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 brand
- The "fresh frozen puck" format and why it stands apart in the freezer aisle
- Why Crafty Ramen refuses to use plastic trays—and what that means for manufacturing partnerships
- The challenge of scaling a Michelin-trained chef's recipes to 10,000 units a day
- What kaizen looks like as a core value in CPG vs. restaurants
- How the restaurant acts as a testing ground for new retail SKUs
- Navigating tariffs and cross-border logistics as a Canadian brand entering the U.S.
- The Costco roadshow experience—and the realities of a 13-week rotation
- Khalil's advice to CPG founders: seek out people who've done it before
Crafty 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.com
- Instagram: 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/
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Show Links:
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
