Meaningful Marketplace Podcast

The inspiration couldn’t come from a higher source: Aurora, the Goddess of the Dawn. And it was the dawn of the recreational cannabis laws passing, intersecting with Founder Victoria Pustynsky’s background in beverages that gave her the idea to make cannabis-infused drinks. Her experience was mostly in wines and beers, so she focused on adult audiences and flavors. And Victoria’s target audience w...

Recently launched at The Good Food Mercantile and The Portland Night Market, Portland, Oregon, in April, 2022, Pink Cloud Beverages is out to change the attitude on drinking and enjoying it. Without alcohol. Sierra Thomas is founder driving force behind this beverage product line that is much more than a delicious drink. Being very new as a company, Pink Cloud Beverages is currently targeting Port...

The enthusiasm will come through your ear phones when you hear this week’s guest, Allinee, “shiny” (small “s” on her website) Flanary, founder of Come Thru Market. If you check her website, you will see a true system of farm-to-market education and assistance focused on black and indigenous farmers and makers. There step-by-step tutorials to walk participants through the process of developing a pr...

For background, the Specialty Foods Association’s (SFA) mission is to shape the future of food by championing, nurturing and connecting their members to deliver innovative products and expand the consumption of specialty foods. They have built a culture based on core values that include transparency and integrity to inspire sustainability, creativity and expand their industry. To promote those val...

Avid gardener Traci Hildner loves the Pacific Northwest’s climate and soil because it allows affectionatos like her to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, all filled with fabulous taste and nutrition. But Traci also was interested in keeping as much of the crop as possible and not wasting much, if any of her bounty. And so, she began researching the preservation of our great variety of foodst...

Our hosts are back from the Fancy Foods Show in New York, but with a casualty. Sarah Masoni has become a COVID statistic and while not able to interview with a sore throat on this show, promises us she’ll be back next week for a Fancy Foods Show rundown next week. So Sarah Marshall is interviewing today’s guest, Emily Greene, founder of Foodie Snitch. Emily is a food photographer/journalist and fo...

Our show hosts are headed off to New York next week for the Fancy Food Show. Follow them on @masoniandmarshall . And now for a chocolate show, a fan favorite. Maureen Nikaido, is founder of Moku Chocolate a chocolate company with a great story. Since Maureen sponsored a Nicaraguan child and made a visit to the country, she has been dedicated to spotlighting cacao farmers around the world, Her choc...

Oregon State University supports small farms and the people who run them. OSU’s small farms program offers workshops, online resources and site-specific gatherings that cover the entire state. Recognizing that farm soils, topography, weather and so forth vary greatly across Oregon, the program addresses the different regions and the different knowledge it takes to farm successfully. In-person indi...

It’s always great to be first, and Amana Gillies of House of Spain Olive Oil created the first. The first producer of Premium CBD infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil. However, not JUST the first, but also the best. She uses only the highest quality, organically grown, Oregon hemp derived CBD. Their CBD contains zero heavy metal or heavy solvent residuals and completely non-detectable THC. And they use...

From her Norwalk, Connecticut headquarters Anne Grossman, founder of Rebel Daughter Cookies bakes up much more than cookies. She also bakes up, as her website says, “Women empowerment and giving yourself permission to indulge and savor every bite.” Here’s the story behind the cookie. Rebel Daughter was the nickname given to Anne by her Mother. Always pushing the boundaries, always doing what she w...

Our show’s hosts, Sarah Masoni and Sarah Marshall, are well connected as you know, and today’s guest is connected with Sarah Masoni as a fellow committee member and attendee at the last Fancy Foods show in Las Vegas. Laura Briscoe of Laura’s Gourmet Granola and Sarah are mutual advocates for promoting crafted, artisan, healthy and delicious new foods and provide incredible support to the industry....

In this episode, we break tradition. Meaningful Marketplace interviews female food company founders and female entrepreneurs in the food marketplace. But Tory Campbell’s family business is truly worthy of a message that needs to be shared with the entire food world. Their company, Felton & Mary’s Artisan Foods, produces the magic behind that glorious, mouth-watering global pastime, Bar-B-Queui...

Chef at two trailblazing establishments, Renata Wood Fired Italian Restaurant and Nourish Mindful Meals, Sandra Arnerich is an amazing juggler of fine cuisines. Sandra’s journey started about as early as it can be done; she was, in her words, “…born a chef”. After a couple of years in a Texas school, she realized food was both her passion and her life’s dream and enrolled in culinary school in Can...

