UK Food & Drink Success Stories: Q&A with Shane O’Connor - the Founder of Seriously Sound Food on Getting Listed in Planet Organic

Over the years, Bread & Jam has actively supported the growth of thousands of food startups, from emerging brands getting their first specialty retailer to more established players scoring national supermarket listings. As part of our Success Story series, we’re highlighting fellow challenger brands who have seen some wins, and ask them a few questions.

Who is Shane O’Connor and what’s “Seriously Sound Food Co.”?

Shane O’Connor came out of COVID like most people… a little heavier than he had been. As a meat eater trying to lose weight and be healthier, Shane started incorporating plant-based meals into his diet.

“As a big BBQ enthusiast I started to experiment with smoking different types of vegetables and meat alternatives but nothing really satisfied me and felt more like a side dish than a main meal. I decided to take the process on myself to create a range of plant-based meats that meat eaters would like…. Seriously Sound Food Co. was born.

We’re a fun out-going and all-inclusive brand on a mission to makeover the meat aisle. We have created a range of 100% plant-based chicken that looks tastes and feels like real chicken thigh. It's so good that it is impossible to tell that it has been harvested, not hatched!

Our first two products to market are our Carolina BBQ flavour (coated in a mustard BBQ with a sweet tang and a little spicy kick right at the end) and our Naked Pieces flavour (covered in mild grill seasoning to be used in curries, stews, and anything you’d normally use chicken in).”

How did you get into Planet Organic? What’s the story?

We got to pitch to Planet Organic at Bread & Jam’s Plant Based Summit in October 2022 and are now on the shelves…. go check us out!

Before the event, Bread & Jam notified all ticket holders when the applications to pitch were open. We applied before the deadline and were notified a few days before that we had been selected to pitch to the Planet Organic Buyer. Seriously Sound Food Co. had a time-slot to meet with the buyer and pitch our product. (PSA Don’t miss any upcoming pitching opportunities - check-out Bread & Jam’s Full Event Listing).

We travelled over from Ireland the day before, and at the Bread & Jam Plant Based Summit, we headed to our scheduled pitching time slot. We gave the buyer samples samples for her to try and a bit about us, our brand and story, and what it took us to get to where we were. Thankfully, she loved the product, loved the brand, and liked our honest take on pitching the product. We started discussing a listing there and then. 

Any advice on pitching or why you think your application was successful compared to others? 

Make sure the buyers taste your product. I was fascinated by the number of companies that pitched to buyers on the day without having samples of their product to give the buyer. That is mind-blowing for me! Food is all about taste and smell. The musician Nile Rodgers has a great mantra for writing hit songs, “always start with the chorus”, and he’s so right! Your product is the chorus of your pitch so hit them with it from the outset. If the buyer smiles when they taste your product, that removes a lot of the stress from the situation. Now you know they like it, so you are just trying to get them to buy into you and your passion will do that for you.

We even negotiated with a local kitchen so we could bring in some steaming hot samples!

What was surprising about working with Planet Organic?

We were shocked and impressed how understanding Plant Organic is with new startups. We had a few small hiccups along the way to getting the first order on their shelves (the usual teething issues for all startups) and they were so understanding and happy to help to ensure we sent them the best product possible. We were worried that any issue, no matter how small, might jeopardise our order with them, but they couldn’t have been better to deal with. As an Irish company exporting to the UK for the first time, Seriously Sound Food Co,. couldn’t have asked for a better company to go on the journey with than Planet Organic.

How have Bread & Jam’s events and community been helpful?

Bread & Jam has created an amazing community of food producers who are all there to support each other. For many food producers pitching at a Bread & Jam event is their first time pitching their product to an industry buyer. The event setting removes a lot of the stress from the pitch by making it more of an event rather than a pitching session. The pitches are more relaxed and because you are one of a multiple of people pitching so there’s a lot of support for each other. We definitely benefited from the people gathering around outside waiting to pitch as it allowed us to loosen up and have a more relaxed attitude when going in to the room.

Don’t miss Bread & Jam’s next event, apply to pitch to retailers at the annual festival, and check-out the FREE networking socials or FREE online webinars called Monday Motivations.

Any advice to other food & drink entrepreneurs?

Talk to as many people in the industry as possible. I think for many food startups it is someone who loves food jumping into the retail food space for the first time. Because of this, there are so many things you need to learn. I have found that most people in the industry are happy to tell you about their journey to ensure you don’t make the same mistakes they did. We have avoided so many pitfalls by talking to other people who have guided us around the inevitable mistake that we were about to make.