The importance of sugar-free and keto-friendly. We’re diving in today and getting up close and personal with the CEO of Simply Delish, Martin Pamensky. He explains where it all began and why he was on a mission to create delicious but healthy desserts that everybody can enjoy every day, everywhere, regardless of any dietary restrictions they might have.
Being keto-friendly was key. It’s also one of the reasons why his brand is now successfully stocked in over 1750 Kroger stores and Banners stores nationwide, as well as other popular favorites, including Bakers, Willows, Mariano’s, Pick n Save, Ralphs, Roundy, Smith’s and many, many more! View our recipes here.
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Martin Pamensky Explains Where It All Began
Committed to building a strong global community that includes its ambassadors, customers, partners, and employees, Martin Pamesky, CEO, explains how it all started for Simply Delish….and where he envisages it going.
In a series of interviews and podcasts, including Healthy Desserts hosted by Justin Honaman on Contendercast, Martin explains how we went from owning an Italian Gelato company in South Africa. Then moving to Canada for 10 years before settling in California. In the past 23 years, he’s been responsible for building brands and importing products worldwide.
His most notable success is representing the Ceres fruit juice brand for South Africa over the past 25 years, which has been exported to 50 countries globally.
What Makes A Delicious Keto-Friendly Dessert?
With 35 years in the natural food business, Martin knows a thing or two about more than just healthy and delicious desserts. He discusses in this podcast how and why he decided to launch the world’s first keto-friendly dessert brand.
Little did he know back then that his foray into the world of juices, strategically marketed as a “Kosher and Kosher for Passover product”, would pave the way for a much bigger vision to create a “no sugar, diabetic, keto, vegan-friendly” dessert range.
When Martin first touted this range, people accused him of being “out of his mind”. Martin took this skepticism squarely on the chin in true South African style.
Why? Because he had done extensive research.
He’d walked up and down global food stores’ aisles and identified a distinct gap in the USA and Canadian keto-friendly and sugar-free dessert businesses.
And what was that product gap?
We are talking about a sugar-free range of delicious desserts that would become the world’s first Keto-Certified & plant-based dessert brand.
No crystal ball was involved, but there was a lightbulb moment.
Martin knew that with his proposed “sugar-free, vegan, gluten-free, keto dessert product range”, he was onto a winner. Maybe not today… maybe not tomorrow, but definitely within the next five years.
Martin, respected for being a trailblazer and visionary in the food business, knew this range would be special.
As he explains to Justin, he recognized that the proof would be in the proverbial pudding and that “taste and sampling” would be key.
He also knew that to be successful, he had to diversify from being a pure-play product distributor and invest in launching his own innovative dessert range instead.
It was time to get real “skin in the game”.
What’s The Key To Retail Success For A Keto-Friendly Brand?
Early on, Martin recognized that the key to ongoing retail success would be to create a range that looked good but, more importantly …. tasted delicious.
Strong branding and packaging, a clear and unique marketing proposition, but above all else, to sell a customer “experience” that went beyond the product itself.
And so Simply Delish, the world’s first sugar-free and Keto-Certified dessert range, came into being.
As Martin tells Justin, “usually, I’m five years ahead”. The fact that, in just four years, Martin and the Simply Delish team achieved success should, therefore, hardly be surprising.
How Can You Scale A Keto-Friendly Business?
While success didn’t happen overnight, Martin and the team focused on a highly scalable and repeatable business model from the get-go.
Martin credits his social media team, who hand-picked the core group of 500 social media influencers, with creating a movement and momentum that’s helped catapult the brand to success, above and beyond the “sugar-free” niche where it all began.
This legion of consumers quickly turned into highly motivated and loyal unpaid influencers who were only more than happy to spread the word and share their recipes inspired by the range.
If you’re not yet following the Simply Delish Instagram account, it’s a fantastic place to pick up tips and tricks on how to incorporate the range of jels and keto-puddings into your own family’s favorite desserts.
What sets Simply Delish Apart In The Keto-Friendly Dessert World?
Simply Delish initially focused on three key drivers and product positioning statements: Sugar-Free, Keto-Friendly & Allergen-Free.
Martin knew these positioning statements would resonate with the supermarket buyers. He knew they had to be clearly visible on all the Simply Delish packaging to get listed in-store and picked up by consumers.
Fast track to today. Simply Delish has launched 7 jels and five desserts online and via health food stores & supermarkets nationwide, and it’s safe to say that the North American consumer can’t get enough of the versatility and taste of this delicious range of sugar-free desserts.
As Martin told Jill Griffin in an interview with Forbes, his main objective was always
“to develop healthy and delicious desserts that everyone, including diabetic, celiac and vegan, could enjoy”.
What’s next for Martin and Simply Delish?
When Jill asked Martin to take a look into his keto-crystal ball and predict what the future had in store for the natural food market, he said,
“ People will be going back to how food should be cooked and how food should be prepared, less processed foods.”
So far this year, Martin and the team have held true to that mantra by bringing a new high-protein powder product to market that features only natural ingredients, including pea protein isolate and fava bean protein.
Next is everyone’s guilty sweet treat, frosting, ready to get its keto-makeover and coming soon to a supermarket aisle near you! All we can say is….it sounds Delish.
