On this episode, we’re joined by Jessica Berger, Founder & CEO of Bundle X Joy, the female-founded, purpose-driven pet brand rethinking dog nutrition, branding, and community.

Jess brings nearly two decades of experience from inside the pet industry, including building private label brands and working across major retailers, before stepping out to create the brand she wished existed.

We get into the realities of launching a modern pet brand from scratch - how early formulation and R&D decisions shape everything that comes next, how to think about initial SKU strategy, and what founders should know about pet co-packers and commercialization before scaling.

We also dig deep into brand identity and packaging design and why Jess trusted her gut despite some tough feedback. Jess shares how she built community before launch, the go-to-market strategy that unlocked early traction, and what it really took to land major retailers like Walmart and Costco.

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

Episode Highlights:

🐶 Jess’s origin story and journey through “Big Pet”
🏭 Building private label brands and lessons from inside the industry
🧪 Formulation, R&D, and early SKU decision-making
📦 Working with pet co-packers and commercializing products
🎨 Brand identity and packaging design decisions
✏️ The naming process behind Bundle X Joy
🤝 Building community before launch
🚀 Go-to-market strategy and early traction
🛒 What it really took to land Walmart
🏬 Lessons from selling into Costco
🔮 Brands and trends Jess is watching next

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:43 - Origin story
03:33 - “Big Pet” experience, building private label brands
07:07 - Formulation and R&D, go-to-market SKU decisions
10:53 - Pet co-packers and commercialization
14:44 - Brand identity and packaging design, sticking with your gut
19:49 - The naming process
22:12 - Building community pre-launch
23:56 - Go-to-market strategy
29:45 - Walmart and beyond
34:17 - Costco
35:46 - Brands and trends Jess is watching

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

Links:

Bundle X Joy – https://bundlexjoy.com
Follow Jess on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicarberger/
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 Gabriel González, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Casalú, the rum-based RTD cocktail brand.

In Gabriel’s own words, his goal is to build the Red Bull of Latino culture.

We dive into the initial insight that rum was missing from the hard seltzer boom, and the broader cultural shift that made a Latino-first brand not just viable, but necessary. Gabriel shares how Casalú was built for their own community first, and why Latin culture becoming pop culture fundamentally changed the opportunity.

We also dig into early formulation and R&D decisions, including painful product failures and fermentation issues that forced production shutdowns and hard resets. Gabriel walks through what those moments taught them about liquid development, co-packers, and knowing when to rethink both product and process.

We talk candidly about starting with self-managed distribution, learning the hard way how to actually drive velocity, and what it really takes to succeed with major retailers like Walmart. Gabriel also breaks down Casalú’s recent brand refresh, why clarity at shelf matters more than just being “cool,” and how they’re thinking about culture, community, and scale heading into 2026.

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

Episode Highlights:

🍋 Why rum was missing from the hard seltzer boom
🧪 Early formulation and R&D lessons
🏭 What they learned working with co-packers
⚠️ Product failures that shut down production
🎶 Building the Red Bull of Latino culture
📈 Growing a following from nothing
🚚 Starting with self-managed distribution
⚡ Tactics for driving real retail velocity
🏪 Getting in the door and succeeding at Walmart
🎨 The strategy behind the Casalú brand refresh
🎯 2026 goals and what’s next

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:51 – Origin story
02:55 – Formulation and R&D
05:20 – Co-packers
10:22 – Formulation challenges and failed product
12:32 – Building the Red Bull of Latino culture
19:07 – Building a following from nothing
22:21 – Starting with self-managed distribution
25:40 – Tactics for driving velocity
29:48 – Getting in the door and succeeding at Walmart
32:30 – The what and why of the Casalú brand refresh
40:46 – 2026 goals

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

Links:

Casalú – https://casalu.com/
Follow Gabriel on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielgonzalezorta/
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 Cody Allen and Alex Bennet, Co-Founders of Joon Foods, the award-winning pistachio brand that’s gone from zero to roughly 1,500 doors in just seven months.

