From accidental entrepreneur to confident business owner: Sydney, founder of French Squirrel, reveals how she transformed her healthy snack company by confronting hard truths about pricing and profitability. 

After years of underpricing her premium date-based treats and struggling with razor-thin margins, Sydney shares the pivotal mindset shifts that helped her raise prices, say "no" to unprofitable opportunities, and put her business health first. She candidly discusses overcoming people-pleasing tendencies, learning to be transparent with retailers about costs, and finding manufacturing partners who believe in her vision. 

This eye-opening conversation challenges common assumptions about food business margins and scale, offering valuable lessons for founders about sustainable growth. Sydney's journey proves that understanding your numbers and staying true to your risk tolerance can lead to better business decisions – and sometimes even increased sales after raising prices.

Connect with French Squirrel

Website: French Squirrel

Instagram: @frenchsquirrel.co and @sydney_kw 

Tiktok: @frenchsquirrel.co 

LinkedIn: Sydney Karmes-Wainer

Join The Good Food CFO Community: 

Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo 

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan 

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo 

Become a Member: BABOYOT

In this value-packed episode of The Good Food CFO podcast, we tackle three critical business questions asked by our BABOYOT Members.  First, we reveal why your cash flow tools might not be delivering results (hint: it's probably not the tool's fault!). Then, we dive into a step-by-step guide for analyzing customer profitability – essential knowledge for any business owner wondering if their biggest customers are actually their most profitable. Finally, we explore how to evaluate new retail opportunities, from local collectives to e-commerce platforms, breaking down the real costs and considerations before making commitments. 

Plus, we’re announcing our latest Book Club Selection! 

Join The Good Food CFO Community: 

Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo 

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan 

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo 

Become a Member: BABOYOT

This week on The Good Food CFO podcast, we explore financial benchmarks for CPG brands, emphasizing that many common questions about business finances often lead to the answer 'it depends.'  

Sarah discusses the importance of understanding individual business contexts rather than relying solely on industry standards, challenges prevalent beliefs in the food industry such as the notion that founders must sell their businesses to achieve financial success, and encourages founders to create unique business models that align with their values and goals, and breaks free from conventional expectations.

From Our News Segment:

Lexington Bakes Taking Transparency to the Next Level

Join The Good Food CFO Community: 

Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo 

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan 

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo 

Become a Member: BABOYOT

In this BABOYOT episode of The Good Food CFO podcast Sarah chats with Keesha, the vibrant founder of Live Loud Foods, a brand that’s redefining the nut market with bold, unique flavors. Keesha shares her fascinating journey from information systems engineer to culinary entrepreneur, highlighting the challenges of launching a food business, including crucial financial insights and marketing strategies.

She emphasizes the importance of gathering customer feedback and adapting products for success while staying true to her mantra: "live your bold, authentic life." As we explore her mission to create impact beyond profit, you'll gain valuable insights into the intersection of food, finance, and brand identity.

Don’t miss this inspiring episode—tune in to learn how Keesha is making delicious waves in the culinary world!

And remember to subscribe and leave us a review!

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YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community 

Financial Modeling helps build financially successful businesses. But what if your model doesn’t match reality?! 

Sarah and Producer Chelsea are discussing the importance of regularly comparing your models to your actual business outcomes, how to identify if your model doesn’t match reality (because as you’ll hear it is not always obvious!) and, of course, what to do about it.  

Sarah shares a recent instance where she recognized that a founder's model and reality weren’t matching up, how a Good Food Founder identified that labor costs were higher than modeled causing profit margin and cash flow issues, and the steps she’s taking to get her business back on track. 

Whether you’re a modeling expert or novice, this episode provides valuable insights for aligning your theoretical models with real-world data so you can make informed decisions, mitigate risks, and position your business for long-term success.

From Our News Segment

Farm Stops Create New Markets for Small Farms

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YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community 

Stay Connected!

Instagram: @TheGoodFoodCFO
YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community 

There were a lot of “hot takes” on the recent PepsiCo acquisition of Siete Foods, a popular brand known for its grain-free tortillas and snacks. In this episode, Sarah offers her nuanced perspective, explores the reactions from various groups, including consumers, industry experts, and other founders, and discusses how the challenges and limitations of the CPG industry, coupled with the influence of investors and advisors create a system that is driving toward complete industry consolidation. 

We ask the question, how do we break the consolidation cycle? Explore the idea of rethinking what success looks like for good food businesses, and advocate for a reimagined food industry model that prioritizes financial viability, community impact, and sustainability, rather than national market share. Tune in to hear Sarah’s full take!  

