The Changeup

This week we welcome Brian and Dahlia Graham, the co-founders of Fruition Chocolate Works. Fruition is an ethically sourced chocolate company using traditional and modern techniques to make their award-winning chocolate in Catskills.
This episode is a bit of a departure as we met in real life to do the interview. You might hear the sounds of the shop and a change in our voice as we move around, but it led to an intimate and lively conversation and I'm excited to do more of them.

https://www.fruitionchocolateworks.com/

This week's guests are the founders of Our Daily Eats, Caroline and Paul Barrett. Our Daily Eats is an Albany based nuts and granola company founded by a husband and wife team who left their corporate gigs to follow their passion, creating exceptional food that they would be proud of and their kids would actually eat.
We talk about the journey from cooking it in their kitchen, printing the labels and selling it individually at local farm stands to being in stores across the country. They shared their other project, Capital Cooks kitchen and co-op where they have community-based cooking classes and bring in world-renowned chefs.

Our Daily Eats
Capital Cooks

This week's guest is the founder of Heyday Canning, Kat Kavner
Heyday Canning Co. is a canned food company making fun products like harissa lemon chickpeas, kimchi sesame beans, and enchilada beans that are accessible and delicious.
We talk about how the company was started at the height of COVID while in Australia, the importance of bringing the fun back into what is arguably a boring food vertical, the shops that embraced Heyday first, and how they expanded to 2000 stores.

Heyday Canning

This week's guests are the Founders of Weiss Ferments, Erica and Brian Weiss. Weiss Ferments is a family-owned farm, brewery and sourdough bread bakery in Schoharie County, New York. We talk about their past lives working as sommeliers and bartenders at Michelin-rated restaurants, the decision to leave New York City and build their farm, and how they both found their passions in brewing and baking respectively.

Weiss Ferments

This week's guest is the founder and CEO of Partake Foods, Denise Woodard. Partake is a Black-owned, women-led company that offers delicious allergy-free cookies, baking mixes, pancake and waffle mixes that are certified gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan, and free of the top nine allergens.
We talk about the very personal story of her daughter's allergies that led to her founding the company and how she scaled her kitchen to over 9,000 stores nationwide.

https://partakefoods.com/

This week's guest is the CEO and founder of Treeline Cheesemakers, Michael Schwarz. Treeline Cheesemakers is a dairy-free vegan cheese made in upstate  New York. We talk about his decision to become vegan in 2011 and how that compelled him to leave his job as a lawyer and build Treeline. 

Often business leaders speak in platitudes, but this is not one of those interviews. Michael brought conviction, clarity of our moral obligations, and a convincing rationale for why we all should be vegan. We talk about the science behind cashew cheese, how he landed his first clients, and how we all can do our part to stop animal cruelty.

This week's guests are the founders of Outsiders Kitchen, Julie and Austin Landes. Outsiders Kitchen is a gourmet pretzel bite that needs to be tried to be understood. Trust me, it's that good. 

We talk about their journey from Pennsylvania to upstate New York, starting a cafe business that turned into a pretzel business sold in over 1000 stores, and how even with that growth, each bag is still packaged by hand.

This week's guest is the founder of Jack and Friends, Jessica Kwong. Jack and Friends is on a mission to make snack foods you can feel good about eating, regardless of your lifestyle or diet. Made with jackfruit and pea protein, Jack and Friends jerky is not only vegan and top nine allergen-free, but a good source of protein and fiber with no added sugar. 
We talk about the science behind snack foods, how she developed the idea for Jack and Friends, and how she has scaled the business in a really tough vegan and vegetarian competitive market.

This week's guest is the co-founder and CEO of Finger Lakes Cider House, Garrett Miller. 
Finger Lakes Cider House is a diversified organic farm that specializes in making some of the best hard cider from New York apples. We talk about the origins of the company initially being a farm with friends to now being one of the top cider houses in New York, how he grew the business and what he wants to give back to the land, and the community with this project.

This week's guest is the co-founder and CEO of Wandering Bear Coffee, Matt Bachman. Wandering Bear makes big strong coffee with a smooth side delivered on tap to offices and homes nationwide. 
We talk about how he and his co-founder started the concept while in grad school, how they scaled it from their apartment kitchens to a nationwide business and how they compete in the super competitive coffee business.