Plant Chat: Taya Geiger, CEO of Shark Tank-approved Scratch & Grain Baking Co

I’d like to welcome Taya Geiger, co-founder and CEO of Scratch & Grain Baking Co., to my Plant Chat today. Scratch & Grain Baking Co. was started by one of those “unfortunate” baking experiences, which led two moms on a mission to make homemade baking fun and easy by creating easy-to-use, individually packaged, organic ingredients bundled together into baking kits. Taya’s company, based in Portland, Oregon, really picked up steam when she was featured (and secured a deal with Barbara Corcoran) on Shark Tank. I sat down with Taya to get to know her (and her fabulous company) a little bit better.

What was the inspiration for Scratch & Grain products?

My neighbor baked with her two girls, but she was a terrible cook. However, she was really into craft projects with her girls. Her girls had convinced her to do some baking, so she looked for a recipe online, made a list, went to the grocery store, got home, made the recipe, and it tasted terrible. Lots of ingredients were left out, as it is hard to follow instructions with children and still focus on healthier eating. Most of us with children want to be careful with what we put in their bodies. She tried to use organic agave syrup and healthier alternatives to traditional conventional ingredients, but it turned out awful, made a massive mess in her kitchen, and tasted terrible. So that’s when she called me up and said that we need to make a kit that makes cooking fun, is not so messy, and is healthier. We started looking for suppliers, and decided that we definitely wanted organic ingredients, but they had to taste good, and we wanted to provide gluten-free options for people with celiac and allergies. I wanted a way to allow people to bake something that was fully customizable. For example, if you couldn’t have cane sugar, you could still use our products and swap out one particular ingredient because each ingredient is individually packaged in the kit. It allows people to customize a recipe. That’s how it got started, based on those concepts.

What makes these baking kits stand out from other products out there?

First of all, there is nothing else like this out there. There are no other baking kits that package ingredients separately; there’s not a single other one on the market. We’ve seen other baking kits pop up just recently, but what really differentiates us is that we manufacture each ingredient separately. Typical baking mixes are all in one bag, and maybe all the ingredients for the frosting is in a separate bag, and the sprinkles in another. We truly do individually package each ingredient. We label, number, and color code each of our bags, which we did with children in mind, so that you can look at the back of the box and see the colors, like blue and green, with icons that make it really easy to read and follow the directions for making these kits. This is a great educational tool for children. I have a 3 and 5 year old, and using this system of setting out the numbered ingredients, counting them, reading their names, and following the step by step experience is a great educational tool for them. We are definitely the only product out there that has all organic, full-blown baking kits. In addition, to sending these kits out to homes, we are also in grocery stores across the country. Some are gluten-free, only when I can make the product taste better than a regular one. For example, the brownies and cornbread mixes taste better gluten-free, but we won’t put out a product unless it tastes phenomenal.

These are great for allergies, because you can just leave out the package of the offending food. We have one nut in our product, walnuts in the truffle product, but you can buy that product and not use that bag. We have no cross contamination issues, such as for gluten-free or walnuts. We lab test it all. Even if you have a nut allergy, you can just pull out the walnut bag. We produce everything here in our building in Portland; we package everything here.

How did you move from “great idea” to the Shark Tank?

When we started this company, it was a wild ride. When we first started (with co-founder Leah), we thought that it would be an online-based business, and we wouldn’t get into grocery stores. It didn’t end up happening like that! The first day we got the product in our hands, we went to a local grocery store and asked if they carried local products, and they placed an order for our kits that day. We didn’t even know retail. On day 1, with our first products in hand, they picked up every product we made. Because of that, the local Safeway picked it up. Four months after we launched the product, we applied to Shark Tank. We had the first baking kit that there ever was, and we didn’t even know what we had. We were never told “no”, which gave us the confidence. We pitched it to Shark Tank, and applied, then filmed it 3 years ago. I was pregnant on Shark Tank, and had my baby the very next day. Sales were low then, it was just starting to be a proven concept, but they liked it enough in the application process. The first time they called back and said they were going to pass on us, but then a few months later they called back and wanted us to be filmed for the show. We filmed in June 2014, and it aired in January 2015.

What was it like being on the Shark Tank?

It was really cool, but scary. The process of getting on involves hundreds of pages of paperwork. They make you fill out so much information about your business and who you are. Through the process, we learned so much about our business, and that really makes you think. The process of Shark Tank was invaluable; we gained so much insight about our company and where we wanted to go. The actual process of filming was remarkable stressful. We practiced on camera a million times, because we wanted to be ready and engaging. We memorized our pitch, and the producers helped a lot. We learned that there’s a reason why we have to say, “My name is Leah and my name is Taya,” we needed to alternate the intro as a cue to start talking, which helped us remember our pitch. It is nerve wracking, sitting there with all the Shark Tank hosts while they adjust the lighting; you can’t talk, but they are developing an impression, and you are in silence until it goes live, then you are talking and going. It’s like Vegas: no clocks, you can’t have a phone, you have no idea how long you’re in there, but it’s been 2 hours, and it’s amazing once you get going.

The most valuable experience from Shark Tank is that it opened doors with retailers that might otherwise have been skeptical of a new product. So the fact that we were on Shark Tank, means they will take our phone calls and hear how we felt about the experience. It has opened up doors to retailers. Target saw us on there, which was the beginning of our relationship. From my standpoint, the awareness of my product has catapulted awareness of our product and driven sales. It’s amazingly valuable.

How have your products been received by the public?

They mostly love them, because they taste amazing. People would be lying to you if they said these kits aren’t their favorite chocolate chip cookies. You can whip up an entire batch in 10-15 minutes and have all the dishes cleaned, while being a mess free, super-convenient experience.

What is in the future for you?

We are launching an entire line of cupcake kits, such as salted caramel chocolate and seasonal varieties, such as one focusing on Christmas toppings. We are moving into a full-blown cupcake line.