Hardware Podcasts

An AWSM (Sauce) Bonus Episode with Carl Starkey

The Startup CPG Podcast · 4 May 2023 · 21m

What this episode covers

Carl Starkey, co-founder of AWSM Sauce, explains how he and co-founder Paul developed a powdered sauce technology to eliminate single-use plastic bottles, starting with kitchen experiments and a '3-day Clubhouse bender' that led to Techstars acceptance and $300K in funding. Starkey details the pivot from a direct-to-consumer model, which struggled with trial-dependent powdered products, to a foodservice focus targeting large-scale dispensing systems like Coke Freestyle. He discusses the challenges of product validation, the importance of the Startup CPG community for investor research, and upcoming expansions into mustard and new foodservice partnerships.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Techstars, Startup CPG, Cargill
Products
AWSM Sauce, Heinz, Coke Freestyle, Ketchup & Hustle
Also
Expo East, Shelfie Award

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