Allison Cayne launched her CPG product in Fresh Direct and sold out in 4 hours. She credits this success to how she has built a customer base that has a deeply rooted relationship with her brand.
It's not only about growing their email list to 70,000 subscribers but creating that genuine relationship with consumers that lasts for a long time. Listen to this episode to learn: 1) How to make your customers feel connected with your brand?
2) How do you achieve a sold-out launch?
3) Why making your audience part of the brand process important?
4) What are the CPG foundations for growth and scale?
5) How do you handle regrets as a CPG founder?
Learn more about Ali and her brand at https://havenskitchen.com/. P.S. If you're struggling to drive product trials and you want to strengthen your product positioning, I may be the guy to help. I'm opening my CPG Brand Consulting program for strat-ups and emerging CPG founders. Get on a 30-minute discovery call to see if we're fit to work together. Sign up here: https://calendly.com/leogrape/cpgbrand.
Being a CPG founder is tough. It takes courage, business acumen, and mental fortitude to succeed. This conversation is both insightful and vulnerable, uncovering not only the business side of CPG but also the realities of being a founder.
In this episode, Leonard is joined by Joe Hill, co-founder of One Planet Pizza, who opened up about his ups and downs in building his company alongside his dad.
Listen to this episode to learn: 1) Why is testing and failing a critical part of CPG success?
2) What's the #1 challenge to expect when starting a CPG brand?
3) Why scaling down is a growth strategy?
4) What should be your #1 priority as a CPG founder?
5) What does CPG survival truly mean?
Learn more about Joe and his brand at https://oneplanetpizza.com/.
If you find this podcast helpful, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating.
P.S. If you're struggling to drive product trials and you want to strengthen your product positioning, I may be the guy to help. I'm opening my CPG Brand Consulting program for start-ups and emerging CPG founders. Get on a 30-minute discovery call to see if we're fit to work together. Sign up here: https://calendly.com/leogrape/cpgbrand.
85% of CPGs fail after two years. One of the main reasons is the inability to generate awareness and drive product trials.
In this episode, Leonard talks to Hank Watt, CEO of Nature's Wild Berry, a Shark Tank brand that's been growing in the past 8 years, who shared how they pivoted their marketing game to drive more awareness and reach more customers.
Listen to this episode to learn:
1) What's the importance of driving product trials?
2) How to be more effective with your marketing?
3) Why it's important to have a high-margin product?
4) How to get investment from Shark Tank?
5) How to build a brand that people love?
Learn more about Hank and his product at www.natureswildberry.com.
If you find this podcast helpful, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating.
P.S. Get your FREE guide that helps you increase your website conversion rate by downloading your copy of The Complete Playbook to Creating a Killer CPG Website that Converts at www.thevineyardbc.com/freeplaybook.
Driving product trials is a key to success for any CPG company. It's foundational for growth for CPG start-ups, emerging CPGs, and even CPGs that are in growth mode. But how do you get more product trials in such a competitive industry? In this episode, Leonard is joined by Kevin Smith, a CPG founder and fellow Brand Development Expert who's the CEO of SmashBrand, to talk about the importance of branding and product positioning in achieving CPG success. Listen to this episode to learn: 1) What's the #1 factor in driving CPG product trials?
2) Why is brand development at the center of CPG success?
3) How do you find your product differentiation to build a compelling brand?
4) What are the common CPG branding mistakes that you must avoid?
5) How do you create a packaging design that boosts product sales? There are so many more insights that you can learn from this conversation This is probably the most in-depth brand development episode in the entire podcast so be sure to listen to it until the end. Learn more about Kevin and his company at www.smashbrand.com. P.S. Get your FREE guide that helps you increase your website conversion rate by downloading your copy of The Complete Playbook to Creating a Killer CPG Website that Converts at www.thevineyardbc.com/freeplaybook.
