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Shelf Help: The Tactical CPG Podcast

Adam Steinberg

If you’ve ever thought, "Why doesn’t anyone talk about this in CPG?", this is the podcast for you. Host, Adam Steinberg, co-founder of KitPrint, interviews CPG leaders to uncover the real-world tactics, strategies, and behind-the-scenes insights that really move the needle.

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Monday · 44 min
From Losing 90% of Retailers to a Top 10 Target Supplement | Hudson Davis-Ross, Plant People
On this episode, we're joined by Hudson Davis-Ross, Co-founder and CEO of Plant People - the functional wellness brand behind Wonder Gummies, the line of zero-sugar, vegan mushroom and botanical gummies sold at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Erewhon, Target, and more. Before Plant People, Hudson was on the founding team of Rise Brewing Co. and helped build Aloha. Hudson walks through the origin story: two co-founders recovering from spinal surgery, a bootstrapped launch that did $4.5M in its first 18 months, and a COVID collapse that wiped out 90% of their independent retail accounts. We dig into the survival playbook that followed, including a line-by-line P&L purge, agency payment plans, and the two decisions that saved the business: moving from glass jars to pouches (packaging went from $1.50 to about 20 cents a unit and DTC shipping from $8.95 to $4.95) and shutting down in-house fulfillment for a 3PL. We also get into the move to gummies, why adherence beats potency, how they priced the launch at $34.99, and the rebrand from clinical to colorful. Hudson breaks down how customer demos and surveys shape new SKUs, how he thinks about Grüns, AG1 and Lemme crowding the category, what really happened after landing 800+ Target doors, and why they raised a Series A while already profitable. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🌿 How two spinal surgeries led to an herbal supplement brand 💵 Bootstrapping to $4.5M in 18 months with two part-time employees 🚧 Losing 90% of retailers when COVID shut down independents 🍬 Why gummies beat capsules on adherence (and where they lose on potency) 🏷️ Pricing at $34.99 and anchoring a new category ✂️ Going line by line through the P&L to survive 📦 Glass jars to pouches ($1.50 to about 20 cents per unit) 🚚 Shutting down in-house fulfillment for a 3PL 🎨 Rebranding from clinical to colorful with the Wonder line 🥊 Competing as Grüns, AG1 and Lemme flood the gummy aisle 🧪 How customer demos and surveys shape new SKUs 🎯 Saying no to Target, then landing 800+ doors 💸 Raising a Series A while profitable --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:59 – Origin story and bootstrapping to $4.5M 02:20 – COVID and losing 90% of retailers 03:01 – Launching the Wonder gummy line 05:03 – Gummy adherence vs. potency 07:57 – Pricing the launch at $34.99 09:57 – Hardest decisions coming out of COVID 12:12 – Glass jars to plastic pouches 14:52 – Pouch economics and shipping savings 16:53 – Moving from in-house fulfillment to a 3PL 18:59 – Early brand identity on a lean budget 21:23 – Rebranding from clinical to colorful 23:15 – Defending share in a crowded gummy category 28:16 – How new SKUs get greenlit 32:08 – Breaking into Target 35:47 – Operational lessons from the Target launch 39:12 – Raising a Series A while profitable 42:08 – Where to follow Hudson and Plant People --------------- Links: Plant People – https://www.plantpeople.co/ Follow Hudson on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsongr/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
October 14 · 28 min
Inside Teton Valley Brands' Trojan Horse Strategy | Matt Price, Teton Valley Brands
On this episode, we're joined by Matt Price, President & CEO of Teton Valley Brands - the Idaho chip company behind Real Idaho Potato Chips and Tallow & Stone. Matt took the CEO seat in 2024 after working alongside founder Kyle Nehring as a consultant. We dig into why Matt thinks so many brands raise money the wrong way, when venture is actually the right tool, and his case for building the company first and letting the brand follow. Matt breaks down the decision to go vertical and build out an in-house manufacturing facility, using co-packing as a profit engine that funds the brands, and bringing in Cranney Farms, the potato grower that's also the company's largest cash investor. He's candid about what broke first, from unpredictable retail orders to standing up a manufacturing team that runs nothing like a startup. We also get into the Trojan horse play: using the easy yes of Snake River Farms to open doors with retailers, distributors and brokers, then loading Tallow & Stone in right behind it. Matt walks through branding Idaho the way Napa brands wine, how an Alaska Airlines six-month trial turned into three and a half years and the real operational cost of cooking in tallow. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🥔 From rebagging chips in a basement to an Idaho potato chip plant 💸 Where brands go wrong on fundraising, and when venture is the right tool 🏭 The decision to go vertical instead of staying asset light 💰 Co-packing as the profit engine that underwrites the brands 🌾 Bringing in a potato farmer as lead investor (equity and debt) ⚠️ What broke first: forecasting orders for startup brands 👷 Building a manufacturing team that can't cut corners 🐴 The Trojan horse strategy with Snake River Farms 🍷 Branding Idaho the way Napa brands wine ✈️ Alaska Airlines: a six-month trial now three and a half years in 🥩 The real cost of cooking in tallow (cleaning, kosher tradeoffs) 🌮 Pricing Tallow & Stone for conventional grocery ($6.99-$7.99) 👀 Brands Matt's watching (Bawi Agua Fresca, Ithaca Hummus) --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:50 – Origin story 02:38 – Where brands go wrong on fundraising 04:22 – Co-packing as the profit engine 05:09 – When venture is the right tool 06:02 – Build the company and the brand follows 07:57 – The decision to go vertical 10:41 – What broke first when ramping up 11:43 – Financing with a farmer partner 13:09 – Building a manufacturing team 14:59 – One culture across corporate and production 16:00 – The Trojan horse strategy 17:27 – Positioning Real Idaho Potato Chips 19:39 – Equipment upgrades and Alaska Airlines 20:41 – Tallow vs seed oils 21:45 – Building Tallow & Stone price-first 24:17 – Multi-brand go-to-market and velocity 26:27 – Brands Matt's watching --------------- Links: Teton Valley Brands – https://www.tetonvalleybrands.com/ Follow Teton Valley Brands on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/teton-valley-brands/ Follow Matt on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattyprice12/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
October 9 · 46 min
Scaling Mozzarella Sticks from Stadiums to Conventional Freeze Aisles | Matt Gallira, Big Mozz
