Filtering out the unappetizing jargon
I try to be conversational. I don’t have an editor. And I think that’s what has really made people feel very comfortable learning about something that is so filled with industry talk at times.
There’s no ulterior motive, except that I’m very passionate about helping people unpack and digest. [For example,] how does an average grocery store work? There’s not a lot of consumer education to tell you how rigged a lot of these grocery stores are. Everything you’re buying has already been planned before you even step into the grocery store; the way that they put all the necessary stuff in the back. It’s a retail place.
There are so many newsletters and information out there that’s basically a regurgitation of the same information. [For me,] it’s a whole process of curating. It’s like I am a filter; I digest it and I think about it. How does this exist in all these different cultural contexts? Is there any significance? Or is this just a hype piece?
Anti-PR PR club
There are no affiliate links. I don’t do advertising. It feels very much just like having a conversation with a friend because they found it interesting. Brands will reach out and ask, “How much for a shout-out? Or, “How do I get a feature?” And then I have to explain that’s not how it works. I suggest to them to hang here [on Snaxshot] for a bit. Get to know exactly what we do. I don’t really do pitches unless it’s something really cool. But rarely have I gotten something that made me say, “Whoa.”
I got invited to talk at The Wall Street Journal Food Forum. And I told them I wanted to keep my title when they asked me what my title was. And so, on the website, it was like CEO of General Mills, CEO of Impossible Foods, Jennifer Gartner from Once Upon a Farm, and then Andrea Hernández, founder and cult leader at Snaxshot. I love it because then that just starts to push the boundaries a little bit more. How serious should we be taking these things, honestly?
We hosted a séance to revive the snacks from the ’90s. It was just an idea that I came up with, with a good friend of mine who runs this hibiscus beverage brand called Ruby. He said, “We should do something weird.” I was like, “Yes, say less, I’m ready.” And I’m always ready to do some theatrics. We had 100 people and I had them all wear these masks. It was very Eyes Wide Shut. We had the whole Ouija board and we had an altar to go and light some incense to invoke Purple Heinz Ketchup. It was insane.