Finding product-market fit in the CPG space is a critical component of success for any CPG brand. It's how you know that you've reached a point where there's promising demand for your product, your marketing is working, and your sales are growing.
In this episode, Leonard is joined by fellow CPG expert, Jordan Buckner, who's a former CPG founder himself, to talk about how CPG founders can be more strategic and efficient in finding product-market fit.
Listen to this episode to learn:
1) What are the key steps in finding product market fit?
2) How do you create a product with the customers in mind?
3) What are the 2 ideal audience types for emerging CPG brands?
4) What's the downside of taking investors' money?
5) How do you manage the emotional toll of running a CPG? Jordan also shared an amazing product-market fit tool that you can download here: https://www.foodbevy.com/product-market-fit-calculator/. You can learn more about Jordan and his businesses at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanbuckner/. P.S. Do you have conversion challenges for your CPG website? Then you need our new guide called The Complete Playbook in Creating a Killer CPG Website that Converts to help you increase your website conversion rates. Get your FREE copy at www.thevineyardbc.com/freeplaybook.
BTR Nation started as a DTC better-for-you protein bar brand. When scaling, they expanded into retail and grew their door count and distribution channels by 300% at a rapid phase.
Leonard talked to Ashley Nickelsen, its founder & CEO, who shared her journey from getting the product idea when both her parents were diagnosed with a rare form of cancer to scaling it to a $1,000,000+ brand. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) How do you differentiate your product in a saturated category?
2) What's the key to succeeding in DTC and Amazon?
3) How do you scale your retail door count and distribution channels?
4) What's the number 1 metric when getting on the shelves?
5) Do branding and marketing really yield ROI?
Consider subscribing if you find this podcast helpful.
Learn more about Ashley and support her brand at https://www.btrnation.com/.
How can you grow your CPG brand this 2024? What are the 3 major growth pillars to focus on? The CPG landscape isn't looking to bolster anytime soon but that doesn't mean you can't have growth opportunities.
In my very first solo episode, I talk about the 3 pillars that you can revisit, assess, and immediately act on to drive momentum for your CPG company this year. If you need help in growing your CPG brand, don't hesitate to reach out and schedule a free 30-minute discovery call: https://calendly.com/leogrape/discoverycall.
P.S. Our new FREE guide called The Complete Playbook to Creating a Killer CPG Website that Converts to help you increase your website conversion rate is now available for download. Get your FREE copy at www.thevineyardbc.com/freeplaybook.
For this Part 2 of The Best of Brand Start 2023, we're bringing back key moments and insightful discussions with the following better-for-you food and beverage CPG founders:
Are you enjoying this podcast? Consider subscribing so you can be updated as we bring you more insightful and amazing episodes this 2024. Want free daily tips on CPG Brand Development? Connect with me on LinkedIn at Leonard Grape! As a holiday request, would you consider leaving us a 5-star rating? And would it be crazy to ask if you can leave a comment? This will help us grow the show and help more founders! Have a great holiday and see you again in 2024!
This 2023, we've featured some of the most inspiring and successful founders in the better-for-you food and beverage CPG space. For the first time ever, we're giving you a year-end treat for a 2-part The Best of Brand Start 2023.
Our team at The Vineyard picked some of the best moments with CPG founders who share their biggest lessons, inspiring stories, and business advice all in 2 episodes. In this 1st part, you'll hear valuable insights from:
Who do you want to see next on the podcast? Let us know!
If you want to get more CPG insights, follow me on LinkedIn at Leonard Grape for daily brand development, CPG industry, and entrepreneurial posts. Thanks for joining us this year and see you in 2024! P.S. We're offering a free 45-minute brand call to help you address your main challenges and give you insights on how to leverage brand development to grow your business. Visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk to avail.
No Sh*t, No Fluff Conversation on CPG Success and Challenges with Mark Samuel of IWON Organics.
Listen to this conversation to learn:
1) Why you should think long and hard before starting a CPG brand?
