal timeline of Expo west and that's where we did a soft launch of some of our products. And, I mean, there are partners in every way. And their response was phenomenal when it came to not only supporting us, but giving us also the time and space that we needed. And it was all about communicating. This is ready, this is not. There's been some setbacks on here. We're ready earlier than expected. So we just need to keep that line of communication direct and transparent.

15:32
Regina Trillo
And that's what we're still doing.

15:33
Caitlin Bricker
It really sounds like from the name Tuyyo and these deep meanings, that's like really sentimental value that comes from the name. And then also bringing that together with three of you, bringing a large community and distilling it down into this smaller community within yourselves, and then bringing in your retail partners and distribution partners to have them be part of that conversation. Community is obviously, it runs deep with all of you. And I know that family is also very big when it comes to you and your culture, too. So I'd love to hear from all three of you how you're keeping your individual brands alive within this now new brand of Tuyyo foods. And maybe if you want to share a story about how food has played a part, big part in your life and your culture with your family.

16:22
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, I mean, food has been like, such a huge part of my journey. I actually started cooking around my grandmother when I was really young. She was the matriarch of our family. She would bring people together and make record amounts of tamales, and also sometimes made individual meals, depending on who's coming over. So if she knew I was coming over, it was like my sopa del fideo, my brother's chile de huache, just because she knew what our favorites were. And so I really saw how people can show love through food and how you can really, like, nurture and take care of the people that you care about in that way. And then also how coming to the table, like a place where you can share, like, what's happening in your life, get advice, just all of the things.

17:05
Jocelyn Ramirez
And so my prior life was in higher education, and I was a college professor working on a college campus, and I was teaching a social justice and civic engagement course. And my main kind of area that I kept focusing on for me personally was food justice and, like, people having access to good food. And so, like, I knew I can't tackle this huge issue on my own, but maybe I can start this food business to help me, like, this much to create healthier food access for Angelenos. And so here in la, I started to La Verde as a hospitality company where I was doing catering food service, farmers markets. Eventually started catering, like, official super bowl tailgate and doing food service at a LA Philharmonic venue. And. And then the pandemic happened, and that's how I was able to pivot and start doing cpg.

17:55
Jocelyn Ramirez
And this was, like, after my cookbook came out. So, like, I've been doing all things food for a while, but it, like, started off in such a way that was, like, more aligned to what I'm really, truly passionate about. And I'm happy to continue to do that now under the Tuyyo Foods sort of, like, umbrella and what we're building and to really take the products that people I see, like, use at home all the time that are, like, have become a part of, like, their regular, like, staple household, which is, like, so incredible to see. Like, not only do people love your flavors and your product, but, like, you've become a part of their everyday life, and they're, like, consuming the product like, they're taking it in. It's, like, becoming a part of their DNA and they're using it with their families.

18:39
Jocelyn Ramirez
Like, to do that just makes me feel like I have a seat at that table and, like, that's what we're continuing to build here.

18:46
Caitlin Bricker
Must be a very surreal feeling seeing your products go out into the world and then seeing them be household names in many households and products that people are gravitating towards again and again. I cannot even imagine what that feels like.

19:02
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, it's special.

19:03
Caitlin Bricker
It definitely sounds and feels that way. I can feel it as you're talking about it. Stefanie , how about you? Any stories that you want to share? Anything special that comes into mind when it comes to food and family and culture for you with this brand?

19:17
Stefanie Garcia
Yeah, well, you know, I actually started with the aguas frescas because, like, my grandma would always make her fresh aguas frescas when I was growing up. But I was a child of the 80s, so I also, like, loved Kool Aid.

19:31
Jocelyn Ramirez
Right.

19:31
Stefanie Garcia
And all of those really delicious things that aren't really that great for you. And fast forward. I went to Emory University for my executive MBA and Covid hit. I think everybody has like kind of their Covid esque story. And I was trying to think of, well, what should I do? Should I go back to corporate life? Should I keep doing some consulting, which is what I was doing at the time, or should we try something, like, completely different? And then my grandma ended up having a stroke. She didn't have Covid, but she ended up having a stroke and she ended up passing. That just kind of like sealed the deal for me. I was like, what is the thing I can do that I can, like, live with her memory forever? And this is what I did. Sorry, I don't want to tear up.

20:13
Stefanie Garcia
But yeah, that was just the inspiration. And then family is everything. Oh, my gosh. We were at Fancy Food and there is like all these people coming, asking where my dad was, because he is the one that like would do these shows with me and my mom and my Thea and my aunt would come and yeah, I mean, without them, I don't know if I'd be here today.

20:34
Caitlin Bricker
Thank you so much for sharing that, especially about your grandmother. I love hearing about legacies with brands and I think it is such a beautiful tribute and what a great legacy to be able to carry on for your grandmother. So well done. Thank you, Ruhina. Last but not least, let's hear it from you.

