On this episode, we're joined by Jason Bronstad, CEO of MALK Organics, the fast-growing organic plant-based milk brand built on clean, simple ingredients with no gums, oils, or fillers. 

Jason brings two decades of CPG experience across brands like Sara Lee, Mike's Hard, and Swell Cocktail Company.

Jason initially came in as a consultant in late 2020, stepping into the CEO role in mid-2021. Two decades in bev alc shaped his CPG playbook: earn shelf space every review, obsess over velocity, protect trust with your consumer.

We dive into "the Kerfuffle," the Thanksgiving 2021 reformulation to organic natural flavors that blew up with loyal fans including Food Babe, and how Jason did one-on-one CEO-to-influencer calls by Wednesday with a new vanilla extract formula by Friday. 

Jason talks about why they cut the SKU count from 14 to 3, the creamer whitener problem, and the year-long HPP-to-ESL shift that unlocked shelf life for Publix and Kroger.

We also get into the retail strategy, touching on why you shouldn't take every door in an A-tier to C-tier rollout, and why traditional demos stopped penciling post-COVID.

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Episode Highlights:

🥛 The MALK origin story (farmers market to 16,000+ doors)
⚠️ "The Kerfuffle": the Thanksgiving 2021 vanilla reformulation that blew up with loyal fans like Food Babe
🛠️ Monday crisis, Friday fix: rebuilding trust with one-on-one CEO-to-influencer calls
✂️ Cutting from 14 SKUs to 3 to actually commercialize
📉 Why oat fell off the cliff and where those consumers went
☕ The creamer whitener problem and the coconut creamer relaunch
🏭 Shifting from HPP to ESL for shelf life that unlocks mainstream retail
📊 Velocity is truth: 3.5x category in natural, nearly 6x at Publix
🛒 Why you shouldn't take every door in an A-tier to C-tier rollout
🎪 Why traditional demos stopped penciling and the shift to festivals
👥 Scaling 8 to 44 people with a remote-first Dreams workshop
🎯 Extreme Ownership starting at the top
🔮 More brands embracing fewer ingredients (imitation as flattery)

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:51 – MALK origin story
01:30 – From consultant to CEO
02:57 – CPG fundamentals from the bev alc years
04:11 – The Thanksgiving 2021 "Kerfuffle" and same-week reformulation
07:02 – Cutting from 14 SKUs to 3 to commercialize
08:16 – Following consumers as oat fell off the cliff
10:26 – The creamer whitener problem and relaunch
12:32 – Shifting from HPP to ESL for shelf life
14:06 – Velocity is truth: proving out in natural before MULO
15:58 – First MULO launch at Publix
18:30 – Kroger banner expansion and A-tier to C-tier rollout
20:20 – Pricing, calories, and the ingredient deck conversation
23:42 – Demo strategy shift post-COVID
27:33 – Scaling from 8 to 44 people with culture intact
28:20 – Dreams workshops and a remote-first culture
30:48 – Extreme Ownership and culture advice for growing CEOs
35:46 – 16K to 67K doors: the next phase of growth

---------------

Links:

MALK Organics – http://malkorganics.com/
Follow Jason on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbronstad/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Jonathan Skaare, Founder & CEO of Scout CPG - the fractional sales and channel support firm built specifically for better-for-you CPG brands. 

Jonathan spent over 20 years in sales leadership roles at Kellogg's, Annie's, Vital Farms, and Acme Provisions before channeling all of that experience into helping emerging brands scale smarter without breaking the bank.

We dig into the real mechanics of how emerging brands should think about sales infrastructure - when to use a broker, when to go fractional, and when to bring someone in-house. Jonathan breaks down why the broker model isn't actually broken, but that most brands don't understand what brokers can and can't do, and why that misalignment is where things fall apart.

We get into retail execution, distributor velocity thresholds, and why getting on the shelf is only step one - getting off the shelf is the real work. Jonathan walks through his preferred approach to the natural-to-conventional transition, why he likes retailer-specific and regional brokers at early stage, and how Scout builds a financial model for every account before a brand sells into it to make sure the numbers actually pencil out.

