Retail Ready Podcast

Kate Johansson, founder of Koja has taken over the Retail Ready Podcast. At the weekend we met up and she asked the questions. For 58 episodes I have asked guests about their journey, Kate has flipped the table now you can learn about my journey in the FMCG industry, why I came to Australia, my time at Coles, how I became Innovations Manager at Scalzo and the most recent news, how and why I launched my own brand, Doggylicious.

So much fun and I hope you guys enjoy hearing my journey to make this industry one of the best in the world.

Learn more about Doggylicious by visiting: https://www.doggylicious.com.au - Australia's first dog run and owned company.

In today's episode I am joined by Alex Freudmann who is the Managing Director of Dan Murphy's. Alex has been someone I have known for a few years and really enjoy his leadership style and drive; it was therefore great to have Alex on the show where we discuss a whole range of topics. From his journey from being declined as a shelf stacker at Tesco's, to GM at Coles and now MD of Dan Murphy's, we talk about his leadership style and the lessons he has learnt along the way but we also discuss how Dan Murphy's has coped and adapted to the COVID19 outbreak. It was incredible to hear the behind the scenes projects that went out during the panic buying and how Dan Murphy's supported local business and individuals during this crazy time.

For now, sit back , relax and enjoy episode 57.

Episode 56 is now available with Grounded Foods – The story of a plant based cheese company. In this episode I chat to Grounded Foods founder Veronica Fil and key investor, Andrew Ive. Grounded Foods which was born from pure chef wizardry by Veronica's partner Shaun makes the most incredible looking cheeses using cauliflower and hemp.

Their business growth wouldn't have been possible without the investment from Andrew Ive from Big Ideas Investment who we also have on the show. Veronica and Andrew met in Melbourne and it just took Andrew 5 minutes to realise that Grounded Foods was a business to invest in.

This is a great story and I hope you enjoy. Here is episode 56.

Steve has created iRise Drinks while being a full time carpenter. A drink to help you recover after a being on the drinks. He is fascinated in nootropics and has created a beverage to help support recovery, mental alertness and overall wellbeing.

Check the brand out here: https://www.irisedrink.com

In this episode it was great to chat with Francesco Franceschinelli who works in Italy within the food and beverage sector. In this episode Francesco discusses what the impact of COVID19 had on his business, what trends he is seeing in Italy and what is happening in his world now that restrictions are easing up.

A huge thank you to our main sponsor Huff and Puff, check out the product at Dan Murphys and other retailers across Australia - https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_ER_2000003244_HPOR10/huff-puff-pork-crackle-original-flavour-25g

From turning down investment from Shark Tank season 1, Kate has been on an amazing journey. Even in these crazy times it's great to see some brands such as KOJA growing.

KOJA has just been launched nationwide in Coles supermarkets and I feel Kate has only just started on her amazing journey to deliver great products and improve the health of the nation.

Such a great episode where Kate tells all and delivers numerous knowledge bombs about starting a business and fighting off the competition.

TurtleTree Labs is a Singapore-based startup which is making milk through cell based methods.

The company has created patent-protected technologies to make full-composition, full-functionality, full-flavour milk referencing humanely selected dairy cow cells then mimicking the natural process of milk production in the lab, essentially making real milk without the pollution, inefficient use of land, water and energy (natural resources), pathogen and disease risk, and tangled regulatory politics.

Turtle Tree Labs is a sustainable cell-based food tech 3.0 startup which is addressing an US$716B global dairy market and environmental crisis with 'clean milk'.

Today I am joined by Kaye Graham who founder Health Magic, a distributor in Melbourne.

Kaye has a huge passion for healthy brands and in this episode, we discuss Kaye's personal journey, from starting a business going door to door with products under the pram of her newborn. Kaye also discusses what brands need to think about before working with a distributor and key future opportunities she is being asked for from her customer within Australia.

It is always good to have Tony Hunter on the show. Tony is a food futurist with one of the sharpest minds who looks at trends from a multi angle approach. I chat to him today to get his knowledge and understanding as to what this virus has done to the industry and consumer behaviour in the short and long term.

Check out more of Tony's stuff here: https://futuristforfood.com

In episode 50, I am joined by the director of Drakes Supermarket, John-Paul Drake. JP is leading the growth Australia's largest independent supermarket chain, which was created by his dad, Roger Drakes.

John Paul is not an individual in retail who hides behind a desk, but you are more likely to catch him in front of a camera giving his views on the Australian retail space or on his own podcast, Ducks don't get cold feet.

It was an absolute pleasure hearing John Paul talk all things retail and his journey to date, I think I found someone who is as passionate as retail as I am.