Andrew Cates is the Co-Founder and Director of Business Development for the Wine RayZyn Company, an innovative start-up that specially dries premium, sustainably harvested wine grapes. Andrew’s mission is to deliver healthy snack foods to consumers who are replacing traditional meals with robust snacking, while also supporting sustainability efforts through offering vineyards a way to maximize their grape yield.
While Andrew is passionate about this aspect of the wine business, he is thrilled to introduce the power-packed dried wine grape to the masses. After studying the health benefits of the wine grape’s skin and seed, Andrew worked with his cardiologist father who developed a patent-pending way to super concentrate the antioxidant-rich properties inside the dried grape without any alcohol. RayZyn’s proprietary drying method is natural, and it also enhances the flavor of the wine grape, toasts the grape seed, and concentrates all of the nutrients. The wine grapes are dried on the vine, which acts likes nature’s cork, locking in and preserving the flavor and antioxidants. Andrew’s dedication to the creation of this new, crunchy superfood snack has been a labor of love.
The Wine RayZyn Company announced that “Bennett” Jordan, reality TV star from season 16 of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” is their Lead Investor in an upcoming crowdfunding campaign through the WeFunder Platform. According to Andrew Cates, RayZyn Co-Founder, “The strategic investment from a celebrity like Jordan, who is not only a health advocate but is also a Harvard graduate with 20+ years of experience in finance, is an amazing endorsement for our company.”
FMM: Share your passion for grapes and what led you to The Wine RayZyn.
My family has been in the wine industry in Napa for ~20 years, so I was fortunate to have grown up with an appreciation for wine and the process that goes into making each bottle.
From a very early age, I was able to learn how to organically grow fruits and vegetables from my grandfather, who has been an organic farmer since the 1950s. This exposure and the surrounding teaching moments obtained from my grandfather created a life-long passion for growing and nurturing delicious food.
My father, Dr. Chris Cates is not only the founder and CEO of the Wine RayZyn Company, but is also an internationally renowned cardiologist who often “prescribed” red wine to his patients for decades because of the antioxidant properties associated with wine.
FMM: You are the first to market with an antioxidant rich NEW superfood. What does The Wine RayZyn offer?
You probably have heard that a glass of wine is good for you, right? Well, now there is a way to “Eat your Wine” without any alcohol. Sound interesting?
The Wine RayZyn Company, based in Napa, CA has invented a new category of antioxidant-rich dried fruit made from wine grapes. These new superfood fruits are called Wine RayZyns.
The Wine RayZyn Company hand harvests premium California Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Merlot wine grapes and turns them into CabernayZyn®, ChardonayZyn® and MerlayZyn®.
These delicious, crunchy seeded wine raisins® are full of heart healthy antioxidants and are the same antioxidants found in wine as well as grape seed oil, extract and flour.
Wine RayZyns do not contain any alcohol, which makes them a delicious and healthy treat and superfood ingredient for all ages, including children.
FMM: What is the power of the wine grape?
Unlike traditional table grapes (such as Thompson Seedless), wine grapes are much smaller in size, have thick skins and contain seeds. When making wine, you crush the grape and extract what are called tannins from the skins and seeds via dilution, then you throw the skins and seeds away.
The majority of the antioxidant properties (aka tannins) found in wine come from the wine grape’s skin and seeds. At RayZyn, instead of crushing the wine grapes to make wine, the grape clusters are put through a patent-pending drying process which super-concentrates the antioxidants inside the fruit while caramelizing and toasting the grape’s seed. The end result being a delicious, crunchy and antioxidant rich new superfruit called Wine RayZyns.
FMM: Plant-based foods are driving a seismic shift into consumer appetites. Tell us more.
Over the past couple of years, a heightened consumer interest in health-focused and sustainable products have primed the growth of plant-based food offerings.
This plant-based movement signals a significant shift in the way people are eating and understanding the relationship between their food choices, their own health, and the health of the planet at-large.
These individuals who are looking for plant-based foods have fueled the increase in demand for innovative products that fulfill their needs—better-for-you, convenient and foods that fuel a healthy lifestyle.
According to experts, the total plant-based market is growing 29% year over year, nearly twice the rate of the overall food and beverage market.
FMM: Take us through the process to your health enriched antioxidant snacks.
In order to create our premium antioxidant snacks, it all starts with sourcing the highest quality wine grapes. At RayZyn, we source our premium fruit from some of the best vineyards throughout the state of California, hand harvest the fruit at the peak of their flavor and then put the clusters of grapes through our proprietary drying process still on vine.
Prior to the launch of RayZyn, the company worked with food scientists to help create an innovative way to retain all the natural nutritional properties of the wine grape, while super concentrating the antioxidant benefits inside the fruit. Through this proprietary drying process, the company caramelizes and toasts the grape seed inside the fruit which concentrates the antioxidants and wine grapes flavors, resulting in a delicious edible seeded Wine RayZyn. This drying process is a unique food technology that prevents the fruit from oxidizing and also dramatically reduces the fruit’s water content, making RayZyns an ideal snack and “hero” ingredient for other manufacturers.
FMM: Your lead investor is “Bennett” Jordan, reality TV star of “The Bachelorette.” How important is this partnership to your brand?
RayZyn’s partnership with “Bennett”: “The strategic investment from a celebrity like Bennett, who is not only a health advocate but is also a Harvard graduate with 20+ years of experience in finance, is an amazing endorsement for our company.”
“Bennett’s past successes and focus on health and wellness has created a personal following and brand that aligns well with that of RayZyn’s mission.”
“We’re grateful to have strategic participation from an influential investor like Bennett who is committed to using his platform and capital to make a difference in companies like ours.”
FMM: What excites you the most about your company?
It’s not everyday that a company invents a new category of antioxidant-rich dried fruit.
RayZyn has positioned itself not solely as a consumer packaged good (CPG) company, but also as bulk ingredient solution provider to other CPG companies who are looking to innovate and create new and novel plant-based food options.
The beauty of RayZyn’s business model is the ability to leverage its Consumer Packaged Good (CPG) brand into large scale ingredient sales through a partnership model with larger food companies. RayZyn is tackling both avenues simultaneously because the strategies are integrated into a cohesive plan to build value in the business. RayZyn’s CPG brand not only generates sales, but also creates and demonstrates the value and consumer acceptance of this new ingredient category.
RayZyn sells partnerships, not commodity “bulk” ingredients because of its Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio, thus making RayZyn’s offerings unique and exclusive. Through partnering with other companies as an ingredient supplier, RayZyn maximizes both revenue and impact. In doing so, we protect our status as a premium “hero” ingredient, as opposed to a low margin commodity.
FMM: How are you disrupting how we eat?
Food is medicine. The old adage “you are what you eat” still holds true and more and more individuals are putting this focus higher up on their prioritiy list when choosing foods.
Specifically for Wine RayZyn, consumer’s shift towards mindful eating coincides with the mission behind our new superfruits. My cardiologist father (Founder and CEO of RayZyn) has been helping patients fight cardiovascular disease throughout his entire career. One of the main drivers behind the invention of Wine RayZyns was that my father felt that he could help more people through creating a heart-healthy, new snack that could have a farther reach and help more people than he could ever do when practicing cardiology.
FMM: What’s your vision for 2022?
RayZyn is focused on creating lasting change, further developing the market and becoming the global supplier for our new antioxidant rich super fruit.
Growing a profitable business that is globally recognized as the leader for producing antioxidant rich snacks and ingredients.
Execute on opportunities within foodservice as the US reopens in a post-pandemic environment.
Development of the world’s 1st antioxidant candy, called WayZyns.
Expand ingredient platform through procurement to other food manufacturers. Bulk ingredient sales of Wine RayZyns will allow other manufacturers to “make any food, a superfood with RayZyns”.
Continuing our mission of sustainability through efforts such as the “Rescue RayZyn® Project”.
Plant-Based Food Technology is an exciting space to be in as large, industry leading food companies are active in making acquisitions of smaller food companies that encompass new and novel food technology.
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IG = winerayzyn
FB = @TheWineRayZynCompany
