Hardware Podcasts

354 - Beyond the dieline with the incomparable Jake Karls from Mid-Day Squares

People of Packaging · 22 Jul 2026 · 47m

What this episode covers

Jake Karls, co-founder of Mid-Day Squares, explains how the company evolved from hand-making bars in a condo kitchen to building a custom manufacturing facility producing 150,000 squares daily after facing rejection from 26 co-packers. He details the strategic decision to place their refrigerated snacks in the fresh aisle to avoid the 'sea of sameness' in dry nutrition bars and discusses the launch of their viral 'No-Bread PB&J' line, which was developed to mitigate cocoa price surges. Karls emphasizes the importance of radical social media transparency and storytelling to build an emotional connection with consumers, turning early pandemic crises into growth opportunities by going 'on offense.'

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Mid-Day Squares, Bison Bag, Smash Foods, Target, Wegmans
Products
Perfect Bar

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