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Episode Highlights:

🏗️ Why Jonathan built Scout CPG after 20+ years in sales leadership
🤝 Why the broker model isn't broken - brands just misunderstand it
💰 Broker compensation structures (retainer, commission, and hybrids)
🚀 Fractional sales vs. broker vs. full-time hire - how to decide
🛒 Why retailer-specific and regional brokers shine at early stage
📦 Mile wide vs. mile deep - why distribution strategy matters more than door count
📊 Velocity is king - the first 90 days on shelf
🎯 How to transition from natural/specialty to conventional retail
📝 What a great buyer deck actually looks like (5-6 pages max)
💸 Scout's "customer planner" - modeling profitability before selling in
⚠️ Common mistakes brands make in buyer meetings
👀 Why you should visit the store before you pitch the buyer

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:44 – Origin story and the why behind Scout CPG
03:05 – How Scout differs from a traditional broker
05:55 – Why the broker model isn't broken
07:16 – Broker compensation structures
10:05 – How Scout's financial model works differently
12:28 – Fractional sales vs. broker vs. full-time hire
17:00 – Regional vs. national vs. retailer-specific brokers
20:58 – Choosing the right channel and region first
23:42 – Retail execution: good ideas, bad implementation
25:44 – Going a mile wide vs. a mile deep
28:19 – The first 90 days on shelf
32:20 – Natural to conventional transition
35:33 – Building a buyer presentation that works
39:07 – The customer planner: financial modeling before selling in
42:13 – Where to follow Jonathan and Scout CPG

---------------

Links:

Scout CPG – https://www.scout-cpg.com/
Follow Jonathan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-skaare-b9126922/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Phyllis Rothschild, CMO of Pete & Gerry's Organics - the #1 organic egg brand and #1 free range egg brand in the U.S. 

Phyllis spent nearly 30 years in consulting at firms like McKinsey and Oliver Wyman before making the jump in-house to lead marketing.

Phyllis breaks down the "word soup" problem in the egg aisle - where terms like cage free, free range, organic, and pasture raised all blur together - and the education-first strategy the team uses to cut through it, including brand-agnostic shelf signage created with retail partners.

Phyllis walks through how the team manages two distinct brands in the same category, with consumer personas like "Ellie the Egg" for Nellie's Free Range and "Heather the Hen Hugger" for Pete & Gerry's pasture raised. 

She shares how the avian flu crisis created a trial opportunity when commodity prices surged and Pete & Gerry's held prices flat, and what the team did to retain those new-to-brand buyers once the gap widened again.

We also dig into the packaging refresh across both brands, the color blocking strategy (navy for organic, bright yellow for pasture raised, sky blue for pasture raised organic), and in-store tactics in a category where 75% of purchase decisions are made at shelf.

---------------

Episode Highlights:

🥚 Why Phyllis left McKinsey for the egg aisle
📊 Data-backed decision-making from 30 years in consulting
🛒 The "word soup" problem in the egg aisle (cage free, free range, organic, pasture raised)
📖 Education-first strategy with brand-agnostic shelf signage
👥 Consumer segmentation: Ellie, Beth, and Heather
🐔 The distributed family farm model (350+ farms) and supply chain resilience
💰 Holding prices flat during avian flu while commodity prices surged 59%
🎨 Packaging color blocking: navy, yellow, sky blue
📦 The "Sacred Ribbon" and why on-shelf side panel cues matter
🏪 75% of egg brand decisions are made at shelf
📜 Cage-free legislation and the 7x free range volume lift in legislated states

