Brand Start Goes Healthy - Brand Development for Better-for-You Food and Beverage CPG Podcast

Allison Cayne launched her CPG product in Fresh Direct and sold out in 4 hours. She credits this success to how she has built a customer base that has a deeply rooted relationship with her brand. It's not only about growing their email list to 70,000 subscribers but creating that genuine relationship with consumers that lasts for a long time. Listen to this episode to learn:  1) How to make yo...

Being a CPG founder is tough. It takes courage, business acumen, and mental fortitude to succeed. This conversation is both insightful and vulnerable, uncovering not only the business side of CPG but also the realities of being a founder. In this episode, Leonard is joined by Joe Hill, co-founder of One Planet Pizza, who opened up about his ups and downs in building his company alongside his dad....

85% of CPGs fail after two years. One of the main reasons is the inability to generate awareness and drive product trials.  In this episode, Leonard talks to Hank Watt, CEO of Nature's Wild Berry, a Shark Tank brand that's been growing in the past 8 years, who shared how they pivoted their marketing game to drive more awareness and reach more customers. Listen to this episode to learn:  1)...

Driving product trials is a key to success for any CPG company. It's foundational for growth for CPG start-ups, emerging CPGs, and even CPGs that are in growth mode. But how do you get more product trials in such a competitive industry?  In this episode, Leonard is joined by Kevin Smith, a CPG founder and fellow Brand Development Expert who's the CEO of SmashBrand, to talk about the import...

Finding product-market fit in the CPG space is a critical component of success for any CPG brand. It's how you know that you've reached a point where there's promising demand for your product, your marketing is working, and your sales are growing. In this episode, Leonard is joined by fellow CPG expert, Jordan Buckner, who's a former CPG founder himself, to talk about how CPG found...

BTR Nation started as a DTC better-for-you protein bar brand. When scaling, they expanded into retail and grew their door count and distribution channels by 300% at a rapid phase.  Leonard talked to Ashley Nickelsen, its founder & CEO, who shared her journey from getting the product idea when both her parents were diagnosed with a rare form of cancer to scaling it to a $1,000,000+ brand. Liste...

How can you grow your CPG brand this 2024? What are the 3 major growth pillars to focus on? The CPG landscape isn't looking to bolster anytime soon but that doesn't mean you can't have growth opportunities. In my very first solo episode, I talk about the 3 pillars that you can revisit, assess, and immediately act on to drive momentum for your CPG company this year. If you need help in...

For this Part 2 of The Best of Brand Start 2023, we're bringing back key moments and insightful discussions with the following better-for-you food and beverage CPG founders: Mark Samuel on Surviving as a CPG and Packaging Mistakes to Avoid Jake Karls of Mid-day Squares on Using Emotional Marketing for CPG Differentiation Taylor Walker of Spritzal on the Power of CPG Rebranding David Delcourt o...

This 2023, we've featured some of the most inspiring and successful founders in the better-for-you food and beverage CPG space. For the first time ever, we're giving you a year-end treat for a 2-part The Best of Brand Start 2023.  Our team at The Vineyard picked some of the best moments with CPG founders who share their biggest lessons, inspiring stories, and business advice all in 2 episo...

No Sh*t, No Fluff Conversation on CPG Success and Challenges with Mark Samuel of IWON Organics. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) Why you should think long and hard before starting a CPG brand? 2) What is the single most important thing for any CPG company? 3) What's a fatal CPG packaging mistake to avoid? 4) Why should you treat DTC as an independent business? 5) How do you create a ba...

Anika Sawni is the founder of a non-alcoholic beverage CPG brand called Gruvi. In their quest for growth, they learned to take a multi-demographic approach to appeal to a wider audience. She joined Leonard in this episode to talk about how they are navigating CPG challenges and competing in this promising category. Listen to learn:  1) How can you innovate in your CPG category? 2) Does having a bi...

The vegan and plant-based sectors continue to grow but consumer education remains challenging. How do you appeal to vegan customers? How do you expand your addressable market? In this episode, Leonard talks to Radhika Datt, co-founder of One Good, about how they are building a brand that makes delicious plant-based vegan products accessible and affordable in India. Listen to this conversation to l...

