Small Business: How a shared kitchen led to success for Libby’s Pork Crack

Jesse Watson, owner of Libby’s Pork Crack, took over the business from its founder, Libby Grace. The business makes all-natural snack food using fresh, freedom-farmed pork.

Jesse Watson, owner of Libby’s Pork Crack, talks to Tom Raynel about taking over the business and how he helped it grow. Each Monday, we interview a small business owner, which is now a regular feature of NZME’s editorial campaign On The Up, showcasing uplifting stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.

What is Libby’s Pork Crack?

Libby’s Pork Crack is an all-natural snack food originally made by the founder (Libby Grace) as a crunchy, tasty snack to complement her paleo and whole-foods lifestyle. It caught on and soon not only those embracing the fitness and health lifestyle were hooked, but foodies of all types.

We only use fresh freedom-farmed pork, and it has no preservatives; it’s just oven-baked and seasoned with organic spices and Himalayan salt. We also make amazing pork lard, which we supply to Foodstuffs.

How did you come to own the business?

Back in 2012, I thought up a shared-kitchen facility that food start-ups and other small businesses could hire by the hour. Helping them to get their products to market, without the huge cost of setting up their own kitchen, giving them a better chance at getting their businesses off the ground.

The site idea went really well and had great demand. I reinvested every booking back into the site and built the Kitchenspace business up from very little initial capital and while also running TopShelf Foods, my first business that I sold at the end of 2023.

One of those customers about seven or eight years ago was Libby, who came along to make pork crackling for her CrossFit team. They had wanted her to make more so they could buy it. After using my kitchens and building up her business, she wanted out of the company and sold it to me. So I now run the company as a customer of Kitchenspace.

Libby's Pork Crack is made with oven-baked, fresh, free-farmed or free-range pork, seasoned with organic spices and Himalayan salt.

The snack market is diverse. What makes your products stand out?

We actually request the skin to have fat on it. You get the crispiness of the skin, and then you get the cushiness of the fat layer underneath. That’s where we still get some of the lard from, but the protein membrane that stays there provides quite a nice little, textural experience in the mouth. We also bake it instead of deep frying, which is much healthier, and I’ve recently made some adjustments to the cooking process, which has improved the product.

We have also kept in line with Libby’s edgy “LA gangsta rap” branding tone, but pulled it in towards a more mainstream hip-hop flavour. The original mascot, “Piggy Smalls” aka “Notorious P.I.G”, still adorns the playful, cheeky packaging that our customers love.

You help support other businesses to start through Kitchenspace. How many are you helping at the moment?

Currently, there are four or five regulars and then a bunch of casuals that come in and produce as and when they need more product. I’ve got more people in the pipeline, but typically over the past 15 years they’ve managed to get off the ground a little bit quicker.

We have seen more inquiries lately, which is a good sign that people are thinking to try that idea that’s been brooding in the back of their mind.

There is the aspect, too, that sadly a lot of businesses are liquidating and closing down. It is a hard time to start a business, but it’s also almost like, if you’re a new business starting off with the right product at this time, you could do really well because you’re starting in the worst of it.

How has the business fared post-pandemic?

It’s been really tough. Last year, against the odds, I grew revenue by $70,000, mainly by developing a new production process to render down larger volumes of free-farmed pork fat and making the lard available to Foodstuffs.

Sales this year have been slower than normal; it just hasn’t really picked up the same as other years. Speaking to other businesses across all industries, I’m hearing the same story. A lot of industries are really struggling at the moment. These days, just staying in business is a big win.

What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?

Firstly, understand your costings and profit margins to establish true business viability early on. Also, expect challenges and hurdles to land on your path, but see them as puzzles that help you develop your resilience and troubleshooting skills.

I’d also recommend developing a solution-based mindset and avoiding dwelling on problems for too long; they are just the catalyst to test your response and see if you are ready to make use of it.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.