SAVORING SUCCESS
From Sales to Spices, this entrepreneur cooks up a winner.

By Geoff Williams

Entrepreneur:  Jeff Brinkoff, 33

Company: Red Monkey Foods in Mount Vernon, Missouri
A line of organic, gourmet, kosher spices, including seasonings and flavor blends

Projected 2007 Sales: $3 Million

’Tis the Seasoning: Variety may be the spice of life, but when Jeff Brinkhoff started his business, he aimed for a very specific niche, albeit one that offers consumers a wide array of choices—he began producing a line of organic spices. “My passion was cooking, but I had no food industry experience,” says Brinkhoff, explaining that if he had truly understood how difficult it is to get a product on the shelves, he might have been scared off the idea. “I guess in this case, ignorance was bliss.”

In his pre-entrepreneur days, Brinkhoff spent three years working in pharmaceutical sales and two years in business development for a disease management company. What got him thinking about starting a spice business? He says he “saw the need for seasonings that have no MSG and are low in sodium.”

About That Name: Doesn’t everyone equate red monkeys with natural organic spices? Brinkhoff wishes he had a better story for naming his business than saying he hired an ad agency to come up with names, but that’s how it happened. “I passed 10 names out to 40 people—liberals, conservatives, the whole gamut—and they all responded with their comments,” he explains. “A lot of them listed Red Monkey as one of the names they liked the best.”

Two weeks later, Brinkhoff called everyone back, and the one moniker everyone remembered was Red Monkey. That sold Brinkhoff, though he admits, “I lost a lot of sleep over the name [and] whether it would be taken seriously.”

Key Ingredients: When Brinkhoff first began his business in 2001, his office was in his father’s milk barn. “It’s always embarrassing to be talking on the phone and have roosters making noise 10 feet away from you,” says Brinkhoff.

Instead of encouraging him, many people told him he’d never be able to establish a brand in the industry and compete against heavyweights like McCormick. “If you truly believe in something, you’ve got to ignore the people who say, ‘You can’t do it,’” insists Brinkhoff, whose products are now sold in 1,000 stores and counting. “Who is anyone to say you can’t do something? I was always surprised at how much negativity is out there.” But of course, revenge is a dish best served spicy. 

Geoff Williams is a writer in Loveland, Ohio. Contact him at gwilliams1@cinci.rr.com.