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:42 – Pete & Gerry's overview and brand portfolio
02:10 – Why Phyllis left consulting for Pete & Gerry's
03:56 – Transitioning from consulting to in-house
05:48 – How a consulting background shapes CPG marketing
07:45 – The "word soup" problem in the egg aisle
09:54 – Education as a growth driver
11:53 – Metrics for measuring consumer knowledge
13:24 – Managing two brands in the same category
17:28 – Consumer segmentation and price pack architecture
19:11 – Navigating the avian flu crisis
23:12 – Trial, retention, and new-to-brand metrics
25:46 – The packaging refresh and pasture raised launch
30:50 – Lessons from redesigning both brands
34:36 – In-store strategy and shelf set optimization
39:06 – Cage-free legislation and its impact on premium
42:02 – Trends: whole food sources and clean protein

---------------

Links:

Pete & Gerry's – https://www.peteandgerrys.com/
Follow Phyllis on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/phyllisrothschild/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Harry McKaig, CEO of Double Cross Vodka - the premium vodka brand distilled in the Tatras Mountains of Slovakia by an 11th-generation distilling family, and one of the few vodkas to ever score 95 points from Wine Enthusiast. 

Harry brings over 20 years of beverage industry experience spanning Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, Southern Glazer's, Pernod Ricard, and The Wine Group, where he oversaw a $250M+ business.

We get into the full arc of vodka premiumization from Smirnoff in the '50s through Absolut's legendary print campaigns, Grey Goose's dominance, and what the next wave looks like for premium spirits. 

Harry breaks down how the three-tier distribution system has consolidated into what he calls a "five-tier" reality - with brokers on one end and delivery platforms like GoPuff and DoorDash on the other - and what that means for emerging brands trying to navigate route to market.

Harry walks through his return to Double Cross after the brand was nearly wiped out during the pandemic, and the disciplined three-phase rebuild strategy he's running now across New York, New Jersey, and Florida. 

We also cover his thesis on Gen Z and the "intention-behavior gap," his take on non-alc, and why he thinks better-for-you fatigue may be on the horizon.

---------------

Episode Highlights:

🍸 The history of vodka premiumization (Smirnoff to Grey Goose to now)
🏔️ Double Cross origin story (68 distilleries, 11th-generation Slovak family)
🏆 Scoring 95 points from Wine Enthusiast in the vodka category
🛒 How the three-tier system evolved into five tiers
🤝 What brand owners don't learn without time on the distributor side
📞 Cold-calling e-commerce customers to understand the consumer base
🎯 Going deep not wide (250 doors vs. 900 in New Jersey)
🍹 "Build brands on, sell them off" and the post-pandemic on-premise reality
📊 The intention-behavior gap and Gen Z's delayed consumption habits

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:52 – Origin story and the premiumization of vodka
02:55 – How the founders found their distillery in Slovakia
04:12 – Current distribution strategy: going deep, not wide
04:54 – The state of BevAlc and why headlines are misleading
07:24 – The three-tier system and distributor consolidation
09:55 – How the three-tier became five tiers (brokers, e-comm, delivery)
11:38 – How to choose the right distributor
13:56 – Lessons from the distributor side that brand owners miss
16:22 – Harry's return to Double Cross and the rebuild plan
19:24 – Choosing focus markets and reverse-engineering consumer data
21:13 – Velocity tactics: on-premise, geofencing, paid social
23:56 – Gen Z, the intention-behavior gap, and the health paradox
27:28 – Double Cross brand positioning and consumer messaging
29:34 – The non-alc space and why it doesn't threaten spirits
31:37 – Trends: protein everywhere and better-for-you fatigue

---------------

Links:

Double Cross Vodka – https://www.doublecrossvodka.com/
Follow Harry on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrymckaig/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Tia Ellis, Founder of Wildflower Insight - the retail strategy and education company that teaches CPG founders how to pitch buyers and win purchase orders. 

Tia is a former broker who has helped brands sell well over $100 million worth of product into major U.S. retailers.
 
Tia walks through the buyer psychology that drives purchasing decisions, including why buyers care most about category performance and internal KPIs, not whether they personally like your product. We get into her winning pitch deck structure, including the critical "retailer fit" slide that should change for every single retailer you pitch.
 
