The Startup CPG Podcast

Patricia Menegoto
We had 25 immersion brands in our section, all tabletop. They all have the same setup. I feel that like we had a great selection because we did have like media outlets as Bon Appetit Food networking featuring some brands from our section and other like influencers that were walking by. I know that we had 50 big of foods and Lupini feature at the top favorite brands from Food Network so that was so great to see.

00:38
Ariel
We actually got our first big sale from Fancy Foods. Our absolute favorite gluten free bakery in New York. I've personally been obsessed with forever. Came by our booth and absolutely loved what were doing. Placed an order I think that day and you know, now we're on her shelves. So it's just been such a fun and amazing experience to see people grasp onto what we've been so excited about for the last year that we've been building and be able to share it with the world.

01:08
Caitlin Bricker
Hey everybody, this is Caitlin Bricker, editor at Startup cpg. We are coming at you with a bonus episode to recap our time at Summer Fancy Food. We just wrapped up a wildly successful show with 25 emerging brands in New York City. From hosting hundreds of buyer meetings, some already turning into real distribution deals, to nightly events packed with networking and this show delivered big time. If you're thinking about trade shows, this episode gives you the inside scoop on what makes fancy food so special for emerging CPG brands. You'll even get to hear straight from some brands who exhibited in our section this year. Enjoy. Today we're going to recap our experience at the Summer Fancy Food show in New York City presented by the Specialty Food Association. You'll even get to hear from a few brands who joined us in the Startup CPG section.

01:59
Caitlin Bricker
But first, how are you guys feeling post show?

02:03
Patricia Menegoto
I'm feeling good, rested, slept a lot, took a lot of naps after. So good to go.

02:10
Daniel Scharff
I am almost dug back out of my emails. We like bookended it with the July 4th holiday so I was able to start slowly catching up after a busy couple days for sure of just nonstop action.

02:24
Caitlin Bricker
Totally. It's a lot of talking, a lot of walking, but it's really good. I definitely feel like I'm in my trade show bubble when I'm at shows fans. Fancy food was my first fancy food experience and it was fantastic. But I was definitely happy to have a couple days off afterwards. Even a week later I'm like, wow, I'm still reintegrating back into society. So how do you guys think the show went since it was my first time. How do you think the show went this year compared to years past?

02:53
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, maybe I'll start on that one. So the show is bigger this year. It was pretty interesting. So Specialty Food association moved the Debut District, which is where we have our section, up to the top floor of Javits. And so, you know, it's always, like, a little risky, honestly, when you move something like that in the first year of a show, like, is everyone going to know that's where to find us? And, you know, we got there and started setting up the booth, and it just was such a beautiful room. It's on the top floor of Javits, all the way at the top of the top escalator. You walk in and there's just, like, sky at the top, and it's gorgeous. And it's this just kind of a long hall that's arching and just. It was so beautiful up there.

03:34
Daniel Scharff
So it's called the River Pavilion. And it had us, and it had a bunch of emerging brands that you would find that would, you know, be the kind of stuff that the buyers who are looking for us are also looking for. And so, you know, they've expanded the show and added that floor, and it was just pretty magical. And so, you know, congrats to sfa, I think, on a pretty monstrous show this year. And the feedback has been really phenomenal. And we love this show. It's a great show. And there are so many buyers there, and more are coming to it.

04:04
Daniel Scharff
And I think just overall, it's a really good ROI for brands as well, because if you're looking to expand, especially with retailers that are in this part of the country, you know, east coast, northeast, but also plenty of just fully national retailers coming as well, this is one of the best places that you can be. And I think it's a combination of just the buyers are there. You're looking very beautiful because the booths are awesome. And they're also, I think, pretty affordable. And, you know, I think you just meet them in the right context where the buyers are down to talk to you for a while. At Fancy Food, I've always found, I think, you know, one thing is that there are not quite as many service providers as you might get in some instances. And so people are coming by.

04:47
Daniel Scharff
They're mainly buyers and maybe some other brands also. So, you know, it's not hard to take time to talk to the people that are coming up. And probably they're important people, and they also just keep coming back. You know, I think that's just what we saw is the buyers who care about early brands, Whole Foods Market and Sprouts and all these people, they just kind of kept coming back into the section and going deeper and discovering new brands and continuing to talk to the brands that they're interested in. So, yeah, congrats again to SFA on, I think a really successful expansion of the show and I know they'll keep growing that. So, yeah. Patty, what did you think first years past?

05:25
Patricia Menegoto
I think that was great. I love that we had the natural lighting because it didn't feel that I was like, I don't know, just trapped in a place for the whole day. And then when you get out, that stunt comes to your face and you're like, oh, I can't even see outside. It was beautiful. And if you are an immersion brand, I would say that Build district is definitely the place that you want to be at, especially if you are like an emerging brand, first time show. And that's where the buyers comes because they know like all the hot products are in that section. It was a great show. I love summer fancy food because I feel it's more an intimate show.

