Shelf Help: The Tactical CPG Podcast

On this episode, we’re joined by Ian Montgomery, a sustainable design strategist at EcoEnclose and the former founder of Guacamole Airplane, a studio known for pioneering some of the most creative and technical work in sustainable packaging.

Ian has worked with top-tier brands like Nike, Whole Foods, Allbirds, Dell, and Flamingo Estate, helping them radically rethink how materials, storytelling, and infrastructure intersect. Today, he's helping scale regenerative and circular solutions at EcoEnclose, one of the most innovative packaging suppliers in North America.

Ian shares the messy realities and exciting breakthroughs shaping the future of sustainable packaging - from seaweed polybags and algae inks to the limits of compostables and why infrastructure (not innovation) might be our biggest barrier - and what he’d do with a $500B budget to fix the system.

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Episode Highlights:

 🌎 What the packaging industry gets wrong about sustainability
 ♻️ Why flexible plastics are the “final boss” of recycling
 🧠 Smart strategies for early-stage brands with tight budgets
 🌿 The promise (and pitfalls) of seaweed, mushroom foam & hemp
 🔥 Why he's surprisingly pro-plastic—if done right
📉 Compostability vs. recyclability: which path makes sense today?
🏛️ How he’d reallocate $500B to fix end-of-life infrastructure
🔬 Processing tech and non-tree fibers that could change everything

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Ian’s background & EcoEnclose intro
 04:00 – State of the sustainable packaging union
 10:00 – Breakthrough materials & market shifts
 17:00 – Advice for DTC brands scaling sustainably
 23:00 – Recyclable vs. compostable: real talk
 30:00 – What makes a material “valuable”?
 36:00 – What Ian’s changed his mind about
 38:00 – If Ian had $500B to move the world to 100% sustainable packaging

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Links:

EcoEnclose – https://www.ecoenclose.com/
Follow EcoEnclose on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ecoenclose/?hl=en
Follow Ian on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-montgomery-414a0964/

Follow Adam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg
 

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Sam Rose, the founder and CEO of RoseBud Ice Cream, a Denver-based brand crafting nostalgic, indulgent ice cream with unapologetically high standards.

Sam launched RoseBud after years of self-teaching, boxing, and perfecting pints out of a Walmart ice cream maker. What began as a THC- and CBD-infused experiment has since evolved into a super-premium brand stocked in hundreds of stores, and recently expanded into a game-changing new format: squeezable soft serve pouches.

In this episode, Sam breaks down how he built RoseBud from a commissary kitchen to a national brand, the painstaking R&D behind his signature vanilla and chocolate flavors, and the very real challenges of building a frozen CPG company with no formal training, no capital, and no quit.

We dig into what makes a great package, how to pitch Whole Foods without a barcode, and why he believes founder-led demos outperform paid ones every time.

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Episode Highlights:

 📦 How RoseBud landed retail with mockups and Sharpie-labeled pints
 🥄 The birth of their new squeezable soft-serve pouch
 🎨 Packaging that “jumps off the shelf” and how he pulled it off
 🚛 Distribution and cold chain chaos
 🧾 What buyers actually care about in a pitch deck
💸 Planning for margin loss when working with a distributor
🧊 Why frozen is tough—and ice cream is tougher
🚀 How Sam thinks about trends (spoiler: he doesn’t)

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Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro & Origin Story
03:30 – Building the Brand Solo
06:00 – Packaging Design & Flavor Naming
09:00 – Squeezable Soft-Serve Innovation
15:30 – Retail Buyer Response & Market Opportunity
18:40 – How Sam Pitched Early Retailers
22:00 – Retail Tools & Lessons in Pricing
24:50 – Distributors, Margins & Scaling
30:00 – Frozen-Specific Supply Chain Realities
34:00 – Trends, Brands Sam Respects & What’s Next

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Links:

Rosebud Ice Cream – https://rosebudicecream.com/
Follow Rosebud on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rosebudicecream/
Follow Sam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-rose-19998b1b0/

Follow Adam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg
 

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Juan Niño, the Director of Marketing at Artisan Tropic, a family-owned, better-for-you snack brand rooted in Colombian heritage and powered by plantains, cassava, and regenerative agriculture.

