CPG Week Podcast

In this episode: With Halloween on the horizon, this week NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg and reporters Lukas Southard and Adrianne Deluca kickoff the episode discussing their favorite sweets before moving onto marshmallows with the news that confection brand Smashmallow won a $21 million verdict in a dispute with its former equipment maker. The team also discusses changes to West African food brand Yolélé’s supply chain. In our featured interview, Lukas hears from Circana’s Sally Lyons Wyatt about what is driving consumer buying behavior in the freezer aisle and subcategories seeing success. Show Highlights: 1:00 – Just in time for Halloween, the group kicks off the podcast sharing their favorite sugary treats before discussing the $21 million verdict snack brand Smashmallow was just awarded in a suit over mallow-making equipment. The NOSH team rounds out the conversation talking about Yolélé’s separation from Woodland Foods. 13:05 – Circana’s EVP & Practice Leader Sally Lyons Wyatt joins the podcast to step into the freezer aisle with fresh data and insights about consumer trends in frozen food. 19:15 – Though inflation is playing a role in purchasing decisions across the store, Wyatt says the impact is more nuanced in frozen, with supply chains and product mix also playing a role. 24:45 – Lukas and Wyatt discuss why some of the consumers purchasing frozen the most often are also over indexing in restaurant spending. 30:45 – The two finish the interview delving into strategies that brands and retailers can use to capture a larger consumer base and drive more purchases in frozen food.   “Retailers need frozen and frozen CPG needs retailers…there’s a whole host of things that natural-organic can do to find some fun ways to help consumers get speed-to-table.” -Sally Lyons Wyatt, Circana EVP & Practice Leader, Client Insights 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 [email protected].

In this episode: NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman and reporter Lukas Southard kick off the podcast with a discussion about what to expect this winter at NOSH Live, before turning their attention to hot news in chili peppers and the difficulties natural brands sometimes face in the c-store channel. Later, Lukas talks with Wilde Brands founder and CEO Jason Wright about how the brand broadened its positioning via a branding change, and how that’s brought about new growth opportunities. Show Highlights: 2:45 – The NOSH Team begins to prepare for NOSH Live in Marina Del Rey this winter by discussing some of the guest speakers and the 1-on-1 meetings with The Fresh Market, Kroger and Thrive Market. 5:00 – Pepper X set a new Guinness World record for the hottest chili pepper, and the team talks about if we’ll see it head to CPG. Then Jeff shares some of his insights from this year’s NACS convention in Atlanta. 18:10 – Sometimes small changes in branding can have a big impact. Wilde Brands CEO and founder Jason Wright joins the podcast to discuss the long road from meat bars to protein chips and how tweaking its positioning unlocked new consumers and retailer interest. 29:15 – How do you maintain investors buy in while juggling product, production and positioning changes? Wright explains that good relationships can only go so far, it takes a lot of self-assurance in one’s product to keep partners invested. 31:45 – Wright discusses why broadening Wilde’s retail channels and pack sizes has paid off. “You can’t build a pier, you need to build a bridge…The big game changer for Wilde was building the bridge to Protein Chips, where the customer immediately knew why they should eat it and what the benefit was.” – Jason Wright, Wilde Brands CEO and founder 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 [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On this week’s show, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg sits down with the Eat The Change team to discuss how the company has evolved its identity by rethinking its product lines. Seth Goldman, co-founder and CEO, and Sarah Shah, Head of Marketing, talk through how the company evaluated its product mix, ultimately making a measured decision to discontinue one slow turner and revamp and reposition another. Show Highlights: 01:56: Mushrooms were… so last year? Seth and Sarah shared how declining consumer interest in fungi, and the polarizing popularity of mushrooms, coupled with a product positioned for kids, made the animal-free jerky a tough sell. 11:33: Just because a product isn’t performing well, doesn’t mean it should be discarded. The duo talked through upcoming changes to their Carrot Chews line that aims to broaden its positioning and better explain the concept of a vegetable snack to consumers. 22:25: Deciding on whether to discontinue, reposition or keep pushing for a product can be complex and often, not a clear cut choice to make. Seth and Sarah talk through the key metrics they considered and how Seth’s Honest Tea days informed how they assessed the total addressable market. “We know what direction we want to go, but we’re going to follow whatever path the market leads us to get us there. We’re not going to change our direction, but we’re not going to follow a preset course – we’re going to have to let the course evolve as we grow” -Seth Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Eat The Change 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 [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On the NOSH Podcast this week, editor Carol Ortenberg and reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Brad Avery discuss the U.S. government’s suit against Amazon, how CPG brands’ differing approaches to selling on the retail platform and dive into recent shake ups in meal kit delivery space. Carol then goes completely nuts – during a chat with Nuts.com’s new CEO PJ Oleksak and chairman Jeffrey Braverman. The trio discusses how the nut empire was built, the ever-changing landscape for an ecommerce, DTC-based company and where the brand has grown since its original offerings in B2B. In this episode: 2:00 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s antitrust lawsuit against Amazon leads the team to discuss the tightrope CPG companies must walk when utilizing the platform. 10:00 – What’s the state of meal delivery kits? Adrianne walks through the roughly $130 million sale of Blue Apron to the privately-held Wonder Group and Wellfull’s approach with its relaunch of Jenny Craig. 19:00 – Chief Nut, (a.k.a. newly appointed CEO) PJ Oleksak and Chairman (Chair Nut?) Jeffrey Braverman of Nuts.com joined Carol to talk about why paying $700k for a domain was worth it in the long run. 33:00 – The two executives dive into the impact of COVID on DTC companies and how to “keep it hungry” in ecommerce through diversification. 40:00 – Nuts.com has – at times – zagged when other ecommerce brands have zigged, opting to focus its strategy on in-house marketing and operations efforts rather than selling on Amazon or tapping TikTok. “Our customers are obsessed. They’re evangelical. It’s a ‘if you know, you know’ brand but the reality is we don’t want it to be an ‘if you know’ brand. We need to invest in building the brand. ” – Nuts.com CEO PJ Oleksak “The reality is now that about 67% of product searches start on Amazon. Maybe we should be more open-minded to that.” -Nuts.com founder Jeffrey Braverman 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 [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

