CPG Operator Podcast

• How to secure natural color supply when larger brands are competing for the same ingredients
• Which colors are most vulnerable to shortages and what alternatives are worth exploring
• Why a color that passes R&D can still fail months later, and how to test for it
• When matching your product's original color is worth the cost—and when a different look makes more sense
• How to calculate the true cost of natural colors beyond the ingredient price, including formulation, processing and shelf-life risks

Today's functional beverage shoppers aren't just buying energy or hydration. They're buying a feeling, like focus to get through the afternoon or a calming ritual to wind down at night. In this episode, Melissa Traverse sits down with Brittney Strickland, Director of Marketing, Foodservice, and Emily Riha, R&D Scientist, of Vibrant Ingredients. They discuss how "tempo drinking" is reshaping product briefs, how to separate lasting social trends from passing fads, and the real trade-offs behind popular functional ingredients like adaptogens, magnesium and L-theanine. They also cover why flavor has to match function, and what it takes to get a formula from the bench to the production line. Sponsored by Vibrant Ingredients.

Consumers are increasingly turning to AI to discover products and decide what to buy. But how do you get your brand recommended? Deana Burke, co-founder of tech media company Boys Club, has studied thousands of AI shopping searches and even got a fictional brand recommended in just three weeks. She shares what she's learned about the new AI shelf and practical ways brands can improve visibility, stand out from competitors and get recommended.

You will learn:

• How AI platforms decide which brands to recommend

• How to find searches where you can outperform competitors

• What website and product information improves AI visibility

• How to test your brand's visibility across AI platforms and spot missed opportunities

• How smaller brands can compete with established players for AI recommendations

What makes investors want to bet on a founder? Rogers Healy, founder of Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners, sees countless investment opportunities a day but pursues very few. So what makes a founder stand out? This conversation reveals what investors look for beyond the numbers, the qualities and behaviors that attract them or send them running, and how founders can make themselves and their brands more attractive to investors.

You will learn:

• What makes an investor bet on a founder, even when they're not sold on the product

• How to demonstrate relentless drive without crossing the line into arrogance

• How to identify and leverage passionate consumer communities as proof of demand

• How your social media presence can attract investors or raise red flags

• Why knowing your weaknesses and surrounding yourself with the right people makes you more investable

The obvious path to growth isn't always the right one for your product. Burlap & Barrel has built a successful spice business by making some decidedly unconventional choices about where it sells, how it reaches consumers and what it refuses to compromise. Founder Ethan Frisch joins Sourcery founder Bhavna Kolakaluri, to dig into the creative ways brands can work around the realities of their products instead of forcing them into a growth model that doesn't fit.

You will learn:

• How to decide whether coveted retailers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's actually make sense for your business

• How to sell a product that's difficult to sample through traditional in-store demos

• How to make a premium product feel worth the money when consumers are watching their spending

• How to work around long production cycles using multiple sales channels and other operational strategies

• How changing something as simple as case-pack size can make your product work for smaller retailers

When your product has several compelling benefits, which one should lead?

Jous founders Nicolas Jeffery and Camilo Ortiz sit down with Chris Robb of Supernatural Ventures and The Angel Group to work through how to sharpen the story behind their magnesium-infused juice, make the product easier to understand, and build a stronger strategy for growth.

You Will Learn:

• How to determine which of your product's benefits should lead your positioning

• When a functional ingredient strengthens your story and when it complicates it

• How to make an unfamiliar product immediately understandable to consumers

• How positioning can change your competitive set, shelf placement, and growth opportunities

• How to test whether your current brand story is actually driving trial and repeat purchase

Every brand eventually changes something big — price, packaging, format, the category it sits in — and that puts existing distribution on the line. After raising its prices to match true production costs, Vermont Creamery walked away from an unprofitable Walmart relationship, then earned its way back into 400 stores. Tuyyo Foods fell off roughly 1,100 doors of shelf space after a merger brought a full rebrand and repackaging. Harrison Kahn, President and GM of Vermont Creamery, and Stephanie Garcia Turner, co-founder and CCO of Tuyo Foods, break down how to make a major change and still get your retail partners to come along for the ride.

You will learn:

• How to notify and prep retail buyers before a repackaging or UPC change, so your product doesn't quietly fall off shelf

• What to do when a retailer's promotional demands push your pricing below what your product actually costs to make

• How to build a compelling case for re-entry after leaving a retailer, including what data and proof points actually move a buyer

• How to prioritize which retail partners and categories to carry forward after a merger or repositioning, instead of trying to keep everyone

• What to do the moment a retailer signals your velocity is too low and discontinuation is on the table

Kendall Kransdorf, founder of Cotto, a whipped cottage cheese dip, on a hero ingredient with a short shelf life and high demand - a combination that forces hard operational decisions. Mary Kate Kloeblen, a supply chain consultant and co-fouder of Golden Thread Operations, walks through where Cotto is actually losing shelf life (it's not always the formula) and what to fix instead.

You will learn:

• How LTL refrigerated shipping can quietly eat days of usable shelf life before a product even reaches a warehouse

• How to build formulation flexibility so a supply shortage on your hero ingredient doesn't stall production

• When to move production closer to your distribution centers, and how colocation reduces both transit risk and quality issues

• Why GS1 rules mean even a small product change can force a new UPC, and how to avoid retail errors because of it

• How to structure IP and manufacturing agreements during a tech transfer so you don't lose ownership of your own process

Charlie New is the Global Category Merchant for Refrigerated Beverages at Whole Foods Market, overseeing coffee, tea, juice, and soda. He's spent years watching what separates brands that build lasting shelf presence from brands that stall. In this episode, he walks through how he'd approach building a brand, from spending strategy to team building.

You will learn:

• Where Whole Foods Market shoppers are trading down, and where they're still paying a premium

• How the path into Whole Foods Market actually works, from local foragers to global category managers

• Which certifications and claims actually matter to shoppers, and how that shifts by category

• What separates functional beverage brands that succeed from those that struggle to find a lane

• How brands with a cultural or community-rooted story can expand without losing what made them work

• Where Charlie would put his money first if he were building a brand today

Building products with better ingredients is easy to talk about. Building a successful business around them is much harder. Join Tom First, Founder of Culture Pop, and Heather Wood, SVP of Marketing at Goodles, as they discuss the realities of formulation, sourcing, branding, retail growth, and operations, and how they've turned clean label products into brands that drive trial, repeat purchase, and sustainable growth.

You will learn:

• How to decide whether an innovation solves a real consumer need or is simply chasing a trend

• How to make ingredient decisions that balance taste, consumer value, manufacturing feasibility, and brand positioning

• How to simplify an unconventional production process so it can scale without compromising the product

• How to choose the right pace and path for growth based on your capital, team, and ability to support new distribution

• How to make sure your product and packaging can drive trial and repeat before spending heavily on marketing