The Duck Pond Podcast | Tips for CPG Brands to Take Flight

Today we’re featuring Jay Williams , founder of Free Bird Water, a brand built around the simple but powerful idea of delivering clean, crisp spring water in tall 19.2 oz aluminum cans, sourced from the Blue Ridge Mountains and crafted for everyday Americans who work with their hands, hustle hard, and value authenticity over hype. Under Jay’s leadership, Free Bird has positioned itself as water “f...

Today we’re featuring Keith Bearden, CEO of Alter Eco, the chocolate and snack brand redefining indulgence by making sustainability, ethics, and delight inseparable. Under Keith’s leadership, Alter Eco champions regenerative agriculture, fair-trade sourcing, and compostable packaging, proving you can enjoy delicious, premium chocolate and snacks and help heal the planet. We’ll dig into: How Alter...

Today we’re featuring Adam Deremo, co-founder of AWAKE Chocolate, the brand that flipped the script on energy and indulgence by putting caffeine into chocolate. Instead of coffee or energy drinks, AWAKE delivers a pick-me-up in bite-size and bar-form chocolate , each bite packing roughly half a coffee’s brew: 50 mg caffeine, fair-trade, gluten-free, no artificial stuff. We’ll dig into: How AWAKE p...

Today we’re featuring Michelle Valdez-Wilton, founder of Date Better Snacks, the brand reinventing what a “better-for-you treat” can be, using Medjool dates stuffed with nut butter and enrobed in organic chocolate, all designed to give you that indulgent treat without the guilt. What started in her home kitchen during the COVID-era has blossomed into a fast-growing snack company now stocked in hun...

Today we’re featuring Alda Karen Hjaltalín , founder of SKINERGY , a brand redefining what wellness drinks can be by blending skincare, function and flavour in every sip. Alda turned her passion for wellness and ingredient innovation into a drink that delivers on skin, energy and purpose, all while preserving a great taste and strong identity. We’ll dig into: How SKINERGY positions itself in the w...

Today we’re got Marco Biscarini , co-founder of Vibrant Meals, the Chattanooga-based meal-prep brand that’s on a mission to make healthy eating easy, accessible and chef-crafted. Marco and his wife Romana blended her background in high-performance meals for athletes with his tech-ops experience to build a ready-to-eat meal service that delivers fresh, scratch-made meals with no compromises. We’ll...

Today we’re featuring Veronica Panzardi , founder of edggies veggies, the brand making veggie-intake effortless with flavor-neutral, air-dried kale sprinkles that last two years and slide into your meals like seasoning. Veronica traded her investment-banking career to launch a product rooted in nutrition, convenience, and taste, and she’s building a brand wrapped in mission, design, and more veggi...

Today we’re featuring Philip Kosak , founder of Wicked Crisps, the brand on a mission to deliver “deliciously deceptive” veggie-based crisps that are baked (never fried), gluten-free, non-GMO, and crafted for taste and purpose. Phil holds a PhD in Food Science and began his snack journey in 1981 in a small warehouse, now he’s tackling flavor, nutrition, and inclusive job creation all at once. We’l...

Today we're excited to sit down with Llance Kezner , co-founder of Millie’s Sipping Broth, the innovative brand that re-imagined soup by turning savory broth into tea-bag-style convenience. Llance and his wife took a home-made idea out of the kitchen and scaled it into a multi-million-dollar category disrupting beverage and wellness shelves, landing in national retailers like Walmart and Sam’s Clu...

Today we’re featuring Ali Elliott , founder of Farmer Foodie , the brand reinventing what vegan cheese can be with their Cashew Parm, dairy-free, gluten-free, shelf stable, and full of umami. Alison started as an organic farm educator and recipe developer; she launched her first Cashew Parm product just days before graduating. Her brand is built on sustainability, clean ingredients, and making che...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast, where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves, covering branding, marketing, packaging, and the grit behind it all. Today we’re featuring Kiki Couchman , co-founder of Sourmilk , a Greek-style yogurt made intentionally for your gut. Kiki left private equity to build Sourmilk wi...

Today we’re featuring Brittney Cook , co-founder of Something Sweet , the premium frozen brown butter cookie dough brand that makes baking feel like magic. Something Sweet offers pre-portioned, ready-to-bake dough with no mess, no artificial stuff, and real ingredients you can trust. We’ll dive into: How Something Sweet balances indulgence + simplicity in the frozen dessert aisle The origin of the...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast, where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves, covering branding, marketing, packaging, and the gritty bits in between. Today we’re featuring Aadit Patel , founder of Confusion Snacks , the ethnic-fusion snack brand that blends bold Indian spices with American snack formats. Aa...

Today we’re featuring Sam Nelson , co-founder of BAR-U-EAT , the snack bar brand born from his time in Iceland and built around ingredient integrity and sustainability. BAR-U-EAT is crafted with whole, simple ingredients and packaged in plant-based, BPI-certified compostable wrappers, the first in the bar world to do so. We’ll dive into: How BAR-U-EAT positions itself in the clean / sustainable sn...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast, where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves, covering branding, marketing, packaging, and the hard stuff in between. Today we’re featuring Thereasa Black , founder of Bon AppéSweet , a date-sweetened, plant-based chocolate brand rooted in devotion, integrity, and flavor. Ther...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast, where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves, covering branding, marketing, packaging, and the hard stuff in between. Today we’re featuring Joe and Drew , founders of Smearcase , the creators of FroCo, the world’s first frozen cottage cheese ice cream. Joe turned his frustrati...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast, where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves, covering branding, marketing, packaging, and the hard stuff in between. Today we’re featuring Caroline Brain , founder of Kif Nature’s Soda , a fermented kefir-style soda built for gut health. Caroline turned her own struggles with...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves. From branding, marketing, to packaging and hardships. Today we're featuring Brittany Boeckle, founder of 3 snack brands, and we're diving into Knack Snacks, a healthy candy snack alternative that has been shaking up store aisles. Br...

Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves. From branding, marketing, to packaging and hardships. Today we're featuring Amy Bett, founder of Melo, a non-alcoholic sparkling kava beverage that helps you unwind in under 10 minutes boasting zero sugar, zero calories, and no hang...

In today’s episode, we’re featuring Tracy Luckow, co-founder of Whipnotic, a disruptive CPG brand that’s reinventing whipped cream with a patented flavor-swirl design. Alongside her sister Lori, Tracy has turned an everyday grocery item into a DTC sensation that’s shaking up shelves and creating buzz in the food and snack industry. In just three years, Whipnotic has: ✅ Built a loyal following wit...

This is our first episode of our new Duck Pond Podcast where we bring on founders, creatives, and brilliant minds to get behind the scenes on how to bring a product onto store shelves. From branding, marketing, to packaging and hardships. Today we're featuring Grace Finerman, found of Date Smarter, a healthy candy snack alternative that has been shaking up store aisles. She's been spearheading rap...