We had the opportunity to interview Bernardo de la Vega, CEO and founder of Mealthy, the startup that is revolutionizing kitchen appliances.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and Mealthy?

A: I am a serial entrepreneur with a passion to build companies that solve real everyday problems for consumers and simply, make their lives better. Mealthy is a Food Media and Kitchen appliances company that makes home cooking easy. We do this by combining the best products, technology and content while creating a community of raving fans which you can see in our Mealthy Facebook Groups.
 

Q: When was Mealthy first launched and where did you get the inspiration to start it?
A: I started my first company which was Radha Beauty, an essential oil and skincare company in June of 2014. I sold that company in December of 2018. While wrapping up the Radha Beauty business, I set out to discover how to merge my two passions, food and technology, and I created and launched Mealthy around the middle of 2017. Seeing the huge trend building for pressure cookers, that was the first product that I launched. My goal was not to build just any pressure cooker, but my aim was to provide outstanding value for my customers.

The Mealthy MultiPot was launched in January 2018. A high-quality product, with the most sought-after features, in a contemporary design, with the necessary accessories, at an excellent price to provide outstanding value for my customers. But it doesn’t stop there, I ensured the product was integrated with technology by developing the right app, website, and digital platforms to continue the customer journey creating lifetime Mealthy users. Our app & website provides users with 2000 Mealthy-owned recipes, nutritional information, meal planning, grocery list, and 1-click ingredient delivery via Instacart and Amazon Fresh. Mealthy has recently launched the Mealthy CrispLid which turns any pressure cooker into an air fryer and has been a massive success.

Q: What do you think was the greatest achievement Mealthy has accomplished thus far?

A: We have a few achievements that I would consider our greatest:

1) Being the number 2 electric pressure cooker brand on Amazon on our first year of sales. Keep in mind that the electric pressure cooker was the number 1 product sold on Amazon the last 3 years in a row.

2) In our first year of sales which was in 2018, we made $6.3 million in sales, and we are looking to double that number in 2019.

3- Last week, we sold out of our CrispLid on Amazon Prime Day and are looking to significantly ramp up our sales with our current products and the launch of 5 other new products.

4- We are rapidly expanding internationally and are now selling in India, Mexico, UK, Europe, South Africa and South America. We will be selling in Canada next month as well. We expect our volumes to significantly increase in all these countries.
 

Q: What do you think really separates Mealthy's kitchen appliances from those of any other company?

A: The fundamentals of the business are very strong which means Mealthy is:

1) A multi-platform company – our website gets a lot of organic traffic, our app is a top 200 app in food and drink for iOS, very strong e-commerce sales, very strong social media with our enthusiastic fans that constantly interact with each other and the brand. You can check out our Facebook group here.
 

2) Multichannel distribution - we are currently selling online in the US , and are undergoing an international expansion which is going very well. We are also currently in conversations with a very large retailer in the US to start selling in big box stores very soon.
 

3) Multiple SKUs that complement each other – we are NOT just a pressure cooker company. We are a full Food Media and Kitchen Appliance company. We just launched our stainless steel fry pan, and we will be launching an Air Fryer, a Blender, a Non Stick Pan, a Glass Kettle, and there are a lot more products to come. The great thing is that our app and website already have recipes for all these products and therefore once a customer buys one product, we direct them to download the app for recipes and videos and to join our highly engaged Facebook group. People then see the wonderful value that they get in addition to just the product, and our customers are happy to purchase more products from us as it just makes sense due to our phenomenal customer experience. Our unmatched integration between our physical products and our digital platforms give us a definite advantage. Our customer experience is truly innovative as we believe the customer journey starts when people purchase one of our products. Once they get the product, our customers can download the Mealthy app, then select their favorite recipes, automatically create grocery lists, purchase with one click through Amazon Fresh and Instacart and, of course, join our Facebook group of fans.

Q: Where do you see Mealthy in the future? Mealthy has done well on republic.co having already met its minimum funding goal, but what are you hoping to do should and hopefully, when, you get more investors?

A: We have already raised more than $260,000 and are looking to double or triple that amount by the end of the campaign. We will use all the money raise to fund the inventory of the new products we are launching which will allow us to diversify our product offering.

Q: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about Mealthy?

A: There have been several large acquisitions in our industry that make Mealthy a very good candidate to be acquired as we continue to grow and continue to expand our user base, our sales channels, and our reach through the various platforms we already have. Corningware acquired Instant Pot this year, Whirlpool acquired Yummly, a big chinese manufacturing company acquired majority stake in Ninja, Electrolux acquired Annova for $250 million, and Breville just acquired Chefsteps.  All of these you can easily find with a quick Google search.