Daytona Beach native Michael Lloyd is earning a doctorate degree in food sciences to take his family recipe to another level. Courtesy of North Carolina State University
By Andreas Butler | DAYTONA TIMES
Michael Lloyd learned the secrets of making and marketing a great sauce from his grandfathers –Merrill Lloyd, the founder of Lloyd’s Electric and one of Daytona Beach’s legendary entrepreneurs – and Archie Faison, who had the ability to make his ribs taste better than anyone else’s.
With the family recipe, his educational background and some determination, the young Lloyd is making a name for himself and offering the world a healthy sauce.
Lloyd is CEO and president of the Num Num Sauce Company based in Atlanta. Num Num Sauce is a healthy alternative food condiment. It is a vegan sauce low in sodium and fat, and it adds flavor to meats and vegetables.
He recently was selected as a finalist for the Black Men Ventures Black Founders Pitch.
Growing his business
Black Male Ventures is an organization that helps Black male entrepreneurs find capital funding to grow their startup business. The inaugural Black Founders Pitch is a contest designed to do just that.
Finalists pitched their business and products virtually on April 16 on Facebook and YouTube. If Lloyd wins the contest, he’ll receive $10,000 for his business.
“It will be exposure to potentially more investors. It will be a big help to raise capital and investment. It can also help secure more patents, help with marketing, our online platform and more,” said Lloyd.
“It feels good to make it this far in the contest,” said Lloyd. “I am happy and excited about it. It shows we are making progress with our business model to attract potential investors,’’ he told the Daytona Times.
Highly educated
Michael Lloyd is an entrepreneur and pharmaceutical scientist pursuing a doctorate degree in food science, bioengineering and nutrition at North Carolina State University. He expects to have his doctorate degree it by late May.
He earned a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from North Carolina Central and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Savannah State University.
Lloyd, who now resides in Decatur, Georgia, was born and raised in Daytona Beach. He is a graduate of Mainland High School.
In Whole Foods
Lloyd’s Num Num Sauce started as an original family recipe that he got from Merrill Lloyd, who got it from his father. Over time, Lloyd said he was able to perfect and market the sauce.
In 2008, he marketed it to Whole Food Markets in Durham, North Carolina. By the end of that year, it was on selected shelves. In 2018, he started manufacturing it on a large
scale and made it a company.
Num Num Sauce now has four flavors and can be found in Whole Foods Markets and grocery stores throughout the southeastern United States.
Lloyd is also CEO, president and chief scientific officer of Amelioron Corporation in Durham, a food packaging company.
Funding challenges
As a Black entrepreneur, Lloyd experiences challenges and knows what others like himself also face.
“We really don’t get funding that we need. It takes capital to grow and scale up. We’ll have a good business model, but it is difficult to attract capital for several reasons,” explained Lloyd.
“It is very difficult to reach the requirements to get funding. When getting loans, banks want you to leverage assets to secure the loan. Many Black people in general don’t have the assets to put up to obtain loans.
“When you can (leverage assets), there is so much paperwork… A lot of times we don’t have the documents to qualify. A lot don’t have their business model or plan written out on paper,’’ he shared. His advice for other entrepreneurs is simple.
“Be ready to grind really hard and put your all into what you are doing. Be ready to humble yourself. Business will humble you.”
Promotes healthy diet
Lloyd also touched on why he made his product vegan and the importance of people, including African Americans, to consider vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian diets.
“With my educational background, I was able to identify what plant compounds are and where they come from, which improve the performance of our bodies. We were originally vegetarians. We were farming first and started civilizations by growing crops near water sources,” said Lloyd.
“We must get back to growing our own food and produce and consume plant compounds and not let people grow food for us.’’
The price of success
Lloyd knows that success comes with a price.
“You have to sacrifice. You can’t hang out and party to be successful in business. You can’t have everything everybody else has or do what everybody else does. You have to give up something.”
On the personal side, Lloyd always makes time for his teenage son, Mehki.
“I focus on my son and make sure that I am there for him so that he can get what he needs to have a secure and sound mind. You have to show your son how to achieve and conduct himself,” he related.
For more on Lloyd’s Num Num Sauce, visit www.numnumsauce.com.
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