Bulletproof Your CPG Brand

329. Growth feels harder right now. Not necessarily because your brand is broken. But because the margin for error got smaller. In this episode, Daniel Lohman explains why so many entrepreneurial CPG founders feel like they are working harder than ever — even when sales are growing. Sales may be up, but cash still feels tight. Promotions may move volume, but margin can still get compressed. Shoppe...

328. Trade shows are expensive. Not just because of the booth. Because of everything that surrounds it. The travel. The samples. The shipping. The team. The time away from your business. The lost focus. The delayed follow-up. And the opportunities that quietly disappear after everyone goes home. In this episode, Dan Lohman explains why trade shows don't create ROI. Systems do. You'll learn: Why bo...

327. What if your biggest growth opportunity isn't another retailer? What if it's the customers you already have? In this episode, Chrissy Hammer, co-founder and CEO of Sunshine Buns, shares her journey from family recipe to national retail expansion. She shares the story behind Sunshine Buns, the lessons she's learned scaling a founder-led brand, and why the future belongs to brands that build au...

326. Most founders believe growth solves problems. More distribution. More retailers. More sales. More opportunities. But what if growth isn't the thing that's putting pressure on your business? What if the real problem is complexity? In this episode, I sit down with Mike Fata, founder of Manitoba Harvest and author of Grow , to discuss one of the most overlooked challenges facing entrepreneurial...

325. Retailers don't reward the biggest mission. They reward the clearest value. What happens when one of the most influential founders in natural products decides to start over? In this episode, I sit down with Seth Goldman, founder of Honest Tea and co-founder of Just Ice Tea, to discuss what it takes to build a mission-driven brand in today's retail environment. We explore: • Why Honest Tea's d...

324. Sales are up. Distribution is expanding. Retailers are saying yes. The team is working harder than ever. So why does cash still feel tight? In this episode, Dan Lohman explores one of the biggest blind spots facing entrepreneurial CPG brands today: Growth is not the same as health. The market has changed. The shopper has changed. And many of the assumptions founders relied on for years no lon...

323. The brands that win long term are rarely the brands chasing short-term trends. They are the brands that understand: • changing shopper behavior • emerging category shifts • evolving health priorities • and how to position products before the market fully catches up In this episode, I sit down with Suzie Yorke to discuss: • functional foods • healthier chocolate • category evolution • founder-...

322. Most CPG founders are feeling pressure from every direction right now. Costs are rising. Retailers expect more. Promotions are harder to predict. Shoppers are becoming more cautious. And margins are getting compressed everywhere. The dangerous part? Many founders react before they fully understand where the pressure is actually coming from. And that confusion gets expensive. In this episode,...

321. But very few spend enough time thinking about what happens AFTER manufacturing. And that blind spot quietly creates: • operational friction • retailer problems • deduction exposure • execution failures • damaged customer experiences • and hidden profit leaks In this episode, I sit down with Caitlin to discuss why operational clarity, fulfillment, packaging, communication, and execution discip...

320. Margins are tighter. Costs are rising. Retailers still expect performance. And most founders are working harder just to maintain momentum. But here's the uncomfortable truth: Most brands do not have a spend problem. They have a clarity problem. In this episode, I break down why so many CPG brands are quietly leaking: cash margin execution retailer trust visibility and decision quality We disc...

319. Everything feels harder right now—costs are rising, demand is slowing, and margins are getting squeezed. If you're doing everything right but still not seeing predictable growth… you're not alone. Here's the problem: most brands are making decisions based on data—but not understanding what's actually driving performance. In this episode, I break down: Why data alone is not enough The differen...

318. Your biggest retail mistake (it's not what you think) Your product isn't failing because it's bad—it's failing because shoppers don't understand it fast enough. That gap is costing you sales, shelf space, and runway. In this episode, I sit down with a founder whose product creates an instant "wow" reaction—but only when people experience it. That's where most brands get stuck. We break down:...

