Launching in a sector you've never been in before
Having simultaneously quit their jobs in tech in May 2019, friends Kevin Lee and Kevin Chanthasiriphan decided to take the plunge in a sector they knew nothing about – and take on instant ramen.
Insight
For Kevin and Kevin, the motivation for launching a food business came from their families. They’d seen older relations struggle with health conditions due to a history of eating the unhealthy instant ramen products that dominate supermarket shelves, and wanted to fill what they saw as a gap in the market. Eighteen months later, immi launched its first nutritious instant ramen product. We spoke to Kevin Lee to find out more.
Starting with the basics
The pair’s journey started in a pretty rudimentary fashion – them meeting up, watching YouTube videos and reading whatever research papers they could find online about making noodles, before getting down to business in the kitchen. ‘We started testing different ingredients – we had a huge spreadsheet where we were testing each formulation and switching variables,’ says Kevin.
Starting with the basics
The pair’s journey started in a pretty rudimentary fashion – them meeting up, watching YouTube videos and reading whatever research papers they could find online about making noodles, before getting down to business in the kitchen. ‘We started testing different ingredients – we had a huge spreadsheet where we were testing each formulation and switching variables,’ says Kevin.
‘One thing we learned in tech is always to try to validate demand first – you can’t assume that everything you believe is what the end user believes.’
For Kevin and Kevin, the motivation for launching a food business came from their families. They’d seen older relations struggle with health conditions due to a history of eating the unhealthy instant ramen products that dominate supermarket shelves, and wanted to fill what they saw as a gap in the market. Eighteen months later, immi launched its first nutritious instant ramen product. We spoke to Kevin Lee to find out more.
Starting with the basics
The pair’s journey started in a pretty rudimentary fashion – them meeting up, watching YouTube videos and reading whatever research papers they could find online about making noodles, before getting down to business in the kitchen. ‘We started testing different ingredients – we had a huge spreadsheet where we were testing each formulation and switching variables,’ says Kevin.