Life is filled with bumps in the road. Sometimes a business is born from dealing with these events in life. A true entrepreneur takes these bumps and makes a business from them. In the case of Aihui Ong, founder and CEO of Love With Food, turning a bad situation into a company with a purpose was the right move. We sat down with Aihui to learn more about her business, her mission, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Why did you start your business?
The food industry is very antiquated. It’s very hard for a brand new food company to get onto the shelves of grocery stores. So I decided to build a solution to democratize the industry and at the same time provide consumers healthier snacking option.
How did you combine your passions into a business?
Food and technology are my two biggest passions. Love With Food is the ideal solution to marry both my passions. I used to be a financial software engineer and it was really dry. After 8 years in that career, I wanted to do something fun that makes a difference.
Tell us about the mission of the company and how that drives the company day to day
LoveWithFood.com is the easiest way to SNACK SMART and DO GOOD. We help consumers discover junk-free snacks and help fight childhood hunger in America. We aim to provide a win-win solution to both consumers and food companies by providing a direct channel to an highly-engaged group of consumers to tap into.
We only feature the best and healthier alternatives. All the snacks we
handpick are:
– Natural, organic or gluten-free
– Contains no high fructose corn syrup
– Contains no trans fats and hydrogenated oils
– Contains no artificial flavoring and coloring
For every box sent, a meal is donated to feed hungry children in America. To date, we've donated more than 400,000 meals. Everything we do, it needs to benefit all our stakeholders – our customers, the food companies and help fight childhood hunger.
Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?
We want to be a household name. When you think of snacking healthy, you’ll automatically think of Love With Food.
What advice would you give to aspiring social entrepreneurs?
Be authentic and true to your mission. Childhood hunger is something I can’t will not and do not accept. I’ve raised more than $2MM in venture capital. Some investors whom I’ve pitched to in the past are not believers of our mission. That’s ok but I’ll not take their money with the condition to drop our mission.