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Like many who’ve made the switch to a more plant-based lifestyle—Ross Mackay wanted to find a way to still enjoy chicken, without actually eating it.
In 2020, Ross launched Daring, with hopes to one day remove chicken from our food system.
In 2022 alone, the company helped save more than 500,000 chickens with their plant-based meat alternatives.
“I realized there was one thing missing with vegan meats, and that was health. The [meat alternative] products I was consuming were, at best, 50 ingredients, most of which you or I couldn’t even spell or say properly,” Ross says.
Daring is made with just six ingredients, and contains 90 calories per serving, zero net carbs, and a very high protein level.
Today, Daring can be found around the country on the shelves of major retailers such as Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Target.
In order to give potential customers a taste of its products, Daring partners with local Los Angeles restaurants like Monty’s Good Burger, Bluestone Lane, and SoHo House.
“When you sell a CPG product, it has to match or be better than the product you’re trying to take consumers away from,” Ross says. “You’ve seen it with beverage brands challenging Coca-Cola for example.”
Ross and the team at Daring aren’t telling people to stop eating chicken all together, but rather asking them to consider replacing their chicken meat with their plant-based alternative on occasion.
“The most important thing is we don’t tell people what not to do. Instead we create healthy, tasty options, and we stock our products in the right places,” Ross says.
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The company has secured some major celebrity endorsements and interest, counting rap artist Drake as an investor, and celebrity Kourtney Kardashian and musician Travis Barker as recent campaign partners.
“At the end of the day, an entrepreneur should realize when they want strategic help and when they just need dollars to run their businesses,” Ross says.
By staying true to his brand and overall vision for Daring, Ross has acquired like-minded mentors and investors to work with.
“I’m building a team and company for what I want [Daring] to be, not for what it is right now,” Ross says.
Tune in to the full Shopify Masters episode to hear all about Ross’s business journey—everything from recipe development to celebrity endorsement and so much more.
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