It’s awards season! Well at least here at Startup CPG it is. If you aren't aware, we have our very own annual industry award competition at Startup CPG, and this year is the Third Annual Shelfies Awards, proudly sponsored by Floret, where we recognized the most promising emerging CPG brands. Startup CPG wanted to create opportunities for industry recognition with no entry fee, no essays, and only for emerging brands. This year the categories expanded beyond food, beverage, and supplements to include pet, beauty, and health products, and we received over 600 submissions that have been narrowed down to 76 finalists across 21 categories. I thought it would be fun to have the two main judges and coordinators behind the Shelfies on the show to talk about trends and some of the finalists. You may know the names and voices of Patricia Menegoto, Startup CPG’s Head of Marketing & Community & Jenna Movsowitz, our Startup CPG Spotlight Magazine Managing Editor. We didn't have time to discuss every finalist, even though we love them all so much, so I've linked in the show notes the latest magazine edition with all the finalist brands you'll be wanting to try and celebrate. We’d love for you to join the LinkedIn live awards ceremony in a few weeks on September 28, 2023; you can find the link in the show notes or on our Startup CPG LinkedIn page. Also, a fair number of the brands mentioned today are either backpack or innovation brands at Expo East, so if you are headed to Philadelphia, be sure to stop by to try for yourself. There will also be a Shelfies celebration meetup in LA in October and details will be in Slack and the newsletter soon. Now let’s talk Shelfies!

Episode Links:

• Startup CPG Spotlight Magazine: Frozen Edition & Shelfie Finalists
• Attend the Shelfies Awards Ceremony on LinkedIn Live on September 28, 2023
• Shelfies Award sponsor Floret
• Jenna’s LinkedIn
• Patricia’s LinkedIn
• Startup CPG Pet Judges Video on Instagram
• Mentions: Toum by Saha, Sohha Savory, Culture Kitchn Kombucha, Pedestrian Project, Daybird, Jaded CBD, Bonny, Funk It Wellness, Tend Prenatal, Recoup Wellness, Twrl Milk Tea, Hooch Booch, Immorel, Krushwell, Thrive Market, House of Kajaana, Kula, NoBull, Something Sweet, Kind Roots, Ghost Town Oats, Seeductive Foods, Rebel Cheese, Goddess Mousse, Full of Beans Kitchen, Better Sour, Bundle & Joy, Petaluma, A Better Treat, Homescape Pets

This episode was sponsored by Settle. Go to https://www.settle.com/startupcpg
This episode was sponsored by Graphite Financial. Go to graphitefinancial.com/cpg

Settle Links:

• Settle website
• Find out your Settle financing power here

Graphite Financial Links

• Graphite Financial website
• Download a free financial model template, chart of accounts template, and more here
• Listen to our episode with Graphite founder, Paul Bianco, episode #96 here.

Show Links:

• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (14K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Jessi Freitag's Linkedin or website
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Jessi at [email protected]
• Episode music by Super Fantastics