The Startup CPG Podcast

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Hannah Pollack, founder and CEO of Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches—a high-quality ice cream novelty brand celebrating its 10th anniversary. Nightingale crafts elevated ice cream sandwiches using non-GMO, sustainably sourced ingredients in flavors like key lime pie, banana pudding, and caramel churro that melt the way...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Blake Horn and Ryan Hall, both partners at CPG-exclusive law firm Giannuzzi Lewendon , to dig into one of the most overlooked parts of building a brand: doing it legally right from day one. From horror stories at the closing table to the nuances of vesting schedules and co-founder agreements, Blake and Ryan share hard-w...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Denise Lambertson, founder and Managing Partner at Constellation Capital — a boutique follow-in venture fund investing in consumable CPG and wellness brands. Denise brings one of the most distinctive backgrounds in consumer investing: she began her career as Madonna's executive assistant, spent six years producing world...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Gabriella Labi and Tonya Reznikovich, co-founders of Gato Dates—dark chocolate covered, nut butter stuffed Medjool dates in four decadent flavors: pistachio butter, cashew butter and walnut, almond butter, and peanut butter. Gabriella shares how years of working with functional medicine doctors, studying nutrition, and...

In this episode of R&D Radio, hosted by Adam Yee, Adam sits down with Brian Chau, founder of Chau Time — an R&D operations consulting firm lowering the barrier to entry in the food industry. With a team of 12 spanning every U.S. time zone and experience across 20+ countries, Brian walks through the full concept-to-commercialization process and shares why setting clear parameters — with ran...

In this special episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with the three winning brands from Startup CPG's biggest-ever Grocery Run event — held the night before the KeHE Summer Show in Denver. Kiki Couchman (co-founder of Sourmilk), Cam Loyet (founder of Honeymoon Chocolate), and Ryan Raish (founder of Fave) share what it was like to compete among 70 vetted brands in front...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Josh Resnick, co-founder and General Partner at OpenSky Ventures—an early-stage consumer venture firm investing in food, beverage, health, wellness, lifestyle, and the technology that powers growth for consumer brands. Josh brings a rare combination of serial entrepreneurship, deep operating experience, and investor pat...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Edouardo Jordan, founder of Food with Roots—an ethnic food brand based in Seattle, Washington, celebrating Black food ways through products like their award-winning pimento cheese and Southern cornbread mixes. Edouardo shares how a love of cooking with his mom and grandmother in St. Petersburg, Florida led him through...

Think Misfits Market is just a place to offload short-coded inventory? Think again. In this episode, Daniel Scharff sits down with the Misfits Market buying team — Steve Edelman, Jessie Kimsey, and Emma Dineen — to pull back the curtain on the "new" Misfits Market and what it really takes to get your brand into their curated assortment. From the treasure hunt experience they've built for subscribe...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Mollye Santulli, Principal at Springdale Ventures—an early-stage consumer venture firm investing in food, beverage, beauty, pet, personal care, and supplements. Mollye brings a rare combination of brand-side operating experience and investor pattern recognition to the table, having started her career at RXBar, gone on t...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Jessica Hamel, founder of PlantChi, a new type of pantry staple made from superseed blends mixed with flavorful ingredients that you can sprinkle on anything for effortless nutrition from real food. No optimization required. Jessica shares how growing up in a "weird food house" in the 90s, running long distances withou...

In this debut episode of R&D Radio, a series hosted by Adam Yee, Adam sits down with Rachel Zemser, founder of A La Carte Connections. With 30+ years in the field and hundreds of products brought to market, Rachel shares the advice that stops most entrepreneurs in their tracks: before you spend a dime on R&D, find your co packer. Rachel explains why the manufacturing process represents 60%...

In this bonus mini episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Bill Hayes, Director of R&D Applications at Vibrant Ingredients, to finally answer a question that trips up a lot of product developers: what's the actual difference between a tea extract and a tea essence? Bill breaks it down in the most satisfying way — that irresistible aroma that hits you the second h...

Host Daniel Scharff introduces the newest addition to the Startup CPG Podcast family: R&D Radio, a brand new segment hosted by food scientist, serial entrepreneur, and podcast veteran Adam Yee. Going forward, Adam will be interviewing product developers, formulators, and R&D experts to bring emerging brands deep into the world of research and development—without requiring a technical backg...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Sumeet Shah, founder of VHS Ventures, to explore what founders need to know about the diligence process, from balance sheet health checks to building the kind of trust that makes investor-founder relationships last. Sumeet brings over 14 years of experience across consumer investing, private equity, and venture capital....

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Keya Wingfield—founder of Keya's Snacks—a brand bringing Indian heritage to beloved American potato chips. From accidental pandemic pivot to stunningly designed bags landing on shelves at Sprouts and Fresh Thyme, Keya shares the full journey: the origin story behind her Bombay Spice and Black Salt flavors, the deeply i...

In this mini episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff breaks down everything you need to know about the Founders & Funders Roadshow — a brand new series of accessible, city-based fundraising events coming to four cities in 2026. After the massive success of the December Founders & Funders event in New York City, Startup CPG is bringing the same energy and caliber of investor...

In this mini episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Ian Haworth, Business Development Director at FlavorSum, to talk all things flavor—timed with the launch of Startup CPG's first-ever Product Developer Directory. FlavorSum is a fast-growing North American custom flavor manufacturer built specifically for growing food and beverage brands and the formulators who serv...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Megan Westgate—founder and CEO of the Non GMO Project—to introduce her groundbreaking new certification: Non UPF Verified. With nearly two decades of experience in food integrity, Megan unpacks why ultra processed foods are driving a global health crisis, how the new standard was designed to fill a critical gap in the m...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Jamie Borteck, independent board member and advisor, to explore what it really means to bring an experienced operator into your corner—and why the right advisor can be the difference between surviving and scaling. The conversation dives deep into the advisor-founder dynamic, what makes a brand compelling to a seasoned o...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Emmanuel Waters and Courtney Tucker, co-founders of Old Hillside Bourbon Company—a premium spirit brand that celebrates history, heritage, and homage in every pour. What started as a pandemic-era phone call between cousins and childhood friends became one of the most compelling brand stories in the spirits industry, ro...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff reunites with attorneys Adam Marsh and Gabrielle McGonagle from Giannuzzi Lewendon—a top-tier CPG law firm working with over 3,000 brands—to tackle the most frequently asked legal questions from the 33,000+ member Startup CPG Slack community. From friends and family rounds to co-manufacturer agreements, distribution deals to exit read...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Jesse Konig, co-founder and CEO of Jesse & Ben's, to explore what it really takes to disrupt a legacy category, raise capital in CPG, and build a fast-growing brand from the ground up. The conversation dives deep into the reality of fundraising as a first-time CPG founder, the mechanics of running a competitive inve...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Lindsay Hancock, founder of My Better Batch—a clean label cookie mix made with non-GMO ingredients, designed to taste just like homemade cookies. Caitlin and Lindsay dig into the winding road that led Lindsay from helping build a company acquired by Kind Snacks, to navigating divorce as a single mom at 40, to shipping...

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff recaps the biggest investor event of the year—Founders & Funders—with two standout guests: Alex Malamatinas, founder of Melitas Ventures, and Alex Michealsen, founder and CEO of Leisure Hydration. Together, they pull back the curtain on what it's really like to be in the room: from the 10-minute speed dating meetings to the panel...