When it’s dark, cloudy, rainy and depressing outside and you’re having trouble getting motivated, you need to RALLY yourself. That’s what Alan Maniscalco and Shan Wickham have done for, and to, each other since starting Rally Pizza in 2016 in Vancouver, Washington. And that’s how they feel about their customers, that they too should rally into their restaurant to celebrate, whether a birthday, an...

Lee Hedgmon grew up in Portland, Oregon, there was a culture of craft so making sweet drinks came very naturally and there are plenty of bee keepers in the region and lots of honey. Making a great brew is one thing, selling it commercially is another. So Lee has partnered with other spirits producers, among them Freeland Spirits of Portland, for whom she also works as a distiller. Previously a dis...

We love to interview food founders who also listen to our show, and Ashley Chase is one of them. Ashley has just changed her company name to Bird Food For Humans (originally Bird Seed Food Co); but why? It’s been a big journey for Ashley. Celebrating five years in business, becoming a solo Mom and barely hanging on to her business, Ashley did something both creative and brave. She sent out an emai...

The Specialty Food Association puts on a show, a really big show, It is the largest U.S. event focused exclusively on the specialty food industry and although COVID slowed down the show schedule, our very own hosts, Sarah Masoni and Sarah Marshall, attended the first 2022 show, February 6th through 8th in Las Vegas (yes, it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it). In this episode, they talk abou...

Chef, garden advisor, recipe writer and more! That’s the introduction to Shannon Feltus, owner of Urban Farm Foods, a real information center and shopping place for those who love fresh and inventive meals. Her career began learning from “Gram”, who taught her hearty and wholesome recipes from her secret stash. That evolved into canning foods as a hobby and her generosity evolved into sharing her...

Lots of food entrepreneurs start in their kitchen and then go commercial. But Stefania (please note the spelling) got her start in her mother’s kitchen. A stay at home Mom in Perugia, Italy, Stefania’s Mom along with Stefania’s aunts cooked homemade pasta. Stefania’s Dad worked with farmers and would bring home fresh produce and the family had absolutely delectable dinners. They sat around the tab...

There are a few hot and spicy flavor companies out there certainly. But Althea Potter’s company combines crunchy, hot, spicy and tasty like no one else. Her love for spicy flavors began early. As a mere baby, her parents gave her pepperoncini peppers as snacks and Althea never lost her craving. Whether you call the taste chili oil or chili crisp, it’s all those things and more with a crunch. Takin...

And why would anyone named Robin call her business Vivienne? Vivienne is the French spelling of the name and represents the idea of a Grandmother – Robin’s Wheelright’s best version of a Grandmother – to give people that comforting, genuine feeling when they walk into her Vivienne Kitchen and Pantry, Portlands newest Culinary Bookstore! And to make the feeling even more real, there’s a portrait of...

It will be hard to find Tracy Oseran’s company, Tracy’s Small-Batch Granola on social media. That’s because she focuses her media outreach through her non-profit organization, Urban Gleaners. That’s right, this double-barreled startup founder lives by the philosophy emblazed on her website: “There’s something special about baking by hand and using organic, wholesome ingredients. There’s something...

All entrepreneurs are on a mission of some kind. Something in their lives gave them a strong sense of duty and steeled them to jump out into the uncharted waters of business life. And Essential Convection’s Linda Naylor says it well in her website, “We model and live the soft skills of hospitality – relationally.” It stems from the Supreme Candy Goddess, an imaginary friend created years ago. The...

Our One Hundredth show guest! Kim Wilson of Seattle-based Good King Cacao joins our hosts to explain snacking cacao. It’s a whole, crunchy caramelized cacao bean, exactly like chocolate except it’s processed so it doesn’t melt in a tropical warm climate. The impetus to making a snack that doesn’t melt is Kim Wilson’s story. Having attended two great business schools and worked with the world’s lar...

The pandemic lockdown changed career paths for many people when the industries in which they were employed simply stopped. Besides restaurants, movie theaters and sports, conventions and meetings were closed down. And with it, the jobs that entailed putting on those events. And so it was with Jaime Landsverk whose event management career suddenly disappeared. Not to despair, however. Originally fr...