The Startup CPG Podcast · 12 Dec 2025 · 4m · Episode 237
Daniel, founder of Startup CPG, announces the upcoming 'Grocery Run' event in Denver on February 3rd, 2026, held the night before the KeHE Summer Show. The event connects 70 pre-launch brands with regional grocery buyers and the KeHE team to secure distribution deals. Daniel highlights the success of previous retailer-centric and distributor-tabletop style events in markets like SoCal and San Francisco, emphasizing the opportunity for brands to get picked up by KeHE's vast retail network.
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S'well founder Sarah Kauss joins Guy Raz to advise three early-stage founders on positioning and growth. She helps Chiara Moonzi of Chigi navigate grocery placement for a chickpea-based hot cereal, Jesús Rualcaba of Paper Tacos expand his Latino-inspired greeting cards beyond specialty stores, and Adam Barker of Bolt Skin and Shave determine his growth strategy for a razor brand targeting men who shave their legs.
Jeni Britton, founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and her new fiber company Flora, advises three early-stage CPG founders on marketing, fundraising, and PR. Jesse Koenig of Jesse and Ben's discusses marketing frozen fries made with tallow and avocado oil, Casey White of Jaju Pierogi weighs the pros and cons of outside capital for scaling to big-box retailers, and Callie Sayher of ube.co seeks advice on hiring a PR firm for her purple sweet potato pet treats.
Sean Riley, Chief Executive Dude of Dude Wipes, and AJ Peek, CMO of Weenus Lube, discuss the journey of building disruptive CPG brands. Riley details how Dude Wipes grew from a bootstrapped apartment startup to major retail distribution, emphasizing the importance of brand differentiation and online validation before seeking retail partners. Peek and his father launch Weenus Lube as an entrepreneurial learning project, focusing on fun branding and direct-to-consumer sales to test product-market fit.
Taylor Foxman, founder of The Industry Collective, explains her unique business model of connecting 80 beverage and cannabis CEOs with investors, media, and partners without traditional marketing or a public-facing persona. She details her background in PR for brands like Jameson and Beyond Meat, and how she leverages this network to help underrepresented founders navigate fundraising and brand visibility. Foxman emphasizes the importance of creating 'good news' through consistent press releases and maintaining levity to support founders through the high-pressure CPG landscape.
Bill and Leigh Keith, co-founders of Perfect Bars, explain how they turned their father's homemade peanut butter and honey recipe into a major CPG brand, eventually selling to Mondelēz International. They detail the bootstrapped journey from hand-rolling bars in a Sacramento warehouse to securing deals with Whole Foods and Costco, and the critical decision to introduce a chocolate chip flavor to meet investor metrics. The episode highlights a major crisis when a false positive salmonella test forced a massive recall, nearly shutting down the company before they secured $15 million in investment from VMG Partners.
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