Food Entrepreneurs: Michael Moran’s CurrySimple

By Guest Author Erika Valdez

CurrySimple was founded by Michael Moran, who at a very early age discovered his passion for food and whose entrepreneurial spirit led him to the establishment of a successful business opportunity. While working at a Thai restaurant in Atlanta, Moran became inspired to create a product not readily available to the consumer. He discovered that the American people found it difficult to cook Thai food at home, in part because they were not able to recreate the tastes of the sauces. It was from this that the idea for CurrySimple —an online company that sells curry and other products made in Thailand from scratch with fresh ingredients—was born. The packaging technology preserves the curry so that it tastes just like on the day it was made.

Moran worked obsessively before launching the company. He needed to save money, so he decided to handle almost every aspect of the business himself. He developed the company’s logo and e-commerce website along everything else needed to get started. “When the company first launched, I worked full time at a friend’s mortgage company, bartended six nights a week at the Thai restaurant, and somehow found time in between to launch and run CurrySimple. I did not have any cash flow when launching so I had to create my own with other jobs,” Moran said. The business was launched with no more than $30,000, and in the first year sales were under $100,000. Quickly sales picked up and CurrySimple landed its firs big retailer—Whole Foods.
Moran has always been extremely involved in the company’s PR and marketing. He is constantly finding ways to market CurrySimple and was even on the front of the Washington Post’s Food section, which helped establish the credibility of the product. He is marketing online to retail consumers, restaurants, and gourmet food stores looking for new products. He goes to local farmer markets, and just recently made a big push on Facebook in order to attract more of the online market.

Moran takes great pride in his marketing skills, and feels that he has done well in reaching a niche market in the industry. His business model is in constant development since he believes in the importance of business evolvement, offering a top quality product, and satisfying the customer. “Understanding the needs of the consumer has made the product a success. I knew from working in a Thai restaurant that consumers want to cook Thai food exactly like what they are served when dining out,” he said.

With over $1 million in revenue so far, Moran plans to pick up more distributors for CurrySimple in the next year and get the product in more retail stores. He’s already launched an online gourmet food store called Snazzy Gourmet with offers over 500 unique food items, and he is also working on a couple other business to open very soon. Moran also plans to open his first restaurant on Asian fusion-style cooking in the next two years.

Moran ended the interview by describing his experience as an entrepreneur as “ the most amazing experience! I have had the best and worst times in my life. It is amazing to create something that creates a following.”

This segment is a part in the series : Food Entrepreneurs