06:01
Patricia Menegoto
So as you said, like people really stop and talk to you and take the time to just chit chat, you know, along the way. K Link, that was your first show. How did you think?

06:12
Caitlin Bricker
I loved it. I will definitely echo what both of you are saying. Service providers, we love you. But this felt like a very pointed show where brands knew that they were getting in front of buyers and buyers knew that they were getting in front of brands, obviously. And then the natural light is a big one for me. I tend to have to wear a hat when I'm under the fluorescent lights all day. So I felt like I was energized all day long. It didn't have that like casino effect, like I'm indoors, don't know what time it is. I knew every day what time it was, what it looked like outside. I just felt very energized, very happy. It was great. The section was buzzing all day long and just like Daniel said, I was seeing familiar faces from the day before, from hours prior.

07:03
Caitlin Bricker
Coming back to the section, it just felt like everyone was flocking to the Ripper Pavilion. So I really enjoyed myself. It was great. And I found myself really not wanting to leave the River Pavilion, but I did break out of my shell a little bit. So, Patty, you're the one that's kind of leading the curation of the startup CPG section. Do you want to walk us through what people could expect in our section and what they could expect from the brands.

07:29
Patricia Menegoto
Yeah, absolutely. We had 25 immersion brands in our section, all tabletop. They all have this thing set up. And I feel that, like, we had a great selection because we did have, like, media outlets as Bon Appetit and food networking featuring some brands from our section and other, like, influencers that were walking by. I know that we had figure foods and Lupini feature at the top favorite brands from food Network. So that was so great to see all the brands that. I mean, not all, but, like, I'd say, like, 80% of the brands that we have in our section is the first time they are exhibiting in the show. So also being part of our section, they get the whole support. Right? Because when you walk into a trade show for the first time, you're like, how is the setup going to be?

08:22
Patricia Menegoto
Like, what do I need to do? So we really take, me and my team, we really take the time to explain everything to the brands. We bring the specialty food association team to talk to them, really, like, grab their hand and making sure they're going to have an amazing show. Plus, we, as always, invite tons of buyers. So we hosted so many buyer meetings. We had 20 buyer meetings. And I know this is one of Daniel's favorite part of the show. So, Daniel, you want to share a little about that?

08:53
Daniel Scharff
Yeah. Thank you. The buyer meetings, for me, are maybe the most important thing that we managed to do at the show. And so just in case anyone's not familiar with how we do this, we have great relationships with lots of buyers who know us as a community that can source the kind of brands that they are looking to carry. They're looking to be first to market with or find the most exciting emerging brands or brands doing things that they just don't have in their set and can be a really good fit for their consumers. And so at this show, we had 20 different retailers and distributors take meetings at our booth. We announce it to all the brands in our community.

09:26
Daniel Scharff
They can apply specifically to meet with that retailer or distributor, filling out a custom form with questions that would matter the most to that distributor or retailer. So if it's like a northeast distributor, they're going to want to know, hey, what is your northeast distribution like? Or what are your plans in this region? And that helps them figure out who would be potentially a good fit. They then will select, let's say, 10 brands that they want to meet with at our booth during the show, and we give them an hour slot with 10 brands. Okay. You're gonna have six minutes per brand. We've got a real deal timer, and we make the meeting happen. We, you know, kick everybody out. At the end of the six minutes, we got the next brand up, ready to go.

10:03
Daniel Scharff
And the feedback on these meetings has been unbelievable. So, you know, I think both from brands and buyers and the show, everybody's saying this is just such an incredibly effective use of people's time for buyers, what do they want? Discovery and building relationships with brands. It's a great way for them to do it, but also, it doesn't take up too much of their time, so they still have plenty of time to be on the floor, just kind of free form, discovering new stuff. And same for the brands. Honestly, like, you've got a lot you got to get done at the show. Maybe you're stepping away from your booth even to take that meeting. You want to get back and, you know, talk to the next buyer. And so I think it's just a really great service for everybody.

10:39
Daniel Scharff
So we had hundreds of these meetings happen at our booth. They were running all day, every day at our booth. You know, just kind of like a lineup for everyone, just cycling in and out of these quick meetings with the buyers, and real things happen. People are going to get into, you know, sprouts and unfi and whole foods because of these meetings. And, you know, it just. It's a really beautiful thing, I think, for me to see for all of these brands who come in and they've prepped for these meetings, and they come in and crush it, and the retailers are beaming afterwards because they've just found so many great brands. So thank you especially, and to Patty, you and your team for Nick, because it is a lot to coordinate. I mean, we have people just standing there with timers making stuff happen.

11:21
Daniel Scharff
We have to schedule all of it and, you know, make sure that the retailers show up at the right time, which is also kind of a magic feat that we do for everyone. But I think it's so hard to even conceptualize the impact that all of this will have because of all the deals that happen from this now and into the future, what they managed to build off of that distribution as well. So I want to congratulate our team. But, you know, of course, like, the brands are the ones doing the hard work to actually put themselves in a position to get those meetings and do the work. And thank you so much to the retailers for making themselves available. But also, yes, please. Thank you, team. Feel. I hope everyone feels good about it.

