Foodpreneur Lisa Steny took a bold leap from a thriving corporate life to carve a niche for herself in the dairy industry.

That’s the simplified version of her story. The truth is, Lisa left a lucrative career in Finance and Banking, with zero experience in the food industry, to move to Bali and start producing luxury dairy products in a country that had no history of dairy production. And then Covid hit.

Despite the challenging launch timing, her commitment to top-tier quality and keen customer insights have driven 8 Degrees Cheese (soon to be Shy Cow), her premium cheese and Greek yogurt brand, to flourishing growth. Today, it’s a staple at supermarkets and gourmet stores, and luxury hotels across Bali and nearby islands.

In this week’s episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, Lisa takes me through her story; a journey which started as a bold vision to embrace a life aligned with everything that matters to her, and how it led her to travelling the highlands of Java looking for milk cows.

In this episode, we delve into:

🧀 How she backed up what seemed like a ‘crazy’ idea with data and comprehensive research into the market.
🧀 Some of her mistakes when first starting out; and why backing herself was her biggest one.
🧀 Why playing it safe in the beginning is now costing her.
🧀 Why your BIG vision needs to scare you and be the driving force behind all your decisions.
🧀 How looking at different channels and opportunities helped the brand get through Covid and thrive.
🧀 Her approach to getting in front of decision makers (without having any experience in the industry).
🧀 How a cold email got her products into one of Asia’s top 50 restaurants.
🧀 How a significant stockist found the brand on IG and ‘slid into their Instagram DM’s’.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Your Free Pitch Plan 
• Waitlist for Foodpreneurs Formula Coaching Program
• 8 Degrees Cheese
• Locavore Next

If you haven’t listened to Episode 76 (44 mins), ‘Turning your Distributor into your Partner’ listen here.

This episode is brought to you by my Pitch Plan. If you are preparing or need to prepare what to say to a buyer, download it today; and Foodpreneurs Formula, my coaching program for packaged food and drink brand owners ready to scale.