We dive into the golden retail rule - a scaling framework Tia first heard from a Walmart buyer - that maps the path from local to regional to national retail. 

She shares a cautionary story about a brand that skipped steps, landed a 3,000+ store global account, and couldn't support past the fifth purchase order because of 90-day payment terms and cash flow issues. 

We also cover operational readiness, logistics gaps that trip up founders (FTL vs. LTL, carrier management, warehouse transitions), pricing strategy across different retailer types, when brokers actually make sense versus when founders should pitch themselves, and why starting with retailers that don't require a distributor can save early-stage brands real money.
 
---------------
 
Episode Highlights:

🏪 Brokers vs. pitching it yourself (and when each makes sense)
🧠 Buyer psychology - why buyers are not consumers
📊 The two pitch deck slides that matter most for data
🎨 The "retailer fit" slide (and why it changes every time)
🎯 The golden retail rule - local to regional to national
🚚 Operational readiness and the logistics gap founders miss
💸 Pricing strategy across Costco, Walmart, Sprouts, and specialty
🛒 Why starting with retailers that skip distributors saves money
 
---------------
 
Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:46 – Origin story and why Tia started Wildflower Insight
03:09 – Two types of founders Wildflower serves
06:05 – When it makes sense to hire a broker
08:46 – Buyers are not consumers
09:10 – Three pitches every founder needs to master
12:00 – The role of data in buyer meetings
12:43 – Growth, trends, and the brand sales slides
14:16 – The pitch deck structure and retailer fit slide
18:07 – The golden retail rule explained
22:36 – Cautionary tale of skipping steps
26:29 – Operational readiness and being shelf-ready
27:22 – The logistics gap (FTL, LTL, carrier management)
28:46 – Pitching Costco vs. Walmart vs. specialty retailers
29:37 – Pricing strategy across retailer types
31:37 – Starting with retailers that don't require a distributor
33:52 – Trends Tia is watching (prebiotics and probiotics)
35:29 – Where to follow Tia and Wildflower Insight
 
---------------
 
Links:

Wildflower Insight – https://wildflowerinsight.com/
Follow Tia on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiaellis/
Follow Tia on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thetiaellis/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Hovik Azadkhanian, CEO of Heirloom Coffee Roasters - the fastest-growing coffee brand in the natural channel and the first nationally available 100% regenerative organic certified specialty coffee. 

Hovik has been in the coffee roasting business for over 30 years, starting alongside his dad as a kid and spending years in private label and toll roasting before launching Heirloom.

We dive into how roasting millions of pounds of coffee for other brands gave Hovik the data to develop Heirloom's proprietary Culinary Roast - a technique that manipulates time, temperature, air pressure, and gas flow to unlock specific flavor profiles at scale. That process led to winning the Good Food Award against 1,700 coffees, a first for any regenerative coffee.

Hovik walks through the realities of the coffee supply chain, including a USDA study that found 43% of certified organic products tested above the legal limit for banned substances. He breaks down Heirloom's triple-testing protocol across 311 synthetic pesticides and the story of rejecting tens of thousands of pounds of glyphosate-contaminated coffee.

We also get into Heirloom's direct trade model, which cuts out 15-20 middlemen and pays farmers three to six dollars per pound versus 30-60 cents under the traditional model.

---------------

Episode Highlights:

☕ 30+ years roasting coffee (started at age 8)
🏭 From private label to building a national brand
🧪 The Culinary Roast (manipulating time, temperature, gas, air pressure)
🏆 Winning the Good Food Award against 1,700 coffees
⚠️ 43% of organic products failing pesticide standards (USDA study)
🔬 Triple-testing protocol for 311 synthetic pesticides
🌱 Direct trade model (farmer to roaster, no middlemen)
🤝 The Pacayala cooperative story in Honduras
🛒 Going national at Sprouts and becoming the #1 selling coffee
🎯 Land and expand in natural, then break into mass retail

