The Startup CPG Podcast

Joseph Rotondo
After my 12th pint, I'm like, how does ice cream not have protein? Ice cream is made from dairy. Dairy's a good source of protein. So where's the protein in ice cream? That just didn't sit right with me. And I storm out at the grocery store like a little kid not getting what he wanted. And I go home and I'm eating this bowl of clumpy cottage cheese, which was my go to dessert doused in honey and blueberries. And I'm just on the couch eating this and I'm eating it and I'm just thinking of ice cream the entire time. And I'm like, how has nobody crack the code? And how is there no such thing as frozen cottage cheese? And that was my light bulb moment. So literally that night I ordered an ice cream maker off Amazon. I'm like, you know what?

00:47
Joseph Rotondo
I'm going to do this myself. In my little New York City apartment. The first person I hit up was my sister because she's the best baker I know. And the next day we're literally in the kitchen whipping up concoctions using, like, going to the lab. And by the third try, we're like, oh my God, I think we did it.

01:07
Grace Kennedy
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the startup CPG podcast. This is Grace and today I'm talking to Joe Rotundo, the founder of Smear Case. Smear Case is the world's first protein packed frozen cottage cheese brand. They only launched in July, but they are growing rapidly with plans to be in 400 stores by March 2025. In this episode, we talk all about how Joe developed this first of its kind product in his small kitchen in Brooklyn, the origin story behind their unique name and how they're planning to bring Froco to the masses. Thanks for listening and as always, let me know what you think. Hello everyone, this is Grace and today I am joined by Joe Rotundo, the founder of Smear Case, which is a protein packed frozen cottage cheese brand. So welcome to the show, Joe, Grace.

02:05
Joseph Rotondo
Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here. Big fan and supporter of the startup CPG community. So very blessed for the opportunity to share what's going on with the Smear Case.

02:18
Grace Kennedy
Yes. So I'd love for you to let our listeners know a little bit more about who is Miracase and who are you.

02:25
Joseph Rotondo
Yeah, my name is Joe. I'm a. I'm a Brookliner. I grew up in the greater New York area. I've been in Brooklyn for about seven years now. Fairly new to the CPG worlds. I've always been passionate about health and wellness, and I've always been passionate about CPG without knowing that it's an industry. And, yeah, started to dip my toes last July when I came up with the idea for smear case and learned that CPG is a huge. Is a huge industry and a huge sort of market. And the world's first and only frozen cottage cheese. We have the most protein per any pint. We're innovating in a myriad of ways, and really, the goal for us is to help others live happier and healthier.

03:09
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And I'd love to hear a little bit more about how you came up with this idea for this frozen cottage cheese brand. Obviously, it's so funny that cottage cheese has become so trendy, because I remember my mom giving it to me when I was, like, a little kid and being like, ew, what is this, like, lumpy thing? And she's like, it's good for you. Just eat it. And now it's, like, this whole huge health trend that, like, everybody eats. So I'm just curious, like, how you came up with the idea and decided you wanted to create this product.

03:40
Joseph Rotondo
Yeah, cottage cheese is making a comeback for, like, the fourth or fifth time. So we just have to accept that cottage cheese is a staple in the American household. It's a staple if you're looking to, you know, live healthier. So, yeah, cottage cheese is here to stay, and we're here to make it way more fun to eat cottage cheese. And that was a big impetus for why I started this, because I was sick and tired of that clumpy cottage cheese. You know, it's not the sexiest thing. Ice cream is way sexier. So that was, like, the overarching theme. But to take it back for a second, I grew up around food. I'm an Italian. You know, pasta sundaes were a big part of my life.

04:22
Joseph Rotondo
If I wanted a specific meal, my dad would take us into the kitchen, which we called the lab, and we would learn how to make, let's say, meatballs. We would make it together, and then we would enjoy the meal as a family. So I was so used to experimenting in the kitchen and using food as that communal connection. I worked in restaurants and delis. I actually, fun fact, won best bagel of New Jersey back in 2018. So food is a big part of my life. And all the while, you know, I grew up in a suburban rural area called Warwick, New York. And, you know, the outdoors was a bit. Was a big part of My life being active and with that, like, just wanting to live healthier.

05:02
Joseph Rotondo
And when you're in this sort of zone of wanting to live healthier, passionate about wellness and being active with your fitness, you're always looking for the healthier version of what you're already consuming. And that's where I sort of just live. That's what I'm passionate about is like, how can I better myself through cpg, projects, products, but how can I better myself by through, like, diy? The idea came. I was training for a marathon, and I finished one of my toughest workouts. I'm drenched in sweat, I'm in the cold freezer of my local grocery store, and I am just craving ice cream. So here I am pulling out every pint of ice cream because I didn't want empty calories. I wanted something with some sort of nutritional value.

05:46
Joseph Rotondo
So I'm looking at every pint of ice cream to see which one had the most amount of protein, because that was the one I was going to get. And, you know, after my, like, 12th pint, I'm like, how does ice cream not have protein? Ice cream is made from dairy. Dairy is a good source of protein. So where's the protein and ice cream? And I. That just didn't sit right with me. And, you know, I storm out of the grocery store like a little kid not getting what he wanted. And I go home and I'm eating this bowl of clumpy cottage cheese, which was my go to dessert doused in honey and blueberries. And I'm just on the couch eating this, and I'm eating it, and I'm just thinking of ice cream the entire time. And I'm like, how has nobody cracked the code?

06:25
Joseph Rotondo
And how is there no such thing as frozen cottage cheese? And that was my light bulb moment. So, literally that night, I order an ice cream maker off Amazon. I'm like, you know what? I'm going to do this myself in my little New York City apartment. The first person I hit up was my sister, because she's the best baker I know. And the next day, we're literally in the kitchen whipping up concoctions using, like, going to the lab. And, you know, by the third try, we're like, oh, my God, I think we did it. Like, I think we cracked the code. And, yeah, the rest is sort of history from there.

06:56
Grace Kennedy
Wow. I love that. And I love that this was a continued family affair. I'm also impressed that it only took you three tries to get it right. But, you know, maybe that's just your many years of DIY experience coming in handy. So I'm curious, after you got it right in your kitchen, you know, your small New York kitchen with your small, I'm assuming, ice cream maker, what were the next steps you took? To say, okay, if I want to make this, like a product that's not just in my home kitchen, and I want to give it to more people than just my immediate family and friends, how do I do that? What were your next steps?

07:32
Joseph Rotondo
This is where I thrive, you know, after I tasted it, you know, and the entrepreneur in me was like, there's opportunity here. Like, let's make something of this. So the next day I'm doing market research on ice cream, on cottage cheese, on building the world of the brand, which is where I thrive. Like, I love branding. I love working with my hands, I love products. And growing up, I was very fortunate enough to, you know, be blessed with a mother who bought name brand. So I'd open up my pantry and be exposed to all these CPG brands, all the incumbents on the legacy brands. So, like, just being exposed to that style of branding, like, served me well throughout my journey of life. But to tell you the truth, I was in over my head. I had no freaking clue how to execute this.

08:24
Joseph Rotondo
And, like, I think I got caught up in, like, building the universe of smear case and going through, like, what is this brand going to be? Who's our target audience? And, like, really seeing it through that lens and less through the lens of, like, how is this going to actually happen? So throughout my research, I stumbled across startup cpg and I literally just like, my first freaking message out to the Slack group was, hey, what can a startup protein ice cream brand? I need some help. And then, you know, before you know it, I had an advisor reach out that we still work with today and that, like, this was in my first rodeo.

09:03
Joseph Rotondo
I had a clothing brand in the past and I knew I was looking for my next endeavor, but I knew, like, I wanted to hire for my weaknesses and I wanted to, I wanted help. And this was like a great way to equip myself with that help, leaning on the startup CPG community. And that's. That's how we really made leaps and bounds in a short amount of time.