317. From Checkpoint to Growth Engine: Reimagining In-Store Sampling Most brands treat demos like a checkbox. Hand out samples, move on, hope sales follow. That approach fails—and it matters because you're wasting money while missing one of the most powerful growth levers in retail. In this episode, I sit down with Andrew from Samplers to break down how in-store demos should actually work. You'll...

316. You have data. Reports. Dashboards. And still… you don't know what to do next. Which SKU should you scale? What should you produce? Why didn't that promotion work? That's not a data problem—and it matters because guessing leads to wasted spend, missed opportunities, and slower growth. In this episode, I break down why most CPG brands get stuck even with great data—and how to fix it using the...

315. You don't need to work more hours to grow your brand. You need more clarity, more discipline, and better focus. Most CPG founders are burned out, overwhelmed, and stuck reacting—because they've stopped prioritizing the one thing that drives everything: their health. In this episode, I sit down with Mark Samuel, founder of Mark's, to break down how discipline, routines, and personal accountabi...

314. You're looking at your trade spend, your promotions, your deductions—and it feels like you're spending too much. But here's the truth: most CPG brands don't have a spend problem. They have a visibility problem. And that matters because the money you can't see leaking is the money shortening your runway. In this episode, I break down the three places your trade spend is quietly bleeding cash:...

313. Building a CPG brand can feel isolating. You're making decisions alone, solving problems from scratch, and trying to figure out retail, marketing, and operations without a roadmap. That's expensive—and it slows your growth. In this episode, I sit down with Kristine Carey, Executive Director of Naturally Colorado, to break down why community is one of the most overlooked competitive advantages...

312. You've invested in better dashboards, better reporting, and better trade marketing software. You're tracking everything—promotions, lift, ROI, deductions—and yet your margins still feel unpredictable and your growth still feels inconsistent. If that sounds familiar, here's the truth: what you think is giving you control is actually holding you back. In this episode, I break down why trade mar...

311. Trade marketing feels like a tax for most CPG brands. You spend money, run promotions, follow retailer plans—and still watch your margins shrink, cash flow tighten, and growth stay unpredictable. The problem isn't trade marketing. It's that you were never taught the system. In this episode, I break down how trade marketing actually works—and why 70%+ of trade spend is wasted. You'll learn why...

310. You're doing everything "right"—promotions, social media, brokers, distribution—and still not growing. Your cash flow feels tight. Your strategy feels reactive. And your product is at risk of being discontinued. The problem isn't you. It's the advice. Most CPG advice fails because it's incomplete. It focuses on tactics instead of systems and ignores how retail actually works. In this episode,...

309. You're not losing at retail because of weak marketing. You're losing because you don't understand how the category works. Most brands rely on reports, velocity, and promotions—but retailers don't buy products, they buy category performance. In this episode, I break down True Category Management—the strategy that separates brands that win shelf space from those that get delisted. You'll learn...

308. Most CPG brands think promotions grow sales. They don't. Pricing strategy does. If your pricing architecture is wrong, deeper discounts and more promotions will only destroy your margins, train shoppers to wait for deals, and drain your cash flow. In this episode, I break down the pricing and promotion architecture that premium brands use to scale profitably. You'll learn how to price for you...

307. You can be "profitable" on paper and still go bankrupt. If you don't understand cash flow, margin, and focus, your CPG brand is at risk — and that matters because running out of cash is the #1 reason businesses fail. In this episode, I sit down with Nate from Future Ready CFO to simplify finance for founders. We break down the real difference between profit and cash, why cash is the lifeblood...

306. Expo West is expensive. If you're "hoping" it grows your brand, you're already losing ROI. Booth fees, travel, freight, samples, staffing — this is one of the biggest trade investments you'll make all year. And most brands waste it because they treat Expo like a sampling event instead of a leverage event. In this episode, I break down the 5 strategic ways to turn Natural Products Expo West in...

305. You're not losing money because you failed. You're losing it because your systems allow deductions to drain your margin before you see it. If you've ever opened a check that was thousands short — filled with vague codes, freight charges, compliance penalties, or unauthorized promo deductions — you know how fast cash flow disappears. In this episode, I break down the Deduction Prevention Syste...