The CPG Operator Podcast

When your product has several compelling benefits, which one should lead?Jous founders Nicolas Jeffery and Camilo Ortiz sit down with Chris Robb of Supernatural Ventures and The Angel Group to work through how to sharpen the story behind their magnesium-infused juice, make the product easier to understand, and build a stronger strategy for growth.You Will Learn:How to determine which of your product’s benefits should lead your positioningWhen a functional ingredient strengthens your story and when it complicates itHow to make an unfamiliar product immediately understandable to consumersHow positioning can change your competitive set, shelf placement, and growth opportunitiesHow to test whether your current brand story is actually driving trial and repeat purchase

Building products with better ingredients is easy to talk about. Building a successful business around them is much harder. Join Tom First, Founder of Culture Pop, and Heather Wood, SVP of Marketing at Goodles, as they discuss the realities of formulation, sourcing, branding, retail growth, and operations, and how they’ve turned clean label products into brands that drive trial, repeat purchase, and sustainable growth.You will learn:How to decide whether an innovation solves a real consumer need or is simply chasing a trendHow to make ingredient decisions that balance taste, consumer value, manufacturing feasibility, and brand positioningHow to simplify an unconventional production process so it can scale without compromising the productHow to choose the right pace and path for growth based on your capital, team, and ability to support new distributionHow to make sure your product and packaging can drive trial and repeat before spending heavily on marketing

Most founders think getting a distributor is the hard part. Scott Rosenbaum, co-host of the Business of Drinks podcast, has spent 20 years in beverage alcohol distribution and knows landing one is just the beginning. In this episode, he mentors Daeyna Grant, a first-time founder building Gold Crush, an RTD rum-based cocktail, one bar and liquor store at a time. Together, they break down what it actually takes to land the right distributor — and how to make the relationship work once you do.You will learn:What a distributor actually owes you — and what you still have to earn on your ownHow to get a distributor’s attention before you have much leverageThe trade-off between a bigger distributor and one that can give your brand more attentionWhat data and reporting you should expect — and how to fill the gaps when you don’t get itHow to build enough demand that distributors start coming to you instead of the other way around

New York's density makes it one of the best cities to build retail distribution — and one of the hardest to crack. Namik Soltan, founder and CEO of GNGR Labs, spent six years self-distributing into hundreds of NYC bodegas, independents, and chains before handing accounts to a distributor. Sean Rosenberg, founder of Goldie, is about to do the same. In this episode, Namik shares tips with Sean through the exact playbook, store by store.You will learn:How to build a retail footprint in NYC without a distributor, starting from zeroWhat it actually takes to get into bodegas, independents, and regional chainsWhen to bring on a distributor, and how to prep your territory before they arriveHow to use free product, sales sheets, and intro deals to drive trialWhat separates brands that scale past their first 50 stores from those that stallHow self-distribution today sets you up for regional and national growth later