We Live In A Paradoxical World; On One Hand We Have Millions Of People Suffering From Malnutrition Owing To Food Scarcity And On The Other We See Tons Of Food Being Wasted Because Of Superfluous Reasons. Entrepreneur And Business Leader Betty Lu Also Identified This Hindrance And Came Up With A Fitting Solution In The Form Of Confetti Snacks. Founded In 2018, The Brand Is A Global Snack Company That Up-Cycles Imperfect Foods And Surpluses Into Gourmet Nutritious Snacks. Killing Two Birds With One Stone, Betty’s Entrepreneurial Venture Is Reshaping The Snacking Industry Which Was Earlier Dominated By Unhealthy Potato Chips. Confetti Snacks Is The Very First Vegetable Chip To Have Ever Been Featured On The Michelin Guide.

At The Heart Of Confetti Snacks’ Success Is Betty’s Skilled Approach To Leading The Business. She Amalgamates Effective Branding, Creativity, Innovation To Drive The Brand’s Growth. But The Catalyst In Betty’s Entrepreneurial Journey Has Been Her Travel Experiences. After A Successful Stint In The Professional World Betty Set Out On A Four Year Travel Around The World Where She Covered 43 Countries. This Experience Made Her Privy To The Challenges Faced By The World And Also Imbued Her With The Vision To Counter These Problems. Betty Vision Is To Create A Legacy That Inspire Youths In Entrepreneurship, Reduces Food Waste, And Alleviates Hunger Globally. In A Conversation With The Women Entrepreneur Team, Betty Takes Us Through Her Professional Journey And Highlights The Change Brought About By Confetti Snacks.

Take Us Through Your Early Educational Journey And Prior Industry Experience That You Both Bring To The Table.

My Professional Journey Began At Healthway Medical Group, A Company Listed On SGX As A Marketing Professional. I Then Spent Three Years Teaching Mathematics To Children After Which, I Went On An Expedition To 43 Countries To Travel The World For About Four Years. These Four Years Were Formative Years That Inspired And Challenged Me To Harness The Beauty And Diversity Of This Planet To Create A Social Enterprise That Aims To Resolve Major Environmental And Humanity Issues Faced By The World Today. I Noticed That More Than A Third Of Produce Is Thrown Away Each Year Because Of Its Limited Shelf Life. Most Edible Nutritious Fruit And Vegetables Are Discarded Due To Aesthetic Reasons Or Crop Surpluses, While More Than Nine Million People Die From Malnutrition And Hunger Each Year. That Inspired Me To Create Confetti Snacks.

As The CEO How Are You Driving Growth For The Brand? Take Us Through Confetti Snacks’ Market Journey So Far.

In The First Year Of Launch We Saturated Major Retailers In Singapore Via Cold Storage, Jasons Marketplace, NTUC, Island Wide Stores In Shell, 7-11, Caltex, SPC, Luxury Hotels Like Mandarin Oriental, St Regis, JW Marriott, Krisflyer, Singapore Airlines, Online Marketplaces Like Panda Mart And Redmart, Amazon. We Also Reached Office Pantries Of Google, Bloomberg, Enterprise Singapore, Schools, Universities, Airports And Travel Retail, Schools, Offices, Universities, And Even Made It To The Corporate Pantries Of The Singapore Government. To Grow Much Faster, We Decided To Launch In The Largest Snack Market In The World, USA. Within A Few Months, We Got On Shelves Of Retailers In Eight States - California, Washington, Michigan, New York, Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missippipi Where Consumers Love The Snacks.

"My Strong Driving Force Is To Have Confetti Make An Impact On People’s Lives Globally. We Are Getting Closer To Our Goal Of Impacting Millions With Every Step We Take Daily"

We Are Seeing Marvelous Traction In The USA And Have Been Picked Up By The Largest Distributors Of US Foods, Gordon Food Service, UNFI And Kehe. We Are Shelved In Premium Supermarket Chains Like Central Market In Texas, Rosemont Bakery In Chicago, And Specialty Food Stores In Trendy Cities. We Intend To Drive Growth In America By Investing In Sampling In Trendy Cities, Marketing In-Stores And Via Influencers, And Getting Premium Visibility And Placements In Key Retail Chains Of The United States.

Throw Some Light On The Most Critical Business Challenges You Face In Your Current Role.

Distribution Is A Key Challenge For Any Startup Food Brand. We Don't Have As Much Marketing Dollars As The Snack Conglomerates Of The World. To Overcome This, We Need To Have A Highly Differentiated Product, Strong Branding, Constant Innovation, And Playful Guerilla Methods Of Marketing To Reach Our Mass-Premium Audience More Efficiently. We Also Partner With The Largest Brokers And Distributors In Order To Get The Best Placements Of Specialty Stores And Key Grocery Retail Chains.

Take Us Through Some Of The Key Milestones Achieved By Confetti Snacks Since Its Inception. What Has Been The Driving Force Behind The Brand’s Success?

More Than 50 Percent Of Produce Used Is Made From An Imperfect Source Or Crop Surplus In The Fight To Reduce Food Waste, And Up-Cycled To Nutritious Snacks. Every 1 Kg Of Food Waste, Just Over 2.5 Kg Of CO2 Is Generated. With Every Batch Of Production, We Have Saved 327,082 Kg Of CO2 From Being Emitted. We Managed To Up-Cycle More Than 130,833 Kg Of Edible Produce Ending Up In The Landfill, And Donate 30 Percent Of Sale To Charities, Food Banks, And Homeless Shelters, Raise Funding And Awareness For UN’s World Food Programme And Red Cross To Provide Emergency Food Aid To War Torn And The Poorest Regions Of The World For People Who Have Scarce Access To Food Due To War, Natural Disasters Or Famine Due To Global Warming.

Drawing From Your Experience As A Business Leader, What Advice Would You Give To Young Women And Girls Who Also Aspire To Become Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs In The Future?

Women Are Brilliant And Have A Lot Of Exceptional Qualities Such As Attention To Detail, Strong EQ, Ability To Empathise And Communicate Well. Yet, Less Than Two Percent Of Venture Backed Founders Are Women; We Should Smash Glass Ceilings And Try To Outperform Men To Prove A Point.

Never Listen To Anyone But Yourself. And That's Where The True Value Of Each Person Comes Alive. Learn From The Best, Try To Hire Them, Test A Lot Cheaply And Fast Before Launching Anything, And Make  Money. Business Can Be Used As A Force For Good And We Can Make It Happen Regardless Of Where We Came From Or What Our Gender Is. Business Is The Most Meritocratic Thing In The World. The Market And Consumers Don't Care About Your Race, Gender Or Status. Market Speaks For Itself And They Respond To Great Products, Marketed Well And At The Right Place And Price Point. At The End Of The Day That's All That Matters.

Betty Lu, CEO, Confetti Snacks

Armed With A Major In Business (Marketing), And A Minor In Entrepreneurship, Betty Draws Inspiration From Her Vast Travel Experiences. She Founded A Global Snacking Company In 2018 That Focuses On Reducing Food Waste, And Alleviating Hunger Globally. With The Right Mix Of Branding, Creativity, Innovation And Market Insight Betty Is Taking Confetti Snacks To New Heights.