The Zitelman Sisters: Thriving Through Hardships: Self-Advocacy and Resiliency

Three sisters, Amy, Shelby, and Jackie are entrepreneurs originally from Israel. The sisters co-founded Soom Foods and have worked in the Tahini supplier industry for the U.S. market since 2011. This case explores societal expectations regarding women and motherhood, and how the sisters were able to support their goals despite facing many hardships and inequities. It further explores how they were able to overcome adversities in their business.

Learning Outcomes

• Know the significance of supporting business partners to maintain a work-life balance.

• Understand the implications of reinventing the label of a female entrepreneur in making sound business decisions and forming business partnerships.

• Learn about e-commerce and the challenges that come with it.

• Have a broader understanding of the challenges of meeting consumer demand.

Background

Amy, Jackie, and Shelby Zitelman noticed that there was a lack of general awareness of Tahini in the U.S.. Tahini is a Mediterranean paste that originated in the Middle East and is used in many household recipes. They were introduced to the product by Jackie’s husband, who had been involved in the Tahini market in Israel for 10 years. Shelby had a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration. She and her sisters shared a passion for Tahini and began to ponder why this product was not as successful in the U.S. market yet. They realized that the tahini found in the United States had a taste that was sub-par; it lacked the texture often found in tahini from the Middle East. To learn more about how to make higher quality tahini, they observed the different ingredients local restaurants in Israel used. This process of discovery ultimately led to them learning more and developing their own tahini. They made connections with wholesalers and retailers, and began Soom Foods as an organic sourced tahini product for the U.S. market.

Founding SOOM Foods

The Zitelman sisters established Soom Foods in 2011, after spending time learning the industry. After expanding their network through supplier diversity, the sisters began to form relationships with different business vendors so they could source their product and its ingredients more easily. Different vendors made this easier by providing a premium alternative to how ingredients were One reason to prioritize ingredients was because their target market primarily consisted of women, who “care about what they’re putting in their bodies and giving to their families” (Investing in Women Impact Stories: Soom Foods' Shelby Zitelman, 1). To meet their consumers’ expectations, they talked directly to the vendors and suppliers regarding the ingredients they used. SOOM Foods’ level of attention to detail regarding the ingredients different restaurants used caused them to reach their target market extremely effectively. Soom Foods sourced Tahini for Whole Foods grocery stores, and became a popular tahini retailer to Philadelphia restaurants, such as Zahav and Dizengoff. The women were able to find a manufacturer in Israel who used the premium quality sesame seeds that they preferred. They took the opportunity to ask friends, neighbors, and other people at the farmer’s market what would come to their mind when they heard the word “Tahini.” Most would only say that “it’s something you put in hummus” which highlights the lack of awareness of Tahini in the U.S. Overall, SOOM Foods’ tahini allowed for a more diverse network by expanding their client base throughout the U.S., increased awareness of the product, and promoted its innovation in the U.S.. However, their success did not come without challenges.

Maternity Leave and Motherhood

The first issue SOOM Foods encountered was when one of their founders became pregnant. When Jackie had her daughter and went on maternity leave, the other two sisters’ main concern was how they would keep their business running with only two of them. Having one less person running the business meant it was nearly impossible for Amy and Shelby to manage orders for their clients and distribute their product in a timely manner. This tension increased when both Jackie and Shelby had kids around the same time and were unable to work. These problems caused the sisters to ask questions, such as “What time do we take off? And, how do we continue to run the company when we’re so small and the two of us are now otherwise occupied?” To keep their business running successfully, the sisters had to find a way to change how they operated SOOM Foods. To fulfill their work-life balance, “We often bring our children into our warehouse,” said Amy, who lives in the Philadelphia area near her sister, Shelby. Jackie lives in Israel." (p.1)

Struggles with mothering and maternity leave made a mark on how the family ran their Tahini company, and forced them to adapt new methods to level the playing field in their favor.

The sisters then decided to take a maternity leave and put Amy in charge while they were on leave.

The sisters were known for being supportive and passionate about maternity leave policies within the workplace. This was due to the belief that a woman should not have to choose between having a family and a business. Despite these setbacks, the sisters were able to show resilience and overcome the adversities that came their way while running their business.

