The Food Means Business Podcast

Nobody tells you how it's going to feel to be a founder. The doubt, the comparison, the exhaustion of being the visionary and the operations manager at the same time, those are the things Regina L. Henry, founder of RLH Global, has been helping Food Business Bootcamp founders navigate for eight years. In this episode, she and Djenaba get honest about what building a food business actually feels li...

Before you price your product, raise money, or pitch a buyer, there is one question you need to answer: what kind of business are you building? In this episode, fractional CFO and SFT Consulting co-founder Elena Minton breaks down the three paths food founders take and why your answer shapes everything from your cost structure to who you let in the door.

Kelsey Bross built Kel's Kitchen Table with a granola recipe, a farmers market tent, and a willingness to listen. A year and a half of weekends spent talking directly to customers taught her more about her product than any spreadsheet could. In this episode, she shares how she built her brand from the ground up, what the Summer Fancy Food Show changed for her, and why she chose to grow on her own...

By the time Rachel Cheng joined co-founders Marlon and Ben to build Yay's Snacks, she had spent seven years learning what it takes to build a food operation that gives a founder room to lead. In this episode, she shares the systems, the team culture, and the mindset that create space for a founder to grow the business, rest, and actually live.

Eve Chery sat on her Pikliz recipe for five years before the Food Business Bootcamp finally moved her to act. In this episode, the founder of C'est Si Bon Pikliz talks about bringing a beloved Haitian condiment to market and the unexpected discovery she made about her own relationship to her culture.

Alli Meyer has spent her career turning data into decisions, from her early days at IRI (now Circana) to brand work at Applegate Farms and Dr. Praeger's. In this episode she breaks down what market research actually is, why most food founders either skip it or overthink it, and why Yahoo Finance might be the most underrated tool in your research stack.

Ryan Mulligan spent 12 years in CPG consulting before walking away to build the brand he always wanted. In this episode, he talks about launching Morty's Naturally Leavened White Sourdough Bread, the dog behind the name, and why there is never a right time to start, only the time you decide to go for it.

Christina Branco of Starving Artist Food Photography has spent her career capturing food in a way that tells a story. In this episode she breaks down her process, explains why props are about guiding the viewer not decorating the shot, and shares the one question every food founder should ask before hiring a photographer.

Arnelle Thomas of Irie Brew Kombucha shares how Caribbean culture and a passion for wellness led her to kombucha, what the Food Business Bootcamp® taught her about commercializing a volatile product, and why she believes you can do it and figure it out at the same time.

Dr. Jonathan Deutsch of the Drexel Food Lab shares what separates a delicious home recipe from a commercially viable product, the one word every food entrepreneur needs to learn, and why you should talk to a food scientist before you spend a single dollar.

Lan Luong spent a decade raising her kids with intention — whole foods, healthy habits, no shortcuts. When she went back to work and couldn't find a portable snack worthy of what she'd built, she made one. In this episode, Lan shares how a Vietnamese childhood staple became Chicka Chew, what the Food Business Bootcamp® taught her about turning a family recipe into a real product, and why her son L...

Bea Saludo Francisco has worked on some of the biggest names in CPG, Pringles, Cheez-Its, Unilever, and now she brings that same strategic rigor to early-stage food founders through her creative agency, Opus Hours. In this episode, Bea breaks down the brand development process she uses with Food Business Bootcamp® founders, from creative briefs and mood boards to packaging design and flavor rollou...

Karen Merz of Next Level Grains shares how a COVID-era rabbit hole into home flour milling became a food brand, what she learned about operations and margins in the Food Business Bootcamp®, and why she developed a children's book and DIY kit to bring customers into the grain-to-cookie experience.

Maria Javier of Toasty Polvo shares how she pivoted from 15 years in government and nonprofit to launching a Filipino shortbread brand, why she chose food service over retail as her go-to-market strategy, and why the best way to reach your customer is to let them experience your product first.

Sarah Hwang of Gamsa Foods shares how she turned a childhood staple into a Korean-inspired breakfast brand, what she learned about building a category that barely exists, and why knowing your why matters more than having the perfect plan.

Alejandro Quintero Corral of Mucha Macha shares how he turned a beloved Mexican chili crisp into a CPG brand, what he learned about operations from building inside the Food Business Bootcamp®, and why taking the first step matters more than having all the answers.

In this episode, Juliette "Juju" Clark shares how she went from home kitchen to market-ready in under a year, what the Food Business Bootcamp® Startup Accelerator taught her about building under pressure, and why she believes food founders should never do a stealth startup.

Coby Farrow didn’t set out to launch a beverage brand.  But when a restaurant concept he was working on fell through, he couldn’t shake the idea of turning avocado seed tea into something bigger. What started as a kitchen experiment quickly became a crash course in CPG, with plenty of hurdles along the way, as Coby embarked on a years-long journey to establish Avsome Brand. In this episode, Coby s...

JW Wiseman started his career in marketing and not specifically in the food industry. But that didn’t stop when he decided to branch out into the CPG industry via non-alcoholic cocktails. After years in the corporate world and seeing how alcohol was embedded into networking and socializing in the sphere, he wanted an alternative, and one that used better ingredients than what he could find on the...

When you’re starting out creating a CPG brand, one of the most challenging aspects can be simply getting eyes on your product. It’s hard to sell when no one knows you exist, and it’s also hard to create an audience from scratch. But what if you could borrow someone else’s audience to jump start the process? In this episode, Mike Currie, fractional CMO and marketing advisor, is here to break down h...

Jana didn’t necessarily plan to start a CPG business… she just wanted better snacks for her kids that they would actually eat.  But after struggling to find the products that would work for her family, she turned to making her own, first in the kitchen at home and then eventually through her company, Happy Wolf, a snack bar company using allergen-free and no sugar added ingredients. Despite all he...

At the beginning of his career, Josh Johnson didn’t plan on starting a CPG company with his wife and sister, but now that he’s here, he wouldn’t have it any other way. While business and family might be a volatile mix for some, but when it comes to the Poppa’s Custard Company, that’s part of the magic.  In this episode, Josh Joshson joins me to share how he planned out his transition from corporat...

When it comes to creating amazing CPG products, one often overlooked aspect is the difficulty of actually sourcing the necessary ingredients, especially if they are specialty. And that’s where Ingredient Brothers comes in. In this episode, Eran Mizrahi, co-founder of Ingredient Brothers, is here to break down supply chain logistics for us. He’s sharing the importance of having company partners you...

You can make an amazing product, start the best marketing campaign, and partner with national chains… But if your product doesn’t make it to the stores, or more importantly, your end user, none of that actually matters. In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Andrew Lynch of Zipline Logistics on why young CPG brands shouldn’t overlook the logistical aspects of their business. Andrew shares how he go...

When it comes to PR and marketing for CPG brands, good design and strategic plans are important… But what if you could spread the word about your product through authentic relationships with partners who are just as enthusiastic about your product as you are? In today’s episode, I’m joined by Alison Seibert, founder of The James Collective, to talk about her unique approach to building relationshi...