DAVE LEFKOW, founder, J&D’s Foods: You’d be amazed how many people are obsessed with bacon
The Eureka moment came on a business trip in 2007 when Dave Lefkow’s co-worker Justin Esch casually observed that bacon flavored salt might taste pretty good. The cash to make it happen came from Lefkow’s three-year old son, who propelled a baseball into his Dad’s face on camera and won a $5,000 prize from America’s Funniest Home Videos.
While funding your fledgling Bacon Salt business (Seattle-based J&D’s Foods) with cash stolen from a three-year old is not cool, admits Lefkow – who signs off his emails with ‘bacontrepreneur’ – he’s paid his son back since: “he did sometimes ask me in the early days, what happened to my $5,000?”
Says Lefkow: “You’d be amazed how many people are obsessed with bacon.”
While Bacon Salt remains the biggest seller, J&D Foods’ empire has now expanded well beyond the seasonings aisle, into croutons – which have been a big success – spreads (‘baconnaise’), microwaveable popcorn (a slightly tougher sell but still a hit), dips, rubs, truffle crisps, and some bizarre novelty items from lipbalm and shaving cream to, er, bacon lube.
Meanwhile, guerilla-style marketing tactics and viral campaigns (one particularly memorable one sternly warns consumers not to snort lines of Bacon Salt, however addictive it might be) have helped Lefkow and Esch get on Oprah, The Tonight Show, The David Letterman Show, CNN, and Jimmy Kimmel, says Lefkow.
“They bring us a ton of attention, people look us up, and then see that we sell all this other stuff as well, and we can start to engage with them.”
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Pictured: J&D's Foods co-founders Dave Lefkow (right) and Justin Esch