Meet Karuna Rawal of Nature’s Fynd, Our LinkedIn Webinar Panelist
The food products made by Nature’s Fynd take quite a bit of explaining.
Before he co-founded the company and became CEO, Thomas Jonas was engaged in a NASA-funded project about whether life could exist in extreme environments. This led him and his team to Yellowstone National Park and its highly acidic volcano springs, where they discovered a hardy fungus they named Fy.
Though laboratory research they determined that the microbe was a potential superfood — loaded with protein, all nine essential amino acids, and fiber from the filaments that Fy creates while growing and replicating.
Nonetheless, Karuna Rawal — a veteran food company marketer — was skeptical when she was first approached with the possibility of joining Nature’s Fynd as its Chief Marketing Officer.
She recalled, “I got this call about a company I'd never heard of doing something that to me sounded like complete science fiction… This just sounds crazy. They're making a protein out of a microbe out of Yellowstone and NASA. I'm like, ‘Yeah, I think I'm good.’ And I actually said no.”
But she was persuaded to give it a chance, and it is fortunate for Nature’s Fynd that she did. Rawal’s work educating consumers about the company and its products have helped make it a rising star on Chicago’s food innovation scene.
One of Rawal’s most important tools is LinkedIn, which is why Naturally Chicago is so pleased that she will be sharing her expertise on the panel of our November 16 webinar, Boosting Business on LinkedIn.
Rawal will be joined on the panel by Jordan Buckner, founder of Foodbevy; Jonathan Lawrence, Vice President of Center Store at Fresh Thyme Market; and Erika Rankin, Founder and CEO of BroDough. Jim Slama, Naturally Chicago’s Managing Director, will moderate; Rawal, Buckner and Lawrence all serve on Naturally Chicago’s Board of Directors.
Among Nature’s Fynd’s recent LinkedIn posts was one announcing that its Fy-based cream cheeses are now available in Sprouts Farmers Market stores; another thanking the White House for inviting the company to its Summit on Biotech and Biomanufacturing; and another announcing that Fast Company had named Nature’s Fynd to its Brands That Matter list.
The first four products that Nature’s Fynd is marketing are breakfast patties in original and maple flavors, and both original and chive-and-onion cream cheese. This is just the beginning, as the company has done extensive research-and-development and has numerous other products in the queue.
Karuna Rawal (right) chats with Naturally Chicago visitors at a tasting of Nature’s Fynd products after a discussion about the company and tour of its production facility. Photo by Bob Benenson.