Built on a 300-year-old family recipe and a modern, flavor-forward approach, Joon is showing consumers what pistachios “really taste like”.

We get into the realities of formulation and R&D, how they approached finding the right manufacturing partner for a unique cooking process, and why they chose to start with just three flavors instead of chasing constant innovation.

They also unpack their go-to-market strategy - from leaning into C-stores early (thanks to Cody’s family distribution background) to using Faire as both a revenue driver and an unexpected marketing engine. We talk pricing, velocity versus door count, grocery delivery platforms like Thrive and Hungryroot, and how they think about scaling without getting ahead of themselves.

This is a tactical, in-the-weeds conversation about building a modern snack brand the hard way through distribution, data, and discipline.

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

Episode Highlights:

🥜 Turning a 300-year-old family recipe into a modern CPG brand
🚀 Growing to ~1,500 doors in seven months via C-stores
🏭 Formulation, R&D, and finding the right manufacturing partner
🌿 Clean-label flavor strategy (no seed oils, no artificial flavors)
🎨 Brand identity, naming, and award-winning packaging design
💰 Pricing a premium product across channels
📦 Lessons from multi-generation food distribution
🛒 Using Faire as both a sales and marketing engine
📊 Velocity vs distribution and avoiding overexpansion
🔍 Snack brands and trends Alex and Cody are watching

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
01:06 – Origin story
04:05 – Formulation and R&D
07:08 – Finding and partnering with a co-packer
08:45 – Flavor strategy
12:49 – Brand identity, naming, and packaging design
19:49 – Pricing
22:52 – Lessons from Cody’s family distribution business
25:22 – Starting with C-stores
28:26 – Faire
29:15 – Grocery delivery
30:22 – Velocity vs distribution, Faire
41:02 – Brands and trends Alex and Cody are watching

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

Links:

Joon Foods – https://eatjoonfoods.com/
Follow Cody on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/codyallen24/
Follow Alex on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/al
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 Mac Anderson, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer of Cleveland Kitchen (formerly Cleveland Kraut) - the #1 kimchi and kraut brand in the U.S.

Mac, his brother Drew, and their brother-in-law Luke built the company from Saturday farmer’s markets into a national fermented-foods platform spanning kraut, kimchi, pickles, and more, now sitting at roughly 15,000 doors.

We get into the real mechanics of building in the fermented category. Mac breaks down how farmer’s markets became their most valuable feedback engine, what finally gave him the confidence to leave his day job, and how they approached formulation and R&D when “fermented” is both a flavor and a process.

Mac also walks through what it takes to scale without losing quality - minimizing batch variance, deciding when to go vertical with in-house manufacturing, and how a cold-chain, time-based product fundamentally changes the business model.

We dig into brand identity and packaging decisions that help Cleveland Kitchen win on shelf, how they think about defending territory as the category leader, and what they learned from acquiring Sonoma Brinery.

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

Episode Highlights:

🥬 Building Cleveland Kitchen with family
🧺 Why farmer’s markets are the best real-world product lab in CPG
🚪 When it actually makes sense to leave your full-time job
🧪 Formulation & R&D in a process-driven category
📉 Minimizing batch variance as you scale
🏭 Going vertical: when in-house manufacturing becomes the edge
🧬 The fermentation business model (time, cold chain, inventory)
🎨 Brand identity & packaging decisions that drive velocity
📈 Scaling into ~15,000 doors
🛡️ Defending territory as the market leader
🤝 Lessons from acquiring Sonoma Brinery
🔭 Trends and brands Mac is watching right now

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Cleveland Kitchen origin story, building with family
05:54 - Farmer’s Market learning lessons
07:34 - When to leave your full-time job
10:01 - Formulation and R&D
12:29 - Minimizing batch variance at scale
14:06 - Going vertical (in-house manufacturing)
17:26 - The fermentation business
19:59 - Brand identity and packaging design
22:48 - Scaling into 15,000 doors
26:52 - Defending territory as the market leader
29:59 - Acquiring Sonoma Brinery
34:06 - Trends and brands Mac is watching