11:56
Daniel Scharff
Because it's a lot of work, but, oh, man, it pays off. It's one of those things that we do that it's like, this will not scale. This is hard to scale. We just have to, like, put in a ton of work to do it. But I really believe in the value of it. So thank you, guys. I hope you saw that too.

12:09
Caitlin Bricker
Totally. And I love that it brings value not only to the brands who are exhibiting, but brands who are just backpacking and walking the floor. They also have the opportunity to apply and get themselves in front of the buyers, even without a booth. So that is prime. It also gives the brands an idea too, of are buyers actually interested in hearing about my products? And would Summer Fancy Food be a great place for me to exhibit in the future? So, Pattie, another initiative that you led was the Further Female Founder Lounge, and you moderated three panels during Fancy Food. Can you tell us a little bit about those panels and maybe some action items or tips that brands listening could walk away with and apply?

12:55
Patricia Menegoto
Yeah, absolutely. This is the second time we host Further. It's a Our female Founder Lounged inside of a fancy food show. So first one was in January at the Winter Fast Food, and then now this was the second time. So we hosted three panels, as you said. The first one was the fundraising panel. We had two investors and one brand that just raised money this year. So they're just sharing, you know, a little of, like, how the market look like now. And then we had a retailer panel with buyers from Thrive market, Whole Foods, GoPuff and Happier Grocery. And the last one was the Shark Tank panel, which was very cool because we got to hear from, like, the casting producer.

13:40
Patricia Menegoto
But also we brought Sweet Kiwi, which is a frozen CPG brand that got a deal at the show to talk about her experience too. So I would say that was, like, such an amazing time to have, like, all the female founders connecting, but also having the panelists after their panel taking the time to really talk to the line of friends that were that it happened after the panel with them. And two things that I want to share. So the first tip that I have was from the buyers panel, which they were talking about how important it is to create a relationship with the buyers, but also to create a relationship with the staff that work at the store. Right. Because those people will be the one that, like, are replacing on your merchandise on the shelf.

14:29
Patricia Menegoto
If someone asks about a product, they can be the one advocating to, like, customers to buy your products. So just make sure that you are not just going after buyers, but also creating a relationship with people at the store. And the second one would be about the Shark Tank that it was mentioned that it is better if you want to get into the Shark Tank show, it is better for you to go to an in person casting because it's like about 400 to 500 people versus if you just submit online is going to be your application versus 10,000 other applications. So I'll say even if you apply online, just if you can go to an in person casting, go for it because it will be your best shot. So it was amazing.

15:16
Patricia Menegoto
I love that SFA gave us the space to host these panels and I hope we can continue to do in the future too.

15:22
Caitlin Bricker
There was lots of note taking going on during that three hours. Tons. And the seats were full too. I was in the audience. I am not a CPG founder, but I. I was walking away with tons of little nuggets of information too. And I definitely resonate with that first piece of advice that you gave as a former buyer. Brands absolutely get samples into the hands of other people on the staff because they are your salespeople, after all. So just keep that in mind. All right. The show floor was amazing. It was buzzing. I felt like it was celebrity sightings all over. But those celebrities were CPG brand founders and buyers and industry influencers. That was really cool for me. I feel like you see that little bubble of a person on LinkedIn, their face, their profile photo.

16:14
Caitlin Bricker
But when you see brands creating content online and then you see them live in action in person, it's just a totally different story. I, like felt starstruck at many points during the show. So that magic continued off of the show floor into all of our events. We had an event every single night of the show, including pre show with a dinner for operations experts. Daniel, you're the master behind these events. I'd love for you to talk about them.

16:43
Daniel Scharff
Yes, I do. I do like for us to do a lot of events and you know, it's hard for us to do so many of them. But the reason that we do all of this is because I see it as an opportunity for us, but almost like a responsibility because we have the audience and the reach that we've built and everyone's come town for these events. It just. Why not, why not keep creating opportunities for networking in different ways and for the community to come together for people to meet buyers and other founders. That I think that's what everybody wants. So, you know, I really have always enjoyed hosting and organizing things. Obviously that's what startup CPG is at its roots. And so I just love for us to put on as much as we can.

17:26
Daniel Scharff
And we're really fortunate that we have great partners who help us do that as well because that's what makes the whole thing possible. So the first night was very special. So the night before the show floor opened, we did a thing called the Ops Table with our friends from DOS and it was held at Soho House. We had rented out their club room and it was so beautiful. The idea behind this is just gathering operations leaders and that would be founders or coos of brands as well as those commercialization consultants and people who work across lots of different brands. And through that kind of cross pollination, just see everything because they're just those people, they have tackled every single problem. And so the night is about community and connections, but real problem solving.

