Nicole Astra:
Welcome to Talking Plant Protein, I'm Nicole Astra, very excited to welcome our next guest in person, all the way from Singapore, Andre Menezes, is the co-founder and CEO of TiNDLE welcome to the studio is so nice to see you in person.

Andre Menezes:
Likewise, I mean, we had a chance of speaking before, so happy to be here with you Nicole, thank you for having me.

Nicole Astra:
So, first up, why are you in the States? I understand you just wrapped a very exciting event in New York city, tell me who you were working with and what you were serving up.

Andre Menezes:
The reason why I'm here in the US right now is because, as you know, US is the main market for plant based proteins around the world, and it's also the most influential, so US is an integral part of our strategy and as such myself being here and preparing for us to enter the US market is so important, that's why I'm here, but I'm not going to wait and see we're fully launched to have consumers and chefs experiencing TiNDLE, and getting that response, getting that excitement. So, to your point, I was in New York City Wine and Food Festival, where we served about 10,000 portions of TiNDLE, prepared by chef Rocco DiSpirito, and it was extremely well received, It was a blast for us to have that opportunity.

Nicole Astra:
I was going to ask, how are Americans responding to TiNDLE thus far?

Andre Menezes:
It was incredible, the consumers here are absolutely ready, Americans obviously love good food, but it's also the education about sustainability, the excitement about foods that have less impact on the environment and obviously tasting good, being more sustainable in New York, it's a foodie haven and that's perfect, and the reception has been outstanding.

Nicole Astra:
Yes, and when we found out that you were going to be based in Chicago for a little while, setting things up, we just had to ask if you could make it, so we appreciate your time. Last time we talked, you mentioned a couple of different countries you were hoping to launch and that has happened, It's been very successful. Rattle off the countries where TiNDLE is now in.

Andre Menezes:
So, we started the journey in March 2021 in Singapore, it was the first launch, and then we took a strategy in which we would choose regions, or cities or countries to launch, provided they were iconic urban centers that could represent different demographics and also have that best culinary experience, so Singapore in March 2021, less than three months after that, around three months, we actually launched in the cities of Hong Kong and Macau. And then it was another great success, we decided then to keep that expansion going on, which is quite unusual to expand internationally so quickly.

Nicole Astra:
So quickly.

Andre Menezes:
In September, we launched in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In October, we launched in Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. And we keep the expansion, we did a popup in New York, as you said, which is not a launch yet, but it's a sneak peek in which we had to obviously prepare ourselves for everything at the back as a lot of work going on to do that, and we're also expanding into other regions as well.

Nicole Astra:
When do you expect and where do you expect to be in the US?

Andre Menezes:
US for us being one of the main markets, we definitely want to hit the main culinary epicenters, like cities, like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, obviously Miami, LA, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle. I think we will definitely design a strategy in which we can be in all of those iconic places providing consumers the great experience that TiNDLE can provide. And our goal is to prepare the structure right now, to connect with the culinary scene, understand where those epicenters are and what is the best way to tackle each one of them and do a meaningful launch in the first half of next year.

Nicole Astra:
And do you think that the US then will be kind of a gateway to Canada and Mexico?

Andre Menezes:
I think that's a natural evolution, it's a bit too early for us to say exactly when and how Canada and Mexico, but certainly knowing all the corelations and the relationship between the countries and how information, people, trends flow in between countries and even the big companies are operating across the tree markets, it's natural that we will expand into both, for sure.

Nicole Astra:
It's incredible how fast the expansion has happened, so tell me, are there any other announcements maybe by way of products that you could share with us on Talking Plant Protein, do you think beyond TiNDLE you'll be getting into any other sectors?

Andre Menezes:
We will definitely do that, NextGen foods, the company behind TiNDLE, basically it's not only doing TiNDLE. TiNDLE is only our first one, so TiNDLE is plant-based chicken, right? That was designed within four chefs that delivers everything that chefs really look for in consumers as well, when I say everything they're looking for is basically the taste, the texture, the versatility, but also nutritionally being very similar to chicken, which is great profile nutritionally, obviously, no cholesterol...

Nicole Astra:
Very diverse.

Andre Menezes:
Yeah, and using non-GMO ingredients like nine ingredients only. Nutritionally profile is extremely good, so we start with TiNDLE, grow it globally, and we will definitely with NextGen foods enter other categories, which maybe vary, maybe seafood, but anything that today is being produce using animal farming is a target for us.

Nicole Astra:
Where else in the US are you tackling events before the official launch? Where can we get our hands on the product?

Andre Menezes:
Right now, as I said, we are connecting to the industry, so a lot of what we're doing here is really connecting deeply with the chefs and understanding how the American chefs would prepare American dishes and dishes that Americans love, that are not necessarily from American cuisine, using TiNDLE, and we decided to do that, connecting to the industry in some specific events that for example, seven to nine November, we will be present in the IFMA president's conference, Scottsdale, Arizona. And then Plant Based Expo in New York, early December and Restaurant Leadership Conference as well, early December in Arizona.

Nicole Astra:
And you said it right, because you want to hit all those different culinary regions here, and America has so many different styles and cultures of cuisine, so the recipes that you guys are coming up with I'm sure are quite different than what you've experienced in some of your other launches.

Andre Menezes:
Surprisingly, that's an interesting thing because we started in global food epicenters, right? So yes, all of them have their local flare, but in the end of the day, if you look at the chefs partners that we have in dishes, some of them are Americans, the dishes are American, and some of the dishes we're seen here in the US, for example, one of the dishes we served in one event at New York city Wine and Food Festival was a bao made with TiNDLe, a bao bun.

Andre Menezes:
And that was something that made a huge success. In Dubai, there was the restaurant that launched and there are the countries as well that we know that we will launch, that the chefs are actually developing bao, and it kind of shows that there is a global component, but obviously when it comes to the local taste, we do see and I'm so excited every time I travel, and I get pictures from the team around the world to see what the chefs are doing in each one of the cities, that's extremely exciting, I cannot wait to see every different region in the US, how they're going to play with TiNDLE.

Nicole Astra:
When you first started, I know that it was a global mindset from the very beginning, so, "Oh yeah, we're starting from scratch, but we have a global mindset." Do you think that this will ever be available direct to consumer?

Andre Menezes:
Yes.

Nicole Astra:
I mean, right now where you have restaurant partners all over the world and launching as fast as can be in different countries, but what do you think about direct to consumers?

Andre Menezes:
Basically for us, everything we do is about the mission and the impact of creating a more sustainable food system by disrupting animal farming, basically, right? So everywhere at animal farming based products are available in places and channels that we would definitely go after, and that includes direct to consumer. We are starting with great chefs and restaurants around the world because that's considered by consumers and by chefs, the highest level, it's the hardest nut to crack, and there is a negative association historically with plant-based foods and compromises, we want to kill that association, in our case, we want to prove that we can have equally exciting, if not even more, dishes and meals and experiences with plant-based foods, that's why we start at that level, but it doesn't mean we stop there, we go from there to definitely QSR chains and retail, it's just a matter of time and then progression, and directly to consumers for sure.

Nicole Astra:
Wow, I'm excited to hear it. Again, thank you so much for your time, we always welcome you on the show, particularly when it's in person, so thanks for joining Talking Plant Protein.

Andre Menezes:
Thank you so much, pleasure to be here.