On this episode, we're joined by Matt Gallira, Founder & CEO of Big Mozz - the premium mozzarella stick brand that started as a stadium and restaurant food service business before eventually landing in the freezer aisle. We get into how Matt went from handmade pasta sauces to a Brooklyn pop-up tent, the in-store sauce demo where he watched a cheesemaker stretch mozzarella and he asked to work for free. Matt breaks down the original recipe and why fresh garlic one thing he won't let a co-man swap for a dehydrated version. Matt touches on why Big Mozz launched food service first: a COVID pivot, operator-first selling to restaurants and stadiums, pitching Sysco category managers who already carry 10 mozzarella sticks, and why food service now supports the whole business. We also dig into the jump to retail, from Wakefern to Whole Foods nationwide, reformulating for home ovens, how too many TPRs trained shoppers to wait for a yellow tag, the new packaging built to read through a frosty freezer door, and innovating around usage occasions instead of flavors alone. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🍝 From handmade pasta sauce to a Smorgasburg pop-up stand 🚐 A van with 375,000 miles and a 150-person catering operation 🧀 Learning to stretch mozzarella from a North Jersey deli 🧄 Why fresh garlic is the one ingredient Matt won't compromise on 🏭 Getting co-man machines to do things they weren't built for ⏱️ The COVID pivot and the line trial that saved the company 🏟️ Launching food service first through stadium connections 🍽️ Operator-first selling and the Sysco "why do we need another one?" pitch 💰 Food service as the funding engine and top of the retail funnel 🏷️ Why too many yellow tags trained shoppers to wait 📦 Packaging built to read through a frosty freezer door 🍷 Innovating by occasion (one mozz stick and a glass of wine) 👀 Frozen brands Matt is watching (Jesse & Ben's) --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:51 – Origin story: from pasta sauce to Smorgasburg 02:56 – Growing a pop-up into a 150-person catering company 04:52 – The sauce demo that sparked Big Mozz 07:34 – Asking a North Jersey deli to work for free 08:30 – R&D and the original recipe 10:12 – Holding the line on fresh ingredients at scale 12:56 – Getting machines to do what they weren't built for 13:47 – Why Big Mozz launched food service first 14:48 – The COVID pivot and a lucky line trial 16:54 – Operator-first selling and the Sysco pitch 19:06 – Food service as the top of the retail funnel 21:29 – Food service vs. retail margins and the ground game 24:58 – The food service to retail brand flywheel 28:52 – Launching retail and reformulating for home ovens 32:54 – Driving velocity: promos, Instacart and packaging 38:44 – Innovating by occasion: nuggets, Flamin' and ranch 41:38 – Frozen brands Matt is watching --------------- Links: Big Mozz – https://bigmozz.com/ Big Mozz on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/big-mozz/ Follow Matt on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-gallira-22646529/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
October 5 · 43 min
Leading Social for the Fastest-Growing CPG Brands | Adam Brown, Sircle Media
On this episode, we're joined by Adam Brown, Founder & President of Sircle Media - the go-to social media agency for CPG brands. Adam has been in and around digital since 1999, starting Sircle in 2012 after a decade running sales and marketing in the mortgage industry. Adam walks through what it takes for social to impact retail velocity. One brand told him: move 10,000 units at Walmart and I do not care what it costs. He breaks down how his team proves that lift with control regions, geofencing and hyperlocal creator support, and why the Costco parking lot video every creative director hates keeps beating the polished stuff. He also shares the seeding math most founders never hear, one or two posts out of ten when you gift cold, and the college campus playbook he would run instead. --------------- Episode Highlights: 💡 The light bulb moment behind Sircle Media 💸 Pricing an agency at the cost of one hire ⚠️ The messy middle and the toughest year in CPG in 14 years ✂️ Why a 10% haircut beats cutting a partner 🔀 Social as a horizontal, not a vertical 📱 Two primary platforms, two secondary 🛒 What it takes for social to move retail velocity 📸 Scrappy UGC versus studio content 🎓 The college campus playbook for seeding 💳 The hot take that it is all paid now 🛍️ TikTok Shop and who it actually fits 💬 Community management as the most common miss 🔮 Trends: a return to fundamentals --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:05 – The light bulb moment behind Sircle Media 03:19 – Pricing an agency at the cost of one hire 04:54 – When a brand is ready for an agency 06:19 – The messy middle and the toughest year in CPG 07:47 – The 10% haircut across partners 09:37 – Social as a horizontal, not a vertical 11:59 – Two primary platforms, two secondary 14:56 – Making social drive retail velocity 18:34 – UGC versus studio when money is tight 20:00 – The college campus playbook 22:42 – Building for constant algorithm change 25:26 – The hot take that it is all paid 27:56 – TikTok Shop and who it actually fits 31:23 – Vetting influencers and creators 34:53 – Why most seeding programs flop 37:52 – Community management as table stakes 39:56 – Trends: a return to fundamentals --------------- Links: Sircle Media – https://www.sircle.me/ Follow Adam Brown on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjbrown23/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
September 30 · 42 min
Six Brands, Four Exits, and the Leading Fractional CPG Firm | Eric Schnell, BeyondBrands
On this episode, we're joined by Eric Schnell, Founder of BeyondBrands - the 40-plus partner operating group that works as a fractional management team for early stage CPG brands. Eric co-founded Steaz in 2002 and has since co-founded or helped launch Good Catch, GoodSAM, Cool Beans, and Free Bird. Eric breaks down the Quintuple Bottom Line model the firm runs on and the one test every brand they co-found has to pass: can it sit in front of any buyer and credibly claim it will be a category captain? We get into the Good Catch story, from the seafood thesis they wrote with the Good Food Institute to extrusion R&D with help from friends at Beyond Meat, a Whole Foods launch, roughly $6 million in revenue, and a full exit inside three and a half years. Eric also walks through GoodSAM, where the team built direct trade relationships with regenerative organic farmers in Colombia and brought Thrive Market onto the cap table weeks before COVID shut down retail. We also spend time talking about why most brands die from running out of capital rather than product fit, what a believable five-year plan shows an investor, the 17 seconds a shopper spends scanning a cooler door, and how freight and geography quietly eat a P&L. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🫖 Selling $30 vitamins before selling $4 organic tea 🤝 The lawyer question that turned a favor into a firm 🌱 The Quintuple Bottom Line: passion, purpose, people, planet, prosperity 🐟 Why seafood, not meat, was the plant-based white space 🏆 The category captain test every new brand has to pass 🌎 Direct trade vs fair trade with farmers in Colombia 🛒 Putting Thrive Market on the cap table right before COVID 💸 Why most brands die in year one (it is capital, not product) ⏱️ The 17-second shelf window and the rainbow effect 📦 Why packaging gets fixed two or three times in year one 📈 56 equity positions and the ESOP model behind them 🧮 What a fundable five-year plan actually shows 🚚 Freight and geography, the black hole in the middle of the P&L --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:06 – From $30 vitamins to $4 organic tea 02:19 – Exiting Steaz and choosing the next chapter 03:32 – The lawyer question that created BeyondBrands 04:45 – Backing pre-revenue founders nobody else would touch 06:34 – The Quintuple Bottom Line business model 08:22 – How BeyondBrands decides what to co-found 09:11 – The plant-based seafood thesis behind Good Catch 10:23 – Building flaky plant-based tuna from legumes 11:35 – Whole Foods, $6M, and a fast exit 12:48 – The category captain test 14:49 – GoodSAM, regenerative organic, and direct trade 18:38 – Thrive Market on the cap table before COVID 20:53 – Why most early brands run out of capital 24:35 – The 17-second shelf window and the rainbow effect 26:53 – 56 equity positions and the ESOP model 30:55 – What a fundable five-year plan looks like 34:37 – Freight, geography, and the P&L black hole --------------- Links: BeyondBrands – https://beyondbrands.org/ Follow Eric on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-schnell-b133a425/ BeyondBrands on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondbrands/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
