# Founder Feature: Dina DiCenso of RIND

- Show: [The Startup CPG Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast)
- Published: 2025-06-06
- Length: 29m
- Episode: 158
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-06-06-founder-feature-dina-dicenso-of-rind
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/f58e3fc1

## Summary

Dina DiCenso, co-founder of RIND, a Brooklyn-based vegan cheese company, explains how they developed proprietary fermentation cultures to create aged Camembert-blue and blue cheeses, as well as a vegetable-based deli line called Veggie Underground. She details the strategic decision to bootstrapping the business with a four-person team, allowing them to compete against heavily funded private equity-backed rivals by focusing on product merit and direct consumer education through demos. DiCenso discusses their distribution strategy, which places RIND in high-end retail like Whole Foods and Erewhon, while targeting food service scalability for Veggie Underground, noting their recent appearance at the White House and success at the Shelfie awards.

## Outline

1. Introduction: Dina DiCenso and RIND's Product Lines
2. Proprietary Fermentation and White House Recognition
3. Origin Story: From Home Kitchen to Legal Business
4. Early Struggles: Consistency and Equipment Constraints
5. Pandemic Growth and Market Correction in Vegan Sector
6. Retail Strategy: Whole Foods, Erewhon, and Food Service
7. Bootstrapping vs. Private Equity: Competing on Merit
8. Consumer Education and Demo-Driven Marketing
9. Trade Shows, National Restaurant Association, and Future Growth

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- RIND (product)
- Veggie Underground (product)
- Whole Foods (company)
- Erewhon (company)
- Shelfie (other)
- Amazon (company)
- National Restaurant Association (company)
- Fancy Food Show (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [HIBT Lab! Slutty Vegan: Pinky Cole](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-23-hibt-lab-slutty-vegan-pinky-cole) (How I Built This)
- [HIBT Lab! New Culture: Matt Gibson and Inja Radman](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-04-13-hibt-lab-new-culture-matt-gibson-and-inja-radman) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Jeni Britton of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-03-27-advice-line-with-jeni-britton-of-jenis-splendid-ice-creams) (How I Built This)
- [nutpods: Madeline Haydon](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-05-13-nutpods-madeline-haydon) (How I Built This)
- [Health-Ade Kombucha: Daina Trout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-09-28-health-ade-kombucha-daina-trout) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

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