Suzie Yorke Suzie Yorke Exhibiting a Staunch Leadership Acumen

Effective leaders have a vision and know how to communicate it effectively. A vision is what you want the team to achieve. It is usually explained in larger terms but is most effective when tied back to the greater good so that it serves to create a purpose for the betterments.

Leaders must know what the vision is for their organization and team and be able to bring that vision to life. At the forefront of this attribute is Suzie Yorke, a 25year veteran of the CPG industry who has worked at brand building companies such as Proctor & Gamble, PepsiCo, Kraft, Heinz and Weight Watchers. She also worked at two other hyper-growth brands prior to creating her own brand at age 50.

In an interview with CIOLook, Suzie shares her professional tenure and journey so far in the niche.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position in your company.

What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?

I've always been an athlete (I'm an eleven-time Ironman competitor and yoga practitioner), but I hit a wall in my health in my late forties. After reading Nina Teicholz's best seller, Big Fat Surprise, I started to eat a high-fat, low-carb diet, and started to feel better almost immediately.

However, I found it challenging to find convenient, goodfat snacks. Seeing an opportunity to help others through food, I created Love Good Fats, a company that produces low-sugar foods loaded with good fats. I lead Love Good Fats to exceed $100 million in Gross Revenues in a little over 3 years, with sales in the largest retailers across Canada and the US.

I have recently launched my second startup - FourX Better Chocolate. This amazing company is the world's first Ecuadoran fair-trade functional chocolate, your daily dose of vitamins, minerals and supplements in one delicious, chocolatey bite.

It's a marriage of the finest Ecuadoran chocolate with the highest quality adaptogens, vitamins, minerals, ashwagandha mushroom, MCT oil, coconut oil, and 0g of sugar. I co-created this company with AOG Fine Foods founder and chocolatier Alejandro Castillo.

Without a doubt, the biggest challenge for most startups is raising capital. Given my background and ties, I've been very successful in this area, but getting funding is hard, especially for women. In Canada, women entrepreneurs receive 4 per cent of VC funding!! We are underrepresented among equity investors, representing only 15.2 per cent of Canadian VC partners and 16.7 per cent of Canadian angel investors.

Tell us about your company and its mission and vision; how does your company thrive towards enabling advancements in the ever-evolving modern industry?

The mission of The Better is to create the best tasting and healthiest chocolate we can! We only use cacao beans that are harvested in the Bean-to-Bar Trade model and are Fair Trade Certified. These beans are grown in ultra-rich aromatic soil in the heart of Ecuador by an NGO co-operative of small farmers. As these unique gardens and farms are small, family-run little enterprises, the relationships we have created with them are meant for both the farmers and the company.

We feel strongly about doing the right thing as we bring our products to market by supporting the Ecuadorian community where our chocolate factory resides. We also want to ensure that the products we offer to the consumers are of the highest quality available, which is why we have a proprietary Bean-to-bar Trade model.

We use only the best beans available and roast them on-site at our factory. In addition, there are no chemicals, no alkali, no preservatives, no additives, no added flavours, and nothing artificial in any of our products.

With simple ingredients like Cacao Liquor and Butter, Whole Milk and Soluble Fibre. Infused with Vitamins, Minerals, Fibre and MCT oil which helps with the absorption of the fat-soluble nutrients. Thereby offering a product that is better for you but is also helping make the planet a better place.

Enlighten us on how you have been impacting the industry through your expertise in the market.

I feel I've really been able to do a good job calling out that "fat is back" with my first brand, Love Good Fats and "chocolate can be healthy" with my second brand FourX the Better Chocolates.

Consumers have been hearing the same messages about food for decades, and it's time they were enlightened, and I feel that I've been doing that and making an impact. Both my brands have been disruptive brands and have challenged the status quo in the marketplace.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

As a proud LGBTQ+ woman, it is important for me to foster an environment and team that is super inclusive and with as many members as possible from the LGBQT+ community.

As well as focusing on diversity, I want to ensure that the office is a safe space, so I make sure everyone knows I am a lesbian and that the company supports diversity on all levels.

In addition, I feel that as a Founder, I have a strong responsibility to help make the world a better place through my brand. We only use cacao beans that are harvested in the Bean-to-Bar Trade model and are Fair Trade Certified. These beans are grown in ultra-rich aromatic soil in the heart of Ecuador by an NGO cooperative of small farmers.

As these unique gardens and farms are small, familyrun little enterprises, the relationships we have created with them are meant for both the farmers and the company. I feel strongly about doing the right thing as we bring our products to market by supporting the Ecuadorian community where our chocolate factory resides.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you advancing towards technological innovations to make your solutions resourceful?

Our factory in Ecuador is state of the art. That means having not just the right equipment but the right technology in place to make the best tasting chocolate possible!

The cacao beans are hand-picked, then custom sorted according to their size, and then they undergo roasting, conching and tempering. The manufacturing process takes about 24 hours. The chocolatiers monitor the flavor development every hour to ensure best-in-class results.

What, according to you, could be the next significant change in your sector? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

I think we will definitely see a change in the quality of chocolate in the very near future. We are leading that change more so than being a part of that change. We are educating consumers and getting them to appreciate that you don't need to add chemicals, sugars, and artificial flavours to make chocolate taste good.

If produced properly, chocolate tastes great without any of that. The Better Chocolate has bean-to-bar processing, which accounts for its incredible taste.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for your company?

We've just�launched and�started�to�sell our Functional Chocolates in Canada, and I'd love to see a fast start in the stores!�I think once people taste our delicious bites, there is no stopping the brand.�We also just started selling our Chocolate Vitamin and Supplements in the US and expect amazing results there as well.�

In the next five years, I have no doubt that we will be a household name and that in most cupboards across Canada and the US you will find either our Functional Chocolates bites or our Chocolate Vitamins but likely both!

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the dynamic industry?

What I tell everyone is to just "go for it"! There are always going to be a million reasons why the timing isn't right to start your own business. It's a huge risk, but if you believe in yourself and your service or product and you are willing to work hard, there is a good chance you'll succeed.