Having an e-commerce platform for your CPG brand is a powerful way to grow your business. But it's not as simple as having a website storefront. In this episode, Leonard is joined by Anuraj Naithani of Oath Oats who shared how they are constantly optimizing their website to increase their conversion rates. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) How can you leverage e-commerce as a growth str...

Getting into retail is a key growth tactic but scaling your sales velocity on the shelf can be challenging.  Nikki Seaman, founder & CEO of Freestyle Snacks, talked to Leonard about how she employed a retail-focused go-to-market strategy and 8x their sales in a short amount of time.  Listen to this conversation to learn:  1) How to transform your product from a commodity to a clamored brand? 2...

Not a lot of CPG brands get to a million dollars in revenue. It's even much harder to get to 3x that.  But Chelsie Hodge, founder & CEO of Blender Bites, managed to accomplish it and is looking to build a $10M company by 2024. She joined Leonard to talk about how she grew her brand from her home kitchen to the international stage. Listen to this episode to learn:  1) Why is consumer educat...

Starting a CPG company requires healthy business assumptions. But how do you validate if your assumptions are right or wrong? In this episode, Leonard is joined by Mateen Pouyafar, founder and CEO of Seedly Foods. They talked about: 1) How do you decide on which product to build? 2) Why is founder ego can be a roadblock to growth? 3) How do you test market assumptions? 4) Why does your packaging d...

Achieving profitability in the CPG industry has so many nuances. It's difficult but achievable and requires several factors that you should understand.  In this episode, Isabelle Steichen, founder & CEO of Lupii, joined Leonard to talk about her journey from being a start-up employee to starting her own CPG company. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) Why working on your own idea rath...

Driving product trials is critical to boost CPG sales. It's how you generate awareness, get customers to taste your product, and gain consumer feedback. But it can be a tough and costly game. In this episode, Leonard talks to Mario West, founder & CEO of West Food Brands, to talk about how they are leveraging free samples to acquire customers. Listen to this episode to learn: 1) What are t...

Operating a CPG company has many components and you need to pull the right levers and set the right systems to anticipate and drive growth.  In this special episode, Jessi Freitag, CPG consultant and host of the Start-Up CPG Podcast joined Leonard to tackle all things CPG operations to help founders scale their brands.  Listen to this conversation to learn:  1) What are the operational changes tha...

Capitalization is a constant concern for every CPG company. Funding challenges come almost on an annual basis.  In this episode, Leonard is joined by Aaron Gailmor, founder & CEO of Brass Roots, who shared his experiences in raising funds and managing cash requirements for his better-for-you F&B brand. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) What are the underappreciated costs of building...

Being an early-stage CPG brand is tough but it can have many advantages if you know how to leverage them. In this episode, Christina Drake, founder of Willa's Oat Milk, joined Leonard to share her journey in building a better-for-you plant-based milk brand. She talked about the strategies and tactics that she employed to thrive against bigger brands in their category. Listen to this episode to...

Integrating brand and product development can lead to a differentiated CPG product, especially in highly competitive categories. This was the strategy of Unite, a better-for-you protein bar with flavors that are inspired by global cultures. In this episode, Leonard is joined by its co-founder and CEO, Clara Paye, who shared how they are able to differentiate their brand and gain market share again...

Many better-for-you CPG founders consider retail and DTC as main sales platforms but there are several other viable sales channels that brands can take advantage of. In this episode, Leonard is joined by Matt Cotton, CEO of Rooted Food Sales, where they discussed strategies and tactics to grow sales for CPG brands by widening their reach through food service channels. Listen if you want to learn a...

Spritzal Cookie underwent three rebranding processes within 8 years. It's constantly learning about their market, gaining better brand clarity, and using the insights to iterate their product to better appeal to customers. In this episode, Taylor Walker, COO of Spritzal Cookie Company, came on the show to talk to Leonard on how they transitioned from being a family baking company to a better-f...

Expanding into retail is a major goal for any better-for-you food & beverage CPG brands. But it's cash intensive, requires distribution network, and can be difficult for early-stage CPG companies. In this episode, Leonard is joined by Spencer Lynn, a CPG sales strategist, who shares his retail and sales experiences as the Northeast Regional Manager of KOS, a plant-based protein powder. Lis...