September 25 · 39 min
From Board Seat to Buyer: The Alter Eco Turnaround | Keith Bearden, Alter Eco
On this episode, we're joined by Keith Bearden, CEO of Alter Eco, No Cow and Good Karma - the Trek One Capital portfolio spanning organic Swiss-made chocolate, plant-based protein bars and flax milk. Keith previously led Yogi Tea's international division, served as CEO of Lifebrands US and American Botanicals, and spent 15 years at Dow Chemical. Keith walks through how he went from Alter Eco board member to buyer, flying to Houston to pitch his path-to-profitability plan to Trek One Capital and closing on December 22, 2023. He breaks down the three levers behind a profitable first quarter of 2024: cutting headcount and outsourcing, moving the warehouse from Oakland to Columbus, Ohio (saving over $1M a year and roughly 20 days of lead time), and cutting trade spend from about 25% of sales to 19%. We get into managing a cocoa market that more than tripled after the deal closed, a 39% tariff on Swiss imports, and Keith's bet to take a 12% price increase while competitors took 30 to 40%. We also dig into SKU rationalization without losing shelf space and why Alter Eco doesn't chase trends. Keith also shares how a moment on a granola production floor in Canada became Oat Clusters, why his CMO pushed "delicious" over "organic" and moved "Made in Switzerland" to the front of pack, and how Alter Eco hit 1,400 Publix doors on day one by putting inventory on a plane. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🍫 Alter Eco's origin and "taste is the price of admission" 🤝 From board seat to buyer: the Houston lunch that closed the deal ✂️ Turnaround lever one: headcount, outsourced QA and back office 🚚 Moving the warehouse from Oakland to Columbus, Ohio 💸 Cutting trade spend on truffles that saw no incremental lift 🔄 SKU rationalization and proactive swaps to protect shelf space 🌱 Pre-bought beans and loyal farmers through the cocoa spike 🧾 Eating a 39% tariff on Swiss-made chocolate in 2025 🏷️ The 12% price increase bet when competitors took 30 to 40% ✈️ From granola production floor to airport shelves: Oat Clusters 🇨🇭 Why "delicious" beat "organic" and put a Swiss logo on the front of pack 🛒 Landing 1,400 Publix doors on day one (and air-freighting inventory to do it) 🔮 GLP-1 tailwinds and why No Cow is built for that shopper --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:04 – Alter Eco's origin and three core principles 03:36 – Running three brands as one CEO 06:30 – From board member to buyer 08:54 – Turnaround lever one: headcount and outsourcing 10:20 – Moving the warehouse to Columbus, Ohio 11:20 – Cutting trade spend that wasn't driving lift 12:36 – SKU rationalization without losing shelf space 14:16 – Hedging against cocoa's price spike 16:25 – Absorbing a 39% tariff on Swiss imports 19:56 – The 12% price increase bet 22:25 – From natural into conventional grocery 23:33 – Product roadmap and not chasing trends 26:44 – Granola and the Oat Clusters origin story 29:50 – The say-do gap and why "delicious" won 32:18 – Practical Magic 2 and brand collaborations 33:27 – Scaling doors and landing 1,400 at Publix 36:02 – No Cow, GLP-1 and what Keith's watching --------------- Links: Alter Eco - https://www.alterecofoods.com/ No Cow - https://www.nocow.com/ Good Karma - https://www.goodkarmafoods.com/ Follow Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bearden-736821/ Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
September 21 · 44 min
Why CPG Brands Write Off Millions in Invalid Deductions | Akash Raju, Glimpse
On this episode, we're joined by Akash Raju, Co-founder & CEO of Glimpse - the AI platform that automates deductions, revenue recovery, and cash application for CPG brands selling into retail. Akash and his two Purdue classmates started Glimpse in 2020 as an Airbnb product placement business before hard pivoting into retail finance in 2024. Akash breaks down the split between trade and non-trade, why brands hand back 20 to 30 percent of their margin to retailers, and why one to two percent of top line revenue gets written off as invalid whether you are doing $10 million or a billion. We get into what actually breaks scaling from $20 million to $200 million, and what a finance leader should triage in their first 90 days. Akash explains why the industry missed the last decade of enterprise software entirely, why so many brands are stuck in pilot purgatory, and why he thinks real transformation starts at the data layer rather than the workflow layer. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🏠 Placing CPG products inside luxury Airbnbs 🔄 Walking away from a seven-figure business to hard pivot 🗣️ 500 brand conversations across 15 months of pivot hell 📉 Why 20 to 30 percent of margin goes to retail deductions ⚖️ Trade vs non-trade and where invalid claims hide 🏪 Why mass retailers and distributors break differently 🧾 A finance leader's first 90 days on a messy deduction book 🎯 The 4x ROI pilot and the crawl, walk, run approach 🖥️ Why CPG missed the last decade of enterprise software 🤖 Getting out of pilot purgatory with measurable ROI 🧱 Why AI transformation starts at the data layer 📦 The shipping shortage dispute, line by line 🔍 Brands he's watching (BERO, Leisure Hydration, Create) --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:10 – Purdue, Airbnbs, and the first business 03:01 – The hard pivot and 15 months in pivot hell 05:03 – Why deductions became the wedge 05:59 – The power imbalance between brands and retailers 08:42 – How the deduction profile changes as brands scale 09:30 – Trade vs non-trade deductions 11:42 – Concentrated retailers or death by a thousand cuts 13:44 – A finance leader's first 90 days 16:01 – The 4x ROI pilot and crawl, walk, run 17:23 – Why CPG missed the last enterprise software wave 21:04 – Getting out of pilot purgatory 24:56 – What AI transformation actually requires 27:43 – What breaks between $20M and $200M 30:15 – The shipping shortage deduction, line by line 34:52 – Trustworthy AI, human in the loop, build vs buy 37:33 – Faster, better, cheaper and the $40 deduction 39:45 – Brands he's watching and Martha Stewart's old test kitchen --------------- Links: Glimpse – https://www.tryglimpse.com/ Follow Akash on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/akash-raju/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.
