Alums start BRAMI, a healthy bean company By Mark Tao
BOOMING BUSINESS Standing in Jalsa’s production plant, Amee Joshi proudly displays her signature product.
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hen Amee Joshi, owner of Jalsa and mother of sophomore Jayan Joshi and eighth grader Rajan Joshi, launched Jalsa in December 2013, she never thought she would be in business for more than a year. She started by selling salsa out of the trunk of her car. In six months, Jalsa hit the shelves in Whole Foods. And then it came to Central Market. Then Sprouts. In a little less than three years and more than 15,000 sold jars later, Amee’s product spread from her family kitchen to the entire DFW metroplex. It’s still spreading further towards places like Houston and even Florida. Even Jayan was completely surprised by the success and the spread of his mom’s own type of salsa. “My mom had been making Jalsa for a long time, and then she started talking about how she might make a company out of it,” Jayan said. “I just laughed about it because I didn’t think she would actually do that. She did, though, and it grew a lot bigger than any of us thought it would have grown into.” Amee’s salsa products first began as a party-favorite recipe passed down from her mother-in-law from New Jersey. “My husband’s mother used to make it at home with jalapeños, and she gave me the recipe years ago,” Amee said. “My husband loved it, my family enjoyed it, and I figured that if people liked it, let’s see what happens if we turn it into a business.” She spent a year learning about the basics of retail in the food industry and thought about whether or not Jalsa would be a viable product to sell. “I had no background in the food industry,” Amee said. “It was really just learning how to manufacture something and what the entire process would be.” Although Amee has faced
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spice is right AMEE JOSHI, MOTHER OF TWO MARKSMEN, HAS STARTED HER OWN INDIAN SALSA COMPANY. many difficulties along the way, she feels that she has received a lot of support from some of the school’s parents as well. John Rubi, father of third grader Peter Rubi and president of Bartush Foods in Lewisville, helped her navigate the process of starting a food business. “Bartush Foods and Mr. Rubi were instrumental to helping me understand the legalities of starting a food business,” Amee said. “They helped manage that whole process for me.” Additionally, Jennifer Brower, mother of Nick Brower ‘12, helped Amee design her own logo, label and website for Jalsa, while Vahan Ayvazian, father of eighth grader Van Ayvazian, helped her navigate stores and also advised her on how to grow things. Amee’s family has supported her along the way as well. Her sons and her husband help out whenever they can in various ways. “Outside of his job, my husband has been helping me make deliveries,” Amee said. “Every time we manufacture, he always comes with me and makes sure the flavor is right, because he knows better
than anyone else about what it should taste like. The boys always bring it up to campus and introduce it to people, and they also help me build boxes when I’m shipping and do all the mundane work that has to be done at home.” She has even employed some students to help her out by giving samples of her product in various stores. Looking back, Amee believes that Jalsa has been a very rewarding endeavor for both herself and her family. “I’ve met some great people and I’ve definitely expanded my skill set,” Amee said. “I learned a lot about starting a business and the food industry and how people shop.” She hopes that Jalsa will expand further to become something that can give back to the community. “A big piece of Jalsa, at least for me as the owner, is to give back,” Amee said, “and we definitely launched Jalsa with the idea of creating something that over time can develop growth and we can give back to the community.”
Jalsa Shredded Chicken What you’ll need boneless chicken breasts oz. Jalsa tablespoon sour cream Cooking it up
1. Mix the Jalsa and sour cream together 2. Slow-cook chicken and mix for four hours 3. Cool and shred the chicken by hand
STORY DYLAN LIU, ALBERT LUO PHOTOS JAYAN JOSHI
STOCKED UP Loaded with a strong, spicy flavor, Jalsa offers a unique fusion of both Tex-Mex and Indian elements.
Dillon Dandurand ‘10 and William Hicks ‘10 co-founded a healthy snack-based company called BRAMI, offering beans high in protein and fiber. “It’s on trend,” Dandurand said. “It’s vegan, it’s high protein, it’s low calorie, it’s all natural, it’s clean label, simple ingredients, non-GMO, gluten free – the list goes on and on.” Dandurand highlights the food’s positive, healthier effects in comparison to its more negative, unhealthy nutritional facts. “It’s got the most protein per calorie of any plant on earth,” Dandurand said. “So, you could make the argument that it provides the most protein and fiber for the least amount of bad stuff, and so that’s what interested me in why I joined the team early.” Hicks also became interested in the company as a result of his work and study in investment banking. “I was also on Wall Street working on investment banking,” Hicks said, “and I didn’t really feel I was getting enough out of the experience for how much I was putting in. I also realized I didn’t want to be a one-dimensional, financial analyst kind of guy.” Hicks got the opportunity to work for BRAMI after Danduran told him about an open position in the company. “I wanted to do something to learn how to run a business,” Hicks said, “and Dillon said they were looking for another founding member to take over the operations, and so I joined about a year after Dillon did, and I’ve gotten to do things that I never would’ve done on Wall Street.” The company’s growth since its founding 10 months ago has greatly pleased Dandurand. “I think we’re very happy with the success so far,” Dandurand said. “We’re about a year in and we’re already in five regions of Whole Foods which is very unique for a product of that age. We’ve raised $1.55 million which is impressive for a company at our stage.” According to Hicks, BRAMI hopes to expand the limits of what it offers by devising new healthy snacks for consumers to buy. “We’re definitely happy with where the company is at,” Hicks said, “but we’re also thinking about expanding into new products outside of the beans.” Through this experience, Dandurand believes he has learned the valuable life lesson of doing things you feel uncomfortable doing. “I think you definitely learn what you’re more comfortable with and what you’re better at,” Dandurand said, “but I think you learn how to do things that you don’t necessarily excel at our want to do.”
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| February 3, 2017 |life| THE REMARKER |
AMEE JOSHI JALSA