Being a Tastemaker in Your Category

Gail Becker, founder and CEO of CAULIPOWER, discusses how her unique upbringing inspired her to build a revolutionary brand in the frozen food industry.

“In the early days of gluten-free, if you think about the products that launched the movement, it didn’t have to taste good and it certainly didn’t have to be better for you,” Becker said. “It only needed to tick the box of being gluten-free and I thought, ‘Well, why can’t we ask for more?’ Is that too much to ask for it to be better for you and actually taste good, too? And so, that is really what helped fuel the beginning.”

Becker worked tirelessly to create a delicious, gluten-free pizza, and when she finally did, she did everything she could to get it into people’s hands. There were no sales meetings she missed, no events she skipped, and no opportunities she turned down.

“Something inside me said you always got to show up,” Becker said. “Wherever you are in life, it’s always the things that you didn’t show up for that you regret. You never regret going.”

The strategy paid off and one of her first major wins was landing on the shelves of Whole Foods early on in the life of her business. But the big win didn’t come without challenges. All of a sudden, Becker had to figure out how to deliver on a massive order. She found her way, though, and in doing so has left a mark on the frozen food industry that others are trying to emulate.

“Competition is going to happen no matter what and the only thing that happens when you look behind you is you stumble,” Becker said. “So, we’ve got our eyes forward, we’re not looking at all the imitators, we’re not looking at all the competitors. We’re driving ahead and we’re putting everything that we have into ensuring that we have the best product on the market and we do. Sometimes people are promiscuous, we hear it all the time. ‘Oh, I tried another one and I came back to CAULIPOWER.’ Great. Try another one, come back. I’m like, “Yeah, you want to date around? Go ahead, date around. I know you’ll end up dating me and we’ll get married and live happily ever after.” And that’s usually what happens and I love it. But the onus is on us because we have to make sure that the product always delivers and that’s what we focus on. We don’t focus that much on the competition.”

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