CPG Week Podcast

This week on the NOSH Podcast, the team begins by discussing the strategies brands use to boost perception of their sales strength as well as possible risks with this approach. Then reporter Lukas Southard describes what he saw and heard on his trip to Chicago, where he attended Naturally Chicago’s Pitch Slam and the Chicago Venture Summit: Future of Food, before the team discusses the impact of SPACs in CPG. In our featured interview FitJoy president Norman Taliaferro shares details surrounding the company’s recent $3.5 million fundraise, and the evolution of the company’s portfolio from protein bars to salty snacks. In this episode: 05:05 – Carol, Jeff and Lukas talk about “retail refereeing” when brands encourage consumers to buy up products in order to appear in a strong position with category buyers and managers. 09:00 – Lukas tells Jeff and Carol about his trip to the Chicago Venture Summit last week and how the Midwestern CPG community is trying to gain recognition as a hotbed for food industry innovation. 17:45 – The team talks about SPACs in CPG food and how the current investment environment has impacted the landscape for “blank check” investment opportunities. 20:15 – Carol speaks with FitJoy president Norman Taliaferro about how the brand pivoted into a new and completely different category, its struggles to stay afloat during the pandemic, fundraising and new innovation. “As everything goes in fundraising, it just takes twice as long as you think it will take.” “Getting on shelf – as hard as it is – is the easiest part of the process.” – Norman Taliaferro, FitJoy president 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, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman and reporters Lukas Southard and Adrianne Deluca discussed mayo preferences in dating, olive oil brand Graza’s squeeze bottle controversy and the news that Whole Foods Market has redrawn its regional maps. Then, Ithaca Hummus’ founder and president Chris Kirby and the brand’s natural channel sales manager Aaron Wallace share the strategies they utilized in growing the dip company’s distribution footprint. The two gave advice about how to make the move in a capital efficient manner as well as some cautionary tips about what a brand should or shouldn’t focus on when expanding its retail footprint. In this episode: 06:05: Carol and the group debate if a person’s love (or hate in the case of Adrianne) of mayo belongs on dating apps. 08:38: Then, the NOSH team discusses the conversation about “copycat” culture in CPG that has erupted after olive oil brand Graza’s founder posted some inflammatory accusations about a competitor on LinkedIn. 16:18: Finally, Carol explains Whole Foods’ new regional maps and how that might impact the CPG food space. 21:19: For the interview, Lukas sat down with Ithaca Hummus to learn how to build an efficient national distribution model and how attention to detail can make a huge difference in being profitable as a brand grows. “Buyers have a lot of brands on their desks and they don’t have the attention to spend on your business like you should and, ultimately, the key word in that is – it’s your business. It’s our business, we need to own it and not them.” -Aaron Wallace, Ithaca Hummus Sales Manager 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, editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Lukas Southard dish out some hot takes on the condiment set and give an update on some recent divestments and sales resulting from supply chain struggles. Later, we hear from Adam Spriggs, founder of The Angel Group, to gain insight from the investor and brand expert on how companies should approach positioning and branding in order to grow and flex throughout their lifecycle. Show Highlights: 02:10: This week’s topics get a bit saucy as the NOSH team shells out some controversial commentary and criticisms as they make their way down the condiment aisle including some lofty accusations against ketchup – is it a universal solvent or one-dimensional sauce? 10:32: The team then discusses the motives behind some recent divestments from big CPG players and how those actions compare to the supply network challenges facing Northeast organic dairy farmers. 19:45: Adam explains the oversight he sees many CPG entrepreneurs fall victim to and why he believes founders need to approach brand positioning with the mainstream consumers always in the back of their mind. 26:51: Later, Adam delves into how he analyzes a brand’s positioning and messaging strategies when assessing potential new investments, explaining that while a brand’s approach may always be rooted where it began, a founder has to be flexible to let that messaging evolve as the brand grows. “Most CPG founders are innovating within echo chambers that are detached from the interests and comfort zones of the majority of shoppers…What we need more CPG entrepreneurs focusing on is just innovating within a sweet spot.” -Adam Spriggs, Founding Partner of The Angel Group 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, editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and reporter Adrianne DeLuca discuss the state of online subscription businesses as well as some recent snack deals. The team is then joined by another NOSH editorial team member, Shauna Golden, to help highlight key themes from a recent seminar hosted by Natural Products Consulting. Later, we hear from Andy Whitman, Managing Partner of Loft Growth Partners about the current investment landscape and what to keep in mind when pitching investors for your next raise. Show Highlights: 01:34: The NOSH team discusses Blue Apron’s cash flow and funding issues, the state of Nestle’s Freshly business and why recent reports indicate the pandemic-induced subscription service boom may be declining. Carol and Jeff also discuss some recent notable deals in the snack space. 09:28 The discussion then turns to a recent seminar the team attended that took developing a sales strategy and financing your CPG business to a granular level. Shauna Golden joins to share some of her learnings from the three-day conference. 23:03: Andy runs through the current state of investing and why businesses should always be focussed on the fundamentals and balance growth with profitability rather than “growth at all costs.” 33:36: Later, Andy breaks down the five things any brand should keep in mind when pitching investors, including what you don’t need to tell them and how to approach the conversation from their perspective. “Most businesses don’t go out of business because they’re terrible ideas, they go out of business because they run out of cash… If you understand what your cash needs are, you can understand what you need to finance and that keeps you out of the penalty box.” -Andy Whitman

  Welcome to The NOSH Podcast The NOSH.com news team that has brought you news, analysis, events, and stories focused on the entrepreneurial food business is now going to be present in your ear on a weekly basis with the launch of our brand new NOSH Podcast. Featuring discussions of the breaking news and long term trends affecting natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food brands, as well as in-depth interviews, the NOSH Podcast will bring perspective and analysis to the business in a rapid, digestible, personable pace. Led by NOSH Editor Carol Ortenberg, the podcast offers a chance for entrepreneurs and their supplier and investor universe to hear about the issues affecting their chances for growth, and the strategic and tactical options that can overcome challenges. Interviews will go beyond founder success stories and bring attention to the way current events ripple through the marketplace, the opportunities that can be generated through different sales and marketing approaches, the ways investors and retailers help build brands and the various social and economic trends that are changing the atmosphere around the CPG food business. Our first episode will be available on all of your favorite streaming platforms – and right here – on September 29, with an interview featuring leading CPG investor Kiva Dickinson. It’s a preview of the kind of work the podcast will bring – an exploration of whether investors’ unrealistic enthusiasm for the concept of D2C sales led food businesses astray, and how those brands can best use D2C tools to build strong businesses as the industry reframes that channel. In this episode: 06:55: The NOSH team talks about this week’s top stories including consolidation within an innovative meat snack category and the impact a recent court ruling for snack maker KIND could have on upcoming FDA regulations. 15:50: The D2C brand positioning, and accompanying aesthetic, have created an easy and attractive point of entry for emerging food makers, but has its value overshot the mark when longevity comes into the conversation? Dickinson believes the channel aims to solve pain points for both brands and consumers, but if not executed properly, it can often do more harm than good. 24:40: Subscription-based selling, user-friendly landing pages and continuous website evolution. These components may make D2C work for your business, but Dickinson challenges how long the runway will last and believes investors who focused solely on the channel have reached a moment of reckoning. 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