- Transcript
September 16 · 46 min
Scaling a Leading Energy Drink Brand with AI | Simon Solis-Cohen, Huxley
On this episode, we're joined by Simon Solis-Cohen, Founder of Huxley - the Minneapolis-based plant-powered energy refresher made with real fruit juice and caffeine from upcycled cascara superfruit. Simon is a chef by training who ran a wine marketing agency for years before selling it and going all in on Huxley. We dive into the pivots that got the brand here, starting with the fact that Huxley launched as a coffee company. Simon breaks down why he left the coffee behind when Huxley debuted at Expo West, and how the team went from idea to a finished can in 130 days. A big part of the conversation focuses on cascara, the upcycled coffee cherry husk that supplies Huxley's 90 milligrams of caffeine. Simon walks through why synthetic caffeine tastes bitter, why that bitterness pushes most energy brands into heavy sugar or sucralose, and why real fruit juice had to be the second ingredient in every can. We also get into the packaging story. A conventional buyer told Simon his award-winning national parks illustrations would cap Huxley at hobby scale, and he rebranded a year in rather than wait. Simon shares what that unlocked at Sprouts, where Huxley now ranks number three in velocity among nationwide energy brands, plus the new Kroger natural and organic end cap and the AI tools he built to kill hours of distributor accounting every week. --------------- Episode Highlights: ☕ Starting as a coffee company and killing it fast ⏱️ Idea to finished can in 130 days 🍒 Why cascara superfruit beats synthetic caffeine ♻️ The landfill math behind coffee cherry waste 🧪 How bitterness forces energy brands into sugar ⚡ Dosing at 90 milligrams and why that number 🥭 Making real fruit juice the second ingredient 🎨 The national parks cans and the alliteration 🛒 The buyer who said the design capped them at hobby scale 📦 Rebranding at year one instead of waiting it out 💸 Seed strapping and saying no to retailers 📈 Hitting number three velocity at Sprouts 🤖 Automating distributor remittances with AI --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:52 – Why Huxley is an energy refresher, not an energy drink 03:31 – Idea to finished can in 130 days 05:02 – The pivot away from coffee 06:58 – Dropping the coffee line at Expo West 08:34 – Choosing cascara over synthetic caffeine 09:45 – What Bai proved about coffee fruit 12:11 – The landfill problem cascara solves 15:03 – Why bitter caffeine forces brands into sugar 16:59 – Dosing at 90 milligrams 17:56 – Real fruit juice as the second ingredient 20:39 – Building the V1 brand identity 24:07 – The buyer who rejected the packaging 26:52 – Why rebrand at year one instead of waiting 29:45 – Seed strapping and saying no to retailers 32:01 – Going nationwide with Sprouts 35:48 – The Kroger natural and organic end cap 38:10 – Automating distributor remittances with AI --------------- Links: Huxley – https://drinkhuxley.com/ Follow Simon on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-solis-cohen/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
- Transcript
September 10 · 24 min
How a Functional Ice Cube Brand Landed Sprouts and Wegmans | Belle Robinson, ROXII Supercube
On this episode, we're joined by Belle Robinson, Founder of ROXII Supercube - the functional wellness brand putting superfoods, collagen and electrolytes into nutrient-infused ice cubes that melt into whatever you're drinking. Belle is a certified nutritional therapist who spent years freezing superfoods into her own water before turning that habit into a four SKU lineup now sitting in Sprouts and Wegmans. We dive into why frozen was the right format for a functional product and what it cost to get there. Belle breaks down the realities of a cold chain business, why ROXII went straight to retail instead of building a D2C audience first, and what that decision took away in consumer learning. Belle walks through the formulation process across nutrition, taste and format, and why narrowing to four functions was the hardest part of development. We get into pricing at just under $3 a cube in Sprouts against $5 immunity shots, everyday low price at Wegmans, and the question every single buyer asks in every pitch about where a functional ice cube actually belongs in the store. We also cover Expo West, how Belle turns skeptical buyers into believers, the brand ambassador and pop-up program driving trial around Sprouts stores, and what it takes to run a US brand from London while staying bootstrapped. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🧊 Turning a messy powder routine into a frozen cube ❄️ Why frozen locks in nutrients better than fresh 🚫 The D2C learning curve ROXII skipped by going straight to retail 🧪 Formulating across nutrition, taste and format 📦 The Expo West buyer who thought it was a smoothie cube ✏️ Where the ROXII name came from (on the rocks) 💸 Pricing a cube against $5 immunity shots 🛒 Finding a home in the frozen wellness set 🤝 Turning skeptical buyers into believers 🧭 Merchandising frozen around occasions instead of formats 📈 Landing Sprouts and Wegmans nationally 🚶 Brand ambassadors and pop-ups driving trial 🔮 Brands and trends Belle is watching --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:48 – Origin story 01:41 – Why frozen and what it does for nutrients 03:10 – The trade-offs of frozen and skipping D2C 04:11 – Advice for launching a new product format 05:38 – Formulation and R&D 07:47 – Building the brand identity 08:53 – The Expo West buyer who thought it was a smoothie cube 09:30 – Where the ROXII name came from 10:48 – Pricing against shots, powders and RTDs 11:46 – Where ROXII sits in the frozen set 13:30 – Turning skeptical buyers into believers 15:39 – Redesigning the frozen aisle around occasions 16:43 – Landing Sprouts and Wegmans 18:05 – Driving velocity with ambassadors and pop-ups 19:26 – Running a US brand from London 20:58 – Bootstrapping and the fundraising question 21:31 – Brands and trends Belle is watching --------------- Links: ROXII Supercube – https://roxiisupercube.com/ Follow Belle on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/belle-robinson-672a59261/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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September 7 · 39 min
The First National Egg Brand To Stop Culling Male Chicks | Jasen Urena, NestFresh
On this episode, we're joined by Jasen Urena, Vice President at NestFresh, the humane egg brand that just became the first national brand in the US to move its entire retail lineup to in-ovo sexed Humanely Hatched eggs. Jasen has spent 20 years with the company across marketing, sales, and operations. He breaks down what in-ovo sexing actually is, why only about 10% of Americans know what happens to male chicks at the hatchery, and how NestFresh brought AAT's Cheggy technology over from Europe and scaled it with Hy-Line North America. Accuracy is now running above 97% in live production, and NestFresh did not raise a single retailer price to pay for the transition. We get into the economics, the certification stack behind the claims, and why Jasen refuses to chase the easiest certifier. He also walks through the terminology problem in the egg aisle, why radical transparency beats polished marketing, and how NestFresh moves velocity with packaging, shelf tags, carton inserts, and TPRs when most retailers will not let you touch the set. We also dig into the 2024 packaging redesign, the six-month social teaser campaign that brought shoppers along with it, and the unusual asset-only structure behind the New Barn Organics acquisition. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🥚 The 1976 founding story and 50 years of the business 🐥 What in-ovo sexing actually is and why it matters 🌍 Bringing Cheggy over from Europe and scaling it for the US 📈 Accuracy above 97% in live production 🤝 The partner stack: AAT, Hy-Line, HFAC, ASPCA, Innovate Animal Ag 💸 Why NestFresh held retailer pricing flat through the transition 🔁 Why in-ovo sexing follows the cage-free playbook 🏷️ The terminology problem in the egg aisle 🔍 Radical transparency as an education strategy ✅ Not all certifiers are equal (and why ROA took 18 months) 🛒 In-store levers when retailers will not let you touch the set 🎨 The 2024 redesign and the six-month social teaser rollout 🔭 Brands and trends Jasen is watching --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:54 – NestFresh origin story and the 1976 founding 03:19 – Consolidation and the small family farm model 04:29 – What in-ovo sexing actually is 06:03 – Why male chicks get culled on day one 07:23 – The hardest part of scaling the technology 09:02 – The surprise: accuracy above 97% 09:44 – AAT, Cheggy, and Hy-Line North America 10:30 – The economics of in-ovo sexing 11:59 – The first domino and the cage-free parallel 13:15 – Why retailer prices did not go up 14:26 – Consumer confusion in the egg aisle 17:29 – Radical transparency as an education strategy 18:57 – Choosing certifiers and the Humanely Hatched trademark 23:32 – In-store strategy and shelf levers 26:00 – Promoting without eroding premium 27:00 – The 2024 packaging redesign 31:51 – Inside the New Barn Organics acquisition 36:14 – Brands and trends worth watching --------------- Links: NestFresh – https://nestfresh.com/ Follow Jasen on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasen-urena-27179013/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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September 2 · 38 min
Inside the Mass and Club Playbook | Jesse Arntson, Slate Milk
On this episode, we're joined by Jesse Arntson, Director of Sales, Mass & Club at SLATE Milk - the high protein, lactose-free shake and iced coffee brand. Jesse has spent close to two decades on the commercial side of beverage, with stops at Red Bull, ZOA Energy, Fever-Tree and Bobo's before landing at Slate. Jesse breaks down what actually separates mass from club, and why the two get lumped together far more often than they should. Mass is broad distribution, assortment strategy and item productivity across thousands of doors. Club is fewer items, bigger packs, bigger bets and almost no margin for error. We get into what a buyer actually needs to see instead of a 50-page deck, and the short list of questions Jesse answers before he walks into a meeting. He walks through the Bobo's PB&J bar that caught lightning in a bottle at Costco, what happens when a great headline number hides softening velocity, and why past success makes teams slow to act. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🥛 What Slate sells and where it can live on shelf 🏬 Mass vs club: complexity beats you, velocity beats you 🧭 Picking your first big channel (and what a win costs) 🎤 What a buyer needs instead of a 50-slide deck 🍫 Bobo's at Costco: lightning in a bottle, then the slide 🔁 When to save a SKU and when to let it rotate out 🧪 Innovation has to solve a commercial problem 📦 Never selling ahead of what operations can ship 🎯 Dollars per club, base velocity, and reorder patterns 🛒 Strike zone placement, demos, and promo discipline 📱 Retail media and in-store as one plan, not two 🤝 When you need a broker and when to go direct 💸 The equity questions nobody asks --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:58 – What Slate is and the protein lineup 02:18 – Mass vs club: two different games 03:49 – Which is harder to enter, and harder to hold 05:04 – Choosing your first big channel 06:50 – What a buyer actually needs to see 09:45 – Bobo's, Costco, and lightning in a bottle 11:54 – When to save a SKU and when to kill it 13:32 – Three things to watch on a hot club item 15:00 – Innovation that solves a commercial problem 18:23 – The Slate playbook for mass and club 20:25 – Never sell ahead of the operation 22:12 – Picking which SKUs earn the pitch 23:41 – Velocity levers: placement, demos, promo 25:22 – Retail media, in-store, and asking "so what" 27:47 – Brokers, going direct, and owning the account 32:22 – The equity questions nobody asks 33:54 – Protein, functional beverage, and GLP-1s --------------- Links: SLATE Milk – https://slatemilk.com/ Follow Jesse on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-arntson/ SLATE Milk on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/slate-milk/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 28 · 41 min
Pitching a Single Ingredient Brand to Shark Tank Two Weeks Postpartum | Aviv & Michele Schor, HUNDY!
On this episode, we're joined by Aviv and Michelle Schor, Co-Founders of HUNDY! - the frozen fruit pop brand made from a single ingredient: 100% organic whole fruit. We dig into the R&D reality of a one-ingredient product, sourcing organic tropical fruit through brokers and growers across Latin America, and commercialization (they searched for months and could not find a co-packer anywhere with the right equipment, so they spent about a year building their own machinery.) We dive into the recent rebrand, going deep with independents like Nugget Markets for a full year of learning before scaling, plus landing Costco off a first Expo West booth that cost $800. They also share the Shark Tank story, including pitching two and a half weeks after having their daughter and walking out without a deal. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🧊 Reformatting the frozen pop aisle with one ingredient 💼 Building a business with your spouse (and the dinner rule) 🧪 Why one-ingredient R&D is harder than it sounds 🍍 Brix, pH, and which fruits actually freeze well 🌎 Sourcing organic tropical fruit through brokers and growers 💸 The hidden COGS lines: packaging and frozen storage 🏭 No co-packer had the equipment, so they built their own ✍️ How the HUNDY! name got validated by a five-year-old 📦 The rebrand: merchandising complaints and unclear shelf messaging 🛒 Going deep with independents before going wide 🎯 Landing Costco off an $800 Expo West booth 📺 Shark Tank two and a half weeks postpartum 🔮 The brands and trends they're watching --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:59 – Origin story and the agency years 02:47 – Building a business with your spouse 05:24 – Who owns what between the two of them 06:34 – One-ingredient formulation and R&D 07:52 – Hand-made R&D in Mexico and the first Expo West 09:48 – Sourcing and consistency across seasons 11:55 – Why they lean tropical, and the sustainability angle 12:59 – No co-packer had the equipment 14:35 – What really drives COGS 15:44 – Locking fruit contracts and rates 16:22 – Building the original brand identity 17:29 – How the name got validated 18:21 – The why behind the rebrand 21:56 – Managing old and new packaging on shelf 23:18 – First pitches: Costco and Nugget Markets 24:51 – Pricing strategy and right-sizing the tube 30:58 – Driving velocity, and the Shark Tank story --------------- Links: HUNDY! – https://hundy.com/ Follow Aviv on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivschor/ Follow Michelle on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleschor/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 24 · 34 min
Inside SKU, the CPG Accelerator | Beau Bergman, SKU
