Bonus Episode: Khalil Khamis of Crafty Ramen

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Khalil Khamis, CEO of Crafty Ramen—a brand reimagining what frozen ramen can be by bringing restaurant-quality bowls to the freezer aisle. No water, no assembly. Just heat and eat in seven minutes.Crafty Ramen started as a 24-seat ramen shop in Canada, founded by husband-and-wife duo Jared and Mickey Farrell—a red seal chef and his partner who trained at the Yamato School of Ramen in Tokyo. Khalil joined the business eight years ago, leveraging his background in franchise restaurants, and officially came on as CEO in 2021 to take the brand into retail. Today, Crafty Ramen is in nearly 3,000 retail doors across Canada, partnered with every major Canadian retailer, on HelloFresh's marketplace as their first branded product, and gearing up for a nationwide U.S. launch later this summer.Caitlin shares how she tested the product as a toddler mom looking for something fast, fresh, and high quality—and how the frozen puck format (a layered block of broth, noodles, protein, and real toppings, blast-frozen from fresh ingredients) completely delivered. Khalil and Caitlin dig into the origin story that grew out of pandemic-era meal kits, the decision to never use plastic trays, what kaizen means in a CPG context, and how Crafty Ramen approaches SKU development using the restaurant as a living innovation lab.Together, they cover:How a 24-seat ramen restaurant became a pandemic-born retail brandThe "fresh frozen puck" format and why it stands apart in the freezer aisleWhy Crafty Ramen refuses to use plastic trays—and what that means for manufacturing partnershipsThe challenge of scaling a Michelin-trained chef's recipes to 10,000 units a dayWhat kaizen looks like as a core value in CPG vs. restaurantsHow the restaurant acts as a testing ground for new retail SKUsNavigating tariffs and cross-border logistics as a Canadian brand entering the U.S.The Costco roadshow experience—and the realities of a 13-week rotationKhalil's advice to CPG founders: seek out people who've done it beforeCrafty Ramen just took second place in the pitch competition with Advantage Solutions at Expo West—and Khalil has a lot more in the pipeline.Episode Links:Crafty Ramen Website: https://www.craftyramen.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/crafty_ramen/Khalil Khamis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalilkhamis/Crafty Ramen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/craftyramen/Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.Show Links:Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)Follow @startupcpgVisit host Caitlin's Linkedin Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [email protected] music by Super Fantastics