20:52
Regina Trillo
Yes, food is a connector. And growing up in Mexico City, where in a household where everything was about going to the mercado, getting the ingredients, cooking, always having people over, everybody was always welcome. There were never enough seats or chairs, but there's always a floor where you can sit. You can always pour more water into the frijoles to make it more caldoso so that it feeds more people. Everything was about that. And I never questioned growing up in Mexico City the worth of my culture. And I moved to Chicago for law school and that experience that I had at the grocery store of seeing all these Hispanic inspired brands that were rooted in stereotypes about Latin culture really stayed with me. And even I remember when I was just filling in an application for law school and I was asked about my ethnicity.

21:35
Regina Trillo
That was the first time I was ever asked about my ethnicity. And I think one of the few spaces in life where all of that disappears, all the differences, the ideology disappears, is food and music, sometimes sports. I mean, we see with soccer. But as a Mexican, we're pretty intense when it comes to the fan base. And sometimes we get very passionate, slash.

21:56
Caitlin Bricker
A little bit aggressive.

21:58
Regina Trillo
But when it comes to food and music, that's always a connector. So it was, how can we bring people together? And if I'm going to start a business in the food space. And as I adventure the food space, six years ago, prior to having the Nemi snacks, I was doing immigration law, and a lot of the people that I worked with were farmers in their home countries before they were forced to even come to the US as immigrants. And I remember stories of them saying, we get the minimum of the whole supply chain of we get the least, but they're the most important in the supply chain. So how can we do it in a way that we're working with the community and we're working for the community and those values?

22:38
Regina Trillo
I think when the first time the three of us connected, because when we had that retreat, we already had a foundation of the three of us. We were friends already, and we already knew each other, and we had already connected even beyond the CPG space of who are you using for demos? And can you do this intro for me? We had already had a lot of depth conversations about why we're doing what we're doing, why we're here, et cetera. So when we started together was, how can we do this? Bigger. There is an alignment of products, but there is a bigger alignment on the mission and why we want to do this. So how can we do it in a way that is bigger, that it is better, and that it is stronger for the three of us?

23:11
Regina Trillo
And how can we really work and do it with the community? And those were, I think, one of the main things that have kept me going of being in the food industry, in spite of all the challenges, it.

23:21
Caitlin Bricker
Is just so massive. I mean, we hear about mergers and acquisitions happening with larger companies, but to see the three of you come together and just hear the passion that's behind what you're doing, it's something that's never gonna go away, I feel like. And I think that you really are on the right path by joining forces. I have this, like, image in my mind of all of you, like superheroes coming together. Operations and sales and marketing, and you could do it without each other. But why would you? If you have this great synergy between the three of you, it's pretty cool to see and now to hear your story. I've read about it before. We've talked about it in bits and pieces in the past, especially you and I, Jocelyn.

24:04
Caitlin Bricker
But now to see the three of you together here and talking about it really is. There's, like a very special spark here.

24:11
Regina Trillo
Thank you.

24:12
Caitlin Bricker
Yeah. I am so curious now that you have each other in your lives and in your business together. Has there been any instance where you have thought to yourself, wow, I am in this position now and if it was only me as a solo founder, my business would be done. But because I have my two other colleagues here, my business is good and strong.

24:35
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah. I mean, I'll even say, like, right at Expo west when were trying to do the seasoning production and we realized were missing an eye mark on our film. And I was just like, oh my God, thousands of dollars worth of film. Like, and I didn't catch this. Neither did the printing company who prints film for a living, and neither did the graphic designer who does graphic design for a living. And so I was just like in shambles and tears. And then he was like, we're going to figure this out. Don't worry. Like, we're going to figure this out. And we actually realized that it was printed wrong and I had to get reprinted at their cost, at their expense. Expense. But there's just like little things like that where I would have been like, I don't know what I could do.

25:18
Jocelyn Ramirez
Like, this is it, this is too much. And then the other two are just like the level headed, like, don't worry, go cry in the corner. We're gonna figure this out.

25:25
Caitlin Bricker
Stefanie , it looked like you had something you wanted to say.

25:28
Stefanie Garcia
Oh, yeah. I mean, without this merger and going this route and taking the chance on this business with the other two companies, like, I don't think I would be here today. I think it would have just. CPG is hard. It's capital intensive. You always are looking for the next sale, but you need the money to produce the inventory and it's really difficult. And then you have all of these things that happen. Like, we had a conversation earlier today on a call about how just long it takes for everything to happen. And so we have to create these timelines now, knowing all of this information and the lessons learned, having done our previous businesses. So now we do feel like much more prepared, but there's still all those little instances that happen. But now it's like you're not alone.

26:21
Stefanie Garcia
One or the other or two people will be there to like pick you up. Somebody will like, it's just like so much better.

26:27
Caitlin Bricker
I imagine that now you can kind of have some down days if you need it. And the other two will step in and say, okay, I got this. You go take a break. Must be nice.