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:33 – Origin story and why behind the brand
04:17 – Reacquiring the Oakland roasting facility
05:25 – Developing the Culinary Roast process
08:29 – Iterations and the Good Food Award win
10:20 – R&D and SKU strategy
12:41 – The glyphosate contamination story
15:25 – USDA organic study and the limits of certifications
17:37 – What CPG brands should do about independent testing
19:39 – Vertical integration and cutting out middlemen
20:45 – Building direct farm relationships
23:06 – The Pacaya cooperative in Honduras
26:00 – Farmer economics (30 cents vs $3-6 per pound)
28:45 – Retail trajectory and going national at Sprouts
30:58 – Tactics for driving velocity in natural channel
31:56 – Retail expansion plans and breaking into mass
32:22 – Food service as a brand awareness channel
33:13 – Brand identity and packaging design decisions
34:43 – 2026 goals and new form factors

---------------

Links:

Heirloom Coffee Roasters – https://heirloomcoffeeroasters.com/
Follow Hovik on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hovik-azadkhanian-a2404830/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Cassie Maschhoff, Co-Founder of Lottie's Meats - the sister-owned, chef-crafted premium pork sausage brand. 

Cassie left a career in tech (including time at Google) to team up with her sister Chelsea, a CIA-trained chef, to reintroduce pork the way it should be.

We dive into what it takes to build a premium meat brand from scratch, from three years of recipe experimentation to working with eleven different co-packers. Cassie walks through USDA facility requirements, the "messy middle" of co-packer hunting, and how most co-manufacturers in meat still operate on handshake deals.

Cassie breaks down why food service has been a brand-building flywheel, how customers discovered Lottie's at Denver restaurants before finding them on shelf, and the pricing mistakes she made early on.

We also get into their retail expansion playbook, from flying to NorCal to drop off samples and locking in Berkeley Bowl as an anchor account, to convincing regional distributors to come on board.

We talk about why demos have been their most effective velocity tool for a premium-priced product, the unique dynamics of marketing in the meat department, and why building relationships with the people behind the meat counter matters more than most CPG tactics.

---------------

Episode Highlights:

🐷 Sixth-generation pork farm origins and the sister co-founder dynamic
🏭 Working with eleven co-packers to find the right fit
🧪 Why clean-label sausage is an art and a science (no preservatives, no shortcuts)
🎨 Building a brand identity that breaks from typical meat aisle packaging
🍕 Food service as a brand-building flywheel (bakeries, pizzerias, breweries)
💸 The pricing mistake in food service and how they fixed it
🛒 The retail expansion playbook (Denver to NorCal to SoCal to Midwest)
📈 Berkeley Bowl as the anchor account that opened NorCal
🎯 Why demos are their most effective velocity tool
🤝 Building relationships with the people behind the meat counter
👀 Brands to watch: One Trick Pony, Painterland Sisters, Huxley, C&Chilies

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:32 – Origin story and the Lottie's lineup
02:26 – Building a business with your sister
06:10 – R&D, formulation, and iterating on recipes
08:13 – The messy middle of co-packer hunting
11:00 – Maintaining quality across multiple co-packers
14:00 – Handshake deals and the co-packer relationship
16:18 – Brand identity and packaging design philosophy
19:02 – Tips for building a brand that resonates in meat
20:30 – Simplifying labels vs. claim overload
22:30 – Food service as a channel and brand-building tool
24:26 – Stumbling blocks in food service (pricing mistakes)
26:42 – Retail expansion from Denver to NorCal and beyond
30:10 – Velocity tactics: demos, promos, and shelf marketing
33:00 – Building relationships with meat counter staff

---------------

Links:

Lottie's Meats – https://www.lottiesmeats.com/
Follow Cassie on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassie-maschhoff-8055b058/
Follow Lottie's Meats on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/lottie-s-meats/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Mike Fransz, Director of Marketing at Nova Naturals - the naturals division of Novamex (the company behind Jarritos) that's home to C2O Pure Coconut Water and Steaz organic tea. 

Mike brings 25 years of beverage marketing experience, including early days at Red Bull and Neuro Brands.