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

Links:

Cleveland Kitchen – https://www.clevelandkitchen.com/
Follow Mac on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mac-anderson-98500973/
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 Kristina Marino, BevAlc consultant and marketing leader, who’s helped scale brands like Mr Black and Kombrewcha just to name a few. Kristina brings an operator’s lens to today’s bevalc reality: tougher distributor dynamics, shifting shopper behavior, and the need to design brands that earn repeat in both off-prem and on-prem.

We get into what’s working now in bevalc: how to earn a distributor’s attention without overspending, why on-prem needs a purpose-built SKU or ritual, and how early wins come from ruthless focus on route-to-market and velocity metrics (not just awareness).

Kristina also shares her brand identity playbook, the levers that actually move repeat purchase, and what the post-M&A integration process looks like from the inside.

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

Episode Highlights:

🥃 Learning lessons from scaling Mr. Black and Kombrewcha
📉 Distributor reality in 2025
🧭 Route-to-market first
🍸 On-premise with purpose
🔁 Driving repeat purchase
🪪 Brand identity playbook: briefs that translate, system-first packaging, and shelf ↔ digital alignment
🧩 Post-M&A integration
📈 Where she’d place bets now and the spirit trends she’s watching

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:39 – Kristina’s experience in the bevalc
03:12 – The current bevalc landscape
05:14 – Trends Kristina is seeing
09:25 – Today’s bevalc distributor landscape
11:53 – How a bevalc startup can win in today’s market
13:42 – What category Kristina would focus on today if she started a brand
15:43 – Brand identity playbook in bevalc
17:34 – On-premise vs off-premise in the early days
18:49 – Driving repeat purchase
21:37 – What the post-M&A integration process looks like
23:17 – Brand and trends Kristina is excited about in spirits

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

Links:

Follow Kristina on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/krimarino/
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 Tyrel Johnson, the Co-Founder & CEO of Natty Ice Cream, the high-protein, clean-label ice cream brand rapidly breaking into the frozen set. 

Tyrel and his brother Garrett turned a home fitness journey, a Ninja Creami obsession, and relentless R&D into a brand that's gaining traction fast.

Tyrel shares the inside story of building Natty from a Breville machine to a fully licensed dairy manufacturing facility, then making the pivotal decision to shift from in-house production to a co-packer to support scale. 

We dive deep into brand identity and how Natty’s bold, dark packaging and Greek-god iconography carve out visual white space behind foggy freezer doors. Tyrel shares tactics on breaking into frozen retail, working with brokers and distributors, managing trade spend, and building a brand that wins the first trial and earns repeat.

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

Episode Highlights:

🍦 The fitness journey that inspired Natty Ice Cream
🧪 How they cracked the code on high-protein ice cream texture
🏭 Building a licensed dairy facility - then pivoting to a co-man
🎨 Why contrast drives frozen aisle packaging strategy
🔍 Visual storytelling and owning white space in frozen
📈 Breaking into Erewhon and early retail traction
🤝 Working with brokers, distributors, and deciding when to scale
📊 Modeling trade spend, margins, and operational realities
🚀 Emerging brands and trends Tyrel is tracking across CPG

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Natty Ice Cream origin story
03:12 - Building a brand with family
05:33 - Early days of formulation and R&D
09:46 - Product roadmap
10:48 - Pivoting to a copacker
13:34 - Brand identity and packaging design
18:24 - Operating in the frozen category
20:35 - Strategies to stand out in frozen at retail
23:30 - Erewhon
27:37 - Brokers and distributors
31:22 - Brands and trends Tyrel is watching

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

Links:

Natty Ice Cream – https://nattyicecream.com/
Follow Tyrel on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyreljohnson/ 
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 Courtney Shane, Founder & CEO of Challenger Brand Group.

Courtney led turnarounds for iconic brands like Windex, Tollhouse, and Windex and now brings big brand rigor to emerging, challenger brands.

We dig into how to think like a P&L-minded marketer, what she had to unlearn from “Big CPG,” the initiatives that change trajectories like nailing price-pack architecture, packaging design frameworks and storytelling strategies tailored to core stakeholder groups.

Courtney breaks down what belongs in a tight creative brief, the most common packaging mistakes she sees, and how to evaluate when you need a refresh versus a full rebrand. We also get tactical on “owning a color and designing for real store lighting.

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

Episode Highlights:

🎯 From corporate turnarounds to challenger brand operator
🧠 What to unlearn from Big CPG when you’re scrappy
📊 Price Pack Architecture for early-stage brands
🗂️ The anatomy of a strong agency brief
📦 Packaging pitfalls that kill clarity at shelf
🎨 Why “owning a color” creates true brand blocking
💡 Small packaging tweaks that reliably lift velocity
🛒 How store lighting impacts design choices
🔁 Refresh vs. rebrand: how to decide
📖 Storytelling for consumers, retailers, investors, and employees
📈 Trends and challenger brands Courtney is watching

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:48 - The Challenger Brand Group
03:15 - Turning around Nesquik
06:22 - Turning around Windex
08:45 - (Un)learning from “Big CPG”
10:23 - Game-changing strategies and initiatives
11:59 - Pricing strategy
18:42 - What a well-rounded agency brief looks like
20:42 - Common packaging design pitfalls
24:00 - Owning a color
28:21 - Most and least impactful packaging tweaks
29:37 - Lighting environment and packaging design
31:14 - Packaging refresh vs full rebrand
33:35 - Storytelling
38:14 - Brand and trends Courtney is tracking

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

Links:

Challenger Brand Group – https://www.challengerbrandgroup.com/
Follow Courtney on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyfshane/ 
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 BJ McCaslin, the Co-Founder & CEO of Holy! Water, the beverage brand pushing the boundaries of function, combining ketones, nootropics, functional mushrooms, and in some SKUs, THC. 

A 20-year beverage veteran who previously built and exited Coco Café to Vita Coco, BJ brings a rare blend of street-level intuition, scientific curiosity, and battle-tested entrepreneurial grit.

We dive deep into commercialization realities, the brutal economics of beverage, and how BJ approaches brand-building like an anthropologist.

We explore the fast-changing C-store landscape and where functional beverages fit in, and what it actually takes to build strong distributor and broker relationships.

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

Episode Highlights:

💧 The 15-year journey behind Holy! Water
⚗️ Building a functional beverage with real “feelings”
🧪 Ketones, mushrooms & nootropics
🛠️ The harsh realities of beverage commercialization
🧭 Why brand-building starts with anthropology
🌿 THC vs non-THC SKUs
🚨 How BJ is responding to the potential hemp ban
💊 Vitamins vs painkillers
🏪 Why C-stores are the next frontier for functional drinks
📈 Broker & distributor strategies that actually work
🔭 Trends and brands BJ is watching closely

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Holy! Water origin story, product evolution
07:17 - Commercialization journey
10:09 - Anthropological approach to brand building
13:41 - Learning on the fly
17:43 - THC vs non-THC SKUs
22:07 - How BJ is reacting to the hemp ban
24:07 - Vitamins vs painkillers
27:41 - The C-store channel
30:51 - The evolution of functional beverages in C-stores
32:38 - Building strong distributor and broker relationships
37:42 - Brand and trends BJ is watching

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

Links:

Holy! Water – https://enjoyholywater.com/ 
Follow BJ on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjmccaslin/  
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 Chris Wendling, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Carbone Fine Food, the fast-growing brand translating the iconic Carbone restaurant experience into the grocery aisle. Since launching in 2021, Carbone has quickly become one of the top-selling premium pasta sauce brands in America, expanding into club, mass, and specialty retailers.

Chris shares how his sales leadership background helped build marketing structure around a rapidly scaling business. We talked about the journey of implementing a formal marketing strategy, refining brand storytelling, and aligning the team around north start metrics. 

We dive into how Carbone leverages restaurant expertise to inform innovation, the thinking behind its new Italian Simmer Sauces line and the philosophy that guided the recent label refresh.

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

Episode Highlights:

🍝 The story behind Carbone Fine Food’s rapid rise
📈 Building a scalable marketing structure from scratch
🤝 Lessons from leading marketing after years in sales
📊 Using restaurant data to guide retail innovation
🔥 Launching the new Italian Simmer Sauces
🎨 The strategy behind Carbone’s packaging refresh
📍 Defining and tracking true north-star metrics
👀 Emerging brand and consumer trends Chris is watching

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro
00:48 - Carbone Fine Food origin story
04:11 - Implement a formal marketing strategy / structure
12:16 - Leading marketing after years in sales leadership
20:51 - Leveraging restaurant data to drive product strategy
24:42 - The Simmer Sauces lines
29:33 - Label refresh
33:30 - North star metrics
37:04 - Brand and trends Chris is watching

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

Links:

Carbone Fine Food – https://www.carbonefinefood.com/ 
Follow Chris on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwendling/ 
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 Jeff Bull, the Chief Creative Officer at Uncle Arnie’s, one of the fastest-growing THC beverage brands in the country. Jeff is the creative mind behind the Arnieverse - the nostalgic, fun-first brand world that has helped propel Uncle Arnie’s from a California cult favorite to a nationwide force across both dispensaries and the booming hemp-derived beverage market.

With deep experience in brand identity, visual storytelling, and product strategy, Jeff has shaped everything from Arnie’s character system and packaging architecture to its flavor development, channel expansion, and launch playbooks.

Jeff breaks down how Uncle Arnie’s was born, why beverages have become the dominant on-ramp for new cannabis users, and how the brand balances playfulness with potency and compliance. He unpacks the creative and strategic evolution of Arnie’s as it scaled from dispensary shelves into mainstream retail, what the hemp market unlocked for the company, and how they approach new SKUs, flavor development, and launch assets.

We also dive into the role of budtenders, the fundraising journey, how creative leaders should think about entering the THC beverage space, and the trends Jeff sees shaping the next wave of cannabis and hemp innovation.

Use code Jeff33 to get 33% off anything at unclearnies.com

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

Episode Highlights:

🍋 The origin story behind Uncle Arnie’s
🥤 Why THC beverages are exploding in popularity
🌿 The rise of hemp-derived THC and its impact on brand strategy
🎨 Building a distinctive, joyful visual identity
📦 Packaging that balances fun, clarity, and regulatory accuracy
🛒 How dispensary shoppers differ from mainstream hemp consumers
🧪 Flavor development and new product roadmapping
🚀 The creative playbook for new product launches
👥 The critical role of budtenders and frontline retail staff
💰 Lessons from fundraising and scaling a cannabis brand

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

Table of Contents:

00:00 – Intro
00:57 – Uncle Arnie’s origin story
02:55 – Why THC beverages are all the rage right now
04:26 – Why beverages are the on-ramp for many
05:43 – Predicting the future
07:35 – Brand identity and brand evolution
10:32 – Visual identity and packaging design
16:02 – Dispensary channel consumers vs hemp market consumers
20:47 – Product strategy and roadmap
25:09 – New product launch assets and strategy
26:59 – The importance of budtenders and frontline retail teams
29:48 – Fundraising
31:49 – Recommendations for creative leaders coming into hemp bev
33:19 – Brand and trends Jeff is watching

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

Links:

Uncle Arnie’s – https://unclearnies.com
Follow Jeff on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreybull/
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.