“18 in numerology means taking care of people and that’s what I wanted my soups to do. I want people to know when they pick up an 18 Chestnuts jar of soup that it’s of utmost quality.”

– Ilona Kossoff, Founder, 18 Chestnuts

If you briefly scroll through the 18 Chestnuts Instagram page, you’ll repeatedly see the familiar face of its founder Ilona Kossoff. However, prior to beginning her sprint through the Hatch Pressure Test program, Kossoff would tell you social media was a foreign language. “Up until that point I’d never posted anything. I had no social media presence,” shared Kossoff. “I’d never even made one comment on anybody’s page.”

Guided by her Hatch mentors Betty Shotton and Dr. Susan Clark Muntean, Kossoff had an eye-opening realization: her voice, a potential differentiator for the brand, simply wasn’t being used to its fullest potential.

Before launching 18 Chestnuts in 2021, Kossoff spent two decades building a commercial real estate business alongside her husband and business partner Steven Kossoff. Both commercial food production and the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry as a whole were new to Kossoff. She knew insight from a network of experienced CPG entrepreneurs would be critical to the future success of her early-stage company. That is exactly what the Hatch Pressure Test program would provide.

“Hatch stepped up,” declared Kossoff. The Pressure Test would ultimately help her navigate and experiment with 18 Chestnuts’ growth plans, paving the way for expanding beyond local farmer’s markets into its next phase – a national brand fueled by the voice of its founder.

Today, 18 Chestnuts can be found in over 80 grocery and specialty stores along with nationwide shipping through their online store. However, farmer’s markets are still core to their mission and deeply rooted in the company’s history.

Nurturing Passion for Health and Flavor: 18 Chestnuts’ Remarkable Path

The North Asheville Tailgate Market regularly draws crowds of WNC residents and visitors clamoring for its wealth of goodies. Where many go to find fruits and flowers, Ilona Kossoff found a sense of belonging.

It was in this market on a Saturday morning in late 2020 where Kossoff had an epiphany. “I stood [in the market] and looked at all the colors from the farmers who brought all these vegetables and fruits and flowers and breads, and this cacophony of sounds. I looked around and realized this is my art studio,” Kossoff reflected. She’d spent the previous months trying every outlet she could think of to channel her creativity into a source that ignited her passion.

Despite all the changes in her life, for which 2020 had brought many, Ilona discovered that her true self thrived in the kitchen. Among all the culinary options, soup stood out as the perfect outlet for her creativity and embodied her health-centered relationship with food.

In April 2021 Kossoff completed the Plant-Based Nutrition Program at Cornell University to deepen her knowledge. She diligently curated her diet, eventually committing to veganism. Soup became a staple, and cooking it for others – family, friends and neighbors – became a great source of pride.

“I invited my now Executive Chef, Susie Sharples, over with her family and they tried my soups and loved them,” said Kossoff. That evening and for many to follow she brainstormed how she alongside Susie and Steven might build what would become 18 Chestnuts.

While Kossoff had a wealth of experience in crafting soup in her home kitchen, she had no insight into what it took to produce commercial grade food. As a first step, she and her husband toured the Candler-based Blue Ridge Food Venture. The 11,000-square-foot shared-use kitchen and natural products manufacturing facility provides infrastructure and technical assistance for new businesses in the Western North Carolina region, supporting small businesses in creating safe, wholesome foods and natural products.

That knowledge and those resources were the catalyst towards the initial launch of 18 Chestnuts.

After more than 6 months of selling products through their online store and regional farmer’s markets, the network at Hatch Innovation Hub would become essential for 18 Chestnuts as it began to scale.

Mentorship That Works: The Power of Pressure Tests to Unlock Business Potential

Pressure Tests are a 90-day sprint designed to help founders take their businesses to the next level. Entrepreneurs are paired with experienced mentors who root out their companies’ potential weaknesses and fortify their competitive strengths.

“There is no one size fits all, as goals and metrics are a result of founders’ expression rather than superimposed assumptions and objectives dictated by a third party, such as a VC firm,” explains Dr. Susan Clark Muntean, a Hatch Board Member serving as one of Kossoff’s mentors. “18 Chestnuts is an exemplar for how the Pressure Test can work seamlessly with the vision, values, and desired impact of founders.”

Kossoff’s values and desired impact were clear from the start. “I [consumed] incredible research about how food can impact our lives, and I just wanted to parlay my favorite foods into that dialogue,” said Kossoff. “I want people to see that to be healthy you don’t have to do everything. You can just start with a little bit, but it’s going to improve your life substantially, because you can’t help but grow from there.”

Landing that message, however, required the confidence to take on a new approach: crafting a social media strategy centered around her as the public face and voice of the brand.

Armed with guidance from her Pressure Test mentors, Kossoff has developed 18 Chestnuts’ social media to share the message of how what we eat impacts how we live and tips for how everyone can love food that loves them back.

“People seem to be responding to it and that gives me hope,” revealed Kossoff. “Hope that they will try my soup and incorporate that into their lives.”

Kossoff has taken a people-centered approach to social media, even engaging the 18 Chestnuts community in crowdsourcing new product recipe ideas.

“We did a whole series on research and development of new soup flavors and every week we released a video of me making a new flavor of something, which I loved,” exclaimed Kossoff. “We ran a survey asking which of the eight R&D flavors was their favorite and people responded! A lot of them responded with black bean and kale soup. So, I’m currently actively pursuing black bean and kale flavor to release hopefully by November 1st.”

“Lasting mentorship starts with a solid relationship and building trust with your mentee,” said Betty Shotton, a Hatch Board Member serving as one of Kossoff’s mentors. “Running a business involves intense emotions because of the significant emotional, financial, and time commitments required in entrepreneurship.”

Kossoff’s investment in the Hatch Pressure Test has proven to have a multiplied impact on the company’s growth from marketing to supply chain to partnerships. As she’s considered opportunities like expanding 18 Chestnuts’ footprint to new farmer’s markets and entering retail, Kossoff has leaned on her mentors for perspective.

“Betty’s wealth of experience and Susan’s academic perspective makes them an incredible team, because they do not look at an issue the same way,” said Kossoff. “They allowed me a perspective from the outside that I wouldn’t have found anywhere else.”