5 questions for Phlippens Inc.
Phlippens Inc.
Owner: Kris Phippen
Email: krisphippen@gmail.com
Phone: 519-616-7514
Web: phlippens.com
Opening date: November 2017
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Q. What did you do before you launched Phlippens?
A. I was the national sales manager for a medical testing company, travelling three weeks a month for nine years.
Q. What was involved in developing a smoked sauce you were confident would sell?
A. The sauce market is flooded with millions of products using liquid smoke and artificial flavours. I wanted to be different so I developed a sauce that is hand smoked, handcrafted, using all natural ingredients and can be used for everything — meats, veggies, dips, breads, even cocktails.
Q. Your sauce is in more than 100 stores. What was the turning point in achieving retail success?
A. At first, I was selling to family and friends. After posting it online and distributing sample jars to retailers, I received an order for 400 jars. That was the turning point: I knew I had a product that was in demand and it hasn’t stopped.
Q. What is next for Phlippens?
A. I am currently working on a lineup of hand-smoked products and spices to grow the Phlippens brand. Knowing this all started out of my garage and now I’m here, it’s pretty surreal.
Q. When you aren’t working, do you spend much time in the kitchen cooking?
A. I have a true passion for food and spend most of my spare time over a smoker and have started to take my passion to local retailers making and selling food. This allows me to show and share with others why all of this started.
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