****Updated**** I want to apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me. I was heated, and reacted poorly, and have learned from the variety of comments that everyone has left today. Thank you to everyone for your candor, and for showing me that there was clearly a better way to address all of this. Aishwarya Iyer, I am sorry for directly referencing you. As you can empathize with, I'm insanely passionate about protecting what our team has worked so hard to build. I am also sorry to our team at Graza. This was out of character for me, and there was no need to insert so much negativity into our day. I hope that we can return to our vision of getting insanely high quality olive oil to as many people as we can at the best price possible, all while having a blast doing it. I understand if anyone would like to reach out directly to continue the conversation or provide additional feedback. ------------------------------------------------------------------- #copycat culture is an incessant part of our entrepreneurial landscape. Brightland and Aishwarya Iyer, while friendly competition was always welcome, I do view this as a blatant disrespect and am choosing to voice my discontent. And don't worry, it's not just you. https://lnkd.in/d6BKcu8X gave it a good go, and just last week a "fine foods" brand from New Jersey called our supplier in Spain attempting to buy our exact bottle and the molds that we created, and paid for. #founders know that this day will come, we are told to hush, not be rash, and that this is ultimate flattery and validation that we are onto something special. The issue is, thousands of hours of work, years of unpaid efforts, and taking enormous risks are the inputs necessary to do this, so personally, I think it's ok to get miffed when folks rip you off. So proud of our team at Graza for continuing to push the limits and be true to ourselves, day in and day out. Allen Dushi Amanda Everest Wesley Gottesman Sara Brooks Nicole Greco Victoria Soto Melissa Ferrie David Sooch Kendall Dickieson John Gross Ashton Brown Laura Romano Katie Levy Mike McVicar Paloma Raines Kali Shulklapper Tyler Morgan Jaxon Stuart Sarah Chase Sarah Shanfield Sean Koffel Gander P.S - If you ever need any other resources, all the people above + many many others have all helped Graza infinitely.
Ben Kessler
1y
This post does good for no one. Why not lift up others in the industry if you're going to post anything instead of admonish them? Especially a direct attack on a founder that's a woman of color. I love Graza, have restocked multiple times, but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth that a founder would treat a competitor like this. I thought the Pizza Oil product was clever and clearly differentiated from anything you sell. Although it does feel like a stretch from Brightland's focus on no plastic and their existing branding... why not focus your energies on building the best product, distribution channels, marketing? Or at least approach this with a clever campaign welcoming them to the future with a squeeze bottle dispenser? You've just topped the Sundays Cookies founder's post about bad reviews as most in poor taste on LinkedIn this year.
While we're arguing about who owns plastic bottles for olive oil... There are real issues happening at the farm level: like how producers are battling Xylella and other tree diseases, plus droughts and heatwaves all brought to you by the climate crisis. Time to start investing in producers who are making olive oil with a regenerative mindset. The bigger picture is how we as consumers can support regenerative agriculture to sustain the product so that we can enjoy olive oil from all of our favorite brands for years to come.
Damn dude. This is not it. P.S., my mom was buying squeezy bottle olive oil in 2007 (and it wasn’t Graza) ✌️
putting cheap crap in a squeeze bottle and charging $32 for it isn’t going to help them. Customers are smarter than that. Can’t wait to see how they try to market this one.
Alison Cayne
1y
Andrew, with all due respect, you did not create the squeeze bottle. Chefs and home cooks have been using it for decades. Aishwarya Iyer makes gorgeous olive oil and has for years before you started your business. To call her out like this does nothing for our industry, the growth of small businesses, or your company.
Alex Ryden
1y
Unfortunately you just gave Brightland a free ad :/ I know it can be infuriating, but better to ignore this stuff and keep building in my opinion
It's the calling out a female founder of color who paved the way for your product on a public platform like this that truly puts a bad taste in my mouth.
David Neuman
1y
As a 20 year EVOO businessman, trained sensory expert and author of an EVOO book & having sold QUALITY EVOO well before the Graza or Brightland entrepreneurs were around, I can ASSURE YOU that QUALITY EVOO and PLASTIC do not belong in the same sentence. Glass and Stainless steel are the ONLY proven containers to store and sell QUALITY EVOO in, and bag-in-box for larger quantities. Plastic/PET is not inert. And it doesn't hold nitrogen as a protectant to oxidation. It also has known to test positive for micro plastic residues in the oil. So while I encourage innovation in a very mature industry like Olive Oil- selling expensive EVOO in plastic squeeze bottles and trying to convince consumers this is quality wont be a long term win. There are reasons why EVOO hasn't sold in squeeze bottles until now. Do some research. Ask hard questions. Don't just buy into the hype.
The biggest bummer is you both are using plastic.
Co-founder / CEO @ Graza.co
1yI want to apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me. I was heated, and reacted poorly, and have learned from the variety of comments that everyone has left today. Thank you to everyone for your candor, and for showing me that there was clearly a better way to address all of this. Aishwarya Iyer, I am sorry for directly referencing you. As you can empathize with, I'm insanely passionate about protecting what our team has worked so hard to build. I am also sorry to our team at Graza. This was out of character for me, and there was no need to insert so much negativity into our day. I hope that we can return to our vision of getting insanely high quality olive oil to as many people as we can at the best price possible, all while having a blast doing it. I understand if anyone would like to reach out directly to continue the conversation or provide additional feedback.