The NOSH Podcast: Maturing Your Manufacturing While Making The Cash Last

On this week’s show, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Lukas Southard and editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman advocate for year-round pumpkin spice products and then run through some key trends surrounding grains and sugars spotted at recent trade show IFT First. The group also discusses Perfect Day’s presence at the show as well as recent changes to the company’s strategy.

Later, Adrianne chats with Chubby Snacks co-founder and CEO Dillon Ceglio about how the brand developed and evolved its production process. He explained that building the business, and working in it, had a positive impact on both team building and the bottom line.

Show Highlights:

05:20: How has regenerative agriculture helped generate a new wave of support for ancient grains? What sweeteners are shaking out to be the most versatile, and budget-friendly for brands? The team talks through insights gathered and ingredient trends observed at the IFT First show.

19:00: Precision fermentation company Perfect Day was also spotted at the show, which sparked a discussion about the recent news regarding the animal-free dairy producer’s CPG businesses. The team talks through how those changes fit into the broader landscape and strategy shifts often taken by tech and innovation-focused companies.

27:39: Dillon explains why the sandwich brand gravitated towards self-manufacturing and how developing its own production process gave them the ability to build towards automation.

36:31: Self-production also meant self-fulfillment in Chubby Snacks’ early days. Dillion shares the company’s tips and tricks, and why the team had to fight it out in their walk-in freezer with FedEx.

“We learned how to problem solve, very efficiently. We raised a decent amount of money, but [not] a lot so we had to make a little go a long way… We were forced to be in line working in the business with our staff and that went a long way in building rapport and trust … they gained a lot of respect for us and that respect went a long way.”

-Dillon Ceglio

About The NOSH Podcast

The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food.

New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to podcast@nosh.com.

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In this episode: the team advocates for year-round pumpkin spice, runs through key grain and sugar trends spotted at IFT First and discusses Perfect Day’s presence at the show. Later, Chubby Snacks talks about how building the business, and working in it, had a positive impact on both team building and the bottom line.