# What It Really Takes To Build a Food Business: Part 2

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2024-10-25
- Length: 37m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2

## Summary

Becca Millstein of Fishwife, Brian Rudolph of Banza, and Caue Suplicy of Barnana discuss scaling their food brands from direct-to-consumer origins to national retail presence. They detail strategies for product-market fit, including influencer seeding, packaging design, and navigating supply chain disruptions and misinformation crises. The founders also share advice on co-founder dynamics, customer segmentation, and the importance of brand moats in the competitive CPG landscape.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=0) Introduction and Early Growth Strategies
- [1:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=101) Influencer Seeding and Packaging Design
- [4:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=299) Retail Placement and Product Expansion
- [9:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=545) Supply Chain Redundancy and Focus
- [15:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=959) Co-founder Dynamics and Vision
- [23:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=1386) Crisis Management and Litigation
- [27:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=1636) Building Brand Moats and Customer Segmentation
- [33:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2#t=1991) Long-term Vision and Impact

## Topics

- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Fishwife (product)
- Banza (product)
- Barnana (product)
- Klaviyo (tool)
- Southwest Airlines (company)
- In-N-Out Burger (company)
- Raising Cane's (company)
- Shabani (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#232 - 2026 Brand Resolutions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-01-20-232-2026-brand-resolutions) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Bar Bruhis of Boostcous](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-07-24-founder-feature-bar-bruhis-of-boostcous) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [#66 Sharing is Caring: How Alison Cayne & Haven's Kitchen share cooking confidence and industry knowledge](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2022-10-25-66-sharing-is-caring-how-alison-cayne-havens-kitchen-share-cooking-confidence-an) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [#101 Celebrating 10 Years of Growth: Family, Foodservice, and Forging your Own Path with Soom's Amy Zitelman](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2023-08-01-101-celebrating-10-years-of-growth-family-foodservice-and-forging-your-own-path) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [#179 - Bootstrap Heroes: Hazard's Hop Water, SWAIR, Gourmend Foods](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-01-21-179-bootstrap-heroes-hazards-hop-water-swair-gourmend-foods) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-25-what-it-really-takes-to-build-a-food-business-part-2. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.