Hardware Podcasts

Chomps: Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali

How I Built This · 30 Jan 2023 · 1h 25m

What this episode covers

Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali, co-founders of Chomps, recount their journey from Pete’s bankruptcy in the 2008 real estate crash to building a $100 million meat snack brand. After failing with a frozen meal company and a grass-fed steak subscription, they pivoted to shelf-stable grass-fed beef sticks, initially fulfilling orders from Pete’s condo. A surprise purchase order from Trader Joe’s forced them to scale rapidly, leading to internal tension before they eventually went full-time and secured an $80 million investment in 2022.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Trader Joe's, Butcher Box, Uncrate, Western Smokehouse
Products
Chomps, Slim Jim
Tools
Shopify, WordPress

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 27m

    Founder Feature: Sean Knecht of Tantos!

    Sean Knecht, co-founder of Tantos (the first and only puffed pasta chip), discusses building the brand with celebrity chef Joe Sasto, detailing their origin story from a DM about flour-to-egg ratios to appearing on Shark Tank twice. Knecht explains the 'Shark Tank effect,' noting 3,000 orders in three days but also a significant cash flow hit due to Amazon holding funds for over a month. He outlines his strategy for pitching Whole Foods by analyzing SKU data to prove the snack aisle was oversaturated with tortilla chips, leading to a direct conversation with the buyer.

    Crowdfunding & preordersPricing, margins & unit economics
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 50m

    From Hand Sanitizer to Tomato Sauce - How Sauz Went From 10 Doors to 3,500 in a Year

    Troy Bonde, co-founder and CEO of Sauz, explains how he and co-founder Winston used proceeds from a pandemic-era hand sanitizer dispenser business to bootstrap the tomato sauce brand, launching at Erewhon in July 2023. Bonde details how rigorous in-store demo data and unique flavors like hot honey and summer lemon marinara drove rapid expansion from 10 to 3,500 doors, including Whole Foods and Target, within 12 months. He discusses the strategic decision to raise institutional capital from Coefficient Capital to fund growth in a low-margin category, the challenges of fundraising with compelling but early-stage data, and the importance of hiring an ops lead early to manage unit economics and scaling.

    Crowdfunding & preordersPricing, margins & unit economics
    9 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 38m

    #117 Rebranding, Fundraising, and the Success Behind Launching Myles Comfort Foods at Target with Myles Powell

    Myles Powell, founder of Myles Comfort Foods, explains how he bootstrapped the brand before securing a $1.5 million seed round and executing a critical rebrand from '8 Myles' to 'Myles Comfort Foods' to support aggressive retail growth. He details an unconventional entry into Target by manually stocking shelves for six weeks to generate sales data, which led to a formal business award and national distribution. Powell also discusses leveraging NIQ’s Byzzer for category insights, navigating the complexities of the frozen food category, and his fundraising journey involving angels and micro-VCs to support expansion into food service.

    Crowdfunding & preordersFundraising & investors
    12 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 38m

    Founder Feature: Sashi Kumar, Brittney Lim, and Jim Giberson of Tamarind Heads

    Sashi Kumar, Brittney Lim, and Jim Giberson, co-founders of Tamarind Heads, discuss their journey from a Dartmouth business school project to launching a tamarind-based barbecue and hot sauce brand. They detail the complex proprietary process of sourcing whole tamarind pods and developing a manufacturing line that preserves the fruit's flavor without using concentrates, which won a Sofi Gold Award. The founders explain their strategy for scaling production, managing supply chain logistics, and expanding into retail through specialty stores and trade shows like Fancy Food Show, while maintaining a bootstrapped model and preparing for future funding rounds.

    Materials & manufacturing processesManufacturing partners & offshoring
    7 chapters

  • People of Packaging · 1h 10m

    350 - Beyond the Dieline - Dr Juan from PNuff Crunch joins Tom Seymour

    Dr. Juan Salinas, founder of Pnuff Crunch, discusses his transition from food science roles at Nabisco, Cadbury, Kraft, and Nestle to launching his own functional snack brand. He details the operational challenges of scaling production, specifically the costly mistake of over-purchasing long-run packaging film rolls and the strategic pivot to digital printing and smart plate design to manage inventory. Salinas also recounts his viral Shark Tank appearance, where Mark Cuban’s intervention saved the pitch, leading to Cuban’s investment, and explains how Pnuff Crunch’s high-protein, high-fiber formulation targets modern dietary trends including GLP-1 companion foods.

    Crowdfunding & preordersPricing, margins & unit economics
    7 chapters

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.