Juan’s journey is anything but typical. After a career as a professional fútbol player in Colombia, he found himself helping his aunt and uncle fulfill e-commerce orders for a small snack startup. That startup is now Artisan Tropic, a national brand found in Whole Foods, Sprouts, H-E-B, and Costco, and Juan is at the heart of its marketing, storytelling, and operational strategy.

We dive deep on Artisan Tropic’s founding story, how the family transitioned from distributing Takis to launching their own clean-label snack brand, and what it really takes to build and scale a vertically integrated CPG business that owns its own farms, believes in regenerative agriculture, and still manages to thrive in mainstream retail.

Juan also shares real-world lessons on family business dynamics, packaging refreshes, Costco launch strategy, and how to market plantains and cassava to an American audience.

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Episode Highlights:

 🌱 From family health crisis to mission-driven CPG brand
 🇨🇴 Why Artisan Tropic built their supply chain in Colombia
 📦 What they learned from doing their packaging redesign in-house
 📊 How they balance storytelling with paid shopper marketing
 🛒 Lessons from landing in 5,000+ doors, including Costco and Thrive
 🔁 The long game of regenerative agriculture and vertical integration
 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Why working with 15+ family members actually works for them
🧪 How third-party certifications (like seed oil free) shape consumer trust
💰 When and why to go all-in on retail-specific formats, media, and SKUs

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro & Juan’s Fútbol-to-CPG Origin Story
 04:00 – From Takis Distributors to Better-For-You Founders
 07:30 – Building a Brand With 15 Family Members
 12:00 – Bringing Plantains & Cassava to U.S. Retail
 14:00 – Regenerative Ag, Vertical Integration & Soil Health
 19:00 – Marketing That Educates (and Converts)
 22:00 – Cracking Costco 
 26:00 – Retail Sales Tactics
 30:00 – Packaging Lessons & Brand vs. Product Hierarchy
 34:00 – Hiring for Integrity and Learning By Doing

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Links:

📦 Artisan Tropic – https://www.artisantropic.com
📸 Follow Artisan Tropic on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/artisantropic
📬 Contact Juan – [email protected]
🔗 Follow Juan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-nino-7a47ba304/

🎧 Follow Adam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg
 

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Hannah Perez, the Co-Founder and Brand Visionary behind SEEQ — the clear protein brand that’s pioneering one of the most refreshing (literally) new categories in sports nutrition.

What started with a college friendship has turned into a rocketship brand that's now stocked nationwide at Target, growing a cult following on TikTok, and giving legacy supplement brands a serious wake-up call. In this episode, Hannah breaks down how she and co-founder Ben Zaver went from blending samples in a Minneapolis apartment to building a vertically integrated DTC and retail business, all while staying true to their vision of “bringing the juice” and making wellness more approachable.

We get tactical on everything from formulation and co-packers to launching new SKUs in retail, hiring a CEO within 18 months, and why she believes storytelling is more important than features when it comes to building in public.

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Episode Highlights:

💧 What clear protein actually is — and why it’s not just a gimmick
🧪 The 3 biggest R&D hurdles in clear protein formulation
📦 Why they passed on dozens of co-packers before going back to the first one
📲 The TikTok strategy that sold out 4,000 units in 60 days
🛠️ How they kept building during a 4-month stockout
🚀 Getting into Target via a cold email — and what they did to stand out
🛍️ Why front-of-store placement drove massive velocity
📚 Lessons from launching a new format just for retail
🏗️ How EOS helped them plan, prioritize, and stay focused
👥 Why they hired a President and CEO just 18 months in
🔥 Hannah’s shift from CMO to Brand Visionary — and what she’s building next

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro & Clear Protein 101
 02:30 – Founding Story: From Marketing Agency to CPG Startup
 06:00 – The Formulation Process: What Makes Clear Protein Work
 11:00 – Viral TikTok Growth, Street Sampling, and Early Sellouts
 15:00 – Finding the Right Co-Packer & Building the Product Backbone
 17:00 – Landing Target: Cold Emails, Broker Help & Buyer Pitch
 21:00 – What It Takes to Succeed in Retail: Velocity, Displays & Education
 26:00 – Packaging Lessons for DTC Brands Entering Retail
 30:00 – Staying Focused: Avoiding Shiny Object Syndrome
 32:00 – Operating with EOS & North Star Goal-Setting
 34:00 – Hiring a CEO and Letting Go of Ego
 38:00 – How Hannah’s Role Evolved & Why Brand is Bigger Than Product
 45:00 – Where to Follow Hannah & Try SEEQ

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Links:

SEEQ – https://seeqsupply.com
Follow Hannah on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-perez013
Follow Adam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg
 

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Douglas Raggio, the founder of Pass the Honey and author of So You Wanna: Start a Food or Beverage Business.