We dive into what Mike learned building Red Bull from 1,500 cases a month to 150,000 in Orange County, including how they found "opinion leaders" before influencers existed and why everyone at Red Bull was treated as a marketer.

Mike walks through the Steaz brand refinement, how the team went back to original founders Eric Chanell and Steven Kessler to rediscover the brand's why, and the process that led to reworking everything from sourcing to mission and making Steaz the first regenerative organic certified ready-to-drink tea in the U.S.

We also get into running a shared services model across C2O and Steaz, Mike's time at Neuro Brands as an early functional wellness beverage, and why the protein revolution is just getting started.

---------------

Episode Highlights:

🍵 How Steaz became the first regenerative organic certified RTD tea
🏭 Forming Nova Naturals as a dedicated division inside Novamex
🎯 Red Bull's "opinion leader" strategy before influencers existed
📈 Growing Red Bull from 1,500 to 150,000 cases a month in Orange County
🤝 Going back to the original Steaz founders to rediscover the brand's why
🌱 Regenerative organic vs. sustainability (and why the difference matters)
🔄 The shared services model for managing C2O and Steaz together
🧪 Neuro Brands as an early functional beverage and lessons from multi-functionality
📦 Why packaging format matters (single-use plastic vs. cans and aluminum)
🥩 The protein revolution, GLP-1, and brands like Chomps and Fishwife
👀 Trends Mike is watching in functional beverages and healthier lifestyles

---------------

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:49 – Nova Naturals origin story and brand portfolio
03:04 – How the beverage industry has changed over 25 years
05:09 – The shift from natural niche to mainstream
07:04 – Red Bull and the rise of "opinion leaders"
10:02 – Product market fit then and now
13:39 – Why Mike left Red Bull for natural products
16:31 – How Red Bull scaled its field marketing org
21:16 – Image building vs. consumption building
28:31 – Forming Nova Naturals and the shared services model
34:33 – The Steaz brand refinement and going back to the founders
38:23 – Steaz as the first USDA organic and now regenerative organic RTD tea
43:00 – Regenerative organic certification explained
44:55 – How to think about a brand refresh (start with why)
55:47 – Neuro Brands and the functional beverage category
01:02:00 – The communication quagmire of multi-functional brands
01:06:33 – The protein revolution, GLP-1, and trends Mike is watching

---------------

Links:

Nova Naturals – https://nova-natural.com/
Follow Mike on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikefransz/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Corey Dickinson, VP of Marketing at Wilding Brands - the Colorado-based craft beverage platform that's brought together Denver Beer Co, Great Divide, Upslope, Stem Ciders, Funkwerks, and more under one roof. 

Corey spent over a decade building leading marketing at some of Colorado's most well-known craft breweries before stepping into the VP role across the full Wilding portfolio.

We dive into how Wilding came together through a series of mergers and acquisitions in 2024, and what it actually looks like to integrate legacy craft brands with decades of history and loyal consumer bases.

Corey shares how his team shifted from brand-specific managers to channel-based silos - wholesale, retail, and partnerships - after realizing the original structure wasn't leveraging the full portfolio. He breaks down why the taproom experience is still the highest-margin, highest-loyalty channel for craft brands, and how that firsthand experience becomes a flywheel into off-prem distribution.

We also cover the launch of Formation Brewing in Phoenix's Roosevelt Row neighborhood, a brand built from scratch to fit the Arizona market rather than exporting Denver Beer Co's identity.

