About this episode

Caitlin Bricker interviews Khalil Khamis about Crafty Ramen's journey from a small restaurant to a retail brand.

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Khalil Khamis, CEO of Crafty Ramen—a brand reimagining what frozen ramen can be by bringing restaurant-quality bowls to the freezer aisle. No water, no assembly. Just heat and eat in seven minutes. Crafty Ramen started as a 24-seat ramen shop in Canada, founded by husband-and-wife duo Jared and Mickey Farrell—a red seal chef and his partner who trained at the Yamato School of Ramen in Tokyo. Khalil joined the business eight years ago, leveraging his background in franchise restaurants, and officially came on as CEO in 2021 to take the brand into retail. Today, Crafty Ramen is in nearly 3,000 retail doors across Canada, partnered with every major Canadian retailer, on HelloFresh's marketplace as their first branded product, and gearing up for a nationwide U.S. launch later this summer. Caitlin shares how she tested the product as a toddler mom looking for something fast, fresh, and high quality—and how the frozen puck format (a layered block of broth, noodles, protein, and real toppings, blast-frozen from fresh ingredients) completely delivered. Khalil and Caitlin dig into the origin story that grew…

People in this episode

Host: Caitlin Bricker

Guest: Khalil Khamis

Topics covered

• frozen ramen
• entrepreneurship
• retail launch
• food innovation
• pandemic business

Keywords

• Crafty Ramen
• frozen food
• retail
• entrepreneurship
• meal kits

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Crafty Ramen, HelloFresh, Yamato School of Ramen

Places: Canada, U.S.

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