26:37
Regina Trillo
Yeah. And also even the learning to transition from being a solo founder to having co Founders just in the sense of we kind of at the beginning, and I think we're still in the transition of jumping in. Like, I'll do it. Because, yes, we know we believe in the business, and we're very passionate, but the three of us have a very similar work ethic, and it is a high work ethic, and the three of us want to execute and want to make things work, and we have no doubt that this will happen. But were jumping in, you know, I'll do this, I'll do that. And then it's like, you actually, it's okay. You don't have to go. It's three of us or not all of us have to be there.

27:08
Regina Trillo
Like, even at Fancy Foods, there were so many things going on, and we divided and conquered. So that has been also an amazing experience of, hey, we've got each other.

27:17
Caitlin Bricker
I got to witness you live in person, in action at Fancy Food. And I got to say, like, all three of you, the energy that's coming off of you is that you mean business. But you were there with smiles on your faces, and you were just getting shit done. Like, one of you is in the back stocking. One of you is over here shaking hands and kissing babies. The other one's talking to the buyer.

27:40
Jocelyn Ramirez
It was really cool.

27:41
Caitlin Bricker
We came by twice just to see you. It was the same energy every time. Like, you guys have it locked in. I am unbelievably impressed. I mean, I can only imagine it was the same feeling with you as solo founders, but now, again, the superpowers coming together, it's pretty damn cool. I have to give you this opportunity to talk about fundraising because you need to build this beast. Like, so tell us, what do you need from the community? What are you looking for right now? How can listeners help grow to you?

28:10
Jocelyn Ramirez
So we're currently hosting a revenue share we funder campaign, which is essentially an opportunity for folks to invest and grow with us and to also get the return on investment as we grow. They don't have to wait for an exit, an acquisition to see that return on their investment. And we're trying to raise 500,000, and we have, like, a couple milestones along the way. And so we have about 90 days to raise 500k, and this is going to help us increase inventory. We have a partnership coming up with Whole Foods in two regions we're launching at Raley's. We just learned.

28:45
Caitlin Bricker
Congrats.

28:46
Jocelyn Ramirez
So this is, like, breaking news for startup CPG and a few other really awesome distribution partners that we're launching. So there's a lot coming up where we're going to need to produce more inventory. So it's definitely going to help us with that, making sure we're doubling down on our marketing efforts and also just allowing us space to just, like, refine our operations and like, make sure everything's.

29:07
Regina Trillo
On the right track.

29:08
Jocelyn Ramirez
But we're so excited for people to be a part of the growth with us and to invest and to also grow their wealth alongside us.

29:17
Caitlin Bricker
I think it's so excellent. Like I said, I can't wait to see this beast get built. Like, I need people to jump on this Tuyyo train that you have going right now. If I was a buyer, I would be all over this. I know right now it's trendy, but it's also totally necessary to have authentic food and beverages in place in retail so everyone can expand their palette and find their new favorites. And I think they're going to be able to do that with Tuyyo, without a doubt. So thank you for everything that you've been building and for showing the community. This is a massive example of the power of people coming together, sharing resources. Look what you've been able to build. This is such a beautiful extension of everything that you are building on your own now coming together again.

30:03
Caitlin Bricker
It's really cool and very powerful to witness.

30:06
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah. Thank you. We appreciate it.

30:08
Regina Trillo
Thank you so much, Caitlin.

30:10
Stefanie Garcia
And you guys have been amazing at startup cpg. Like, side note, John Lane, I, like, actually met him for the first time. He runs the Raley's Get Curious set. And Jocelyn and I did the startup CPG run in San Francisco. And I think, like, I honestly think we got in because were able to, like, meet him and have that FaceTime and he came by the show Fancy Food. And this industry is about relationships, and we're really thankful for the opportunities.

30:37
Caitlin Bricker
It's what we do. We love building those connections. We love putting people in touch with each other. And John is definitely a good guy to know. He knows his stuff. He's building really great sets with the Get Curious set. So I'm glad you guys got some time to connect. Ladies, it's been awesome talking to you. Before we go, can one of you tell us? I'm going to put it on you, Jocelyn, since you're the marketing mind over here, where can everybody find you online? What's your website? What's your socials?

31:04
Jocelyn Ramirez
Yeah, so everything is under tuyyofoods.com@instagram, TikTok, tuyyofoods and our we funder is we funder.com/tuyyofoods perfect.

31:16
Caitlin Bricker
We're gonna put all of that in the show notes, so everybody take note. Afterwards, go check out the we funder. Help grow Tuyyo. They need you. I need you. Ladies, it's been great having you on here. Very excited to see where Tuyyo goes and keep us updated on your growth because I know there's more coming down the pipeline.

31:34
Jocelyn Ramirez
Awesome. Thank you so much, Caitlin.

31:35
Regina Trillo
And thank you, startup CPG.

31:37
Caitlin Bricker
Thank you. We'll see you later. CPG BFFs. We've 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.