Jordyn Evans founded Mingle Seasoning three years ago after feeling the pull to become an entrepreneur. After investigating the contents of the spice mixes and seasoning packs in her cupboard Jordyn knew there had to be a healthier alternative, and Mingle Seasoning was created to ‘shake things up’ in the seasoning world.
After working as a marketing manager with Capi soft drinks, and helping them work to disrupt an existing soft-drink market dominated by global brands, Jordyn Evans took her experience and caused began thinking about the ingredients of other products.
“As a consumer, I became an avid label reader, realising that a lot of multinational companies were cutting corners. I started taking an interest in what was in my food.”
This perfect storm created a concept for homemade seasonings Jordyn could use in her own kitchen, followed by a light bulb moment of how offering it to the wider market could be a great entrepreneurial idea.
Shaking up the industry
After seeing trends in the tea and coffee trend, with challengers like Lipton and smaller boutique roasters, there was proof that the Australian market was open to challengers in ‘traditional’ markets.
“Mingle Seasoning is shaking things up in the spice industry, and launching with an online business allowed us to communicate directly with our consumer, and create a connection and educational experience through content and experience.”
When she started the business, Jordyn wanted to find channels to lead in, and identified Instagram and her website as spaces she could own to challenge the status quo.
“If it’s a good experience and a shareable experience, people will want to know more.”
Reaching a wider market
Jordyn’s success through her online story and referral marketing has been amplified with Mingle’s entry into the wider supermarket retail world, with Coles Local, Coles’s new concept store aiming to bring local brands into a new retail experience, stocking a selection of Mingle products.
With the foray into larger-platform retail, Mingle Seasoning has reached a wider market and Jordyn has learned new lessons as a founder.
“It gave me the platform and the confidence to now say “Okay, when am I ready to safely say I could deliver to 500 stores or 900 stores?”
Growing Mingle Seasoning with CoM X
Jordyn discovered the CoM X program run by City of Melbourne, Hub Australia, and RMIT Activator, and applied to explore what a retail experience could look like if it was self-managed. After the first few months in the program, she’s set goals to create her own physical space to share Mingle Seasoning from.
“By the end of the program, I hope to have a plan in place to secure a location – I see an opportunity to do something different in this industry.”
With assistance from CoM X mentor Damian from Mentor Hub, Jordyn has spent her time in the program focussing on Mingle Seasoning’s business plans, financial models, and creating clarity and confidence within those models.
“It’s like building a house. They’re the frames so the house doesn’t fall down. I’ve tried to skip that and move to the fun stuff, and CoM X is helpoing me go back to the basics and build the house properly.”