18:10
Daniel Scharff
And so, you know, we go around and talk about everybody's wins, but then really importantly, just what are three things you need right now? And they get solved right there. It's just rapid fire around the table. Like if you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it. We got everybody in the room, it just goes down. But you know, aside from that, just very productive part of the evening. I think everybody appreciates the chance to really celebrate operators, operations people. Just the real nitty gritty work that happens. And you know, there aren't so many opportunities for those people to really shine. We at startup CPG want to illuminate you all of these incredible ops people with so much knowledge. So look for us to do so much more of that. And yeah, thank you again to dos. Thank you for making it possible.

18:52
Daniel Scharff
And through a lot of the sharing, I was really reminded of the creative problem solving that comes into play all across ops as well as the importance of relationships. And so great for us to have a chance for everyone to further those relationships. It just. There's so many things that happened at that dinner. Okay. And then so night one, then of the show. So that was Saturday night, then Sunday night we threw our first event. This was a grocery run event with Fairway Market presented by our friends at Tetrapac and the grocery room Fairway is all about. We're at their store at the 74th Street Cafe. We got brands popping up there, sampling. The whole Fairway Market team is there scouring for new brands to bring on. They love to be first to market. We also had a bunch of other buyers there.

19:38
Daniel Scharff
The promise of a grocery run for us is you come to a grocery run you're gonna get to talk to the buyers. You know, it's like you're at a trade show a lot of other places. Like, maybe you get to see them, maybe you don't. If you come to one of our grocery runs, you're going to get to talk to the buyer. That, at its core is what we want to do, and it's in the market. So everybody got to talk to the whole team from Fairway Market. They're amazing. They stayed. There were lines for everybody to chat with them, as well as some of the other buyers who were kind enough to come as well. So that was a really special event. We had 200 plus people kind of crammed in there and it was awesome. Just stuff really happening.

20:11
Daniel Scharff
And then night two, this is one of my favorite events that we've ever done. This was the Founder Dinner, a celebration of what it means to be a founder in this industry in the midst of this show where you're working so hard and hustling to accomplish your dream and a lot of forces in the industry fight against you, but we will support you. And that is the Founder Dinner, I think probably one of the biggest founder dinners ever. We had 200 founders there and tons of buyers, and that's what's going on. We had some very beautiful swag that were also really proud to give out to founders that we've been working on for a while. Anyone watching on Spotify or YouTube can see I'm holding up a very cool shirt.

20:51
Daniel Scharff
So it's just like got this really beautiful founder logo etched all over it because we want all the founders to wear it with pride and have people ask them about what they're doing. So were really excited to give that out to all of the founders in attendance. But even if they were a buyer, maybe not a founder, we also had some cool swag for them. So we make these beautiful I Heart CPG keychains. So we have those. And our team was wearing those T shirts as well because we do heart CPG and that's why we do this. And the dinner was very special. It was at a private social club and just good vibes all around. And we've already heard from distribution deals that are going to happen because of it, because.

21:27
Daniel Scharff
Because the buyers were there, John from Raley's rolling around and again, yeah, the Fairway team and just, you know, the Gus's Community Market team and Meyer was there and they're just in a great mood and that's a great time to meet brands. And I Just want to thank a lot of our sponsors for that. Fresh Direct was there and they were actually the food sponsor for it. So they brought a bunch of their delicious food from Fresh Direct and their buyers. So double bonus. It was really cool to have them there, just as, you know, one of the biggest forces in New York for sure in the food scene.

21:59
Daniel Scharff
And then we also had Switchback, Gianuzi, Lewinden Ro, our new banking partner, Universal Ads and Grow all help us out to put on that event because it was not cheap to rent out that social club. So we really appreciate all of you for helping us make it happen and then all of the ensuing deals that will go down. And then day three was really special as well. So I got to do this super cool panel, mainstage panel, and I was with Glenn from Fairway, Jeanette from ncg, Dustin Kennedy from Whole Foods, who is the Southeast Forager, and Jaden from Earth Fair. And we did a panel that was just all about innovation because all of them work on new brands and innovation across lots of different categories.

22:43
Daniel Scharff
And it was so cool to hear their insights about what are the categories and what are the brands in those categories that are really doing innovation. And then I also just loved asking them, like, what is innovation though? And how do you know it when you see it? And you know it just like really kind of came back to that like surprise and delight type thing where it is hard to define and often you just don't know it until you look back and you're like, yeah, that was innovative. But just that feeling of picking something up at a trade show and just being like, whoa, like, what is this? This is cool. Like for me, that is what a lot of innovation is about.

23:18
Daniel Scharff
And we talked about that on the panel and just they're different as chains approaches to being on the cutting edge of innovation. So that was really cool. Thank you to SFA for giving us the space for that. And then as always, if I'm on the panel, brands are getting up there. So we had a bunch of brands hop up for 20 second quick pitches and got a big beautiful photo with all of them and the buyers at the end of it. So that was very special. And then our big flagship party, the last night to cap it all off, last night of camp, we did the Summer of Startups party. So thank you to Shopify New York for giving us space at their very cool Soho spot to host that party. And thank you to GS1US, who is the sponsor for that.

