The Food Means Business Podcast

This month, we’re highlighting members of Hudson Kitchen on the podcast and today, I’m chatting with Jesse McBride, founder of Mademeals, an organic meal delivery service focused on high-quality ingredients. Jesse has faced some challenges along the way in launching his business, but his tenacity in establishing processes for success in his business is admirable.   In this episode, Jesse shares ho...

This month, we’re highlighting members of Hudson Kitchen on the podcast starting with Irene Liu & Jennifer Jolorte Doro, co-founders of Chiyo, a women’s nutritional therapy company. Despite being in the middle of the pandemic, Jennifer and Irene were so passionate about the impact of food on the fertility journey of women, they knew they had to get their business launched ASAP.  In this episod...

Unfortunately, starting a business isn’t free. It costs money to develop your products, market them, hire a team, and everything else that goes along with it. But what happens if you don’t have the funds for your CPG business when you’re first starting out? You find investors and raise capital!  In this episode, I’m interviewing Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, CEO and founder of Damn Right Cocktails, which...

One of the main topics of this show is leaving behind the corporate world to pursue a passion in the food industry. So often, corporate jobs eat up so much of our time that we become burnt out and start looking elsewhere for professional fulfillment. It’s normal to want to leave behind the rat race and do something meaningful instead. In this episode, I’m interviewing Kailey Donewald, founder of S...

Let’s be honest: marketing your consumer packaged goods can get a little boring, right? There’s a certain flow we all follow to get the word out about our products and it can feel like there’s nothing new under the sun. But that’s not necessarily true. Videos, podcasts, and influencers have opened up new marketing avenues that are fresh and exciting. In this episode, I’m interviewing Parker Olson,...

Even the best product ideas need to be tested with research. The consumer feedback received from that research is invaluable. Does your product function the way it’s supposed to? Are your customers loving the flavors, the ingredients, the messaging, the packaging, etc.? Don’t skip out on this important part of the process. In this episode, I’m interviewing Megan Klein, CEO and founder of Little Sa...

Many food business owners have made the jump from the corporate world into entrepreneurship. Some of the skills we’ve learned and contacts we’ve gained in our previous careers can be really helpful when starting a business, and we can pick out the best parts and use them to inform how we run our businesses.  In this episode, I’m interviewing Christina Dorr Drake, CEO and founder of Willa’s Oat Mil...

Partnerships are the key to success in business, especially in the CPG industry. We can’t do it all ourselves. Whether it’s hiring a team or finding investors or working with brands and retailers, partnerships truly help us to grow our businesses.  In this episode, I’m interviewing Ibraheem Basir, CEO and founder of A Dozen Cousins, a natural food brand inspired by the flavors of his youth. Ibrahe...

When it comes to naming your consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brand, you probably already have one in mind. But your customers might not love it as much as you do. It’s important to select a name that makes sense and is easy to remember – and is easy for consumers to find! In this episode, I’m interviewing Alexandra Watkins, renowned authority on brand names and founder of Eat My Words. Alexandra sha...

If you have a CPG (consumer-packaged goods) brand, it can be hard to get the word out on your own, and often new businesses tend to think about public relations last when getting started. With some PR help, you can share compelling stories about your brand and increase consumer interest. In this episode, I’m interviewing Sarah Maguire, a publicist with over a decade of public relations experience....

There are so many things to keep in mind when building a brand, but here’s one you might not have considered: community. What would it feel like to crowdsource everything and end up with a fabulous product that everyone loves?   In this episode, I’m interviewing Michelle Cordeiro-Grant, founder of LIVELY, and founder and CEO of Gorgie. Michelle shares how she built her brand with community, how sh...

Summer Johnson is the co-owner of Zach and Zoë Sweet Bee Farm and started the business in 2015 with her husband, Kam.  Together, they began keeping bees in their backyard to use the hyper-local honey to alleviate their son's allergies. Today, their honey is retailed all over the world, and in dozens of specialty, mass, and boutique stores across the nation. They have expanded the brand's assortmen...

