Shelf Help: The Tactical CPG Podcast

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

On this episode, we're joined by Christian Karim Khalil, Founder & CEO of Yaza - the fast-growing brand bringing traditionally made, clean-ingredient labneh and Mediterranean dips to the U.S. market. 

Christian brings years of global CPG experience from a handful of countries around the world.

Christian walks through the nine-month R&D process, the grueling six-month search for a dairy co-packer (printing hundreds of pages from the FDA's IMS certificate list and cold-calling every company on it), and the production challenges that came with scaling up for Whole Foods.

We get into the Yaza rebrand, why Christian pushed for it early, and his framework for deciding when a rebrand is worth the investment: it has to solve specific problems, not just look better. Christian also breaks down what it took to land Whole Foods nationwide before even having product in market, the Costco roadshow model and selling a unit every 30 seconds, and the consumer education playbook for a category that's still new to the majority of American shoppers.

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

Episode Highlights:

🧀 How labneh is traditionally made (and why it's different in the U.S.)
🏭 The six-month co-packer search (FDA binders, cold calls, near-quitting)
🧪 Nine months of R&D to match Lebanon's gold standard
🎨 Why Yaza rebranded early and the problems it solved
🛒 Landing Whole Foods nationwide before having product in market
📈 Growing 200%+ at Whole Foods through strategic promotions
🏪 The Costco roadshow model (selling a unit every 30 seconds)
🍽️ Labneh on Michelin-star menus as a consumer education driver
📦 Building a "brand block" with baba ganoush and muhammara
🚀 Why Yaza skipped Expo West (and where that $100K+ goes instead)
👀 Why protein and fiber shouldn't be "trends" - they should be daily staples

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:54 – Origin story and the Hashimoto's connection
02:57 – Early R&D and making labneh at home
05:09 – Researching the market at Whole Foods
05:40 – Finding a co-packer (the IMS binder story)
07:18 – Perfecting the formulation
10:04 – Scaling production for Whole Foods
11:35 – Brand identity and the first packaging
13:43 – The rebrand: why, when, and how
16:00 – Expanding the product line (baba ganoush, muhammara)
19:25 – Advice on when a rebrand is worth it
22:01 – Landing Whole Foods nationwide
24:55 – Costco roadshows and what they revealed
28:04 – Consumer education and category creation
29:37 – Driving velocity: demos, promotions, social media
33:07 – Why Yaza skipped Expo West
34:30 – Trends, brands, and what's next for Yaza

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

Links:

Yaza – https://yazafoods.com/
Follow Christian on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-karim-khalil-8b615b185/
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 Betsy Gillette, Co-Founder and CEO of Synergy Sales Consulting Group - the specialized sales management firm that acts as the full sales team for emerging CPG brands looking to scale nationally across grocery, natural, and mass channels. 

Betsy brings deep industry experience from leadership roles at UNFI, White Wave, Ignite Sales Management (before it sold to Acosta), and a decade at Jewel-Osco.

Betsy walks through the common mistakes she sees founders make, including hiring a marketer before a salesperson, staffing a friend in a sales role they'll outgrow in a year, and expecting retailers to just fall in love with their product off-cycle. We get into building a strong sales deck, what a one-pager needs to include, how to communicate price increases, and when to be transparent with retailers about supply chain issues.

We also cover how to partner with UNFI and KeHE, why their sales teams won't sell on your behalf, how to select and manage brokers, and what metrics matter in a category review beyond units per store per week.

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

Episode Highlights:

🏪 Why Synergy caps their portfolio at 10-12 brands
💸 Hiring a sales agency vs. building an internal sales team
⚠️ Why hiring a marketer before a salesperson is a costly mistake
🛒 How retail buyers actually make decisions (and what founders get wrong)
📊 Metrics that matter beyond units per store per week (dollar sales, household penetration)
📝 What a strong sales deck and one-pager need to include
💰 How to communicate a price increase through distributors
🤝 Partnering with UNFI and KeHE (and what brands misunderstand about them)
🚚 When and how to select and manage brokers
🎯 What a well-rounded go-to-market strategy looks like
🔬 Trends: protein, fiber, GLP-1s, and the new food pyramid guidance

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:52 – Origin story and what Synergy does
05:26 – When it makes sense to hire a sales agency
07:50 – Why 10-12 brands is the sweet spot
09:28 – Sales agency vs. internal sales team
11:13 – Buyer turnover and younger buyers at retailers
13:30 – What to look for in sales leadership hires
16:52 – The mistake of hiring a marketer before a salesperson
18:17 – How founders misunderstand retail buyer decisions
21:10 – Getting into retailers off-cycle (and why it rarely works)
23:13 – Key metrics for a strong sales story
24:52 – Preparing for category reviews
25:58 – Communicating price increases to retailers
26:20 – Being transparent with retailers about supply chain issues
28:31 – What a go-to-market strategy looks like
30:18 – What a good sales deck and one-pager should include
33:21 – How to truly partner with your distributor
36:01 – What brands misunderstand about distributors
37:54 – When and how to select and manage brokers
41:19 – Trends: protein, fiber, GLP-1s
42:35 – Where to find Betsy and Synergy

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

Links:

Synergy Sales Consulting Group – https://www.synergyscg.com/
Follow Betsy on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-gillette-2712074/
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 Andy Kurtts, Creative Director and Founder of Buttermilk Creative - the North Carolina-based CPG design firm behind some of the most recognized better-for-you brands on shelf. 