24:00
Daniel Scharff
It was super cool. We had the entire whole Foods market team there. And these are, you know, category buyers. The foragers and even VPs showed up and just made themselves accessible to everyone there. It was a big pizza party. Just really so great. And so, yeah, those. We were busy. I think that's why everybody's still recovering because, you know, we work hard at these events and there is just so much that is going to come out of it. And really, truly, for me, it's just such a pleasure. And yeah. So thank you again to my team for all of the hard work to plan these events and just to really with an eye towards, like, how can we make these really productive for everyone that attends. Because it's not enough for us to just have a fun party. We want it to work.

24:44
Daniel Scharff
We want stuff happening. We want people networking, introducing themselves to people they don't know, people discovering things. Right. So that was my highlight reel. What do you think?

24:55
Caitlin Bricker
That was a great recap. It's a lot, I think. I mean, I know after every trade show, I walk away and I'm just so impressed by how much our team is actually able to accomplish. And then for that to transfer down to the brands and have them come back to us and say, actually, I struck a distribution deal. I'm getting on the shelves at this store. It's crazy. Honestly, I don't have a better word for it. It is craziness. But it's so good. It's a lot of work. It's tiring, but it's a good tiring. You wake up the next day and you're like, okay, I'm ready to do this again.

25:28
Patricia Menegoto
Yeah. And I would say that, like, it is important to attend the shows after the trade show. Like, trust me, we are all tired. Like, I'm tired. I want to go to the hotel sometimes. I'm like, oh, my God. I have to, you know, go to this event. Until 11pm we are to the hotel, but you never know who you're going to meet. And we, as Daniel was mentioning, like, we invite buyers to these events and we make them introduce themselves because we want to make sure that you, as a brand, know who the buyers are and can connect with them. And we have heard stories before where, like, buyers met with brands at those events and there were great connections sometimes getting to the shelf. So it's tiring.

26:07
Patricia Menegoto
But I would say if you should go, if you're already the trade show, just make sure you can attend as many events.

26:13
Daniel Scharff
Yes. If you're. If you're attending one of our events, expect at some point I will very awkwardly and loudly try to interrupt everyone so that we can do some announcements and just make sure we introduce the buyers who are there if at all possible, because that is what everyone's trying to do there, right? Just to be able to understand who are the decision makers there and how can they try to connect. But yes, it is, it is exhausting. But, you know, I think there's a special gear that we all have, trade show mode. You just push it into that gear for a couple days and then collapse.

26:45
Caitlin Bricker
After we found ourselves even post show, post event, being like, okay, team, where are we going to go hang? Just even for an hour, just so we can enjoy each other's company, like, you know, off the trade show floor away from the events and just be with each other. And I will say, yes, Daniel is going to awkwardly, loudly call out the buyers at every event. Hot tip for anybody registering, we are typically putting the LinkedIn links for each of these buyers in our eventbrite so you can go see what they look like to get a leg up on everyone else before that announcement happens during the event.

27:23
Daniel Scharff
That is right. And I also just want to say you guys even had extra trade show gear mode on versus me, because after our very last event, I just had to go home. My sister was there and we just. I was like, all right, you guys are good, right? And then I just saw a photo of all of you guys hanging at a bar having an amazing time. And it was very fulfilling for me just to see all of you guys really enjoying each other's company and toasting a job well done, which is what it was. And you guys worked so hard for these brands and made so much magic happen for them. So it really made me happy to see you all enjoying that in each other's company.

27:58
Caitlin Bricker
It's such a fun time and it's just. It really is so fulfilling. I think that this is. These events are highlights for me of the year. I spend most of the time sitting behind my computer and then when I can actually go out and hang out with people and see people in person and meet them and talk to them and hear their stories in person, it just makes everything so worth it. And with that, we're about to hear from some brands who are going to share their experience being in the startup CPG section. So thank you, Daniel. Thank you, Patty, thank you to our team, thank you to SFA and all of our sponsors.

28:33
Daniel Scharff
Thank you. Let's hear from some brands.

28:36
Caitlin Bricker
First up, we're going to hear from Figa Foods, a brand bringing chocolate's cool cousin Kupuasu to market. Hey guys, welcome back. After Fancy Food. For anybody who's listening right now and is not familiar with Figa, can you tell us who you are and what you do?

28:55
Ariel
Yes. Hi, I'm Arielle. I'm Ronnie and we're the co founders of Figa Foods, which is creating a new type of bar for the chocolate shelf. Instead of using cocoa beans, we're actually using the seeds of a Brazilian superfruit related to cacao called Cupua Su. It's Brazil's national fruit and we work directly with regenerative farms to upcycle the seeds of this superfruit and make our bars, which are only three ingredients, creamy like a milk chocolate, but really complex and interesting like you'll find in a fancy dark chocolate, but completely vegan, gluten free, caffeine free and sweetened with dates. And the cool thing is there are only three ingredients, plus some fun Brazilian toppings, if you like the salty or the fruity version. So it was our first time at Fancy Foods and were so grateful to win the booth from Startup CPG to be there.

