"Every inch of shelf space is rent. And that rent is paid in velocity."

Kara Rubin spent a decade at Whole Foods overseeing grocery for the entire Northeast region before moving to the brand side as VP at Just Water, where she helped take the company from the brink of bankruptcy to $25m in revenue. She now runs a consultancy with her business partner Ira, helping brands based outside the US navigate their entry into the American market.

In this episode, the first in our mini-series on cracking the US, Kara gives UK brands a clear-eyed look at what they're actually walking into:

• Why the US is not one market, and what that means for logistics, distribution and channel strategy
• What a buyer at Whole Foods is actually evaluating — and why velocity is the only currency that matters
• The real timeline from first conversation to product on shelf (it's longer than you think)
• Why your UK backstory is probably neutral at best, and what actually builds credibility with US retailers
• Certifications, claims and regulatory pitfalls that catch international brands off guard
• Whether you can run a US business from the UK (short answer: no)
• When to hire a broker, and what a fractional sales lead looks like in the early days

Part one of our three-part series on launching in the US. Next up: Zachary DeAngelo of Rodeo CPG on the operational mechanics - brokers, margins, channel sequencing, and what the data actually tells you.

‘Sales cures all ails’

Zachary DeAngelo is the founder of Rodeo CPG, a US sales and broker agency that caps its portfolio at 30 brands and has worked with the likes of Huel on their US retail launch. Having founded and sold his own brands, including baby food company Little Duck Organics, Zach brings a founder's perspective to the notoriously complex US go-to-market.

In this episode, the second in our mini-series on cracking the US, Zach gets into the operational detail that trips up most UK brands:

• How the US broker system actually works, why it exists, and why it often fails emerging brands
• What Rodeo does differently - and why founder empathy is built into the model
• The margin maths you need to do before you spend a penny on launch
• How US retail channels work: natural, molo, conventional, mass - and the right order to approach them
• The Huel US story: product selection, innovation, and why great people made the difference
• DTC as test-and-learn: what the data tells you, and what it doesn't
• What separates founders who survive the hard years from those who don't

Part two of our three-part series on launching in the US. Kara Rubin covered the retail relationship and buyer psychology in episode one- go back and listen if you haven't already.

"In my opinion, what makes a brand of tomorrow? Founders, all the way."

In this week’s episode we go inside Ocado's accelerator for early-stage food & drink- Ocado Roots with Genevieve Fitch.

This is a practical, honest conversation about what it actually takes to grow on one of the UK's most data-rich platforms.

What we cover:

• What Ocado Roots is, who it's for, and why Ocado built it
• Why their most loyal, highest-spending customers are the ones putting challenger brands in their baskets
• What buyers are actually looking for - and the pitch mistake that kills most conversations before they start
• The Ocado growth toolkit: what new brands should be doing in their first six months on shelf
• The Buy Women Built and Gen M partnerships - and what Ocado is doing to drive visibility for underrepresented founders
• What long-term brand potential actually looks like from a retailer's perspective

If you're building a food or drink brand and thinking about UK retail, or you work with brands who are, this one's for you.

"You don't know you've got resilience until you go through it."

Toby Hoppy co-founded All Things Dairy with chef and content creator Tom Straker, building a brand that started with a viral butter video and has since grown into one of the most talked-about challenger brands in UK grocery.

This is a conversation about what growth actually looks like when it's faster than you planned for...

We cover:

• Why Toby knew nothing about dairy when he started - and why that turned out to be a superpower
• How a chef with 500 followers and a lockdown experiment became the foundation for a multi-SKU grocery brand
• The cottage cheese launch and what happens when you're 4x your own forecast
• Building a creator-led marketing engine with zero paid social
• Why 60% of their customers in Sainsbury's are under 45, and what that means for category growth
• The equity creator model: how they turned creators into genuine brand partners
• The US plan: butter first, New York restaurant next, and why cottage cheese isn't crossing the Atlantic yet
• Where All Things Dairy goes next and why naivety is still a superpower

If you're building in food and drink, obsessing over growth strategy, or just want to understand what a genuinely modern FMCG brand looks like from the inside - this one's for you.

"When we were bootstrapping and I was comparing myself to founders who'd raised a million before they'd put a product on shelf - there's no comparison. It's not like for like. Make your own path and enjoy it."

Sarah Vachon, founder of Citizens of Soil, joins us for a conversation that covers a lot of ground - from commodity supply chains and regenerative agriculture to physical brand activations, D2C challenges, and building a business without compromising on values.