Douglas spent a decade as an investor reviewing over 12,000 food and beverage deals before launching Pass the Honey — a single-serve honeycomb brand on a mission to combat one of the most pervasive forms of food fraud in the world. Today, the brand is scaling rapidly in Kroger, Albertsons, and Sprouts, all while pushing a regenerative beekeeping agenda that goes far beyond what “organic” can promise.

We go deep on Douglas’s non-traditional approach to CPG - from why he believes in margin over virality, to how he’s building a new category in the produce aisle, not the honey shelf. We also unpack key decision points from his book and why most founders misunderstand what “success” really means in food.

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Episode Highlights:

 🍯 Why 70% of honey on the shelf is fake
 🐝 The problem with “organic” honey, and what regenerative apiculture offers instead
 📦 Building a new category in the produce aisle, not the honey set
 💸 Margin vs. consumption: the only two numbers that matter
 🔁 Why Pass the Honey doubled sales after doubling their price
 🔍 Why some products shouldn’t “fit” anywhere in the store
 🏪 How dump bins unlocked 50–70 unit weeks at Kroger
 📊 Top-down vs bottom-up pricing strategy
 🚪 Saying no to accounts that don’t meet minimums
 ⚖️ How Douglas thinks about store count vs velocity
 📉 Why 95% of CPG brands fail, and how to avoid being one of them

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro & Origin Story
 03:00 – Honey Fraud & Broken Standards
 08:00 – Building Pass the Honey’s Regenerative Supply Chain
 13:00 – Advice for Founders Entering CPG
 15:00 – Book Lessons: Endgame Clarity & Critical Decisions
 21:00 – What Retailers Want: Profit, Not Just Velocity
 28:00 – Managing Margins & Avoiding “Store Count FOMO”
 36:00 – Brands & Trends Douglas is Watching
 38:00 – Final Thoughts & Where to Find Douglas

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Links:

Pass the Honey – https://www.freshhoneycomb.com
Buy the book – https://a.co/d/ibCGJbs
Follow Douglas on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/douglasraggio

Follow Adam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg
 

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Joe Rotondo and Drew DiSpirito, the co-founders of Smearcase — the world’s first frozen cottage cheese dessert, also known as FroCo.

What started as a post-run craving turned into one of the most disruptive frozen product launches in recent memory. Smearcase packs 40 grams of protein per pint, uses clean-label ingredients (no gums, no seed oils), and is now stocked in over 100 stores including Whole Foods and Sprouts, less than a year after launch.

In this episode, we dive into how Joe and Drew went from first prototype to shelf in six months, what it took to scale with a co-packer from day one, and why they believe “speed over perfection” is their greatest competitive advantage. We also talk product innovation, navigating frozen logistics, why they trademarked “FroCo,” and what’s coming next as they prepare for West Coast expansion.

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Episode Highlights:

🍦 From marathon craving to product prototype in 72 hours
🧊 How they scaled straight from a NYC apartment kitchen to a co-packer
⚡ Why they prioritized speed over perfection
💪 Using collagen as a stabilizer (instead of gums)
🚚 The hidden challenges of frozen distribution
🛒 How they cold-pitched their way into early retail traction
📈 Why “velocity > distribution” is their growth philosophy
🏷️ The meaning behind the name Smearcase (and why it works)
🚀 Building a movement — not just a brand — around FroCo

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro & Founding Story
 02:30 – From Post-Run Craving to FroCo
 05:00 – Product Development & Ingredient Integrity
 08:00 – Fast-Tracking to Shelf in 6 Months
 12:00 – Scaling With a Co-Packer
 16:00 – Cottage Cheese Sourcing Strategy
 20:00 – Starting a New Frozen Category: Pros & Cons
 23:00 – Velocity vs. Distribution
 26:00 – Frozen Logistics & Operational Challenges
 29:00 – Category Trends & Competitive Landscape
 31:00 – Where to Find Smearcase & What’s Next

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Links:

Smearcase – https://www.eatsmearcase.com
Follow Joe – https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephrrotondo
Follow Drew – https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-dispirito-pmp/

Follow Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Victoria Foster, the Senior Director of Marketing at Rivalz™, a plant-based snack brand pioneering a new era of better-for-you salty snacks.

