How I Built Resilience: Live with Jeni Britton Bauer

How I Built This · 2 Apr 2020 · 14m

What this episode covers

Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, discusses how her company navigated the 2020 pandemic crisis by leveraging lessons from a 2015 Listeria outbreak that nearly bankrupted the business. She explains the rapid pivot to delivery operations, the importance of maintaining cash flow through e-commerce, and the strategy of crowdsourcing new ice cream flavors from customers via social media to maintain community engagement.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 37m

    Founder Feature: Jenifer Shwartz of Freezcake

    Jenifer Shwartz, founder of Freezecake, explains how a health crisis led to the creation of the first freeze-dried cheesecake brand. She details the pivot from a brick-and-mortar bakery to self-manufacturing, the challenges of supply chain disruptions for dairy ingredients, and the strategic decision to relocate production to New York to reduce costs. Shwartz also discusses leveraging TikTok Shop for viral growth and the upcoming launch into Whole Foods.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 40m

    Founder Feature: Jen Liao of MìLà

    Jen Liao, co-founder of MìLà, explains how the brand pivoted from a local restaurant to a nationwide direct-to-consumer frozen food business during the pandemic. She details the technical challenges of developing a frozen soup dumpling that survives shipping, the high costs of cold-chain logistics, and the strategic decision to subsidize shipping via cheap ad spend. Liao also discusses securing investment from Simu Liu, navigating the complex timeline of retail expansion into Costco and Whole Foods, and the operational shock of moving to a larger facility.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 21m

    Dip Into Paradise with Founder Emily Edwards

    Emily Edwards, founder of Paradise Icing (Emily's Foods), explains how she transitioned from social work to developing a plant-based icing using pea protein. She details her 18-month product development process at the Purdue Food Science Lab, where she overcame initial taste failures to create a shelf-stable, allergen-free product. Edwards discusses her strategy of bootstrapping the business due to difficulties securing venture capital, while leveraging her social work skills for consumer research and transparent brand storytelling. She outlines her current focus on expanding flavor lines, securing retail placements in boutique grocers and schools, and managing early-stage operations with a small team.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 1h 07m

    #136: Growing Jaju Pierogi with Social Media Pro Vanessa White

    Vanessa White, CEO of Jaju Pierogi, details the brand's evolution from a grassroots farmers market operation to national distribution in 2,000 stores, including Sprouts and Whole Foods. She explains how leveraging viral social media content focused on Polish-American culture and nostalgia helped them compete with incumbents like Miss T's and Kasia's while maintaining premium pricing. White also discusses the strategic transition from in-house hand-making to using co-packers to meet volume demands, and her approach to managing online hate through community engagement and the Polish American Women's Scholarship program.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 1h 00m

    #59 Welcome to the Oat Haus! Celebrity Collaboration, Sprouts Launch, and Mental Health with Ali Bonar

    Ali Bonar, Co-Founder and CEO of Oat Haus, discusses the evolution of her oat-based spread brand from a side hustle to a national retailer presence. She details the strategic launch of the Brownie Batter flavor in collaboration with Jameela Jamil, the challenges of securing a national Sprouts Grocery launch, and the importance of hiring scrappy early employees like VP of Sales Todd and VP of Marketing Lisa. Bonar also opens up about her mental health journey, the isolation of scaling a business, and her methods for maintaining founder wellbeing.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.