SKKY Partners Invests in Truff

Congrats to TRUFF for their partnership with Kim Kardashian's SKKY Partners.

SKKY has acquired a significant minority stake in TRUFF, makers of truffle infused hot sauces, tomato sauce, mayo, oils, and salt.

I'm a longtime fan of their products on pizza and have been watching their marketing strategy closely, especially TRUFF's fast food partnerships with Taco Bell and Popeye's, and Ben Baller, Hidden Valley Ranch, and Super Mario. These are super mainstream partnerships that any other brand would be lucky to secure ONE of, that were so popular they trade on Mercari, StockX, and eBay alongside sneakers.

Partnerships like these obviously get mass media attention in front of consumers that maybe haven't heard of your brand yet. They're also strategic sampling opportunities on foods consumers already love. Two ingredients for a successful food service partnership are 1) having your own audience to activate offline and 2) having national distribution to drive new fans to retailers for a full size bottle. It's much harder to convert people to DTC from a fast food order unless there is a discount incentive or a limited edition flavor or merch to create purchase urgency. TRUFF checks all those boxes.

Their products have always been premium in price (to communicate quality of ingredients - Italian truffles aren't a cheap commodity!) and to hint at the user experience, fitting well into a trend I call Condiments Are the New Skincare. The hot sauce cap reminds me of a perfume or skincare bottle, perfect as is without wrapping paper as a gift for yourself or a friend. No surprise Oprah put the brand on her favorite things list more than once.