Muffins Will Hit the Production Lines

You may have noticed I’ve been quiet on the status of the muffins for the past couple of weeks. To be honest, the changes we made to the muffins weren’t working out. The taste wasn’t supposed to change, but it did. They were good, but the quality of the muffins wasn’t holding up. And the new oils didn't combine well. 

 

I realized I was comparing every iteration of muffins to the version I loved the most. 

 

So I started talking to people about the nutritional information to see if I was overthinking the formula. As you might recall, I was trying to decrease the saturated fat content of the muffins. About 95% of the saturated fat content in the muffins comes from coconut oil. The rest comes from eggs. Those are two ingredients that are generally viewed as healthy by consumers. Within 4 muffins, there is less than 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. That’s it. I started asking around. Many people I spoke with believed this was a reasonable amount of coconut oil to include in the muffins. 

 

So, I went back to the version I loved and got one more round of samples to confirm the taste and nutrition. Then I had others taste them as well. The feedback was overwhelmingly in favor of the muffins. People were asking if they could eat more. So now, we are moving into production!!!

 

I cannot believe we’re finally heading into the next phase of this journey! Product development was a much longer process than I imagined. 8 months of going back and forth on muffin samples. 28 different versions tested with the recipe developer.  And many, many more versions made in my home kitchen prior to that. 

 

I know product development will never really be over, so now I have some good learnings for the next go around. But it’s time to have a physical product in hand. 

 

This week, I'm ordering all the ingredients, packaging, and molds for the muffins. Once my co-manufacturer receives everything, we will conduct the trial production run! 

The anticipation I have for seeing the first bag of mini muffins in real life is like waiting to meet your newborn baby for the first time once he/she is born. I can’t wait to hold the bag in my arms, open it, and see those sweet blueberry muffins staring up at me from inside. It feels surreal right now. But in a matter of weeks, it’ll be a reality. 

 

Thank you for continuing to read these emails and for staying along for the ride. There will be many more exciting updates coming soon!