On this episode, we're joined by Beau Bergman, Executive Director of SKU - the CPG accelerator that has put more than 150 consumer brands through its program over the past 15 years, including Siete Foods, DUDE Wipes and EPIC. Before SKU, Beau spent several years at VentureFuel building corporate backed accelerators for Comcast, NBCUniversal, Dick's Sporting Goods and the California Milk Advisory Board. We dive into how the SKU program works: a 12 week track, eight companies per cohort, and the revenue band where Beau says SKU drives the most value, roughly $300,000 to $2.5 million. We get into what founders get wrong once they are in the room, why fundraising strategy and hands on financial modeling are the most consistent knowledge gaps, and the value of mentors. We also cover what corporate strategics look for in emerging brands, why chasing retail doors can be the kiss of death, and why a successful raise can make problems more complex instead of fewer. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🚀 SKU's origin in Austin and 15 years of CPG alumni 📈 The revenue range where the program drives the most value 🧭 What a coachable founder actually looks like on day one 🔍 Diligence questions to ask before applying to any accelerator 🤝 How 800+ mentors get matched to eight companies 🗳️ The two rounds of mentor voting behind every cohort ⚠️ The fastest way to waste a mentor team 📊 Fundraising strategy and financial modeling as the recurring gap 🏭 Founders who switched co-packers mid-program 🥤 A beverage brand that moved from NA to RTD in 12 weeks 🏢 What corporate strategics screen for in emerging brands 💸 Why a successful raise can make problems more complex 🔭 TikTok Shop, protein, pet hydration and gut health --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:06 – SKU's origin story and 15 years in Austin 02:10 – 150+ alumni brands and where they landed 02:42 – The revenue range SKU looks for 03:26 – What breakout founders look like on day one 05:09 – Diligence questions to ask any accelerator 07:39 – The mentor network and why it is the secret sauce 08:32 – Inside the mentor matching process 11:06 – How founders waste their mentorship 12:19 – Biggest knowledge gaps, from modeling to co-packers 14:27 – A beverage brand pivot from NA to RTD 15:35 – What corporate strategics actually look for 19:53 – What is broken in the accelerator model 21:35 – Where SKU grows next and the pet opportunity 24:24 – Know your numbers before anything else 26:18 – Which brands are VC fit and which never will be 28:53 – Alternative financing beyond equity 29:56 – The biggest opportunities in CPG right now --------------- Links: SKU – https://sku.is/ Follow Beau on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/beaubergman/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 19 · 32 min
Why She Left A PhD To Freeze Pasta Sauce | Melaina Balbo, BIS
On this episode, we're joined by Melaina Balbo, Founder & CEO of Bis - the frozen Italian sauce brand selling handmade Pomodoro al Basilico and Pesto Genovese in two ounce pucks. Melaina was deep in a PhD in Italian literature and cinema before she traded the library for the kitchen. We dive into the origin of the brand, starting with the frozen care packages her parents shipped on dry ice when she was a graduate student, and why Melaina became convinced that processing for shelf stability is what makes a jarred sauce taste like it came off a shelf. A big part of the conversation focuses on packaging. Melaina shares what it took to find an individually sealable portion cup, roughly 15 versions in, and how hard it was to get large packaging suppliers to call a small brand back. She breaks down what the new labels finally communicate on shelf, with the hero ingredient front and center. We also get into the accidental first order at her local co-op, why specialty and gourmet stores fit a product nobody expects to find in the freezer aisle, and the buyer feedback that frozen pasta sales lift when Bis sits next to them. Melaina closes with the advice she would give a founder a year behind her. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🇮🇹 What Bis means and why the name works ❄️ The dry ice care packages that started everything 🥗 Why processing for shelf stability changes the flavor 🍝 Two ounce pucks built for cooking for one or two 📦 Testing 15 portion cups before landing on recyclable PET 🍳 Three years in an incubator kitchen 80 miles from home 🏭 The co-man matrix: frozen, format, and state lines 🎨 Why the old packaging was capping the brand 🛒 The sample drop that turned into a first order 📞 Getting large packaging suppliers to call a small brand back 🏷️ Hero ingredients front and center on the label 🧊 Frozen pasta sales lifting next to the pucks 🔮 Home shopping, 3PL, and national distribution ahead --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:59 – What Bis means and the why behind the brand 02:55 – Care packages on dry ice and the frozen insight 04:29 – Portioning the sauce into two ounce pucks 05:42 – The long search for the right portion cup 07:58 – Chef Space and the 80 mile drive to an incubator kitchen 10:41 – What to look for in a co-manufacturing partner 12:21 – The packaging that was holding the brand back 13:01 – The accidental first order at the co-op 14:22 – Getting packaging suppliers to take a small brand seriously 16:06 – What the new labels communicate on shelf 18:23 – Not reinventing the wheel 21:36 – Specialty markets, demos, and local visibility 22:48 – DTC, 3PL, and the cost of shipping frozen 23:39 – Winning shoppers away from the shelf stable jar 24:57 – Why frozen is making a resurgence 25:40 – Hardest lessons as a first time founder 28:35 – Home shopping, national distribution, and what is next --------------- Links: Bis – https://eatbis.com/ Follow Melaina on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaina-balbo/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 14 · 28 min
Building the Shopify of Wholesale | Bryan Mitchiner, Peasy
On this episode, we're joined by Bryan Mitchiner, Co-founder of Peasy - the free wholesale operating system built for independent CPG brands. Before Peasy, Bryan spent a decade building and selling Mustard and Co., then met his co-founder Ryan Conti at Shelf Engine, the Seattle startup that helped grocers optimize ordering. We dive into the decade Bryan spent running Mustard and Co., where he tested every inventory platform on the market, never found one that understood how he actually worked, and kept rebuilding his own spreadsheets until they became the product he wished existed. That tinkering is the direct blueprint for Peasy. Bryan breaks down the business model. Peasy is free with no contract, monetizing transaction volume the way Square, Shopify and QuickBooks do, and he walks through why that made sense when your real competitor is a free spreadsheet. He is also candid about the counterintuitive downside. When signing up is that easy, walking away is just as easy, so the product has to prove value in days instead of months. We also get into how the roadmap gets prioritized against a flood of user feedback, why most feature requests are not what the user actually needs, and the operational mistake Bryan sees sink early stage brands: growing the top line while the margins quietly go underwater. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🥫 A decade running Mustard and Co. and never finding the right software 📊 Why spreadsheets are still the default tool at every company size 🏢 What Shelf Engine taught him about the data behind the software 🤝 Meeting co-founder Ryan Conti and deciding to build together 🛒 Building the Shopify for the wholesale side of the house 💸 Why Peasy is free and monetizes transaction volume instead 🎣 Answering the "if it's free, what's the catch" objection ⚠️ The hidden downside of free (easy to join, easy to leave) 🗺️ How the roadmap gets prioritized against constant feedback 🔍 Separating what users ask for from what they actually need 🧮 The mistake that kills brands: selling more and losing more 📉 Mapping every cost line before the volume shows up 👀 Trends and brands he's watching (Graza, Ayoh) --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:56 – A decade running Mustard and Co. 02:24 – When spreadsheets stop working 04:10 – What Shelf Engine taught him about operations 05:31 – Meeting Ryan Conti and starting Peasy 06:28 – The Shopify for wholesale operations 07:43 – A year in: how brands actually use the platform 09:26 – Why Peasy is free and monetizes transactions 11:30 – Answering the "what's the catch" objection 12:26 – The hidden downside of free 13:55 – Advice on picking a pricing model 14:52 – How the roadmap gets prioritized 16:14 – Separating requests from real needs 17:13 – The feedback loop that converts users 19:50 – Advice for SaaS founders selling into CPG 21:06 – The operational mistakes that quietly kill brands 24:23 – Know every cost before you scale 26:00 – Brands and trends he's watching --------------- Links: Peasy – https://peasyos.com/ Follow Bryan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanmitchiner/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 10 · 42 min