29:45
Ariel
And it was truly like the best three days ever. And we've never had more fun. You know, not only the energy in the Startup CPG section and the close friends that we've already made and been able to just learn so much from other founders, but also just genuinely good, kind, smart, awesome people that you want to spend eight hours around and next to, but also the interactions that we had with press and influencers and buyers and just people in the food space. This was our first real debut. We literally launched our website July 8, two days ago.

30:20
Caitlin Bricker
And two days ago.

30:21
Ariel
Two days ago. And Fancy Foods was our real debut. Just in the food world and seeing people's reactions and really grasping on to what were doing was so exciting to see. And it felt really intimate versus other food shows that, you know, it's very sample based. This felt more like personal in a really fun way, but it was also really busy at the same time.

30:42
Ronny
So yep, for me, one of the big things was the validation that we got. Like people genuinely liking your product was such like a boost of confidence for us because we're there pre launch, right? So you never know. And we had so many people come to our booth and say, hey, someone else told me to come here because they told me you guys have something amazing that I had to try. And it was such a good vibe.

31:04
Ariel
And then even like were at a farmer's market after Fancy Foods and someone came up to us saying, I saw you guys at Fancy Foods and I wanted to come try.

31:12
Daniel Scharff
You.

31:13
Ariel
Like, I heard you guys are amazing. I want to come try. So it's like that ripple effect that you get beyond the show that was also amazing for us and just so exciting to see.

31:24
Caitlin Bricker
Wow. The validation aspect is incredible, especially because when somebody's eating your product in front of, you really have to have a poker face if you don't like it. So you're getting that instant feedback. So tell me about your press coverage that you've gotten recently. All from Fancy Food.

31:42
Ariel
All from Fancy Foods. And that's the thing, right? Like, that type of audience is excited and open to new food innovation. So we got written up in Bon Appetit as one of the trending companies to watch, which was amazing. And then the Food Network ranked us in their top products that they tasted at Fancy Foods. And we got an amazing write up from a writer that we met there. And then, you know, we also met some amazing voices in the food and nutrition space who've been posting about us. We actually got our first big sale from Fancy Foods, our absolute favorite gluten free bakery in New York. I've personally been obsessed with forever. Came by our booth and absolutely loved what were doing. Placed an order, I think that day and, you know, now we're on her shelves.

32:25
Ariel
So it's just been such a fun and amazing experience to see people grasp onto what we've been so excited about for the last year that we've been building and be able to share it with the world.

32:36
Oliver
Yeah.

32:37
Ronny
And also for me, like, it was our first time, of course, and we saw so many companies that were there for the second time. So they were there for the first time a year ago and like the progress that they made in a year that all started with Fancy Foods was amazing. And I feel like now we're starting to like feel the traction that the show gives you and, you know, hopefully we are there in a year from now where they were a week ago in their second time.

33:02
Caitlin Bricker
Yeah, it's going to be so cool to see where you guys are in a year from now. I have a feeling. And take the words, maybe not the exact words, but the words from the editor at Food Network. I think you guys are going to be a big time brand.

33:17
Patricia Menegoto
Thank you.

33:18
Ariel
We're so excited. Well, Whole Foods are ready for you, hopefully in a year.

33:23
Caitlin Bricker
For anybody from Whole Foods that's listening right now, you heard it here first.

33:28
Ronny
But like, to that point.

33:30
Daniel Scharff
Right.

33:30
Ronny
Of course. We had so many interactions with buyers. And just to have those conversations started, even if they don't go anywhere in the short term, it's just so amazing to, you know, have the relationship being born there.

33:42
Caitlin Bricker
Totally. You never know what's going to come from these conversations and the people that you meet, maybe the person that you talk to isn't a buyer or they're not a retailer or they're not press, but they probably know somebody who is. And even if a buyer or retailer isn't ready for you just yet, they, nine times out of ten, are so willing and ready to give you feedback that will get you to the point to be on those shelves. Totally.

34:05
Ariel
And I think for us, what was also really exciting and unique about Fancy Foods is because we are, you know, a more luxurious product. Yes, we want to be accessible, but, you know, everything that we've done and created is. Is made with such care. And we really want to align with brands and partnerships that feel also in line with that. And I've always had this dream of, you know, having our Kukua sue chocolate bite in the mini bar of a luxury hotel that's focused on sustainability or on the pillow. But we actually at Fancy Foods met an amazing hotel chain in the luxury space who wants to carry us. So, you know, it's those types of things that like, that type of relationship probably would have started with a cold email or trying to find someone who knew someone.

34:49
Ariel
But, like, they just happened to love our booth and we asked them if they ever had Kupua sue before. And it was such an exciting type of partnership that again, I think would have taken a lot longer to build or get if it wasn't for us being at the show. We also heard from them, just FYI for everyone, apparently chocolate on the pillow is out because if you fall asleep, it sticks to your face. So we're okay with being in the mini bar next to the bed.

