Interview With Mama Pat’s Foods * Product Samples From Mama Pat’s Foods * Mama Pat’s Chicken Taco Flavor Instant Ramen Noodles * Mama Pat’s Seafood Gumbo Flavor Instant Ramen Noodles * Mama Pat’s Lamb Stew Flavor Instant Ramen Noodles * Mama Pat’s Chicken Fajita Flavor Instant Ramen Noodles
Every once in a while, I get a phone call from a company interested in having me review their noodles. I got one recently from a fellow named Chef Ron from Mama Pat’s Foods. He told me about a product line tailor-made for the correction industry and how it was going to take over. I thought this was very interesting and definitely worth a look! I conducted this interview with Chef Ronald Freeman II, CEO of Mama Pat’s Foods USA / President Mama Pat’s Foods International to learn a bit more about the company and it’s aims.
Interview With Mama Pat’s Foods – United States
tTHE RAMEN RATER> Thank you for taking part in Meet The Manufacturer! To start the interview, can you tell me about the history and founding of Mama Pat’s?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> In 2013 we opened a restaurant in Inglewood CA serving Louisiana Style cuisine. We was very successful but Chef Ron CEO had a larger vision and started eyeing retail
TRR> What was the first product you manufactured?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We manufactured a frozen Seafood Gumbo Bowl
TRR> Your headquarters are located in Benin. What is life like there?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We opened that office only for export we are actually based in Los Angeles CA and life here is wonderful
TRR> Can you tell us about the different varieties of noodles you make?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We have 12 varieties but the ones we launched first are:
Seafood Gumbo Ramen
Chicken Taco
Chicken Fajita
Lamb Stew
TRR> How many noodle products do you produce every year?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> I have licensed our Dist to sell a minimum of 40 containers per month. That’s 7 million packs per year to start!
TRR> Do you make varieties suitable for Vegetarians? Vegans?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> Yes we have those completed formulas and will offer them soon.
TRR> Why the name Mama Pat’s?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> It’s my grandmother’s name and she’s my inspiration in cooking. She always used the best ingredients and cooked from her heart.
Till this day even in my noodles I stay with these standards.
TRR> The varieties in your line are very different – what was the impetus for bringing these flavors to market?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> I say that EVERY noodle brand does the exact same thing. Focus on ONE flavor. At MP we focus on a entire recipe! We do flavor ” blends” that give you more for your money. I also added “recipe” vegetables in our packs so it’s more flavorful and is a culinary match to the recipe and the flavor we have on our packaging. This took 3 years to master.
TRR> What kinds of noodles are used in your products? What are the differences between them?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We wanted a more REAL so searched many manufactures and sampled hundreds of brands. I didn’t want the horrible low quality you find in Top Ramen (Nissan) that are gummy,starchy,and over cook. I found a Chinese company that make a Tsukemen Japanese style noodle that’s light,and flavorful .
TRR> You include juice with your noodles – can you talk a little about that?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> I wanted to give my customers a gift from us thanking them for there purchase, I teamed up with them Wylers light people and we wanted to offer a sugar free but a nutritional drink product that only takes 1 gram to produce a 16 oz drink that Is loaded with flavor.
TRR> How does your noodle making process differ from other instant noodle manufacturers?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We use more of the whole wheat grain in our noodles some 80% this produces a high quality noodle that has 50% less starch. It’s very close to Italian pasta like spaghetti, but has the appearance of ramen.
TRR> A lot of people are concerned with their sodium intake. How would you recommend people enjoy your product and do you take this into consideration during production/R&D?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We lower the sodium by 40% I cannot go into detail but I can say this, we are using less salt and replace it with real vegetable flavors that are custom blends and are patented by our company and can never be duplicated by the mega brands I compete with.
TRR> Are you involved in in your local community or participate in charities?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> My goal is to market this into the prisons and jails across the U.S. to inspire the youth and incarcerated that they can start and own a legal business just like I did.
TRR> Are there any new products coming soon?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> Yes! We want to do a Oat Based noodle and a Noodle Snack that’s high in fiber and is very close to granola with real fruit and nuts!
TRR> In what countries are your products popular? Do people enjoy them differently in different places?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> We are in Africa and it’s doing very well, we are headed next to India and Mexico.
TRR> When you make noodles for yourself, what do you like to add to them to make them extra special (garnish, etc)?
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> Oh for me gumbo noodles I do this
Or this:
We plan to open Ramen Grills all over the US to serve “custom Ramen Bar” there you can add whatever you want from our “bar” from seafood to fish to beef !! It’s your bowl do it your way!!
TRR> Thank you very much for this opportunity to learn about Mama Pat’s and your products!
MAMA PAT’S FOODS> Thank you!
Well, there we have it! Let’s check out the products! Again, thank you to Chef Ron for contacting me about his products!