Before joining Rivalz as the second employee, Victoria led growth and innovation at Hometown Foods and ConAgra for iconic brands like PF Chang’s, Bertolli, and Frontera. Now at Rivalz, she’s helping build a brand around a one-of-a-kind “stuffed snack” format that combines a crunchy shell with a savory filling, offering the joy of traditional snacking with 8g of protein, 4g of fiber, and a low glycemic index.

In this episode, Victoria unpacks how Rivalz is using AI to transform the manufacturing process, why the team chose to launch DTC first before expanding into retail, and how they’ve carved out space in competitive channels like grocery and K-12 schools.

We dive into smart go-to-market strategy, lessons from launching into Sprouts and Wegmans, and the brand’s mission to deliver truly satisfying nutrition in a fun, craveable format.

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Episode Highlights:

 🥨 Why Rivalz launched with a “stuffed snack” form factor
 🤖 Using AI to simulate 100,000+ R&D experiments + save $4M
 📦 Rivalz’ omni-channel packaging strategy
 🏫 Cracking the K-12 school channel (LAUSD and beyond)
 🚀 Retail launch strategy: from 14 Sprouts stores to 100+
 💡 Velocity > Distribution: how to grow without overextending
 🌱 Why Rivalz resonates with GLP-1 users—even without trying

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro & Victoria’s Background
 01:00 – Rivalz Origin & Mission
 04:00 – AI-Powered Manufacturing 
 07:00 – DTC vs Retail Launch Strategy
 10:00 – Building Velocity Before Expanding Distribution
 14:00 – Breaking into K-12 School Systems
 18:00 – Packaging Strategy for Omni-Channel Success
 21:00 – Lessons from Frozen & Emerging CPG Trends
 23:00 – GLP-1, Satiating Snacks & Purposeful Nutrition
 24:45 – Where to Follow Victoria & Rivalz

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Links:

Victoria on LinkedIn – Victoria Foster
Rivalz – https://rivalzsnacks.com
Follow Rivalz on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/eat.rivalz/

Follow Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Ryan Provost, the Co-Founder and CEO of Booz Box Cocktails, a boxed RTD cocktail brand disrupting the spirits industry with bold packaging, craft mixology, and a form factor nobody saw coming.

What started as a pandemic dinner-table idea between roommates in Jersey City has grown into a multi-market brand now sold in six states including New Jersey, Florida, California, and Texas. Booz Box Cocktails are 1.75L boxed cocktails that deliver bar-quality drinks—like the Pineapple Mule and Watermelon Cooler—straight from your fridge tap.

In this episode, Ryan shares how they landed on boxed cocktails as a form factor, why branding for Gen Z was a non-negotiable, and how a co-packer pivot unlocked their go-to-market. We also talk through fundraising challenges, working with a tiny team, and why good taste (literally) is still the most important growth lever.

We chat with Ryan about standing out in a crowded RTD category, refining flavor formulations, convincing skeptical distributors, and lessons learned from a crowdfunding campaign that didn’t quite go to plan.

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Episode Highlights: 

🍹 Why boxed cocktails were the winning form factor
 📦 What it took to get a co-packer to take a chance
 🎯 Branding lessons for Gen Z and millennial appeal
 👨‍🍳 From bartending notebooks to scaleable SKUs
 🧃 Flavor challenges (and the cucumber misstep)
 💡 Form factor as both differentiation and a moat
 📉 What didn't go as planned with their crowdfunding campaign
 🚚 Building a self-distribution playbook
 🌍 Expanding into 6 markets in under 12 months
 🔥 Why “taste” still trumps branding

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro & Booz Box origin story
 02:30 – Choosing boxed cocktails over cans
 06:00 – Form factor, branding & Gen Z appeal
 11:00 – Working with their designer, Kyle Perry
 13:00 – Recipe formulation & co-packer challenges
 17:30 – Manufacturing woes & their redemption story
 21:00 – Distribution strategy & key markets
 25:00 – Balancing velocity vs. distribution
 28:00 – Crowdfunding lessons
 30:00 – Where to follow Booz Box & invest

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Links:

Booz Box Cocktails – https://www.boozbox.co
Follow Ryan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanprovostofficial
Crowdfunding campaign on Loupt – https://loupt.co/offering/booz-box

Follow Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Ana Kornegay, the VP of Marketing at Santo Spirits, the premium tequila brand co-founded by Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar.

