When you think about it, Salmon are a magical fish.  They famously swim upstream to the freshwater tributaries of their birth to spawn. Without salmon, entire ecosystems would collapse. Yet their fate hangs in the balance.  Social entrepreneurs Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud came up with a radical idea to save them.  What if the best way to preserve this keystone species… is to eat it? 

How many grammy winners can you name as investors?  If it’s zero or one, Partake Foods has you beat. Because this great tasting, allergen-free cookie brand counts both Jay-Z and H.E.R. as marquee investors.  Not bad for a brand that launched out of an apartment barely three years ago.  So how did Partake do it? To find out, we sat down with Denise Woodard, the CEO and founder of Partake Foods.

Before he launched Magic Spoon, Gabi Lewis had wondered why no one had disrupted the cereal space.  When he asked around, the experts all told him the same thing:  “Cereal is a dying category.” The truth is, while cereal might technically be declining slightly, it’s still an $11 billion opportunity. And the conventional wisdom that led so many founders to avoid the space actually created major opportunity - opportunity that Gabi promptly seized by launching Magic Spoon in 2019.

Recess is a CBD beverage brand that almost never talks about CBD. How is this possible? Because founder and CEO Benjamin Witte knows that the best beverage brands don’t focus on an ingredient… they convey a feeling.  Case in point: Redbull. You may have noticed that with all their talk of energy, action sports, and giving you “wings,” Redbull never talks about caffeine. Because feeling is more powerful than the ingredient. So why should the CBD category be any different? 

This week’s guest is Dan Gluck, Managing Partner at PowerPlant Ventures. We loved Dan’s take on how COVID is affecting CPG. He talks in depth about how the best companies and leaders are reacting to the crisis, and what you should be doing right now to ensure your success during and after this challenging time.

For the last few years, Jeff Martin has made the same New Year’s Resolution –   “Speak up more.” This week we’re bringing you a very special interview with Pipsnacks’ Jeff Martin. While Pipsnacks is one of our absolute favorite brands, this episode is not really about their business. (Check out Episode 5 for that.) This is a conversation about race and identity, and how those forces shaped who Jeff is as an entrepreneur and as a human being. 

For Brendan Brazier, Pulp Culture all started with a question:  Why are there so many health-obsessed people who are absolutely unwilling to compromise on what they eat, yet so ready to compromise when it comes to alcohol? Why don’t we hold alcohol to the same high standards as food?  The answer, he realized, was that Pulp Culture didn’t exist yet. 

What do you get when you throw a serial entrepreneur, a vegan chef, and Rob Dyrdek in the same room? Turns out, the perfect plant-based pork rind.  This week’s guest is Bill Glaser, the founder and CEO of Outstanding Foods.  Outstanding make snack foods that are full of flavor and free of guilt - both because they’re nutritious, and because they are made completely sans animal products. 

If you’re in the natural foods and CPG space, it’s sort of taken as a given - the Natural Products Expo West is a big deal. The numbers help tell that story. 2020 is on track to be the biggest Expo ever. We’re talking:  90,000 attendees 37,000 exhibitors 20,000 new products debuted But is Expo West right for your brand? And how do you make sure you make the most out of the show? We answer all these questions in this week's featured interview with Mark Mallardi.

There's no getting around it, success in CPG requires this one thing: Repeat purchase.  But how do you get someone not just to try your product, but to come back to you again and again? How do you build a brand that connects on a deep level, and is built for the long term?  This week on Brand Builder we learn the key just might be in creating a "ripple of impact." This week’s featured interview is with Amanda Slavin, the CEO and co-founder of CatalystCreativ.

There’s one question that emerging premium CPG brands need to ask themselves:  Do you want to be a unicorn... or do you want to ride the skate ramp to success? If you’re a little confused, that’s ok. This will all make much more sense once you listen to this week’s featured interview with author and CPG expert Dr. James Richardson. 

This week our guest is William Siff, the founder and Chief Formulator of Goldthread plant-based tonics.  One of the most fascinating things about the Goldthread story is that it’s all part of one continuous project. This is really William’s life’s work. It started with an early interest in local flora, expanded into his decision to become a licensed acupuncturist, and took him down a path that included an apothecary, an organic herb farm, and most recently, a line of herbal tonics. 

From day one, Ryan Fortwendel wanted Minna sparkling tea to stand for something more.  It’s evident in the name itself. The word Minna means “everyone,” and Ryan has spent the last few years creating a brand experience that lives up to this idea.  It’s why he focuses so much on inclusivity and sustainability initiatives, and why he made philanthropic partnerships core to the brand's DNA. 

We know that the success stories are great… and we’ve told a lot of those on this podcast.  But what we haven’t done as much of is shine a light on a success story in the making.  This is one of those stories. 

As we look at the year ahead, we know there will be unforeseen changes, obstacles, and adversity.  So this week, we are talking about a subject that just might change your life - not to mention your business: resilience. Resilience is like a super power. It gives us the ability to turn our challenges into our successes.  To learn how all this works, we talked to Tom Morris, the Sr. Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Performance at Indiana University. 

There's do denying it. Mushrooms are magical. There are mushrooms that can eat plastic, clean oil spills, and even survive irradiated environments like Chernobyl. Mushrooms and other fungi are some of the oldest life forms on the planet, and helped create the conditions for all subsequent plant and animal life on Earth. This week we learn all about building a brand around mushrooms from Tero Isokauppila, the founder of Four Sigmatic.

When we think about training for high performance, we usually think about training our bodies. We might even think about working our craft. But how often do we consider training our emotions? Not very often, right? Well, if we care about performance, that’s actually a huge mistake.

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving, and if you’re anything like me, you’re thinking about one thing right now… Pizza. This week we revisit an interview with MOD Pizza co-founder and CEO Scott Svenson. Scott and his wife and co-founder Ally see MOD as more than just a pizza chain, and a company as more than just a money-making enterprise. They call the approach “enlightened capitalism.” 

Evan Holod isn’t afraid to admit it. Michel et Augustin is hard to say.  It’s not just Michel et Augustin - every French brand that crosses the Atlantic has to contend with the fact that most Americans aren’t exactly Francophiles. According to Holod, it’s precisely this apprehension with the French language that has prevented French brands from connecting with American consumers in a big way. But Michel et Augustin is here to change all that.

If you were only paying attention to the headlines, you’d be forgiven if you thought that the future of brick and mortar retail is a bleak one. But brick and mortar isn’t dead - far from it. In fact, with digital-first players like Amazon getting in the game and pop-ups popping up left and right, one could argue that we’re in a bit of a retail resurgence. To help us uncover the secrets of brick and mortar success, we talk to Dylan Lauren, the CEO & Founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar.

When Saffron Road founder Adnan Durrani first started talking to investors about social entrepreneurship and multiple bottom lines, they looked at him “as if I had nine heads.” But that was thirty years ago. Today, Adnan’s big bet on Millennial values has paid off, and he sits at the helm of a $50 million brand: Saffron Road. Saffron Road specialize in halal foods, and make world-cuisine inspired frozen meals, simmer sauces, and snack foods that are a hit with Millennial consumers.

The Owl's Brew story is a case study in brand building, with all of its challenges and triumphs, its strategy and its serendipity. But I'd argue that you can actually sum up the Owl's Brew story with two words - No compromise.

A lot of brands looking to scale focus on optimizing and growing in the market they’re already in. But at a certain point, you’ve got to think bigger. In order to achieve scale, you have to break into new markets. And that’s what this week’s episode is all about. Alejandro Restrepo is the co-founder and COO of Ekoa, and he’s embarking on the ultimate market breakthrough - taking a successful suite of brands in Brazil and entering the U.S.

This week on Brand Builder, we hear from Oliver Bogner, the CEO and founder of brandable. Brandable is a CPG platform focused on innovating, curating and creating brands that enable people to live their best lives. Think of it almost like an entertainment studio, but for CPG brands. Oliver has a big, audacious vision for brandable: he wants to become the “Millennial Unilever,” with a suite of brands that will be around for the next hundred years.

What does your brand stand for? If you’ve never considered it, now’s the time. Today's consumers - especially Millennial and Gen Z - vote with their dollar, and want to support brands that make a difference, not just a profit.