Under The Hood: Najwa from dalci

Sitting down with Najwa (middle) to learn more about how to successfully sell brownies online.

‍

Hey Najwa! So when did you launch dalci?

I soft launched dalci in July of 2020, and it was the same day I found out I was pregnant with my first child. It was a memorable day to say the least! I was both terrified and excited. I wasn’t sure if there was a huge demand for good, healthy brownies. But I decided to make the jump and then to sell exclusively D2C. I understand technology and how to develop products by iteration, so D2C was the best channel for that. 

That first year was all about experimentation. I didn’t set crazy lofty goals for myself. I was super focused on developing a product that people actually liked and wanted to buy. I tested tons of different recipes with focus groups and the winning flavors were: dark chocolate, almond butter, lemon coconut, and apple spice. 

‍

What’s changed since you first launched? 

So much. We raised our first angel round. we’re getting serious sales traction and seeing conversion numbers I didn't even think were possible with an unknown brand.  In terms of other milestones... I no longer bake the brownies in my kitchen! We now have a facility in New Jersey. Our team has grown to 6 full-time team members (all of whom are professional bakers) which I never could have imagined a year ago. 

How did you get so much traction so quickly?  

I think I was quite wise with how I spent my money. Prior to raising our angel round, I invested in branding, but I didn't go to a fancy agency, I did it lean. And then I only focused on one channel: Instagram. Luckily the iOS update wasn’t integrated yet, so I could do a lot with a small marketing budget. I just posted photos of dalci that looked delicious and captioned it with the ingredient list ( avocado oil, almond flour, coconut sugar,etc) and it got tons of engagement. A lot of the specialty retailers actually found us through our ads including Foxtrot. And now we're in all of their stores.

Have you been able to tap into existing search demand? 

We’re testing different keywords to reach consumers who search for ultra clean desserts. The majority of Google search results for brownies are recipes. That's because no one's ever tried to make a brownie for an “on-the-go” use case. On Amazon, people are searching for clean, better-for-you brownies. When people think of gut-health or gut-friendly, they’re not typing in a brownie. What really draws people to dalci is the ultra clean ingredients. 

What’s been your customer retention strategy? 

We’re working on building our community and keeping our customers happy. Our retention rate is about 42% right now. We’ll send special newsletters to recurring customers that are informative and educational.  But we also want these customers to be a part of the conversation and the product development - we ask them to be in focus groups to test out new flavors. We also ask for direct video feedback on our products and actively looking for ways to automate this feedback process while ensuring that dalci fans feel like they’re a part of the family. 

dalci has a unique stance on gut health. How does this affect potential brand partnerships? 

We’re in an interesting position because we define gut health a bit differently than mainstream gut health companies do. There are gut health brands that I’d love to work with, but when I look at their label, I find they’re using natural flavors. That’s a big no for us. Scientific studies have shown that natural flavors are harder to digest. We believe gut health is holistic. It’s based on what you do every day, how much sleep you get, the foods you eat, etc. We also won’t partner with brands that use gums, emulsifiers, preservatives, cane sugar - even if they claim they promote gut health.

So we have found success partnering with brands who are just going for clean label foods. These brands understand our mission and where we're coming from, so our goal is to heighten both those brand voices along with ours. 

Are there any clean brands that would be an ideal partner for dalci? 

There's a lot of younger brands that would be great. 

• Fabalish, a plant-based brand that makes amazing falafels and dips.  
• Jamie's Farm New York, decadent savory small-batched granola. 
• Days Off Bites, dark chocolate bites. 

‍

How do you ensure your kitchen and POS system are in sync? 

Initially we didn’t have a system that helped us project our inventory and estimate how many brownies we would need. That was a big hurdle the first year of our business. 

Early on we tried to solve this by fulfilling every order on demand. Baking on demand was okay in the beginning but as we got more orders and customers this wasn’t sustainable. I ended up creating a beautiful Google spreadsheet to keep track of packaging, packaging levels, shippers, and orders from each channel. Through this spreadsheet we were able to determine how many brownies we would need per month. dalci can last six months in the freezer and three months in the fridge. We’ve been able to keep a small lever of inventory in our freezer and fulfill orders from that. However, retail orders still need to be baked on demand. 

Any last words of advice for future D2C entrepreneurs / things you wish you had done differently?

From the start I spent money on building a brand identity, which I’m very glad I did. I found a good niche and channel to promote dalci, but I wish I allocated more dollars into advertising. I was operating on a super lean budget, but I found a channel that worked and I should’ve invested more money into it. When you have a channel that’s working and a product that appeals to people, invest in that channel. Don’t try to optimize another channel.  

Also - Every founder should also do a soft launch. This is a great way to test product market fit. Give yourself the time to get consumer feedback, and iterate on your idea. And while I was testing our product, I saw lots of data coming in that told me I was really onto something, but I doubted it. I wish I had had more confidence in that data and didn’t have imposter syndrome. I think imposter syndrome is common for female founders and first time founders in particular - but I’ve overcome that now. 

Thanks Najwa - Wishing you and dalci nothing but the best!