2) What is the single most important thing for any CPG company?
3) What's a fatal CPG packaging mistake to avoid?
4) Why should you treat DTC as an independent business?
5) How do you create a balanced lifestyle as a CPG founder?
Subscribe to this podcast if you want more valuable and insightful CPG conversations.
Learn more about Mark Samuel and support their brand at https://iwonorganics.com/.
If you need help in making your product stand out and build a differentiated brand, feel free to reach us at www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
P.S. It's Leonard here and it's been an amazing ride getting to this 70th episode. I want to thank all of you for your continued support - for every single subscriber and listener, for every wonderful guest, and to our great team at The Vineyard, the brand development firm for better-for-you CPGs for producing this show.
Here's to the next 70 episodes! Cheers!
Anika Sawni is the founder of a non-alcoholic beverage CPG brand called Gruvi. In their quest for growth, they learned to take a multi-demographic approach to appeal to a wider audience. She joined Leonard in this episode to talk about how they are navigating CPG challenges and competing in this promising category.
Listen to learn:
1) How can you innovate in your CPG category?
2) Does having a big WHY help with business growth?
3) How do you build a movement with your product positioning?
4) What is a multi-demographic marketing approach?
5) What are the 3 components of beverage CPG growth?
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more weekly CPG episodes.
Learn more about Anika and support their brand at https://www.getgruvi.com/.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
The vegan and plant-based sectors continue to grow but consumer education remains challenging.
How do you appeal to vegan customers? How do you expand your addressable market?
In this episode, Leonard talks to Radhika Datt, co-founder of One Good, about how they are building a brand that makes delicious plant-based vegan products accessible and affordable in India.
Listen to this conversation to learn:
1) Why must you know your trademark laws when naming your brand?
2) What is an effective consumer marketing strategy for plant-based CPGs?
3) What are the challenges and opportunities in the plant-based industry?
4) Why product expansion is more than just SKU expansion?
5) Why do all CPGs need to be a distribution-heavy company?
Subscribe to this podcast if you find this episode helpful.
Learn more about Radhika and support their brand at https://onegood.in/.
P.S. Are you a better-for-you food and beverage CPG who wants to build a brand that stands out, appeals to customers, and drive product trials? Then we can help you through our brand development expertise. Explore how we can work together by visiting www.thevineyardbc.com.
Having an e-commerce platform for your CPG brand is a powerful way to grow your business. But it's not as simple as having a website storefront.
In this episode, Leonard is joined by Anuraj Naithani of Oath Oats who shared how they are constantly optimizing their website to increase their conversion rates.
Listen to this conversation to learn:
1) How can you leverage e-commerce as a growth strategy?
2) What are the two buying stages of online consumers?
3) How can you integrate purpose into your CPG brand?
4) How do you build a content creator-led product?
5) What are some effective tactics to boost your online sales?
Don't forget to subscribe if you find this podcast helpful.
Learn more about Anu and support their brand at https://oathoats.com/.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help in revamping your website to help your DTC sales, contact us at www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Getting into retail is a key growth tactic but scaling your sales velocity on the shelf can be challenging.
Nikki Seaman, founder & CEO of Freestyle Snacks, talked to Leonard about how she employed a retail-focused go-to-market strategy and 8x their sales in a short amount of time. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) How to transform your product from a commodity to a clamored brand?
2) How do you grow from 0 to 1,600 stores in less than 2 years?
3) What are the upsides and challenges of expanding into retail?
4) How do you execute an effective packaging strategy?
5) What is the effective CPG marketing framework to grow your retail sales by 8x? Like this podcast? Be sure to subscribe and share it with others.
Learn more about Nikki and support her brand at www.freestylesnacking.com.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Not a lot of CPG brands get to a million dollars in revenue. It's even much harder to get to 3x that. But Chelsie Hodge, founder & CEO of Blender Bites, managed to accomplish it and is looking to build a $10M company by 2024. She joined Leonard to talk about how she grew her brand from her home kitchen to the international stage. Listen to this episode to learn: 1) Why is consumer education critical for CPG success?