What advice would you get from a CPG Operations Expert  that believes in building a business on your own terms (BABOYOT), and enhancing productivity to do more of what you love, rather than simply doing more?

Sarah invited CPG Operational Expert, Jessi Freitag to the show to find out.

Jessi is an operations and project management consultant helping CPG businesses get organized and scale. She’s also the former host of the Startup CPG podcast and has successfully led businesses from startup through growth while managing operations and teams. 

Jessi is shedding light on how well-organized operations and effective information sharing can transform your business and foster a vibrant company culture with happy employees and improved financial outcomes. She also shares that despite current cultural pressures to “automate everything” there are benefits to doing some things the old fashioned way. 

Through real-life examples Jessi shares practical advice and invaluable insights for avoiding common pitfalls when implementing new tools and systems, how simple file management strategies and team check-ins can save time, money and a lot of frustration, and her top picks for file sharing, project management, CRMs and more. 

Connect with Jessi:

Website: jessifreitag.com

LinkedIn: Jessi Freitag

Listen to Jessi’s Podcast: Iroh’s Corner

Stay Connected!

Instagram: @TheGoodFoodCFO
YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community 

Is it possible to de-risk your CPG business?  

We’re exploring three financial models that every founder should use to make smarter decisions and mitigate business risks. 

Discover how a Pricing Model can align production costs with market expectations and reveal hidden margin opportunities, and dive into the practical application of the Good Food CFO's Perfect Pricing Calculator, a versatile tool for navigating various pricing scenarios and negotiations.  Learn how to create a Breakeven Model to identify critical sales numbers and break-even points to shape effective sales and spending strategies. Uncover the value of the Cash Flow Model in predicting future liquidity, ensuring that your business can meet its financial obligations even in challenging times. Packed with actionable insights, this episode is a must-listen for founders looking to ensure the financial health and success of their food business.

Learn more about the tools mentioned in this episode! 

From our News Segment:

How a Vermont Cheesemaker Helps Local Farms Thrive

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YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community 

Sarah chats with the Founders of The Fishtown Pickle Project about how their pickles went from wedding favors to the shelves of major retailers. Niki and Mike share their entrepreneurial journey and the strategic decisions that propelled their business forward, as well as the  important role that staying true to their values, and taking an innovative approach to team building and community engagement has played in their success. Hear insights around their hiring practices, the benefits of a four-day workweek, and their preference for traditional marketing strategies over social media. And of course, we discuss how becoming more financially confident led to smarter business decisions and better net profits.

This episode is packed with practical advice, inspiring BABOYOT moments, and valuable insights for food entrepreneurs.

Connect with Fishtown Pickles

IG: @fishtownpickles

Facebook: @Fishtown Pickle Project

Tiktok: @fishtownpickles 

Website: Fishtown Pickles

Inquiries: [email protected]

Stay Connected!

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YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Sign up for our Newsletter

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community 

The Holiday shopping season is getting closer, and with it comes some of the biggest opportunities to generate revenue! But higher sales don’t automatically equal higher profits in your business. 

In this episode, we kick things off with a Holiday primer to get you ready for the last quarter of 2024. Sarah shares what you should consider, analyze and plan for as we head into fall, as well as a list of free and low cost resources to support a successful Holiday shopping season.

Then you’ll hear her conversation with Kait, founder of Savorista, that centers around the work Kait took on during our CFO Office Hours this summer. Savorista is a caffeine conscious coffee company that Kait founded after she made the decision to switch to decaf herself. 

Working with Sarah in CFO Office Hours, Kait identified that her shipping and subscription offers were impacting her profitability in the wrong direction. She shares the steps she took to create new offers, and how she’s built the confidence to make those changes. 

Highlights from this episode include:

• What lead to Kait identifying that her shipping offer was eating into Savorista’s profit margin

• The importance of always planning for the worst case scenario 

• How to bring customers along when increasing prices or modifying your services

• Discovering that losing revenue doesn’t have to mean losing profits

After listening, if you’re feeling inspired to follow Kait’s lead as we head into Q4 check out all the food business holiday tools and resources mentioned in the episode below:

From the Podcast

Episode 26: How to Create a Profitable Shipping Offer

Episode 78: Planning for Your Most Profitable Q4 Yet! 

Good Food CFO Tools and Courses

Vision & Goal Setting

Creating a Profitable Shipping Offer

Bundles + Discounts Tool-Kit

Connect with Kait

Website: Savorista Coffee

Instagram: @savoristacoffee

Facebook: @savoristacoffee

Stay Connected!

Instagram: @TheGoodFoodCFO
YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Join us in The Good Food CFO Community