Meet Your Makers: Melissa Yen

Some of you may know Melissa Yen was co-owner of Vella Cafe in a former life (she also worked at Provenance). We miss that place (especially the Vietnamese Coffees!) but one segment of Vella is still alive in Jo Snow Syrups. We're in love with these syrups and the cocktail culture, our stores, and certainly our home bar are better off for having them.

Tell us about your product/company/service.
I make artisanal small batch syrups for coffee, snow cones, Italian sodas & cocktails. I start with organic evaporated cane juice & then steep herbs & spices & finish with natural extracts. I also make a seasonal line with farmer’s fruit for the summer for my snow cone stand.

What do you hope to accomplish through providing quality products?
I am so excited about artisanal food products. It makes me happy to offer my product to people. It is the ultimate form of sharing. It is really a little part of me. I feel good about making a product that is normally made with high fructose corn syrup & artificial colors, and being able to provide that as a choice for people.

Do you personally know the farmers that produce your products?
I get my fruit for my seasonal flavors at the farmers market, so the farmer is right there with me at his stand, selling his fruit. It is great to talk to the farmers & see which plum might be the best for what I am doing, or which would be the best apple.

What is involved with working with the farmers to get a product to market?
It is pretty straight forward. I make my syrups in such small batches, that I just need to place an order before market to get my fruit, as I guess I use a tad more than an average customer at the market. Eight pounds of fruit goes into each batch of my seasonal flavors.

Is there anyone else on your “team”?
I am a one-woman show, although I could not do it without my husband, Laurent. He is literally the head dish washer, logistics management, junior-syrup slinger, catch all, do-whatever-I-ask-him-to-do-go-to-guy. My graphic designer, Jennifer Mayes also made this whole venture possible. I can’t believe how amazing she made my product look. I really think a strong brand identity & great packaging is a must! I also have a team of the BEST volunteers in the city who work the snow cone stand with me. They all have amazing attitudes even when it is a million degrees outside or pouring rain. I feel very lucky. Also, the small shop owners & cafes that have supported me from the beginning by buying Jo Snow & offering advice & being understanding & appreciating my product.

How often do you come out with new products? Are you working on anything new?
I do quite a few custom flavors in small batches & sometimes bottle them for sale for some of my specialty stores on a limited basis. This summer I played with seasonal flavors every couple weeks.

Yes, I am working on new flavors & sizes! Everyone has been asking for smaller sizes & “gift packs” so I am working on the labeling & packaging for those. I also am coming out with real live “soda pop” flavors! I am still working on the fun names for them, but Cola #6 is one of them. It is absolutely amazing syrup that gives you a sense of Coca Cola, but more nuanced, floral, spicy, and artisanal. So fun! There will be a root beer also & a Cream Soda, with a kick!

How did you get into this “line of business”?
Circuitously! I have always been in the food business. It is my passion. I used to co-own a café & was obsessed with this Mexican coffee drink called Café de Olla. I wanted to figure out how to get that great spicy aromatic flavor to my customers in the morning, so I created a syrup to put in lattes. My friend was opening an Italian deli & asked if I could make fruity syrups for Italian sodas, so I did. Once we sold the cafe, I figured out how to bottle the syrups & Jo Snow was born.

What did you do before this?
I co- owned Vella Café where I started making the syrups.

Are your products sold anywhere besides Chicago?
Yes, they have been creeping into different markets through odd connections here & there. Zingerman's in Ann Arbor uses the Café de Olla in their café. The Boston Shaker in Sommerville, Ma carries Jo Snow & they are creeping into restaurants out there. I just sent some to LA & to Columbus,Ohio.

What did you want to do as a kid, "when you grew up"?
I don’t think it making snow cones, but that would have been pretty cool if it was! I really don’t know. I used to want to be an archeologist because I was interested in other cultures. Funny, I still am today. That is where I get my inspiration from, other cultures.

What was the spark that led you to working with food?
I have always been in the restaurant business, in college out of necessity. The education you receive by working in a restaurant is immense. To be surrounded by all that amazing food & to be able to be introduced to new & exciting flavors constantly is great. I think I just became more & more enamored by food as I learned more & more.

Where do you find the inspiration for the products/flavors you select for your portfolio?
See above. I am influenced by other cultures & the flavors of other cultures. Whenever we travel to other countries, the first thing we do is check out their grocery stores & markets. I love the foods of other places.

How do you plan to grow your portfolio, horizontally or vertically, and why?
Right now the plans are to grow my product line horizontally with new flavors & new size, as I have so many ideas for new flavors. The possibilities are endless. As for growing the Jo Snow product line vertically, that also holds so much potential, but for now, I have my hands full with the syrup line & getting a handle on that, as I haven’t even hit my one year anniversary yet.

What do you see as the biggest benefit (s) you offer to your retailers and consumers?
As for consumers, I am offering a quality product that they don’t have to feel bad consuming. I have had so many people tell me that they are trying to cut out “pop” & have replaced it with soda water & Jo Snow Syrups. It makes me feel great that I am helping someone kick a bad habit.

For my retailers, I feel good about supplying them with a unique local product. There is nothing else like Jo Snow on the marketplace right now in Chicago, so I feel like I can really fill a niche for them.

For both consumers & retailers I feel great about providing a high quality, all natural, versatile, affordable product to them.

Other than financial, what risks did you take to get your product(s) to market?
The risk that I would drive my husband crazy! Actually it was a huge emotional risk. A lot goes into creating & producing a food product. When it is your passion, it is a part of yourself that you are offering up. You are exposing your innermost self to the public & you hope that they accept you & love the product as much as you do. It is also your life. You work 24/7 and give up almost all of your “personal” time. You have to love what you do.

Of all the millions of food products you could have specialized in, why these?
I have always wanted a food product. I never moved forward with it as I was never passionate about any one idea or product. When I started making the syrups at the café & then for my friend’s café, I saw that I was onto something. I saw that people loved them. So, I knew how to make the product, they were market tested, in a way, so that was half the battle! Now, the other half of the battle, that’s another story 

What is your favorite story/anecdote that occurred along the way in creating your product?
It was actually when we were naming Jo Snow Syrups. My husband & I & our friend were on a road trip to Kansas City to check out this super-cool snow cone stand there. We were driving back & my friend said to me, as only really good friends can, “You know, to be super honest with you, I don’t love the name of your syrup company” (I had another name that just wasn’t sitting right with me either.) So we started brain storming. Let me tell you driving through the stark landscape on the way from Kansas City to Chicago can make you kind of loopy! In that stir-craziness, trapped-in-a-car-for-seven-hours feeling, we came up with Jo Snow! It stated out a little sophisticated with “snow” & then just got goofy by adding “Jo”. Just the way I like it, not too serious!


Describe your a-ha moment that made you say, "I'm going to do this!"
When a certain un-named specialty store owner said “I didn’t know you made sirrops. Why don’t you bottle them & I could sell them.” Thus, Jo Snow was born! Thanks, Tracy! (Oops!)