35:14
Caitlin Bricker
That's so funny. All right, you guys, it's been great catching up with you post show. It sounds like you have a ton of things that you have to catch up on as a brand. I'm sure we're going to see you roll out on a bunch of shelves, so keep us posted. But for anybody who's listening right now or who's interested in carrying your products, where can they find you online?

35:35
Ariel
Great question. You can go to figafoods.com we actually have a wholesale tab ready, waiting for you. And our email is on our website or you can DM us on Instagram. Really? We're very available, so I promise we'll be responsive. And we're excited and we actually are just landed on a few other shelves in the Hamptons and in Brooklyn. So look out for us in a few other stores that we're excited about and we'll be posting on our socials and on our website about it and.

35:59
Ronny
If you are not in our favor store, just go there and ask them to carry Figa.

36:03
Caitlin Bricker
I've already put in a few requests in some local stores.

36:07
Ariel
We already have repeat orders of people because some people are allergic to chocolate. We didn't realize that's like a whole interesting path that frankly, like we knew there's caffeine sensitivity and you know, people can't do a lot of caffeine, but apparently also a whole group of people who can't eat chocolate.

36:22
Caitlin Bricker
Yeah, I knew about the caffeine sensitivity, but I did not know about a chocolate allergy. Interesting. We'll have to dive deep into that on the podcast with you guys when we do the founder feature. All right, well, thank you so much for your time. We are going to jump into another brand and hear about their experience, but I'm so excited for you and we'll talk soon.

36:44
Ariel
We're so excited too. Thank you so much. And the whole startup CPG team and the whole community has been nothing short of amazing and we're just so grateful to be a part of it.

36:52
Ronny
Thank you so much, guys.

36:54
Caitlin Bricker
Thank you so much. Next up we have Lupini, a lupini bean based frozen pizza brand who's taking traditional Italian pizzas and maximizing on good macros for good health. Hey Damiano, thanks for joining us. I would love for you to tell people about Lupini if you could just give us a quick little rundown and then we'll get into your experience with fancy food.

37:21
Damiano
Hi, Caitlin.

37:21
Oliver
Yes.

37:22
Damiano
So Lupini, it's our main ingredients, lupini beans. And we make healthy frozen pizza from Italy which is packed with protein, fiber and low calories. Actually, like we have a better ratio, protein over calories than eggs. So that's what looping is about. And we just, we're decompressing from all the buyers that you brought to our boots at the Fancy Foot.

37:46
Caitlin Bricker
So correct me if I'm wrong, but this was your second fancy food and your first one was also with us about a year ago, but you weren't market ready. So tell us what it was like being in the section now that you're Ready for Retail.

37:59
Damiano
It was amazing because we got the chance to really connect and meet for the first time with some buyers and reconnect and get us this strong connection with the one that we already met. I've seen many brands saying, oh, we're not quite ready for fancy food. I think you are always ready to be a fancy food because you get to speak with buyers and other exhibitor which are customers. So you can get to test your hypothesis, you can get to test everything, your packaging, talk to people which are customers, get feedback. And so based on those feedback you can iterate your product pivot, whatever you need to do based on those customer interviews, let's say and buyer interviews. And if you're ready, retail ready, obviously it's a no brainer. You have to be there because it's such a great show.

38:50
Damiano
You meet so many people and if you bring your energy, you're going to attract people and you know, if the product is great, everything is going to be easier on these extremely difficult journey.

39:03
Caitlin Bricker
Beautiful. All right, so for anybody who didn't catch you at Fancy Food or anybody who's listening to this that's interested in Lupini, where can they find you online? How can they get in touch with you?

39:13
Damiano
Send me an email. It's my name, Damiano Hatlupini. That pizza, I think we have a cool email. Everyone says oh that pizza, that's amazing or follow us on Instagram, send me a DM or text me on LinkedIn. That's the best way to text me.

39:29
Caitlin Bricker
Thanks Damiano.

39:30
Damiano
Thank you.

39:33
Caitlin Bricker
Lastly, here's USO Sparkling Tea, a non alcoholic sparkling beverage brand that was spotted on all over startup CPG's events at Fancy Food. Hey Ali, thank you for joining me. After Summer Fancy Food I would love for you to introduce USO and tell us about your brand and we'd love to get into your experience at the show.

39:58
Oliver
Of course and thank you for having me. So a quick brief intro on uso. USO Sparkling Tea is a an adult non alk beverage. It's inspired by natural wine and you know, really is crafted for the Gen Z and Millennial redefining how and what it means to drink. It's obviously a very exciting space and a lot of retailers are interested in it. So it was the perfect time for our first exhibition, first fancy food show, first time with a table at any event like this and being part of the Startup CPG community and kind of pavilion was the perfect way to do that. You know were able to have other founder friends that we could rely on if we had silly or dumb questions.