Before leading the charge at Santo, Ana spent over 15 years at Brown-Forman overseeing iconic spirits like Gentleman Jack and Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel. She's also the founder of Hummingbird Branding & Marketing, and holds a Master’s in Medical Cannabis Science & Therapeutics.

We cover a ton of actionable insights and tactics.

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Episode Highlights:

🌵 How Santo turned a “what if?” into the world’s first “Mezquila”
📦 The 3 biggest packaging mistakes she sees new brands make
🚀 What to expect if you want to jump from “Big CPG” to an “upstart brand”, and where should new grads start
🧩 “Build vs buy” (hiring internally our outsource?)
⚖️ Siloing agencies vs spreading across multiple in-house brands
🤘 Building a celebrity brand without losing authenticity
🧠 When and why to refresh packaging (and when to leave it alone)
🔮 The rise of NA and functional beverages

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Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro & Ana’s Career in Spirits
03:00 – Santo’s Origin Story & Mezquila Launch
07:00 – Startup vs. Corporate Marketing Life
12:00 – Celebrity-Backed Brands: Behind the Curtain
18:00 – Trends in Low/No Proof & Functional Beverages
24:00 – Packaging Frameworks for Spirit Brands
30:00 – When a Packaging Refresh is the Right Move
35:00 – Campaigns That Flopped & What She Learned
39:00 – AI in Marketing: Love it or Hate it?

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Links:

Santo Spirits – https://www.santospirits.com
Follow Ana on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-kornegay

Follow Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Jennifer Barney, the founder of Barney Butter and one of the sharpest minds in CPG today.

Jennifer launched Barney Butter back in 2006—well before almond butter went mainstream—and scaled it into a household name before exiting the business in 2011. Since then, she’s become a go-to advisor to emerging food brands like Hero Bread and Oat Haus, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at General Mills' venture studio, a Director at Positively Good Snacks, and a Substack author (The Business of Food).

In this episode, Jennifer drops serious knowledge on how early-stage brands can navigate retail, boost velocity, and avoid the cash traps of over-distribution. We dive into packaging strategy (why it’s often a band-aid for deeper issues), the foodservice channel, demo execution, bootstrapping vs fundraising, and her take on why A2 dairy is the trend she regrets not jumping on.

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Episode Highlights:

 🌰 How Barney Butter helped take almond butter mainstream
 🛻 Picking up almonds in a Suburban (literally)
 📈 Why early-stage brands should focus on velocity, not doors
💸 The dangerous lag in distributor cash flow
📦 When you should (and shouldn’t) rebrand
🎯 How to actually execute demos and merchandising at scale
🏪 What “retail readiness” really means for emerging brands
🥛 Why she’s bullish on A2 dairy (and missed the window)
🧃 The Trojan horse approach to packaging
💰 Bootstrapping tips in a tough funding environment
📦 Amazon
🧠 Why great packaging still won’t save you from poor execution

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Table of Contents:

 00:00 – Intro
 03:00 – Buying Ingredients Direct & Building Relationships with Processors
 05:00 – Why Velocity > Distribution
 10:00 – Cash Flow Pitfalls in Retail
 14:00 – Demo Strategy, Broker Coordination, and In-Store Tactics
 18:00 – Foodservice Channel: Pros, Cons, & Guerilla Selling
 22:00 – Trojan Horse Packaging & What Makes Design Actually Work
 27:00 – Rebrand Readiness & Strategic Brand Identity Shifts
 33:00 – Bootstrapping Smart: Premium Pricing and Efficient Growth
 36:00 – The Amazon Beast: Common Pitfalls & Inventory Woes
 38:00 – Trends She Missed (A2 Milk!)
 41:00 – Where to Follow Jennifer

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Links:

Follow Jennifer on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferbarney/
The Business of Food – https://jenniferbarney.substack.com

Follow Adam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg

For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.

Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.

Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.