Real Good Foods (Nasdaq: RGF) is a high-growth, innovative, health- and wellness-focused frozen food company. In the U.S., RGF is one of the only operators within the low carb, high protein sub-space.
What is it like to develop such a company and seek to widen the consumer base? How key is social media to this process? To gain an insight into the business process, Digital Journal spoke with Real Good Food Company’s Executive Chairman Bryan Freeman.
Digital Journal: Can you provide a brief background on Real Good Foods?
Bryan Freeman: Founded in 2016, Real Good Foods is on a mission to make nutritious foods more accessible and improve human health. Real Good Foods is one of the only brands in frozen today to offer foods that are high in protein, lower in carbs and using real food ingredients—always grain free and gluten free. Available in over 15,000 stores nationwide, and directly from our website at realgoodfoods.com. Learn more about Real Good Foods on Instagram @realgoodfoods, where we have one of the largest social media followings of any brand within the frozen food industry today with over 425,000 followers.
DJ: How is Real Good Foods aiming to help consumers live a healthier lifestyle?
Freeman: Real Good Foods mission is to make foods more nutritious—by removing carbohydrates and sugars from our favorite foods. Today, 1 in 3 people in the US are diabetic and pre-diabetic – these consumers struggle with carbohydrates and sugar, and there are very few options available today in stores.
DJ: What are some of your new products?
Freeman: Our newest product, and most exciting from a consumer standpoint, is our lightly breaded chicken nuggets and strips. Traditional chicken nuggets and strips are loaded with processed flours, carbohydrates, and added sugar. Our chicken breast nuggets are breaded with chickpea flour and egg whites, providing the consumer an extremely nutritious, convenient, and most importantly, delicious option to enjoy with their family.
DJ: Can you discuss how you use social media for marketing?
Freeman: Everything we do starts with our community, which is based on social—they are the foundation of our brand. We have organized our marketing team into community managers, who have thousands of conversations with our community every single day, driving relationships and ultimately brand loyalty. Recently, we were ranked in the Top 10 of all food brands in the US in terms of Social Media performance (Rivals IQ). And from a food perspective, our social media presence funnels into our R&D and innovation strategy, helping us ensure new product launches will be successful.
And lastly, we leverage thousands of micro influencers to help us spread the word, so instead of us telling the consumer how great our food is, we let our micro influencer community do the work for us, which has reaped tremendous benefits and efficiencies in spend.
DJ: Where do you expect the frozen food industry to go in the next five years?
Freeman: We expect the frozen industry to continue to be the leader in growth in the grocery store as consumers trust in frozen continues to strengthen, and as importantly, convenience becomes a more important aspect of younger generations lifestyles.
DJ: How has digital transformation affected the food sector and Real Good Foods?
Freeman: Digital has transformed the food sector as it has evened the playing field for all brands to connect with the consumer and be successful on shelf—versus historically having to buy ad spots where big CPG had a resource advantage. Today, we can connect with our community far more efficiently than big CPG, allowing us to be nimble, grow faster and take share more aggressively.