Andy breaks down the most expensive packaging mistakes he sees founders make, specifically how RGB-to-CMYK color mismatches compound across substrates and SKUs, and why the nutrition facts panel is not the place to get creative.

We also get into the tension between designing for yourself vs. your target customer, why your logo probably isn't the most important thing on pack, and how hierarchy and clarity beat loud, busy design. 

Andy walks through the Blue Zones Kitchen project, including the design sprint with multiple agencies, the handcrafted ceramic bowl that became the brand's most ownable asset, and why they're refreshing the packaging based on what they learned behind the freezer door.

We also cover DTC-to-retail packaging transitions, the debate around owning a color block on shelf vs. a rainbow approach, where AI is actually useful for design teams today, and the CPG trends Andy is tracking, including protein's staying power and how brands are visually tackling the dye removal movement.

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

Episode Highlights:

🛒 What retail buyers actually look for (hint: shelf-readiness over taste)
📦 Why back panel formatting can disqualify you before the tasting
🎨 The most expensive packaging mistake (RGB vs. CMYK color builds)
🖌️ Designing for your customer, not yourself
✨ Great packaging clarifies, it doesn't shout
🔤 Why your logo isn't the most important thing on pack
🧊 The Blue Zones Kitchen design sprint and freezer door lessons
🏺 The handcrafted ceramic bowl that became a brand asset
🌈 Owning a color block vs. the rainbow shelf approach
🤖 Where AI actually helps design teams (and where it doesn't)
👀 Trends: protein's staying power and the dye removal movement

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:44 – Lessons from nearly a decade at The Fresh Market
03:30 – How retail buyers evaluate private brand packaging
06:12 – What buyers actually look for in new products
08:52 – Packaging deal breakers that disqualify brands
11:10 – Designing for your customer, not yourself
13:58 – Great packaging clarifies, it doesn't shout
15:54 – The most expensive packaging mistakes (color)
20:04 – Unconventional design inspiration (museums, art, global markets)
23:11 – DTC vs. retail packaging
27:01 – Hierarchy on pack and why your logo can be secondary
29:12 – The Blue Zones Kitchen design story
34:47 – Owning a color on shelf vs. the rainbow approach
38:07 – AI in packaging design
42:21 – CPG trends: protein and the dye removal movement

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

Links:

Buttermilk Creative – https://buttermilkcreative.com/
Follow Andy on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/andykurtts/
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 Kiera Kehoe, Brand Manager at Smash Kitchen - the organic condiments and cooking oils brand co-founded by actor Glenn Powell.

Kiera previously built and ran Lift Off, a demo and merchandising agency covering roughly 40 states, and honed her brand management chops at cool brands like Zack's Mighty.

We dive into the real mechanics of building and running a demo program from the ground up. Kiera walks through how she thinks about budget allocation (sponsored search first, demos second), when brands should start demoing (three to four months after launch, not day one), and which categories see the best demo ROI - impulse-priced items like snacks and beverages versus low-margin singles where the math rarely works.

We get into how to find, hire, and motivate top brand ambassadors (referrals first, Facebook groups second), the case for starting with an agency before building in-house, and how to diligence demo agencies by asking where their strongest regions are. Kiera also talks candidly about the realities of scaling a national demo program, including why most brands eventually have to pull back on demo spend around the two-year mark as they move into conventional retail.

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

Episode Highlights:

🛒 How Lift Off demo agency was born from Zack's Mighty
🎯 Two marketing buckets: like your brand vs. buy your product
💰 Budget priority: sponsored search first, demos second
📊 Metrics that matter (samples distributed, sales, reorders)
🍟 Demoing frozen products (the tater tot air fryer story)
🤝 Why ambassadors are your best source of store-level intel
🎨 Table setup details that actually drive traffic
🔍 How to find great brand ambassadors (referrals and Facebook groups)
👀 The future of demos and co-demoing to cut costs

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:32 – How Lift Off demo agency started
03:08 – What a great demo actually accomplishes
04:08 – Biggest misconceptions about demos
05:14 – Common mistakes brands make with demos
06:47 – When demos make sense (and when they don't)
08:16 – Categories where demos work best
09:54 – Demoing frozen and cooked products
11:24 – Allocating marketing budget to demos
13:01 – Choosing which stores to demo at
13:45 – What a great demo setup looks like
15:17 – Reporting and tracking ROI with Piñata
16:06 – Metrics that matter during and after demos
18:10 – What makes a great brand ambassador
19:34 – How to motivate and incentivize ambassadors
20:53 – Where to find top brand ambassadors
22:13 – Agency vs. in-house demo teams
24:22 – How to diligence a demo agency
25:58 – In-store realities and what goes wrong
29:04 – Common consumer objections at demos
30:16 – Scaling a national demo program
32:04 – Core tools for running a demo program (Piñata, Gusto)
33:16 – The future of demos
34:25 – Wrap up

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

Links:

Smash Kitchen – https://smashkitchen.com/
Follow Kiera on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieragk/
Follow Smash Kitchen on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/smash-kitchen/
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 Sam Nebel, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Goodwipes, a fast-growing eco-friendly wet wipes brand that's secured shelf space in pretty much every major retailer across the country. 

