Live in Conversation – Kurrajong Kitchen
We had the privilege of hosting Karen Lebsanft from Kurrajong Kitchen in a recent Live in Conversation event.
Karen’s valuable insights on leveraging storytelling, competing with major brands, and considering consumer needs left a lasting impression on our attendees.
The Kurrajong Kitchen story began in 1993 in a restaurant in Kurrajong, Hawkesbury, NSW. Karen had started baking her own Lavosh flatbread in-house to serve on cheese platters. Her customers loved it so much, they would take it home and impress their friends.
Karen says: “The original family recipe for the Armenian flatbread quickly gained popularity, and we were thrilled to see that the basket at our door, which we filled with Lavosh, was emptied every week. It wasn’t long before we realised that we had something special on our hands, and we began to bake larger quantities of Lavosh to sell to local cafes, restaurants and delis.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Now their Lavosh crackers are the number 1 cracker of choice in Australia. Karen shared great depth and key learnings with our Seedlabbers, some key takeouts for us were:
- “Lavosh isn’t the hero on the plate, they are simply the support act for the Big cheese!” Clearly understanding and articulating their value proposition!
- By sharing their story in interesting ways with their customers, they managed to win a David and Goliath battle against major brand competition.
And when it comes to looking at new products, ways of doing things, or packaging, Karen and her team consider:
- Does it suit our consumer?
- Does it suit our retail buyer?
- Does it suit our manufacturing system?
- And: where is the gap?
The biggest message Karen wanted to leave with our participants? “Back yourself”!
Thanks Karen, for a great session!