Sarah Nathan’s multi-faceted professional experience comes down, largely, to two areas: the consumer packaged goods industry and the Jewish culinary world. Which is why launching her company NOOISH made all the sense in the world to her.
NOOISH, which launched last month, is a kosher, meat-free, and dairy-free dehydrated matzah ball soup cooked in the microwave; think Cup O’ Noodles – but Jewish. Nathan was also inspired by what she sees from newer ethnic food brands that are elevating, for example, Mexican and Indian foods in the consumer-packaged goods space.
“They’re all elevating their cultural foods,” said Nathan. “Many times, it’s a first or second-generation immigrant saying…why isn’t it being elevated? Why isn’t it better? Why isn’t it tasty or why doesn’t have higher-quality ingredients? Why is still so processed?”
Nathan, who used to live in St. Paul before recently moving to Chicago, has been working on this for a couple of years. Her experience as a product buyer for co-ops gave her insight into the challenges of frozen and refrigerated products, so she knew it had to be a shelf-stable product. But also something that a mass market audience could relate to, which is where matzah ball soup came into play.
“What is something that like most people, Jewish or not, are going to really relate to, that could be eaten year-round, and isn’t attached to a specific holiday?” she said.
Nathan has spent a lot of her life on either the East or West Coast, but said the experience of living in the midwest – and Minnesota specifically, has given her a different perspective on what could be with NOOISH.
“If I had started this and never lived in the Midwest, someone would have said ‘this is pretty niche’ and I might have agreed with them,” she said. “But having lived in Minnesota and now Chicago, the amount of non-Jews that are like ‘I love matzah ball soup,’ it’s amazing. Especially here in Minnesota when it’s winter seven months out of the year.”
Nathan wasn’t giving anything away in terms of recipe development, but did say that she got some assistance from a cousin who owns an online candy store and freeze-dries candy.
“I asked if he could freeze-dry a matzah ball and send it to me,” she said. “It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind but I could see there was a seed of something there.”
On a flight from Florida to California to attend the Expo West Conference, she looked on Facebook Marketplace and found someone selling a used freeze-dryer in San Diego. Her parents, who live in Orange County, picked her up at the airport and were informed they needed to head south to pick up the appliance she just bought. She spent the next two weeks doing research and development in their house on the matzah balls, which she brought to friends at the conference for feedback.
Coming back to Minnesota and not able to ship the freeze dryer home, she worked out a trade with a friend who owns a commercial kitchen in Columbia Heights: add a freeze-drying machine to the kitchen, and Nathan would help her market the business.
“It was a really great trade,” Nathan said. “I bartered my way through the entire [research and development] process.
When she moved to Chicago, she got connected with the American Egg Board and its Eggcelerator Lab, which helps people who are doing innovative projects with eggs.
“They will give you resources to help you commercialize the product, so they gave me resources with a great r&d commercialization firm who’s been helping get me to that next level, figuring out scalability, efficiencies and all of that,” she said.
She moved into a commercial kitchen in early July, and had it certified kosher by the CRC.
“I’m really excited to be able to have a product that from day one is going to be inclusive for all,” she said. “Hillels are really interested, and it’s the perfect product for Hillels and college students.”
As opposed to sending soup from a national deli aligned with an a shipper like Goldbelly for $150, Nathan sees NOOISH as being a more affordable option.
“Matzah Ball soup is such a love language,” she said. “I can send a six-pack for a third of the price including shipping. People can have it, they can save some in their pantry for later, they can share it with their whole family. That’s the niche spot that I’m trying to hit.”