In this episode, Sam shares the wild origin story of Goodwipes - which started with a bathroom conversation at a Florida State fraternity house - and breaks down how they've built a premium flushable wipes brand that's revolutionizing the restroom routine for millions of Americans.

We dive into their scrappy early days, the importance of bootstrapping and building on a budget, and how they navigated formulation challenges to create a product that truly stands out. Sam gets tactical on brand identity and packaging design, explaining why "in-home aesthetics" matter just as much as shelf appeal, and walks through the naming process that led to Goodwipes.

We also cover retail strategy at scale - what's unique about Walmart, Target, and Kroger, why placement in the toilet paper aisle vs personal care matters, and how they've successfully scaled into 10,000+ doors. Sam shares insights on the challenges of sampling wipes, their growing presence in airports, and what it takes to launch new products successfully.

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

Episode Highlights:

🚽 The fraternity house origin story
💪 Bootstrapping lessons from franchising and nightlife
🧪 Formulation R&D and product iteration
📦 Brand identity, packaging, and "in-home aesthetics"
✏️ The naming process and creating approachability
🛒 Walmart, Target, Kroger—what's different about each
📍 Why aisle placement matters (TP aisle vs personal care)
✈️ The airport channel opportunity
📈 Scaling from 100 to 1,000 to 10,000+ doors
🚀 New product development and hitting timelines
🎯 Risk and opportunity ahead
👀 Trends and brands Sam is watching

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

Table of Contents:

0:00 - Intro
0:47 - Origin story and goodwipes overview
3:21 - Lessons as a franchisee
5:22 - Lessons as a nightlife agency owner
7:59 - Building on a budget, fundraising
11:02 - Formulation and R&D
14:00 - Product roadmap and innovation
15:32 - Brand identity and packaging design
19:41 - The importance of in-home aesthetics
21:43 - The naming process
23:32 - Walmart, Target and Kroger and beyond
27:41 - Sampling wipes?
29:12 - Airports
31:10 - Scaling into 10K+ doors
32:28 - NPD decision process, getting it right
35:15 - Risk and opportunities
36:58 - Trends and brands Sam is watching

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

Links:

Goodwipes – https://www.goodwipes.com
Follow Sam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kingofwipes/
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 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 Seth Waite, Partner at Schaefer, the buyer psychology firm that helps brands understand why people actually buy. Seth has spent his career building, advising, and investing in businesses at the intersection of CPG, ecommerce, and analytics, with a deep focus on turning consumer insight into commercial clarity.

Seth breaks down how Schaefer approaches buyer research, why brands routinely misdiagnose demand, and the lies teams tell themselves about customer behavior. He introduces the single highest-leverage question a brand can ask to uncover true motivation and walks through Schaefer’s core frameworks, including the Kingpin Strategy and the Why People Buy Pyramid.

We also get into the Marketing Efficiency Paradox, why functional benefits alone rarely create durable advantage, and how brands accidentally make shoppers do the work through over-messaging and feature overload. Seth brings the theory to life with real-world examples, from kale at Pizza Hut buffets to what French’s Mustard teaches us about focus, meaning, and growth across DTC and retail.

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

Episode Highlights:

🧠 How Schaefer studies buyer psychology
❌ The lies brands tell themselves about why customers buy
❓ The highest-leverage question in consumer research
🎳 The Kingpin Strategy and why focus beats expansion
📉 The Marketing Efficiency Paradox
🔺 The Why People Buy Pyramid
🥬 Kale at Pizza Hut buffets and what it proves
🛒 Why brands shouldn’t make shoppers do the work
🟡 Lessons from French’s Mustard
🏬 DTC vs. retail: what actually changes
📦 Why “functional” is rarely enough
🔮 Trends and brands Seth is watching

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Schaefer breakdown
07:08 - Lies that brands tell themselves about why customers buy
09:20 - The highest leverage question a brand can ask
13:11 - The Kingpin Strategy
17:18 - The Marketing Efficiency Paradox
19:58 - The Why People Buy Pyramid
28:54 - Kale at Pizza Hut buffets and beyond
30:31 - Don’t make shoppers do the work
33:25 - What we can learn from French’s Mustard
37:42 - DTC vs Retail
42:43 - Functional this, functional that
45:00 - Brands and trends Seth is watching

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

Links:

Schaefer - https://schaefer.co/
Why People Buy - https://whypeoplebuy.com/
Follow Seth on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwaite
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 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.