Hidden Gems: Meet Rob Sweeney of River’s Bend and Spice Union

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Sweeney.

Hi Rob, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When I was about 10 years old, my family took a vacation to Vermont. We stayed in a quaint New England style inn. I loved it! I thought inn keeping would be an awesome career. I followed that dream by entering a hospitality management program at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in Rochester, NY. When I got there, I realized that the hotel industry didn’t offer much creativity; unless you wanted to spend a lot of money on remodeling. I did realize that the culinary side of the hospitality industry offered endless creativity. Having grown up with a mother who is an amazing cook, I had learned to appreciate good food. After all, she is Italian. Much of my college education was focused on culinary skills. Not so much of “how to make it;” rather “what happens when you make it.” The food science part of culinary creativity is what caught my attention.

After college graduation, I worked as a sous chef at two of the top-rated resorts in the world, Canyon Ranch Health Spas and Little Dix Bay Resort in the BVI. I honed my skills, learned to craft recipes and combine flavors that were pleasing to our taste buds. I taught cooking classes to guests, did cooking demonstrations at the International Hotel Show in NYC and on television shows and hobnobbed with many of the celebrity chefs you’ve watched on your television for years. I knew I needed to round out my management skills if I wanted to own a place of my own. I took on jobs as a restaurant manager, food & beverage director, and ran one of the first food trucks in the city of Boston which also included a mobile catering business. Like many others in the hospitality industry, I got burned out. Long hours, no benefits and low pay add up to little. I really wanted to have a family and be able to spend time with that family.

I returned to RIT for an executive master’s degree program. I completed my master’s degree in one year and accepted a job with a medical consulting firm. After two years, I was offered the opportunity to move to Minneapolis to work as a manufacturer’s rep (basically; sales guns for hire). I called on some of North America’s largest retailers, selling anything from school supplies and golf shoes to the latest tech gadgets. We helped a lot of small companies get their start at retail. It was exciting, fun and rewarding. After 15 years of working as a manufacturer’s rep, I read into the changes happening at retail and decided I was going to get out and create something of my own.

In 2018, I combined my culinary skills and my retail sales experience to create Spice Union. My mission is to make it easy for people to make tasty and healthy meals at home or wherever they would be cooking.

Owning my own business affords me the luxury of time with the ones that mean the most. My wife has a busy schedule, working as a primary care physician and we have a very active 12-year-old daughter. Every day is different. Work responsibilities, cooking meals, helping with homework, school events, hustling my aging mother-in-law to appointments, running my daughter to Tae Kwon Do or sailing camp, shoveling snow, cutting grass, grocery shopping, coordinating play dates and caring for two sweet pups; these are all part of my everyday life. I say, “I work to live, rather than live to work.” In my free time, I enjoy fishing, cooking for those I love, thinking about what to cook next and what spice blend to create next.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not always been a smooth road.

My initial distribution plan included doing business with some large US retailers. However, they changed their business/profitability models and Spice Union products were at price points too low for them to sell and ship, while still meeting their profit targets. After attempting in several creative ways to solve these challenges, the relationships with these retailers fizzled out. I learned that I did not want to be vulnerable to the swings of big retailers. I now focus my efforts on business with mom & pop resellers.

Global changes to the plastic industry and the COVID pandemic presented challenges to sourcing packaging materials. I was forced to change packaging and recreate all my labels for new packaging. I learned to roll with the punches. Not everything is in my control.

I’m a very small operation. I wear many hats. At times, I’m often pulled in multiple directions at once. I have learned to prioritize, delegate, outsource and multitask.

Due to the COVID pandemic, raw material (herbs, spices, packaging) have all seen considerable price increases. I make every effort to keep my prices as reasonable as possible. I’m practicing patience in hopes of the prices of raw materials coming down in price.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about River’s Bend and Spice Union?
River’s Bend is the parent company; we sell spice blends under the brand name Spice Union.

Spice Union products are all natural, hand crafted spice blends. Some products are formulated specifically for barbecuing, some formulated for general seasoning use. Spice Union products lets you create delicious meals using unprocessed foods and deliver great results to the table. Regardless of your cooking abilities.

Spice Union is different from other spice brands in several ways. We manufacture in small batches, which keeps product fresh. We grind our spices shortly before blending to ensure that aromas, oils and flavors stay in the spice blend and deliver tasty results. We have over 200 recipes on our website; most are created to be quick and efficient.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Love what you do. If you’re in it just for the money and there’s no love for the product or service you’re extending out to the public, it’s just work.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@spice-union.com
• Website: www.spice-union.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiceunion/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spiceunion
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Spice_Union

Image Credits
Rob Sweeney