Taste Radio Insider by Taste Radio

06.14.2019

Ep. 38: How To Create a Foundation for Breakout Success

This episode features an interview with Sisun Lee, the co-founder and CEO of More Labs, a next-generation maker of functional beverages best known for hangover relief supplement Morning Recovery. Launched in 2017 via an Indiegogo campaign, the brand was an...

06.07.2019

Ep. 37: The ‘Most Vital Tool’ For Brand-Building… And How To Use It

Before teaRIOT established a multi-channel retail footprint that stretches across the U.S., and before its acceptance into the Chobani Incubator program, and before its recent $3 million Series A funding round, co-founders Laura and Steve Jakobsen were simply...

05.31.2019

Ep. 36: The Sudden Plan to Revolutionize a $40 Billion Category

In this week’s episode of Taste Radio Insider, we’re joined by Josh Zloof, the co-founder and CEO of Sudden Coffee, an innovative brand of specialty instant coffee. Founded in 2015, Sudden is attempting to revolutionize the $40 billion market for...

05.17.2019

Ep. 34: Why Small Businesses ‘Have An Obligation To Push The Envelope‘

In this episode, we sit down with Darren Marshall and Ravi Kroesen, the CEO and Head Teamaker, respectively, of specialty tea company Smith Teamaker for a discussion exploring how a small company can influence an entire industry. Portland, Ore.-based Smith...

05.03.2019

Ep. 32: The ‘First’ Name in Investment Opens Up Its Playbook

When assessing funding opportunities for early- and mid-stage companies, First Beverage Group, an investment and advisory firm that works with and invests in brands across the beverage spectrum, has a category-first mindset. First Beverage believes that “the tail winds of...

04.26.2019

Ep. 31: Who Really Owns Your Brand? Hint: It’s Not You.

You might have put time, money, blood, sweat and tears into building your brand, but at the end of the day it doesn’t belong to you. That’s the perspective of Christian Krogstad and Thomas Mooney, the co-founders of Westward Whiskey,...

04.19.2019

Ep. 30: The Goal Is To Become a Billion-Dollar Brand

August Vega is a “go big or go home” kind of entrepreneur. The founder and CEO of MALK, a super-premium brand of organic nut milks, Vega cut her teeth in the beverage business selling her wares at farmers markets in...

04.12.2019

Ep. 29: Why This Two-Second Business Pitch Is So Powerful

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words." When evaluating investment opportunities, Chris Hollod, a venture capitalist focused on early-stage consumer brands, takes the adage to heart. “I tell every brand: ‘I judge you within the first...

04.05.2019

Ep. 28: This Is What It Takes to Become a Category Leader

In this episode, we examine brand-building and retail strategies for center store grocery in interviews with the founders of two category-leading brands: Katlin Smith, the founder and CEO of fast-growing baking mix brand Simple Mills, and David Eben, the founder...

03.29.2019

Ep. 27: Is Bend The New Boulder?

Bend, the small, yet fast-growing city in Central Oregon, has become a haven for entrepreneurship. Although the local economy had been driven by the lumber industry for over a century, Bend has in recent years seen an influx of innovative...

03.22.2019

Ep. 26: Feeling The Vybes on CBD & THC, Brands Prepare for The Future of Cannabis

This episode features interviews with two entrepreneurs that are advancing the conversation for cannabis-infused food and beverage brands: Jonathan Eppers, founder and CEO of Vybes, and Kristy Knoblick Palmer,co-founder and COO of Kiva Confections. A tech executive-turned-beverage entrepreneur, Eppers joined...

03.15.2019

Ep. 25: How To Get This $100 Million Fund To Invest In Your Brand

If you want to get the attention of Boulder Food Group (BFG), a venture capital firm that recently launched a new $100 million fund, having a memorable package design is a good way to start. Launched in 2014 by industry...

03.08.2019

Ep. 24: Hey Siri, How Do You Build a Millennial Brand?

Just three and a half months since its debut, Recess, a sparkling water brand infused with CBD and adaptogens, has generated an incredible amount of buzz. Profiled in mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, Forbes and CNBC, Recess...

03.01.2019

Ep. 23: How Successful Entrepreneurs Network, Use Equity & Partner With Celebs

Over the course of his career, Ryan Lewendon, a partner with influential CPG law firm The Giannuzzi Group, has worked with hundreds of CPG brands, including Vitaminwater, Krave Jerky, Vita Coco and BodyArmor. His experience has provided him with a...

02.22.2019

Ep. 22: Plant-Based Brands Are Changing The Food Industry Faster Than You Think

In this episode, we explored the evolving landscape for plant-based foods through conversations with Ben Mand, the CEO of coconut beverage brand Harmless Harvest and Michele Simon, the founder and executive director of industry trade group the Plant Based Foods...

02.15.2019

Ep. 21: This is Why Nestlé Invested a Half-Billion in Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee CEO Bryan Meehan is well aware of the increasingly competitive landscape for coffee. Yet while some companies are racing to expand and innovate, Blue Bottle, one of the most admired coffee roasters and retailers in the world,...

02.08.2019

Ep. 20: The Secret to a Successful E-Commerce Strategy? Here’s a Hint: Start Small.