2) What are the packaging mistakes to avoid?
3) How do you manage a high-risk, high-return situation?
4) How do you expand cross-market internationally?
5) How do you raise money through an IPO?
Did you find this helpful? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast for weekly new episodes. Learn more about Chelsie and support her brand at www.blenderbites.com.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Starting a CPG company requires healthy business assumptions. But how do you validate if your assumptions are right or wrong?
In this episode, Leonard is joined by Mateen Pouyafar, founder and CEO of Seedly Foods.
They talked about:
1) How do you decide on which product to build?
2) Why is founder ego can be a roadblock to growth?
3) How do you test market assumptions?
4) Why does your packaging design need evolution?
5) What is the biggest metric for CPG success?
Learn more about Mateen and his brand at https://www.eatseedly.com/.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Achieving profitability in the CPG industry has so many nuances. It's difficult but achievable and requires several factors that you should understand.
In this episode, Isabelle Steichen, founder & CEO of Lupii, joined Leonard to talk about her journey from being a start-up employee to starting her own CPG company. Listen to this conversation to learn:
1) Why working on your own idea rather than for others can be a strong motivator?
2) What are the core elements of CPG profitability?
3) How to grow as an early-stage CPG brand?
4) How do you handle crises and uncertainties?
5) What are the growth tactics that can help you scale?
Subscribe to this podcast if you find it helpful. Learn more about Isabelle and support her brand at www.getlupii.com.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Driving product trials is critical to boost CPG sales. It's how you generate awareness, get customers to taste your product, and gain consumer feedback. But it can be a tough and costly game.
In this episode, Leonard talks to Mario West, founder & CEO of West Food Brands, to talk about how they are leveraging free samples to acquire customers.
Listen to this episode to learn:
1) What are the inexpensive ways to validate your product?
2) How can you generate 100% ROI with your product sampling?
3) Why competitive scan can be a game-changer for CPG start-ups?
4) How can you market your product differently?
5) What are the pitfalls to avoid to succeed more with Amazon?
Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a rating. Learn more about Mario and his brand and businesses at https://westfoodbrands.net/.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Operating a CPG company has many components and you need to pull the right levers and set the right systems to anticipate and drive growth.
In this special episode, Jessi Freitag, CPG consultant and host of the Start-Up CPG Podcast joined Leonard to tackle all things CPG operations to help founders scale their brands. Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) What are the operational changes that can bring huge impact to a CPG company?
2) What are the systems and tools that can help increase efficiencies?
3) How do you overcome common scaling challenges that CPG founders face?
4) Why is branding important in growing a CPG company?
5) What is the number 1 success quality of a CPG founder?
Subscribe to the podcast if you find this helpful. Learn more about Jessi and how she can help you run your operations at https://jessifreitag.com/. You can also check the Start-Up CPG podcast in all platforms.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
Capitalization is a constant concern for every CPG company. Funding challenges come almost on an annual basis. In this episode, Leonard is joined by Aaron Gailmor, founder & CEO of Brass Roots, who shared his experiences in raising funds and managing cash requirements for his better-for-you F&B brand.
Listen to this conversation to learn: 1) What are the underappreciated costs of building a CPG brand?
2) How do you drive product trial and build brand affinity?
3) What mindset shifts are happening on CPG profitability?
4) What is the biggest challenge for early-stage CPG brands?
5) How do you overcome obstacles as a CPG founder?
Be sure to subscribe to show if you find this helpful and help other CPG founders by sharing this podcast. Also, learn more about and support Aaron's company at https://brassrootsfood.com/.
P.S. We help better-for-you food and beverage CPG brands stand out, appeal to customers, and drive product trials through brand development. If you need help, visit www.thevineyardbc.com/talk.