Dominique and Wendy (W.E.) Da’Cruz are a dynamic entrepreneurial couple. Together, they co-founded The Mushroom Angel Company, a plant-based CPG food business aimed at promoting healthier eating habits and environmental sustainability. Their first product, the Cruz Burger, is a mushroom burger patty that cuts and bites like meat but tastes like veggies. During this episode of The Food Means Busine...

Lauren Handel is an attorney for food, beverage, and supplement businesses and entrepreneurs. Lauren helps clients with regulatory compliance and enforcement actions, risk mitigation, commercial contracts, intellectual property, recalls, and disputes. Lauren has more than 20 years of experience as an attorney. She previously was a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP where her practice concen...

Kun Yang is a recent dad and pharmacist-turned CPG entrepreneur. Kun grew up mostly in Canada but has spent his professional life in the US, where he now feels blessed to be building Pricklee Cactus Water with some incredible humans that want to make the world a better place. Pricklee is on a mission to inspire people to be resilient like the cactus through health, happiness, and sustainability. T...

Emily Schildt is the founder and CEO of Pop Up Grocer, the first experience-first grocery store. She has worked for more than a decade in the CPG space, culminating in a role at the forefront of trends. Pop Up Grocer features emerging, better-for-you brands in food, home, beverage, and body care through its temporary and permanent physical locations, and its e-commerce box offering. Emily recently...

Chrissy Mize, founder and creative force behind Raw Honey Copy, is a talented copywriter with over 13 years of experience in the film, TV, and video industries. As a post producer, she has worked on projects for major brands like Apple, Visa, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, and LinkedIn, as well as popular Investigation Discovery shows such as "Wives with Knives," "I (Almost) Got Away With It," a...

The Esendemir Sisters - Arzu, Fusun, and Gonca are the co-founders of the Mediterranean fast-casual concept, Flatbread Grill, and creators of Thumb Bread, an artisanal bread line made with natural ingredients.  Growing up with financial instability, the sisters were inspired by their father's entrepreneurial spirit to start their own business.  The Esendemir Sisters' entrepreneurial journey is an...

Christine Rico has over 25 years of experience in business development and financial management. As the founder of CFO on Speed Dial, Christine works with mission-driven entrepreneurs in the food business to extract meaningful and actionable information from their financial reports, identify specific financial goals, and create profit plans to optimize their bottom line.  During this episode of Th...

Ayeshah Abuelhiga is the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods, the fastest-growing frozen convenient comfort foods company in the United States. She has a passion for providing high-quality, clean-label comfort food options in an industry that was heavily lacking in this area.  At just 28 years old, Ayeshah opened a biscuit-centric restaurant and pop-up series in Washington, D.C., quickly gaining...

In this episode, learn from expert brand strategist Katie Mleziva as she shares her wealth of knowledge in the natural food and beverage industry. With over a decade of experience and a background in marketing and brand management, Katie is the founder of Real Food Brands and the creator of Brand Strategy Streamlined, a tool that helps emerging food and beverage companies become category leaders....

Najwa Khan is the founder and CEO of dalci, a better-for-you food brand that produces indulgent and nostalgic treats. Najwa has a background in public health and has worked in healthcare, wellness, and technology at non-profits, consulting firms, and startups. She has a Master's in Public Health from NYU and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Syracuse University. Najwa started her journey in th...

Introducing Victoria Ho, founder of Sherpa CPG and a fearless food and beverage industry leader. With over a decade of experience as an award-winning brand strategist, clean-label formulator, and commercialization expert, Victoria is dedicated to helping emerging food, and beverage brands turn their meaningful ideas into memorable, retail-ready products. She tackles the essential work of defining...

Nikki Seaman is the CEO and Founder of Freestyle Snacks, a premium olive snack reimagining olives as we know them. She is a proud Whisps, Bain & Company, and University of Pennsylvania alum. When she isn't spending her time taste testing olives, she loves trying new restaurants in Atlanta and exploring parks with her Sheepadoodle. Since launching Freestyle Snacks in 2022, she has gained distri...

Denise is the Founder and CEO of Partake Foods, a natural food company that was inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Launched in 2017, Partake’s first product — delicious, better for you, allergy-friendly cookies — can now be found in more than 10,000 retailers including Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Whole Foods Market. In 2021, Partake released a line of Baking Mixe...