Taste of Nature

Taste of Nature is the family-built snack brand and business that preceded MadeGood in MadeGood: Salma and Nima Fotovat Lost Their First Business. They Grew Their Next One Into a Snack Giant.. The episode presents it as the first branded product chapter after the Fotovat family moved from nougat and co-packing into fruit-and-nut bars.

Key Points

• The family relaunched Taste of Nature in 2008 after learning from co-packing work for other brands.
• Advisors and a design agency helped sharpen positioning, packaging, and shelf presence.
• By 2012, the business had more than $10 million in revenue and around 100 employees.
• Tensions with the father’s partner over reinvestment, dividends, next-generation roles, values, and direction ended in a sudden buyout.
• Losing Taste of Nature supplied the negative governance lesson that pushed the family to avoid outside partners when creating Riverside Natural Foods.

Connections

• Nima Fotovat, Salma Fotovat, and Saba Fotovat - family operators connected to the business.
• MadeGood and Riverside Natural Foods - successor company and brand path.
• Startup Governance, Family Business Scaling, Founder Resilience, and Packaging As Product Experience - concepts connected to the source.