Hint founder and CEO Kara Goldin knows a thing or two about building a brand around a successful e-commerce strategy. Approximately 40 percent of the flavored water company’s $100 million in annual revenue comes from online sales, a majority of...

02.01.2019

Ep. 19: Think You’re Outworking Your Competition? Try Knocking on 500 Doors in 25 Days.

Two years after launching their loose leaf tea company, Tiesta Tea co-founders Patrick Tannous and Dan Klein arrived at a crossroads. Amid slumping sales, their advisors exhorted the young entrepreneurs to find new retail accounts. Tannous and Klein replied that...

01.25.2019

Ep. 18: From Trader Joe’s to Tap Rooms: Chomps, Riff Cold Brewed Discuss Winning at Retail

In an episode that covers retail strategies from Trader Joe’s to tap rooms, we feature interviews with entrepreneurs behind two innovative companies: Pete Maldonado, the co-founder of fast-growing meat stick brand Chomps, and the co-founders of upstart coffee brand Riff...

01.18.2019

Ep. 17: Crafted & Fancy -- Where The Money Is Flowing in Specialty & Spirits

From artisanal foods to craft spirits, this episode explores the evolving business landscape for specialty food and distilled beverages. Steven Rannekleiv, the global sector strategist for beverages at global financial services firm Rabobank, has covered the alcoholic beverage industry for...

01.11.2019

Ep. 16: How to Win Online: Strategies For DTC and Influencer Marketing

Madeline Haydon, the founder and CEO of non-dairy creamer brand Nutpods, isn’t fazed by the occasional negative review of her products. On the contrary, she welcomes all customer feedback, good or bad. It’s the follow up that matters. “You have...

01.03.2019

Ep. 15: How To Win Over Venture Capitalists... And What They Don’t Want to Hear In Your Pitch

Larry Kahn, a partner and managing director with private equity and venture capital firm Beechwood Capital, is not a fan of surprises. In his five years with Beechwood, Kahn has invested in a variety of entrepreneurial companies, including baby food...

12.28.2018

Ep. 14: The Trends That May Shape 2019; A HotShot Takes on The Coffee Biz

What will 2019 hold for funding, innovation, and emerging categories in the food and non-alcoholic beverage industries? In this episode, BevNET and NOSH editors offered their predictions on how they see the business of food and beverage evolving over the...

12.21.2018

Ep. 13: The Keys to Creating a New Category; How This Nation Won It All

“I’m starting a new category.” It’s a familiar refrain often heard in the food and beverage industry, even if most times what’s spoken isn’t necessarily true. But in the rare cases in which an entrepreneur is indeed breaking new ground,...

12.13.2018

Ep. 12: On The Brink of Collapse, How Aloha Found Its Footing; Why Tea + Hops = Victory

Aloha, a brand of organic, plant-based protein bars and powders, almost said goodbye to the market. Serial entrepreneur Constantin Bisanz created the company in 2014 with grand aspirations to democratize access to organic, healthy and better-for you food. At launch,...

12.07.2018

Ep. 11: We’re Talking BevNET Live, British Booch & Moju Juice

In this episode of Taste Radio Insider, we continued our exploration into the evolving food and beverage market in the U.K. from the perspective of two London-based entrepreneurs: Jarr Kombucha co-founder Adam Vanni and Moju Drinks co-founder Rich Goldsmith. Each...

11.30.2018

Ep. 10: How Beanfields is Winning Consumers One Package at a Time

Veteran CPG executive Arnold Ventura cut his teeth in food and beverage as the founder of bottled aguas frescas brand Coba. While ultimately unsuccessful, his experience as a beverage entrepreneur laid the foundation for his career, as he went on...

11.23.2018

Ep. 9: Barnana’s Co-Founder Explains Why Package Design Is Everything; Beyond The Headlines: Nootropics and CBD

Nik Ingersöll spends a lot of time thinking about ugly bananas. The co-founder and CMO of Barnana, a fast-growing producer of snack foods made from imperfect and misshapen bananas, Ingersöll is responsible for the brand’s marketing and design strategy. To...

11.16.2018

Ep. 8: Why 'Digital First' Is The Ugly Way to Succeed

Hugh Thomas and Joe Benn say the best insights and feedback about their brand come from an “Ugly Mob.” It may sound unseemly, but the mob is actually a group of loyal consumers of Ugly Drinks, a flavored sparkling water...

11.09.2018

Ep. 7: Just How Did This Tiny Brand Pick Up $7 Million In New Funding?

How did a three-year-old brand with a retail footprint of less than 2,000 locations land $7 million in new capital? Wyatt Taubman, the founder and CEO of wellness shot maker Vive Organic, explained it in three words: “test and learn.”...

11.02.2018

Ep. 6: The CBD Gold Rush; David Yeung's Dream of a Green Monday and Omnipork For All

The latest installment of Taste Radio Insider kicks off with a discussion about the hottest ingredient in food and beverage, CBD. Amid surging interest for the cannabidiol, the hosts examined CBD’s influence on innovation strategies and discussed the factors affecting...

10.25.2018

What's Taste Radio Insider about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Taste Radio Insider episodes: