Startup To Scale

 Debbie Wei Mullin, founder and CEO of Copper Cow Coffee, the sustainably sourced and (soon to be) very first certified organic Vietnamese coffee company. Debbie founded Copper Cow in 2016 out of her sister’s garage with a mission to transform Vietnamese coffee farming via sustainable practices – now, they’ve sold 20 million+ coffees to date, all while supporting farmers in Vietnam. they've certified Vietnam's first-ever organic coffee farms, and later this year Copper Cow will become the first organic certified Vietnamese coffee brand (8 years in the making!). They've invested over $100K into converting the farms to organic + pay farmers 2x the market rate for their coffee. 

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

Tip Top Proper Cocktails is an Atlanta-based beverage company that is making delicious cocktails available on the go. The company co-founders, Yoni Reisman and Neal Cohen, are music industry veterans who identified quality cocktails as a missing piece in the beverage offering at festivals, music venues and other high volume events.

Join me as I talk with Neal on building the business during the pandemic, launching with Delta Airlines, and testing out product innovation and pack size.

Learn more at https://tiptopcocktails.com/

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

Imagine you finally get to a point as a beverage company where you can upgrade to your first printed cans. You had to secure a new contract with a can company and co-packer to make it happen. Everything is all set for your production run, and the co-packer starts running your product through the line.

But then, disaster strikes. All 10,000 cans come out of the tunnel pasteurizer with labels peeling off. All that product is unsellable, and effectively lost. The copacker blames the can company, and the can company says the facility wasn't approved. You're caught in a frustrating "he said, she said" scenario, with no one taking responsibility. To make matters even worst, your business insurance isn’t setup to cover this type of product loss. This is exactly what happened to Sara Delaney, founder of Sarilla.

Join me as I talk with Sara along with Russ Taylor, from SecureCPG to learn how this happened and how proper insurance can help you prevent issues like this from happening to your company.

Learn More About Sarilla: https://www.drinksarilla.com/
Learn More About SecureCPG: https://securecpg.com/

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

Alex Matthews is the co-founder and CEO of De La Calle, a brand that's bringing tepache—a fermented pineapple drink with roots dating back to pre-Columbian Mexico—to the forefront of the beverage industry. Alex's journey is one of passion, innovation, and a deep respect for cultural heritage.

We'll dive into how Alex discovered tepache, the challenges he faced in bringing this unique beverage to market, and how De La Calle has grown to become a beloved brand among consumers looking for authentic and refreshing drinks. From navigating the complexities of fermentation to building a brand that honors its cultural origins, Alex's story is a testament to the power of perseverance and creativity.

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

You need to know where you’re going in order to get there. For CPG brands this means creating a brand strategy, knowing your business, and then mapping a path to getting where you want to go. I’ve been pitched by agencies who charge $50,000 for this service, but if you’re like me, you have no where near that budget to pay for strategy.

So how can you do it yourself? I’ve invited on Ashley and Sarah, co-founders of The Squeeze, a strategic brand, marketing & retail consultancy to share how you can build your own brand strategy for free.

Download your free Bootstrap Your Brand Strategy Guide

Check out their website and Instagram.
the-squeeze.co
https://www.instagram.com/the_squeezeco/

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

Launching a CPG brand is definitely hard, but competing in the highly competitive snacking category is comes with it’s own unique challenges. Laurel Orley, the co-founder of Daily Crunch just launched her sprouted nut snacks in over 450 Target stores nationwide.

In this episode you’ll learn about how she and her team hold themselves accountable through KPIs and weekly check-ins, how to acquire new customers for retail, and more.

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

It’s no secret that money is tight for CPG brands. The era of surplus investor funding is gone for now, and businesses need leaner operations. That said, you still need cash to grow, so when and how can you get it? I’ve invited on Jim and Carly from Aion to discuss when you should access working capital as a CPG Brand.

Learn more about Aion Financial Here

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

When Ori left his previous VC funded tech startup, he was determined that his next company would be bootstrapped so he could control his own destiny. Ori co-founded Burlap & Barrel with Ethan Frisch, a single-origin spice company. They made sure the company was profitable from day 1 (without paying themselves). Initially they put all the money back into the company, doing consulting on the side and by year 3 they were able to start paying themselves completely from the company.

Listen to our conversation as we discuss the conscious choice to be profitable, how they found success with a unique value proposition selling “commodities”, and their upcoming expansion into retail.

www.burlapandbarrel.com

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

 Building a CPG brand can be a winding road. Often times the product you start out creating ends up changing as you learn and iterate with your customers. Now, changing from your original idea can be hard, but ultimately you’ll create a better product if you align your core vision with customer feedback. 

Shibani Baluja knows this journey well. She’s a long time friend and founder of Lil gourmet’s, a line of baby and toddler food for adventurous eaters. I invited her on to share her journey of building the company, her original vision, and the changes she’s had to make to get to where she is today. 

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

Will Nitze created IQ Bar, a protein bar to increase mental health and cognition, and now runs a multi-million dollar brand selling bars, hydration sticks, and mushroom coffees.

Learn his strategy for growing a brand to a projected $55 million including fundraising, channel strategy, and mindset.

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.