In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Brett Stapper interviews Khalil Khamis, CEO of Crafty Ramen. When COVID-19 forced restaurant closures, Crafty Ramen pivoted from a small Canadian restaurant chain to a frozen meal kit phenomenon that caught fire online and now sits on 1,600+ retail shelves across Canada. Their journey from selling 100 local meal kits that sold out in minutes to becoming Walmart Canada’s go-to solution for restaurant-quality frozen ramen reveals critical lessons about product evolution, retail expansion, and marketing in the CPG space. Khalil shares how they transformed consumer demand during lockdown into a scalable retail business while maintaining product quality through multiple format changes.

Topics Discussed:

• Pivoting from restaurants to CPG during COVID-19

• Building viral demand with limited inventory and local pickup

• Transitioning from fresh meal kits to frozen products for retail scalability

• Strategic decision-making around direct-to-consumer vs. retail channels

• Trade show strategies for breaking into major retail chains

• Building distribution relationships and managing 1,600+ retail partnerships

• Team structure for lean marketing operations in CPG

• Personal branding vs. corporate brand pages in modern consumer marketing

Lessons For Consumer Marketers:

Leverage Scarcity to Create Urgency and Virality

Crafty Ramen’s early success came from artificial scarcity – only producing 100 meal kits daily that sold out within minutes online. This “concert ticket” experience created FOMO, drove organic social sharing, and built a waitlist of customers begging for expanded availability. The psychological impact of scarcity can transform routine purchases into events.

Use Direct-to-Consumer as Market Validation for Retail

Rather than viewing D2C and retail as competing channels, Crafty Ramen used their e-commerce data as a powerful sales tool for retail buyers. Rich customer data showing repeat purchase rates and product stickiness provided concrete proof points that convinced major retailers like Walmart Canada to take them national immediately.

Prioritize Product Trial Over Traditional Marketing Spend

In CPG, getting product in customers’ mouths trumps most marketing tactics. Crafty Ramen converts 30% of in-store demo samples to immediate purchases, demonstrating that experiential marketing often delivers higher ROI than digital advertising when you have a differentiated product that speaks for itself.

Build Relationships Through Trade Shows, Not Just Digital

Despite the digital-first world, Crafty Ramen’s retail success came through old-school trade show networking. Using bright yellow branding to stand out and focusing on getting buyers to taste the product led to unsolicited outreach from Walmart Canada, proving that face-to-face relationship building still drives major business deals.

Evolve Product Format Without Compromising Core Experience

Crafty Ramen successfully transitioned from fresh meal kits to frozen meal kits to frozen “pucks” while maintaining customer loyalty because the core taste experience remained unchanged. This shows how CPG brands can adapt packaging and format for different distribution channels without losing brand equity.

Embrace Personal Storytelling Over Corporate Brand Pages

Khalil advocates that “brand pages are dead” and consumers care more about the people behind the brand than corporate messaging. Their strategy focuses on telling the founders’ personal story rather than traditional brand marketing, reflecting a broader shift toward authentic, human-centered brand building.

Strategic Channel Decisions Based on Unit Economics

The forced shutdown of their D2C fulfillment taught them that channel focus matters more than channel diversification. When retail distribution made their product cheaper and faster for customers to access than their own website, they pivoted entirely rather than splitting resources across conflicting strategies.