Brand Builder

Our guests this week are Eugene Kang and Mathew Thalakotur, the CEO and Marketing Director at Country Archer Jerky Co. Under their leadership, the brand has seen exponential growth, doubling sales each year for four years, and landing in more than 16k stores.  Eugene and Matthew joined us in studio to talk about the origins (and accidental rediscovery) of Country Archer, the challenges and advantages of reinvigorating a heritage brand, hiring, and the right way to launch your next product.

We're back with another culture-focused episode. This time we bring you a conversation with Honest Company co-founder and CPO (that's Chief Purpose Officer) Christopher Gavigan. We go deep on the culture that grounds this game-changing, mission-driven brand.

This week on Brand Builder we’ve got Christy Krejci, the co-founder and CEO of Vegetarian Traveler. In many ways, the Vegetarian Traveler origin story is a classic entrepreneurial tale. Christy and her husband/co-founder Chuck had been committed vegetarians for many years, and had always wanted an easy way to add plant-based protein to their meals. After waiting for someone else to solve this problem, they realized they had to do it themselves. And Vegetarian Traveler was born.

No compromise. Those two words sum up the Chomps brand better than any other. But Chomps' no compromise ethos has clearly struck a cord. The company has been profitable since day one, and seen year-over-year revenue growth between double and 10x every year since their 2011 launch.

Have you ever worked in a fear-based environment? If you have, you know it's not fun. Ironically, it doesn't produce great results either.  So what’s the antidote to a fear-based workplace? In our inaugural Culture Builder edition of Brand Builder, we speak to Traci Fenton, a globally recognized researcher, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of WorldBlu. She tells us how to create a Freedom-Centered Workplace, and why that can produce astounding results.

Industry buzz is super important, especially for early stage brands looking to attract investors, recruit talent, or just make connections. But how do you get the who's who talking about... YOU? John Craven is here to help. John is the CEO and founder of BevNet, Project Nosh, and Brewbound. What started as a way to get free drinks in college has snowballed into three must-read blogs, several can’t-miss events, and even a podcast (love those).

This week on Brand Builder, we have someone with hands-on brand building expertise. In fact, she’s helping build the next generation of enduring brands. We’re talking to Jordan Gaspar a co-founder and Managing Partner at AccelFoods, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in consumer products. Today the fund manages $40M and 33 portfolio companies - and they’re always looking to grow.

It all started with a heart-to-heart conversation between Tara Bosch and her grandmother. After years of enjoying sweets together, Tara was surprised to hear her say that consuming too much sugar was a major regret in her life. Whereas most people might've perhaps changed their diet, this inspired Tara down a path of entrepreneurship. A week later she had a candy mold and was recipe testing in her kitchen with one goal in mind - build the leading low-sugar confectionary brand on the planet.

We’re currently experiencing a golden age for startup brands. It’s easier today to launch, build, and scale a consumer brand than perhaps any other time in history. But that’s not to say it’s easy. Luckily for us, Courtney Reum is here to help. Courtney and his brother Carter are the co-founders of M13, a brand development and investment company, as well as the authors of the national best-seller, Shortcut Your Startup.

When you think about distribution channels in the natural products space, you probably think of Whole Foods, Wegman's, Kroger, maybe UNFI. I'm guessing your brain doesn't automatically go to 7-Eleven. But, with 63,000 stores worldwide, maybe it should. This week we bring you a fireside chat with Marisa Bertha, the Director of Business Development at 7-Ventures, who shares how brands can work with and big successful in the convenience giant's stores.

Daniel Katz might have the ultimate entrepreneur story. Sleeping under a desk? Check. Half a million dollar mistakes? Check. Breeding reptiles and flipping houses in high school? Also check. Daniel is the founder of No Cow, makers of non-dairy, low sugar, high protein snacks that people just love. You can tell Daniel loves the grind, and he's most comfortable when he's doing everything himself. But with success comes growth and change.

Didn’t make it to Expo West this year? Or maybe you attended, but were overwhelmed by all the new brands and products you saw? Perhaps you hit up too many happy hours and… need a refresher? Either way, Brand Builder has your back. We wrap up our Expo West coverage with our favorite brands, products, and trends from this year’s Expo - we talk cauliflower, grain-free chips and puffs, pili nuts, fruit and vegetable jerkies, maca, and more. Featuring SnackNation's George Youmans and Clara Kim. 

Welcome to our first ever Battle of the Brands. We spoke to 10 interesting emerging brands on the Hot Products floor of Expo West, and asked them to tell us their unique brand story - what inspired their product? What problem are they solving? What are they all about? The winner of the Battle of the Brands gets a full length Brand Builder episode. And it’s all up to you. Just let us know which story you liked the best. Post it on social media using the hashtag #brandbuilderbattle.

The Super Bowl of Snacks. CPG Christmas. Whatever you call it, it’s one of the most anticipated trade shows of the year. This is where deals are made, where dreams come true, where fortunes rise and fall. And it’s only a few days away. Yes, this week we’re going deep on The Natural Products Expo West. We start with this question - today is Monday. Expo starts Thursday. What should brands be doing right now to make the most of their Expo experience?

There was a certain point in the early days of LivBar where most people probably would have given up. Despite a product that people really loved, the future of LivBar seemed to be in jeopardy. Their "big break" with a major grocery chain had just fallen through, and the company's co-founders had lost their passion for the business and were looking for the exit But for Jayson Selander, quitting was not an option. "There was nothing inside of me that was telling me to stop."