This week on the NOSH Podcast, editor Carol Ortenberg and reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Brad Avery debrief from their trip to the final Natural Products Expo East including some approaches brands have taken to combat the rising costs of retail and Expo’s new replacement. Then, Brad sat down with Ronak Shah, the co-founder and CEO of flavored collagen brand Obvi, to discuss how his brand built a D2C-first model on the foundation of a very specific consumer demographic. In this episode: 1:33: The team dives into New Hope’s announcement about Expo’s final act and what we’ll all be looking to see during next year’s inaugural Newtopia Next in Savannah, Georgia. 6:22: How are brand’s tackling the rising costs of doing business in retail? Some are looking beyond natural grocery, conventional and mass channels – and instead branching the business out to new areas, with lower overhead and higher margins. 14:15: Shah shares details about Obvi’s history which dovetails into a discussion of how the brand landed its focus on targeting a very specific age demographic of women in the Midwest. 36:55: Shah discusses Obvi’s first brand acquisition – Coffee Over Cardio – and how Obvi’s existing consumer base is helping drive the brand onward. “We’re taking the route of using our community to become our super women.” – Ronak Shah, co-founder and CEO of Obvi 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 [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

This week on the NOSH Podcast, editor Carol Ortenberg and reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Lukas Southard talk about top trends and new tastes they are on the lookout for at the last Natural Products Expo East. The team also discusses the approaches of two new CPG-industry backed investment funds that debuted this past week. While the team travels to Philadelphia, this week we revisited a conversation from NOSH Live Winter 2022 featuring Thrive Market head of merchandising James Ren and Misfits Market senior director of grocery Brandie Miller who breaks down the unique operations of running an online grocery retail platform, merchandising tips and the role of a company mission plays in retail relationships. In this episode: 1:30 – What is The NOSH Podcast team on the lookout for at Expo East? Adrianne is looking for more ancient grain use while Lukas is still focused on the plant-based category, particularly since some brands have closed their doors or reduced workforces in recent weeks. 7:15 – How are two new venture funds approaching CPG investing? Carol dives into the details on Unfold Ventures and Humble Growth’s respective theses and one of the firm’s founding partners has retooled his strategy for food industry investing. 10:55 – Ren and Miller share their opinions about working in ecommerce grocery and the unique value propositions for the respective business models. 17:10 – The ecom retail leaders explain how their respective companies pursue their mission’s for a more sustainable grocery industry and balance that with a unique consumer shopping experience – all the while helping brands succeed on their platforms. 23:50 – How does merchandising work in a digital store? What do ecommerce grocery buyers prioritize more so than brick-and-mortar buyers f? Miller and Ren discuss how the approach often differs online than in conventional and even natural channels. “Something that makes us (Thrive Market) unique is we have a set of values that members can shop by whether thats dietary to sourcing.” -James Ren, Thrive Market head of merchandising “We’re here for when it’s not perfect and we call that a way to access lost revenue that you otherwise wouldn’t see.” -Brandie Miller, Misfits Market senior director of grocery 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 [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On this week’s show, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Lukas Southard, as well as editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman dive into all of the deal news this past week including J.M. Smucker’s acquisition of Hostess and Kroger/Albertsons’ initial store divestment plan. Then, the team also discusses news surrounding Pacqui’s One Chip Challenge. Show Highlights: 01:02: What does Smucker want with Twinkies? Despite two bankruptcies in the past decade, Hostess brands has notched an impressive turnaround and the jelly maker believes the business will help its bottom line. 08:18: Since the Kroger/Albertsons merger was announced last October, experts and execs have cited the need for Albertsons to divest some stores in order to get in the good graces of regulators. Listen in to hear how the newly announced plan could impact the grocery landscape. 13:39: The Paqui One Chip Challenge is facing criticism after parents of a Massachusetts teen claim their son passed away as a result of eating the product. Paqui has already pulled the product from shelves, but the team discusses how the Amplify-owned brand may proceed in the weeks ahead. “It’s really hard to not sell a product unless it’s age-gated in a regulatory sense. That means that the consumer is kind of signing their own release with their money… At the same time, this is tragic and the brand has to be really sensitive to the fact that you had a kid who ate this chip, whether or not it was [meant] for him, and he died.” -Jeff Klineman 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 [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts