• Inspired by family, guided by tradition
• Innovating tofu: Beautiful, bold, and accessible
• Tradition meets sustainability, for flavour with a conscience
• Shaping success, one achievement at a time
• Teamwork that’s backed by tools for growth
• Turning passion and purpose into progress

Miki Talebi’s relationship with food was forged in the kitchen, where family meals were about connection as much as nourishment. From her father’s love of smoked flavours to the conversations shared over meals, she grew up understanding the power of food to create moments of connection. 

When Miki founded oomé Smoked Tofu, she turned her appreciation for food’s connective power into a brand that celebrates family, great tasting food, and sustainability.

Inspired by family, guided by tradition

The inspiration behind oomé Smoked Tofu is deeply personal. “I started this business as a way to honour my father,” Miki explains. A talented home chef, her father used his smoker to create meals that brought their family together.

These cherished memories formed the foundation of Miki’s desire to carry forward her late father’s legacy with a brand that reflects his passion for food and community through a mission rooted in family and tradition. 

Drawing on her father’s influence, Miki created oomé to celebrate the food that meant so much to her family. Her vision for oomé comes to life not only in the bold, smoked flavours that reflect her Japanese heritage, but also in the name oomé itself — taken from the Japanese word ume, meaning “plum blossom” — it represents new beginnings and the connection to Miki's roots that guides everything she does. 

Innovating tofu: Beautiful, bold, and accessible

Tofu has long been a misunderstood ingredient, too often seen as bland and boring. With oomé , Miki set out to change the way people think about this humble food — not only by making it taste deliciously bold, but also presenting it in visually striking packaging — a far cry from the way tofu is normally sold. 

At the heart of oomé’s appeal is the tofu’s distinctive smoky flavour, achieved using cherry wood chips sourced with care from the Talebi family cherry orchard. A method rooted in tradition, smoking gives the tofu a rich and savoury profile — plant-based goodness with a clean, simple ingredient list that ensures every bite is both satisfying and good for you.  

But oomé’s smoked tofu is more than just a nod to Miki’s culinary traditions. With its ready-to-eat format, it redefines what tofu can be: accessible, versatile, and perfect for today’s modern meals. 

Tradition meets sustainability

Delicious as oomé is, bold flavours aren't Miki’s only priority — creating a product that’s good for the planet is just as essential. With oomé, Miki saw the opportunity to combine her passion for good food with a purpose-driven approach to sustainability. This commitment is woven throughout oomé’s production process, from the carefully sourced wood chips for smoking to the brand’s thoughtful approach to packaging. 

The company’s plastic-negative certification from RePurpose is one example of this commitment in action. Removing twice as much plastic from the environment as it uses ensures oomé isn’t just minimizing its footprint but actively contributing to a cleaner planet.

For Miki, creating a product that’s both delicious and environmentally conscious is at the heart of what oomé stands for. 

Shaping success, one achievement at a time

Miki’s vision for oomé has always been rooted in bold flavours, sustainability, and connection. This vision has resonated with more than just oomé's customers — it’s also earned the brand recognition across Canada’s food industry. 

The company’s journey has been marked by key milestones, beginning with early success at its first ever trade show, where it earned a silver award for most promising new product. Since then, Miki and oomé have continued to gain momentum, with oomé taking home the Best in Brand award at the 2023 BC Food & Beverage Association, followed by Miki’s win at the 2024 Total Mom Pitch — an honour that celebrates her work as a purpose-driven entrepreneur, launching oomé into the spotlight as a brand to watch. 

Today, oomé can be found in over 500 stores across Canada, including Metro and Save on Foods, a milestone that speaks to the brand’s growing reach. And in 2024, oomé was shortlisted as one of eight brands across Canada in the Canadian Health Food Association’s Launchpad competition, showcasing its innovative approach to plant-based food, and further solidifying its reputation as a rising food industry star. 

Teamwork backed by tools for growth

As oomé has grown, so too have the operational challenges of managing an expanding business.

Staying focused on her vision means Miki needs a strong support system — and that starts with her husband Sana, who joined the company as COO soon after the company launched. Together, the couple handle the complexities of running a purpose-driven brand, from day-to-day logistics to big-picture strategy.

QuickBooks has been central to keeping oomé's operations on track. Sana praises the platform for its ability to simplify the business’s financial management.

“It’s been a great tool to have because it’s so intuitive,” he says. “I can work on it wherever I am — even when I’m in dad mode at home.”

This flexibility allows Sana to stay connected without being tied to physical paperwork, ensuring the company runs seamlessly even on the busiest days.

And the benefits of QuickBooks’ tools go beyond convenience, giving oomé's operations automated processes, along with the swift, reliable transactions that come with that automation. “With QuickBooks Payroll, we get notifications that payments have gone through,” Sana adds, “so we can sleep easy knowing everything is taken care of.”

These features, combined with QuickBooks’ support for tracking distribution-related data, have helped Miki and Sana focus on innovating and scaling their mission-driven business.  

Turning passion and purpose into progress

Through oomé Smoked Tofu, Miki has created something extraordinary — a brand that reflects her values of tradition, family, and sustainability while redefining plant-based eating. From its bold flavours to its thoughtful practices, oomé is proof that food can be as impactful as it is delicious.

Your business deserves tools that grow with you. QuickBooks helps entrepreneurs like Miki keep their operations running smoothly with streamlined solutions for finances, payroll, and more. Whether you’re tracking expenses, managing payroll, or planning for growth, QuickBooks has the tools you need to turn your passion into progress.