Nearly five years ago, Laura Lady was running two machines in her Webster, New Hampshire garage, manufacturing a product that solidifies used cooking oil for easy cleanup and disposal. Today, FryAway is a family-run company with U.S.-based manufacturing operations in Texas, seven products listed in the Amazon store, a presence across five international Amazon stores, and shelf space in thousands of retail stores nationwide.
“Amazon has been a really big part of our growth,” said Lady, FryAway founder. “In the beginning, Amazon was very much our economic engine.”
FryAway was born out of COVID. In early 2020, Lady and her family were living in Boston when several families decided to rent a farmhouse outside the city, creating a communal living arrangement to support each other through the pandemic. With full-time jobs and young children in elementary school, the families took turns cooking large meals, including fried comfort food.
The massive amount of leftover cooking oil became a problem. The farmhouse was on a septic system, so pouring oil down the drain would have destroyed it. And the old-fashioned method of pouring oil into a coffee can and tossing it in the trash meant it would sit in a landfill.
“I am not a chemist, but I am a very curious person, and when I have an idea in my head and I decide to do something, I go all in,” she said.
Lady dove into scientific journals and chemical formulas, ultimately landing on emulsification and hypersaturation as the basis for FryAway’s formula. The product turns used cooking oil into a solid for easy, sustainable disposal, keeping it out of drains, sewers, and landfills.
Lady launched FryAway direct-to-consumer on her website in July 2021. After more than 20 years in the toy industry working in marketing and product development, Lady handled FryAway’s branding, packaging, marketing materials, and website. But orders only trickled in.
“We need to go bigger than this, and Amazon was the obvious channel,” she said.
One month later, in August 2021, FryAway launched in the Amazon store. Within two months, a couple of social media videos went viral and sales started multiplying. Within five months of launch, Lady received a call from Shark Tank. Shortly after, she secured her first purchase orders to sell in 1,100 Kroger grocery stores.
By March 2022, Lady quit her full-time job to focus on FryAway entirely. “Just 8 months after launch, I knew FryAway had real potential, and I needed to give it my full attention,” Lady explained.
FryAway, which is run by Lady and her husband, now sells across multiple channels. Through Amazon Global Selling, the business expanded to Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Germany. Beyond Amazon, FryAway sells through its Shopify website, TikTok Shop, Walmart Marketplace, and other platforms. In brick-and-mortar retail, the company is in approximately 4,000 Walmart stores and regional grocers nationwide.
“Amazon has become a go-to shopping destination for most of the U.S. population at this point,” Lady said. “It makes sense for us to really continue to invest in that as a key channel.”
From the beginning, Lady adopted a philosophy of trying every new feature and tool available to Amazon sellers. She credits two Amazon tools for consistently driving revenue for FryAway: Brand Tailored Promotions and Creator Connections. Brand Tailored Promotions allows sellers to reach specific audience segments, including cart abandoners and lapsed customers. Creator Connections is Amazon’s affiliate marketing platform, where sellers work with creators to promote products and drive sales.
FryAway also uses Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program, which offers discounts to customers if they sign up for regularly scheduled deliveries. Lady has grown to a few thousand subscribers, creating a reliable stream of repeat business.
The business has also tapped into Amazon Ads to cost-effectively boost product visibility, reach more shoppers, and increase sales. Lady used pay-per-click (PPC) advertising from the early days to reach shoppers and drive discovery of her products. “Amazon Advertising opened up a whole new world of discovery for us,” Lady explained. “With PPC, we could connect our product with shoppers who were actively looking for solutions like FryAway.”
What started as Lady’s side project has become a full family operation. Lady’s husband quit his job to run FryAway’s operations. Her 12-year-old daughter manages the company’s Amazon affiliate marketing outreach and Lady’s father has helped with coupon logistics for retail. Lady and her sister developed a FryAway cookbook that is in final edits and expected to launch in the Amazon store soon.
With seven products currently listed in the Amazon store and more in the pipeline, Lady shows no signs of slowing down. FryAway has an active R&D pipeline exploring sustainable disposal solutions beyond cooking oil.
“I will only do FryAway as long as it’s still fun, and it’s still fun right now,” she said. “I’m always finding new things to focus on, new projects, new partnerships. I still wake up every day excited to tackle the day.”