COVID-19

When the pandemic began, most of the revenue for Soom Foods came from restaurants, and restaurants had to be shut down due to the pandemic as well. The company had to reassess the methods they used to package and sell their products online due to warehouse restrictions placed during the “early pantry stocking days”, which refers to purchasing a bulk of supply to meet the rise in consumer demand. To negate ongoing issues with the pandemic, the Zitelmans' shared strategies for e-commerce. They did this by using a two-way approach to promoting their product, through sales on Amazon and on their website. Selling their products on Amazon was the most effective way to increase sales and drive consumer demand nationally. Moreover, it gave clients a feeling that this is a “trusted brand”. A disadvantage of selling on Amazon was that Soom Foods wasn't able to form a direct relationship with its clientele. These were the primary reasons why Soom Foods started selling on their own website. By selling full cases on their website, they felt they could increase customer loyalty. Having direct sales enabled the company to increase customer loyalty by improving the quality of customer service or their clientele.

Additionally, they developed strategies to fill orders effectively. For instance, staff time was limited in the warehouse as a result of social distancing and other main concerns with the pandemic overall. During the peak of the pandemic, the company placed limitations on consumers temporarily to only checking out one type of product at a time in order to fulfill orders effectively. Reducing the number of orders helped make the order fulfillment process more reliable overall. This strategy helped with making the most of e-commerce and deliveries during the crisis of the pandemic.

Despite facing setbacks with the pandemic, the Zitelman sisters helped push the company to become a branded Consumer Packaged Goods,“CPG” brand, with a broader variety of products. They broadened the product line when Once mounting pressures that came along with the pandemic began to slow down, then they were able to relaunch a new product line.

E-Commerce Orders

Although online selling served as a platform that catered towards a larger client base, the company was not able to sell the single jars of Tahini. “For a long time, we sold mostly single jars but we realized that selling one jar at a time was really hard on our margins. Shipping is extremely expensive. The time it takes to create the box and fill the box– because we do all our own packing within our warehouse” also created difficulties for selling (p.1). Soom Foods decided to start selling “twin packs” of their tahini (original, chocolate, and date syrup silan), which helped promote the business’s success by selling higher product volume and reducing shipping costs.

Looking Ahead, Family vs. Business

Struggles with mothering and maternity leave made a mark on how the family ran their Tahini company, and forced them to adapt new methods to level the playing field in their favor.The sisters then decided to take a maternity leave and put Amy in charge while they were on leave. The sisters were known for being supportive and passionate about maternity leave policies within the workplace. This was due to the belief that a woman should not have to choose between having a family and a business. Despite these setbacks, the sisters were able to show resilience and overcome the adversities that came their way while running their business.

Conclusion

Overall, the Zitelman sisters did not let the challenges that came their way stop them from pursuing their business. It taught them lessons: Never give up no matter how hard things get 2) Always know your customers and 3) Big Setbacks can lead to huge success. that are applicable to everyday life and made them more resilient. Soom Foods is now a popular Tahini brand in the U.S. and has their own cookbook as well for recipes that involve tahini.

Discussion Questions

1. What adversities do you identify the women facing in this case while growing and running their business?

2. If you were one of the sisters who co-owned Soom Foods, what decisions would you make to counter setbacks? Would you do anything differently than they did?

3. What was the most important takeaway you learned from learning about the Zitelman sisters and their passion for Tahini?

References

Investing in Women Impact Stories: Soom Foods' Shelby Zitelman, W'07. Wharton Social Impact

Initiative. (2016, July 6). Retrieved from https://socialimpact.wharton.upenn.edu/news/soomfoods/

Three sisters on a mission to make tahini an American Pantry Staple. www.theepochtimes.com.

(2021, April 28). Retrieved from https://www.theepochtimes.com/three-sisters-on-a-mission-to-make-tahini-an-american-pantry-staple_3766490.html

Foodnavigator-Usa.com. (n.d.). Soup-to-nuts podcast: Soom Foods shares strategies for

driving trial, managing demand during COVID-19. foodnavigator. Retrieved from https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/06/29/Soup-To-Nuts-Podcast-Soom-Foods-shares-strategies-for-driving-trial-managing-demand-during-COVID-19