What we cover:

• How a Greek family, a love of Spain, and a background in sustainability led Sarah to found Citizens of Soil
• Why most olive oil on supermarket shelves is a shadow of what it should be - and what the commodity system has to do with it
• The Olive Oil Club: how a simple subscription evolved into a discovery-led community model
• The Olive Oil Clubhouse pop-up - what worked, what didn't, and why she'd do it again
• Why harvest date matters more than best before date
• The realities of D2C in 2026
• How climate events are directly hitting her producers, and the importance of resilience
• Taking impact investment seriously

If you've ever picked up a bottle of olive oil in a supermarket without thinking twice, this episode will change that.

“A good idea is worth more than a big budget.”

What happens when you stop trying to drink less… and instead build something you can drink more of?

In this episode, Ruth speaks to Tom Benn, founder of Future Chateau - a 5% wine designed for midweek rituals, not just Friday nights.

After six years as “Deputy Squirrel” at Pip & Nut and early experience at Vita Coco, Tom spent five years developing a lower-alcohol wine that isn’t a compromise, it’s grown to be less alcoholic from the start.

They explore:

• Why early-stage brands need emotional clarity, not big budgets
• The myth that low/no should cost less
• How poor innovation damages entire categories
• The emotional stakes of founding your own brand
• Why Slack might be killing productivity
• The overlooked audience driving the mid-strength wine category
• Rebranding in response to real customer insight
• Modern luxury as “freedom without consequence”
• Why earned attention is the only sustainable growth strategy

About Future Chateau

Future Chateau is a 5% wine brand built around permission — giving people the ability to say yes to wine on nights they’d usually say no.

Designed for midweek dinners, work drinks, and reopening cultural rituals without the nuclear hangover.

“You’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

What does it take to build chocolate differently?

In this episode, Ruth speaks to Wilf Marriott, Founder & CEO of Islands Chocolate - a vertically integrated cocoa and chocolate brand working directly at source in St. Vincent and beyond.

From aspiring professional cricketer to cocoa farmer and founder, Will shares the mindset shift that took him from chasing leather balls to challenging the global chocolate supply chain.

They explore:

• Why discipline from sport translates into business resilience
• Why owning your supply chain changes everything
• The tension between ethics and price on the retail shelf
• Trade vs retail as growth levers
• Why margin equals risk in FMCG
• The power, and complexity, of building a family business
• Slow, sustainable growth vs chasing rapid scale
• Whether ethical supply chains can ever become the default

Islands Chocolate’s mission is simple but ambitious: bold taste, bold character - rooted in sustainable agriculture.

This is a conversation about doing things properly, even when it’s harder.

"PR at the heart. Think earned first. That's still how I think about campaigns."

How Method Disrupted the Most Boring Aisle in the Supermarket

Holly Rix is a fractional CMO who spent six years at Method/People Against Dirty, helping build one of FMCG's most iconic challenger brands from a standing start in Europe. In this episode we get into what made Method genuinely different - and what founders can steal from it today.

We cover:

• Why naivety and cultural fit beat experience on paper when building a challenger brand
• How Method made cleaning products something people actually wanted on their worktop
• The Method ‘Drag Cleans’ campaign - and why PR-first thinking still wins
• Wild Rhubarb: how one fragrance became a best seller and why it still is
• What founders get wrong about category creation
• Why great design alone is no longer enough

"The most successful founders i’ve worked with automatically get that they have to transform all day every day rather than just be, rather than just read, rather than just think’

Fiona Fitz is the powerhouse behind Brand Growth Heroes - a platform and program that’s quietly transforming how founders build CPG brands that scale.

In this episode, Fiona shares her journey from Nestlé’s corporate corridors to launching Gu in France, and the pivotal experiences that shaped her obsession with brand strategy, executional precision, and founder development.

We talk about:

• What made her leap from corporate to startup life
• Why brand strategy without execution is a dead end
• How her mini-MBA program helps founders avoid repeating the same mistakes
• The three traits that set top founders apart
• The underestimated power of great questions

It’s a rich, honest conversation about founder mindset, brand-building, and what it really takes to scale without losing your soul - or your sanity.

“We always said we’re building more than a salad bar. It’s food, yes, but also design, lifestyle, and technology. All four pillars matter."

In this episode Ruth sits down with Florian, co-founder of Salad Project, the fast-growing, design-led, lifestyle-driven salad bar chain that's redefining healthy fast food. From launching post-COVID in London to opening 11 stores (and counting), including an upcoming expansion into Paris, Florian shares how discipline, culture, creativity, and consistency are driving growth.

Plus: brand partnerships, hiring the right people, product obsession, and why personalization might just be the future of food.

What we cover:

• How launching post-COVID gave them a competitive edge
• The early mistakes that became vital lessons
• Why consistency (not genius ideas) drives food retail success
• Turning a salad bar into a lifestyle brand
• Internal processes for creative collabs
• Scaling pains
• Leading 350+ people while protecting culture
• Their approach to funding and disciplined profitability
• What's next: Paris expansion, product innovation, and more