Yo Mama's Foods

TricorBraun Cooks Up Solutions to Sustain Yo Mama’s Foods' Glass Packaging Supply

On Mother's Day in 2017, David Habib launched Yo Mama’s Foods, which crafts healthy pasta sauces, salad dressings, and condiments—all made with natural ingredients and preservative free. The Yo Mama’s Foods name is an homage to Habib’s mother, who used to cook delicious homemade meals for her family without ingredients you couldn’t pronounce. 

According to Habib, Yo Mama's Foods' brand proposition centers on flavor you can taste based on "the passion and tenderness cultivated in our mamas’ kitchens.” Therefore, if it is not an ingredient your “mama” has in her kitchen, it's not an ingredient in a Yo Mama's Foods product.

“Spending quality family time together in the kitchen watching my mama cook—and at the dinner table—created a special bond of togetherness,” said Habib. “Bringing two things together, people and good food, is at the forefront of what this brand does.”

But Habib’s notion of bringing people and food together was jeopardized in 2020, and that’s when he called on TricorBraun to solve a critical packaging issue.

Yo Mama’s Foods is only available in glass packaging, conveying a premium, high-quality product. Shortly after the brand launched, a co-packer introduced Habib to TricorBraun Packaging Consultant Niki DeSilvio. While Habib had already been sourcing his stock glass packaging from Asia, (where manufacturers are better equipped for smaller-scale runs for brands just starting) he remained in touch with DeSilvio.

Yo Mama’s Foods’ brand buzz began to increase over the next two years, and then the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Amid safety concerns, consumers spent more time indoors cooking versus eating at restaurants. As a result, Yo Mama’s Foods’ business quickly skyrocketed. Therefore, the brand required a larger and more consistent supply of stock glass containers. 

However, the increased demand for glass during the pandemic was juxtaposed with industry-wide difficulties sourcing glass because of international transportation and capacity issues. As a result, glass prices increased, and companies sourcing glass had difficulty finding viable last-minute alternatives. In addition, most US domestic suppliers will only sell directly to customers that require glass container quantities well above Yo Mama's Foods' supply needs. 

Habib immediately reached out to DeSilvio and TricorBraun as he desperately needed to find a solution to ensure no disruption to his products being available on store shelves. And in just two weeks, DeSilvio and her team secured a more price-competitive supplier to source glass containers for Yo Mama’s Foods.

“Yo Mama’s Foods is a young company that needs to fully concentrate on marketing and awareness to prosper. David doesn’t have time to travel around the world trying to find glass packaging solutions,” said DeSilvio. “TricorBraun has the global relationships and resources to ensure Yo Mama’s Foods is always on store shelves by having a consistent glass supply at the best packaging prices available.”

Because of TricorBraun’s diligence to quickly find a glass sourcing solution, Yo Mama’s Foods signed a contract to purchase more than five million containers for its 25-ounce tomato sauce jar and 13-ounce salad dressing bottle. 

TricorBraun’s Special Ingredient: Advocating for its Customers

“TricorBraun’s core strengths are its ability to advocate for its customers and constantly propose solutions that optimize our brand growth,” said Habib. “The company has close-knit relationships with their arsenal of global glass manufacturers, which allowed us to quickly pivot, ensuring no product supply disruption for our retailer customers.”

TricorBraun also activated its team of packaging and sales consultants in the Northeast and Southeast—the primary sales regions for Yo Mama’s Foods—to be closer to the various co-packers that receive the glass containers from the Mediterranean region. This approach helps to expedite the supply chain process and save on freight costs. 

According to Habib, TricorBraun has also been instrumental in effectively forecasting based on its constant pulse on the state of the market, which helps Yo Mama’s Foods keep needed inventory in stock. 

“Yo Mama’s Foods continues to grow quickly, but if the brand does not fulfill an order to its retail customers, it may be pulled off the shelves,” said Tim McLaughlin, Regional Sales Manager, who spearheads TricorBraun’s glass program. “Therefore, TricorBraun’s supply chain experts work to connect all the dots to seamlessly and effectively manage the delivery of high-quality glass containers—and this is especially critical when supply is shipped from halfway around the world.”

Habib said that based on his experience with TricorBraun, he plans to collaborate in the future with the company on additional packaging solutions for Yo Mama’s Foods. 

He added, “Niki DeSilvio and her team are the core reason TricorBraun gained my trust because they never left me short on glass container supply - and I won’t work with anybody else.”

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