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Episode Highlights:

🍺 How Wilding Brands came together (Denver Beer Co, Great Divide, Upslope, and more)
🏭 Integrating legacy craft brands without losing their identity
🧪 Pausing Hop Boosted when the liquid wasn't ready (and why that matters)
🎨 Restructuring marketing from brand-specific to channel-based silos
🛒 Why the taproom is your highest-margin, highest-loyalty channel
🤝 Leveraging a multi-brand portfolio for festival and event partnerships
📊 The distributor landscape and what it means for smaller craft brands
🍻 Launching Formation Brewing in Phoenix from scratch
📦 Building DTC e-commerce around merch and non-alc (not beer)
🏪 Why Wilding stays behind the scenes as a non-consumer-facing brand
👀 What's coming up across the Wilding portfolio

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Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:59 – The origin story of Wilding Brands
03:35 – Mergers and acquisitions in 2024
06:33 – Hop Boosted innovation and the decision to pause
09:39 – Evaluating and repositioning acquired brands
13:46 – Marketing org structure across a multi-brand portfolio
19:03 – Allocating time and priorities across brands
21:06 – Why the taproom experience still matters most
23:53 – The distributor landscape for craft brands
29:27 – THC beverages and where Wilding stands
30:43 – Launching Formation Brewing in Phoenix
34:43 – Building DTC e-commerce in craft beverage
37:14 – What's coming up across the portfolio

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Links:

Wilding Brands – https://wildingbrands.com/
Follow Corey on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreydickinson4/
Follow Wilding Brands on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wilding-brands/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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 Elan Halpern, Co-Founder of Sourmilk - the NYC-based functional greek yogurt brand designed to actually deliver real probiotic benefits, not just the perception of them. Elan is a Stanford CS grad and former tech PM who, alongside co-founder Kiki, started out selling yogurt on bikes out of backpacks across New York City.

We dive into the science behind why most yogurts fall into one of three probiotic traps, and how Elan narrowed forty thousand bacteria strains down to the handful that are probiotic, survive in yogurt, and taste good.

Elan breaks down organic dairy sourcing realities, demand planning for a perishable product, building a two-thousand-person waitlist before the first production run, and selling the first pallet on city bikes in seven days. We also dig into the forced rebrand from Beny to Sourmilk, launching with one SKU in bright blue packaging to stand out in the yogurt aisle, why Happier Grocery was the right first retail partner, and what Elan's tech background brought to CPG.

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Episode Highlights:

🥛 Why most yogurts fail at being truly probiotic (three traps)
🧪 Narrowing 40,000 bacteria strains to find the right probiotic combo
🏭 Finding a dairy co-packer the old-fashioned way (cold calls, not Google)
🐄 Organic vs conventional dairy supply chain economics
📦 Building a 2,000-person waitlist before the first production run
🚲 The "drug deal model" - selling yogurt on city bikes in brown bags
💻 Custom-coding a Shopify pickup feature (Stanford CS advantage)
✏️ Cease and desist to rebrand - from Benny to Sourmilk
🎨 Bright blue packaging to stand out in the sea-of-white yogurt aisle
🛒 Why Happier Grocery was the right first retail partner
🎯 Localized activations - gym pop-ups near retail stores to drive velocity

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Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:43 – Origin story and the gut health problem
04:32 – Formulation and the three yogurt traps
06:22 – R&D - narrowing 40,000 bacteria strains
07:43 – Finding a co-packer in an old-fashioned industry
09:48 – Scaling from home kitchen to co-man production
11:49 – Organic dairy supply chain and sourcing challenges
17:27 – Demand planning with a perishable product
18:48 – The drug deal model - selling yogurt on city bikes
20:01 – What tech taught him about building in CPG
22:28 – The rebrand - from Benny to Sourmilk
26:10 – Packaging design and standing out in the yogurt aisle
28:46 – Straddling the food vs supplement brand identity
30:00 – Pros and cons of the direct-to-consumer pickup model
34:41 – Getting into retail and using zip code data
35:49 – Why Happier Grocery was the first retail partner
36:32 – Advice for brands launching into their first retailer
37:51 – Retail expansion strategy - NYC first, then regional
38:30 – Brands and trends they're watching
40:29 – Where to follow Sourmilk

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Links:

Sourmilk – https://www.sourmilk.com/
Follow Elan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/elan-halpern-99a018193/
Follow Sourmilk on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/sourmilk/
Follow me 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 https://www.kitprint.co/

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.