#178 Better Butter - Iliana Maura, Iliana Maura

Meaningful Marketplace Podcast

In this episode, our hosts interview yet another Oregon State University, Food Innovation Center “graduate”, Iliana Maura, Founder of the company that bears her name, Iliana Maura. The company produces dairy-free products for those who wish to or need to avoid dairy. From the start of the show Iliana credits the FIC, for which Sarah Masoni is the Director, for helping refine her product to be ready for the consumer market. The journey to the FIC was a familiar story. Iliana Maura comes from a family of experienced cooks and bakers. Fresh out of college, Iliana was one of the first entrepreneurs to start a line of fruit juice-sweetened cookies. She donated part of her profits from each sale towards helping animals. Her four flavors of gourmet cookies caught on quickly, were sold throughout California and ultimately gained national distribution. Passion for a healthy lifestyle and her love of animals and natural sustainability have always been a big part of who Iliana is. It was only natural for her to explore producing dairy-free products and after experimenting with recipes, began selling in local farmers markets. Iliana Maura foods were an instant hit and Iliana not only had a line outside her booth, but sold out every single week she attended. These markets are the genesis of many successful food products and any food entrepreneur (foodpreneur) who isn’t selling their products in one is urged to check out their local market. In this episode, Iliana has many survival hints for all those entering into farmers market for the first time. It was in that farmers market community she was introduced to and joined the Pacific Northwest Food and Beverage Group, a real family according to Iliana. People in the group told Iliana about the FIC and all the resources available to foodpreneurs. After an introduction to Sarah Masoni, Iliana worked with one of the food scientists and began the process of taking the recipe from kitchen to consumer sales. Iliana Maura currently offers “Divinely Dairy-Free Butter”, an incredible alternative to regular butter, and sugar-free protein bars. Iliana sells both online and currently has one local market carrying her products on the shelf. However, she is always thinking of new products to expand the line and urges the visitors to her website to sign up for her newsletter and offer recipe ideas. In fact, Iliana is launching a new and improved butter product this May, 2024. She has extended the shelf life to five months, for which she again credits the scientist team at the Food Innovation Center. Besides tasting good and a long shelf life, products need great packaging not only to get the consumer’s attention, but to emote an image of satisfying taste, healthy and sustainable processing and the hands-on, caring touch of the founder. Iliana’s logo mark is a stylized self-portrait and says it all for her. It is very feminine, a standout from the more generic butter and bar packaging and is a reflection of her desire to bring wholesome and healthy foods to the world. Besides the one store location and the farmers market, you can order online at https://ilianamaura.com/. Follow Iliana o Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilianamauraofficial/ . Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilianamaura/. Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall.

Thank you for Listening to The Meaningful Marketplace Podcast with your hosts, Sarah Masoni of Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center and Sarah Marshall, owner of Marshall's Haute Sauce. Connect with us on Instagram @meaningfulmarketplacepodcast.

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Producer: Sarah Marshall of The Joy of Creation Production House
Audio engineer, mixer, and podcast editor: Haley Bowers
Show logo designed: Anton Kimball of Kimball Design
Production Coordinator: Kayleen Veatch