40:40
Oliver
We had, you know, people like you, Caitlin, and you know, other folks from the startup CPG team that we could ask silly questions to. But also were in the debut district, really perfectly placed to be able to kind of just be where people wanted to discover new brands. It was for those that weren't at the show and listening or watching. I think were like three floors up with escalators, so not too much work. But we all, you know, when were before the show and were setting up, were like, all right, well are people going to make the trek up here? And undoubtedly they did. It was very clear that, you know, whether it be, you know, large retailers like H E B Central Market, the Whole Foods, teams like those people certainly were up there coming up to discover new brands.

41:23
Oliver
But you know, one of the other really exciting things for us is we're at a pretty kind of important inflection point in our growth where we're very New York focused but also kind of keeping an eye on the horizon where we're going to grow next. And for any brands, you know, they know, and they've kind of trotted the same trail that to grow you need distribution. And obviously the big players in that space are, you know, KHI Unfi and being able to meet with those people were really exciting because that's going to be pivotal to our growth as well.

41:56
Caitlin Bricker
Did you take advantage of any of the one one buyer meetings at the startup CPG section?

42:02
Oliver
We didn't get a chance to have any meetings, but we did take part and attend a bunch of the events in the evenings where were able to kind of meet and chat one one and get to know the buyers in a more intimate setting, which was awesome. Those events are also just fun to kind of wind down and experience the show in just a different setting.

42:21
Caitlin Bricker
I'm pretty sure at every event, every night, USO was the star of the show. I was double fisting at one point. Everybody had USO in their hands. It was really cool to see. It must have been cool for you to experience.

42:34
Daniel Scharff
Thank you.

42:35
Oliver
Yeah, I mean, when we're able to, you know, have the product served at events, it is really nice to see one, the product go quite quickly, but two, our cans being like a bright kind of green, a bright orange, you know, and obviously a lot of thought went behind the colors, but it's pretty obvious like when you see it in someone's hand and it's pretty cool at events like that. To kind of walk around and out of the corner of your eye notice like, oh, people are drinking. Oh, whoa. It's uso. It's mine. Sobeys drink.

43:04
Daniel Scharff
So it's a pretty cool experience.

43:06
Caitlin Bricker
And this being your first trade show, how do you feel coming out of it? Was fancy food it for you? Do you feel like you want to expand? What are your thoughts coming out of your first trade show?

43:18
Oliver
Yeah, well, I think it would be silly if we said, all right, we're done now, business is finished, let's wrap up. Such a great experience and we got so much out of it. I'd kind of be crazy to say that we caught like the exhibition bug because it's so much work and like it's so tiring, but it's such a necessity. So definitely going to do more in the future. There's no doubt about that and very much worth it. But you're now kind of coming down from the high of the show. There's so much work to do. But we only would have had this, you know, good amount of work to do because of the show. I'm like, I'm going through this. I've right beside me for the listeners, you'll hear it and the video, you'll see it. A book of business cards and emails.

43:58
Oliver
And I'm slowly going through trying to follow up with people and make sure that, you know, those, the conversations that we had in person, you know, come to fruition and become something, whether it's near term, midterm or long term, trying to keep those relationships going.

44:13
Caitlin Bricker
So exciting. So for anybody who was not at fancy food or anybody who has not tried USO yet, where can they find you online and how can they get in touch with you?

44:22
Oliver
Yes. So Our website is drinkuso.com USO's O O S o our Instagram at Drinkuso. So we sell direct to consumer on our website nationwide. We also have a store locator on our website under the shop dropdown you could find a little map and there's a bunch of eyes on the map so you could see where the closest USO is to you. But yeah, I mean those are the easiest places to find it. In New York City we have the biggest footprint as a Brooklyn based brand and we just launched the new distributor here. So we're really trying to get out there and you know, show up for people who are interested in trying the product and whether it's a sober hero's lifestyle, whether it's, you know, living soberly but slowly nationwide as well.

45:04
Oliver
We'll be rolling up more and more places and I'm certain that part of that will be the fancy food experience that we had.

45:11
Caitlin Bricker
Amazing. As somebody who's coming up one year of being sober from alcohol, USO is like my go to now. I love that you have a caffeine free option and it tastes so good.

45:23
Oliver
I'm glad you enjoy it. We're fans of you guys start of cbg so having fans from within means a lot.

45:29
Caitlin Bricker
Big fan over here. Well Ali, it's been great chatting with you. I'm sure we're going to hear from you a ton more in the future. I think your brand is off to do some amazing things and getting way more hands. Thank you very much for your participation in our section. I don't think it would have been the same without you. And thanks for chatting with me today.

45:48
Oliver
Thank you.

45:52
Caitlin Bricker
All right everyone, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, do us a solid and leave us a five star review on ratethispodcast.com startupcpg I'm Caitlin Bricker, the host of the Founder Feature Series and editor at Startup CPG. Feel free to find me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on Slack and get on my radar. I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for new and emerging brands to spotlight. If you're a potential sponsor who would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnershipstartupcpg.com and finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our free CPG community on Slack. You can sign up via our website@startupcpg.com see you around.