The Coca-Cola Marketer Betting on Pickle Juice | AJ Anderson, Fast Pickle
On this episode, we're joined by AJ Anderson, Founder and CEO of Fast Pickle, the 3 ounce pickle juice shot brand bringing real brine into electrolyte replacement. AJ spent five years at Coca-Cola before becoming a serial entrepenenur. AJ breaks down the formulation proces, copacker sourcing, and why the new label says "intentionally hypertonic" instead of calling itself hydration. We get into the packaging design journey too, from a first label he designed himself, through public critique on BevNET's Elevator Pitch, to the black and electric green look he has now. We also cover the tactical stuff. Packing pallets in his garage, cold emailing roughly a thousand specialty stores, using Amazon Market Basket data to find climbing gyms, and the Danny Wimmer Presents festival partnership he expects will drive 25 to 30 percent of revenue this year. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🏃 The family health scare that reset everything 🥒 Why pickle juice instead of another sweet powder 🧪 Formulating a 570mg sodium shot, no added sugar 📚 Hypertonic vs isotonic, and why "hydration" is wrong 📦 Packing pallets in a garage at the top of a hill ⚠️ Shelving the preservative free version on purpose 🥫 The Recovery Seltzer and its pickle margarita flavor 🎨 Three label iterations, flat green to street black 🛒 Cold emailing 1,000 specialty stores, and the reply math 🎸 Selling shots across 80+ bars at rock festivals 📊 Amazon Market Basket data leading to climbing gyms 🔮 Building a challenger brand in a challenger category --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:16 – Origin story 04:32 – Why pickle juice 05:35 – Launching January 2025 06:24 – Formulation and the 3 ounce format 06:58 – Co-packer selection and real brine 08:43 – Hypertonic vs hydration 10:44 – A polarizing taste 12:37 – Garage fulfillment and the first pallets 15:14 – The preservative decision and natural retail 17:02 – The Recovery Seltzer idea 18:23 – Specialty channels and Fleet Feet 19:23 – Packaging design iterations 23:55 – Advice on brand identity 26:00 – Go to market and profitable growth 29:27 – The Danny Wimmer Presents partnership 36:07 – Cold emailing 1,000 specialty stores 38:56 – Climbing gyms and Market Basket data --------------- Links: Fast Pickle – https://fastpickle.com/ Follow AJ on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/helloaj/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 7 · 41 min
Scaling Butcher's Into the Leading Fresh Bone Broth Brand | Thomas Odermatt, Butcher's Bone Broth
On this episode, we're joined by Thomas Odermatt, Founder & CEO of Butcher's Bone Broth, the leading fresh, organic bone broth brand sold refrigerated at Costco, Whole Foods, Publix, and more. Thomas is a third-generation Swiss butcher who built Roli Roti, America's first gourmet rotisserie food truck, before spinning Butcher's out as a standalone brand. After deboning chicken for Bay Area tech giants, Thomas found himself staring at 10,000 pounds of leftover bones a week and, as a butcher's son, refused to throw them away. That became Butcher's Bone Broth, launched into retail around 2015 as a fresh, refrigerated product in an aisle dominated by shelf-stable aseptic cartons. Thomas walks through landing his first account at Berkeley Bowl, why he's raised the price only once in nearly 12 years, and why he still makes every bottle in-house with no co-packers and no venture capital. We get into winning the club channel at Costco without cheapening the product, pushing velocity instead of chasing margin in the expensive fresh aisle, and adding 800+ new Albertsons doors. We also cover the recent decision to spin Butcher's out as a standalone brand, the packaging thinking behind earning a female shopper's trust, and Thomas's people-first take on management. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🚚 The farmers market loophole behind the food truck 🥼 The white chef's coat that killed the "roach coach" label 🍗 Deboning chicken for Bay Area tech giants 🦴 10,000 pounds of leftover bones a week 🛒 Landing the first account at Berkeley Bowl 💰 Raising the price just once in 12 years 🏭 No co-packers, no VC, every bottle made in-house 🚂 The "Union Pacific" slow-and-reliable growth model 🧊 Winning the fresh aisle on velocity, not margin 🎨 Spinning Butcher's out as a standalone brand 📦 Packaging a butcher's brand that women trust 🏬 800+ new Albertsons doors and product-market fit 🐂 "Grab the bull by the horn" as a management value --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:49 – From a Swiss butcher shop to a Berkeley business plan 02:51 – The farmers market loophole behind the food truck 03:59 – The white chef's coat that beat the "roach coach" label 06:27 – "Five products, five fingers" (and catering Paris Hilton) 07:25 – The leap from food truck to retail CPG 10:57 – 10,000 pounds of leftover bones, and why bone broth 14:29 – Landing the first account at Berkeley Bowl 16:35 – Raising the price just once in 12 years 19:29 – No co-packers: every bottle made in-house 20:57 – Self-funded, and the "Union Pacific" growth model 22:46 – Winning the fresh aisle on velocity, not margin 24:55 – Spinning Butcher's out as a standalone brand 27:22 – Packaging a butcher's brand women trust 29:04 – Winning the club channel without getting greedy 31:34 – 800+ Albertsons doors and product-market fit 33:31 – Listening, culture, and the bull by the horn 37:09 – Where to follow Thomas --------------- Links: Butcher's Bone Broth – https://www.butchers.co/ Follow Thomas on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-odermatt-656a1449/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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August 3 · 42 min
Scaling Clio Snacks to $100M+ and 60,000 Doors | John McGuckin, Clio Snacks
On this episode, we're joined by John McGuckin, CEO of Clio Snacks - the first and only refrigerated Greek yogurt bar - a chocolate-dipped, cheesecake-textured snack. John took the seat as Clio's CEO in 2021 after a long track record of C-suite roles at brands like Sabra, Tribe Mediterranean Foods, and Maya Kaimal. John breaks down why he took the job, how he read the post-COVID shift toward high-protein, permissibly indulgent snacking, and what operators should stress-test before stepping into a founder-led company. John walks through the bet that changed everything: retiring the $1.19 single bar and moving retailers to four-packs and minis at $5.99, which fixed cash flow and unlocked a capital raise. We dig into going multi-channel across colleges, C-stores, and airports, building a dedicated refrigerated snacking set at retail, running cold chain at a 98% service level through a disciplined S&OP process, and Clios' 86,000 sqft plant. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🇺🇦 The garage origin story behind Clio (yes, a real syrok) 🪑 Taking the CEO seat as the first non-founder leader 🤝 What to stress-test before running a founder-led brand 📊 Reading the consumer shift that made yogurt bars work 💵 The singles-to-multipacks bet that fixed cash flow 🚀 Going multi-channel: 450+ colleges, 20,000+ C-stores, 65+ airports 🛒 Building a refrigerated snacking set at retail 🎃 Why seasonal flavors and end caps drive trial ❄️ Running cold chain at a 98% service level 🏭 Owning an 86,000 sq ft plant instead of co-packing 🎯 The single biggest velocity driver (hint: shelf position) 🚚 Getting distributors and brokers to actually work for you 👶 The kids' yogurt gap he's chasing next --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:58 – Clio's origin story (Ukraine, a garage, a syrok) 03:26 – Where the Clio name came from 04:45 – Why John took the CEO seat 07:33 – Advice for stepping into a founder-led brand 10:18 – Betting on a new category: the Sabra parallel 13:00 – From $23M to a projected $120M: the multipack bet 15:42 – Going multi-channel: food service, colleges, airports 18:39 – The new-product and innovation process 19:24 – Building a refrigerated snacking set at retail 21:08 – Seasonal flavors and end-cap wins 23:14 – Cold chain and the S&OP discipline 26:33 – Where the brand sits in-store (and GLP-1) 29:38 – Owning manufacturing and self-funding growth 32:28 – Scaling from 1,000 to 60,000 doors 34:59 – The biggest velocity driver: shelf position 35:49 – Working with distributors and brokers 38:15 – The kids' category he's chasing next --------------- Links: Clio Snacks - https://cliosnacks.com/ Follow John on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfmcguckin/ Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out kitprint.co Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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July 29 · 46 min
Is This the Next Billion Dollar Bottled Water Brand? | Sara Hendershot, Loonen
On this episode, we're joined by Sara Hendershot, VP of Marketing at Loonen - the glass bottled water brand that starts with a spring source, purifies it, remineralizes it, and tests every batch for over 350 contaminants. Sara was previously Director of Marketing at Momentous, and before that a two time world champion and 2012 Olympic rower for Team USA. Sara breaks down how Loonen pairs a high quality spring source with purification, remineralization using Celtic sea salt, glass only bottling, and third party testing for 350+ contaminants printed on every bottle. We get into the brand build: designing for heritage instead of trend (Levi's and L.L.Bean were the references), choosing yellow and blue to cut through a shelf of clear glass and white labels, and engineering a six pack box that can actually ship glass, and which storytelling hooks landed once they hit market. A big part of the conversation focuses on go to market: pricing at $3.79 at Sprouts versus the Amazon six pack, consolidating still and sparkling under one parent listing, growing almost entirely organic with zero paid influencers, and landing a first national account six months after launch. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🐦 The loon: monogamous to one lake until it gets contaminated 💧 The first water that is both spring sourced and purified 🧪 Testing for 350+ contaminants when the FDA requires almost none 🍼 Clara's IVF story and the water lab on her kitchen counter 🏭 Ripping out PVC pipes and replacing them with stainless steel 🎨 Building a heritage brand (Levi's, L.L.Bean, yellow and blue) 📦 Engineering a six pack box that ships glass without breaking 💸 $3.79 at Sprouts vs the Amazon six pack sticker shock 📈 The storytelling hooks that landed and the ones that didn't 🛒 Landing Sprouts off cycle six months after launch 🛻 Route rides, field blitzes, and why every new hire sells 📊 The Amazon playbook: parent listings and organic traffic 🔮 Raising the standard for the entire bottled water category --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:37 – Loonen origin story and what the brand actually is 03:20 – Clara and David: IVF, endocrine disruptors, and Spindrift 05:15 – Why an Olympian started paying attention to her water 06:35 – The bottled water category and why nobody fixed it 09:30 – Sourcing springs and the story behind the loon 12:05 – Educating consumers without fear mongering 14:00 – Competing inside the glass bottled water set 16:20 – Building a heritage brand and standing out on shelf 18:15 – Pricing at Sprouts vs pricing on Amazon 20:15 – The storytelling hooks that actually landed 22:35 – Channel sequencing and the Sprouts launch 25:15 – Route rides and selling in the field 29:20 – The Amazon playbook 32:45 – Demos, field blitzes, and organic social 36:45 – Distributors and brokers 39:15 – Lessons from David Kimmell on scaling beverage 41:45 – Success, standards, and what keeps her up at night --------------- Links: Loonen – https://loonen.com/ Follow Sara on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahendershot/ Loonen on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/loonen/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
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July 20 · 34 min
Curated Convenience: Inside The Goods Mart's Retail Model | Rachel Krupa, The Goods Mart
On this episode, we're joined by Rachel Krupa, Founder of The Goods Mart, the better-for-you convenience store that's reimagining what a 7-Eleven can be. Rachel is also the founder of Krupa Consulting, the CPG and wellness PR agency she's run since 2010, working with brands like Thrive Market, Our Place, and Goop Kitchen. We dig into how Rachel went from running her PR agency to opening a convenience store after founders kept telling her they had no strategy for the convenience channel and The Goods Mart's core bet: a tightly curated shelf of better-for-you brands, no GMOs, no artificial colors or flavors, and accessible pricing so the store never feels precious. Rachel walks through what she actually looks for in a brand, the packaging iterations every product goes through before it scales, and why a small-format store surfaces feedback that velocity numbers alone can't. We also get into the curation business that now drives much of The Goods Mart, placing emerging brands in hotel minibars and corporate pantries for clients like the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and OpenAI New York. Rachel shares her honest take on fundraising, her grocery consulting work, and the brands she can't stop watching. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🏪 From PR agency to convenience store 🥫 The better-for-you gap in convenience retail 🎨 Brand pillars and the case for curation 🛠️ Building the first store with no playbook ☕ Accessible pricing and $2 coffee 🚫 Why The Goods Mart charges no slotting fees 💸 Getting creative with revenue instead 📦 The packaging iterations every brand faces 📊 Small-format stores and real-time customer data 🏨 Curating hotel minibars and corporate pantries 🏬 Consulting on grocery concepts like Flow Grocer 👀 The flat drinks and gummies she's watching --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:51 – Origin story: from PR to convenience store 02:55 – Brand pillars and the case for curation 04:49 – Building the first Silver Lake store 06:38 – Accessible pricing and everyday value 07:48 – Being first to carry emerging brands 08:37 – Why The Goods Mart charges no slotting fees 10:58 – The financial model without slotting fees 12:14 – The curation vertical and COVID pivot 13:50 – Small-format stores and real-time data 16:15 – What brands need buttoned up before pitching 18:56 – Why it's not a shoppy shop 20:19 – Everyday low price over promotions 22:08 – The new Williamsburg flagship 24:15 – Operating in LA vs New York 25:34 – Hotel minibars and corporate pantries 29:17 – Fundraising and consulting for grocers 31:08 – Brands and trends she's watching --------------- Links: The Goods Mart – https://www.thegoodsmart.com/ Krupa Consulting – https://www.krupaconsulting.com/ Follow Rachel on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkrupa/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
- Transcript

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