09:25
Grace Kennedy
Wow. So you just gave us such a great advertisement and I didn't even know that we'd get such a great advertisement for startup cpg. But I'm so glad that you found it in your search and you found it early on and that it was helpful because, yeah, there is so much. If you haven't done this before, there's so much you don't know about, like, how to do a CPG brand and, like, how to do frozen products. Another question I had that I was thinking of as you were talking about, though, like, the brand building was the name Smear Case. And I'm just curious where that name comes from and if there's any, like, origin story there.

09:56
Joseph Rotondo
Yeah, I love this question. I get it so often. And the name Smear Case is just as polarizing as our not so secret ingredient, Cottage Cheese mir Case. And again, this was. This was my rabbit hole of market research. Like, I'm a huge history junkie. I love context. Like, context is key. No matter. No matter what. Like, you need the origin of something. And for me, everything has a story. So Smear Case is derived from a German phrase, schmeerkese, which literally means cottage cheese. When the Pennsylvania Dutch came over to America, they were calling Cottage cheese Smear Case. And, you know, I had a list of names written down, and Smear Case kept jumping off the page. Like, to me, it was bold. It was sort of in your face.

10:45
Joseph Rotondo
It, like, struck that curiosity and it drew you in as polarizing as it is. Like, when I was looking at other ice cream brands, there's a lot of whimsical sort of names and branding, but, like, we are protein forward, so how do we communicate that to our customer? It's by having sort of that loud and obnoxious name that sort of that, like, you know, it's impossible to ignore and it's impossible to forget. And to me, that's what we needed to do to stand out in the crowded freezer aisle. You know, if I name this Joe's Ice Cream, you would have walked past it and forgot about it. You know what I mean? So for me, like, I didn't want to. I didn't want a brand name that was a name. I wanted it to be larger than that. And it's an ode to.

11:31
Joseph Rotondo
It's an ode to cottage cheese.

11:32
Grace Kennedy
I love it. Yeah, and I love, too, that a part of your brand is, like, not shying away from the fact that this is a cottage cheese products. I feel like sometimes brands that use, like, healthy alternatives or whatever, it's almost like a secret. You know, they're like, ooh, it's better for you, but nobody knows. And I love that this is kind of like boldly saying, like, no, this is cottage cheese, and it's delicious and you should have it and for all of these reasons. So I know you guys have, like, a few different flavors now, but how did that work as you were just, like, spending that year developing smear case before you formally launched it? You know, how did it work when you were really trying to develop those flavors and develop, like, what you actually wanted to bring to market?

12:12
Grace Kennedy
Because obviously, there's so many ice cream flavors that are, like, beloved by different people for many different reasons. But how did you kind of decide which ones you wanted to bring to market first?

12:23
Joseph Rotondo
Wow. Great question. This it. And I'm going to give you a loaded answer, because when were first developing the product, like, after the first or second try, were just, like, at a crossroads. I told you before this call, like, I'm a first taker. You know what I mean? I just want to get things right the first time. And, like, I prioritize speed or over perfection, and I think that's sort of integral to entrepreneurship. But after this, you know, my sister and I, were just sitting down. We were just so, like, frustrated. Like, what's going on here? A light bulb moment sort of went off, and I was like, you know what? We're trying to project ourselves onto the product of what we want it to be.

13:03
Joseph Rotondo
And I was like, listen, I think we need to sort of ask what the product wants to be. You know, what is the cottage cheese asking from us? Cause it has a unique flavor profile. It's a unique ingredient. We're the first brand to use cottage cheese as an ingredient. So, like, you know, we're paving the way for others to disrupt other categories and innovate the dairy industry at large. But, you know, were just asking ourselves, like, what does it want to be? And when we asked that question, like, a switch happened where we started to really develop the flavor profile around the cottage cheese, and we really leaned into it, and that's where we unlocked so many avenues. And. And that's where we discovered that we're using collagen instead of gums, and gums are super popular in ice creams.

13:53
Joseph Rotondo
And we're using natural sugar instead of artificial sweeteners, which is crucial to the complexity of our product. I think, like, we wanted to make an ice cream that had nutritional value but had a lot of integrity in that nutrition label, which is key. That's where health and wellness lives, not in the macros, but in that ingredient list. So we wanted to keep it as clean as possible. So that's why we introduced collagen. And once we started to ask those questions, that's when we really started to lean into which flavors will work best for our base. And then we asked, like, what does the protein junkie want? The protein junkie loves peanut butter. And the coffee came as like. So we saw it as like one. Like, every ice cream band is judged on their vanilla. We need a vanilla.

14:41
Joseph Rotondo
And we need to do it well because that will lay the foundation for the product and the brand. We are the first to introduce Broko. We have the opportunity to sort of lay the foundation of like and set the standard of what this product is, because copycats will come if it's a matter of when, but we get to set the standard. And I take that with great honor and pride. So we had to nail the vanilla. We wanted a peanut butter in there to appease the protein junkie. And the peanut butter is just freaking. Just out of this world. And then, like, we wanted to sort of approach ice cream from the lens of like, it's not just for post dinner on the couch before bed, like, damn, what if you were able to have ice cream for breakfast?

15:22
Joseph Rotondo
What if you were able to have ice cream as a post workout snack or for lunch? Which we see a lot with our customers. So we viewed it as like breakfast, lunch and dinner. You know, breakfast. You can have our mocha joe coffee with dark chocolate chunks for breakfast. Like, I've had it for pre workouts when I was training for the marathon and, you know, I would have a pint and I would go run 10 miles and then post workout, I would put the peanut butter in a smoothie and then for dessert, I would have the vanilla, you know, to get my protein in. So that's how we sort of saw our flavor selection and how we sort of developed the product into what it is today.

15:57
Grace Kennedy
Wow. I love that. And I love how much thought and consideration of, like, just like, who your customer is and also what your base is. And, you know, you really kind of thought about all these different aspects. And you mentioned, though, like, what you see your customers use today. And I know you guys just launched in July of this year, so I am curious now, like, what has the response been since it's now been out in the public for, you know, a few months and you're coming up at the end of this year. What have you seen from your customers?

16:27
Joseph Rotondo
Universally loved.

16:29
Grace Kennedy
Wow.

16:29
Joseph Rotondo
And even the most traditional ice cream purists, our product is just universally loved. Once you get a taste of it, you're like, oh, my God, I can't believe this is cottage cheese. You know, so Many customers, whether it's at a store demo or a community activation, we do people like, oh, I hate cottage cheese. Like, super nervous to try. And I once convinced them to just have a little taste. They. Their eyes widen, they put a smile on my face, and they're like, oh, my God, this is actually really good. And, like, once we get that. Once we get that validation, it's like, holy shit. Like, we have something here. And again, like, we wanted to develop the product to be as close to ice cream as possible, to make the switch from the incumbents to our product as smooth and easy as possible.

17:16
Joseph Rotondo
So we really wanted to mimic that ice cream profile. Even though we can't consider our product ice cream, it is frozen cottage cheese. We call it Froko. But, yeah, the reception has been just, like, incredibly, overwhelmingly positive. And, you know, every time there are moments where I wake up in the middle of the night, and I'm like, is it like, am I crazy? Like, you need to be a little delusional to be in CPG and an entrepreneur. But there are moments in the middle of the night where I wake up, I'm like, is this actually good or just people gassing me up? So I literally get out of bed, go to my freezer, take a scoop, and, like, and eat it and. And it's just like a sigh of relief, a weight off my shoulders. Like, all right, this is actually really freaking good.

17:58
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. And I was telling you before we started recording, but I'll say it again, is that when I was at Fancy Foods this last summer, their smear case had a booth and somebody. I have no idea who they were. Honestly, I don't know if they were affiliated or not. But somebody completely random, I have no idea who they are, came up to. Me and Patty were standing in the startup CPG section, and they're like, have you guys heard of this frozen cottage cheese brand? It's really good. You should go try it. And were like, okay, cool. Sounds great. And, you know, Patty's all about, like, health and wellness, and so she was really excited about the product. And, you know, it's just. It's cool to see just, like, random people being like, you should go try this product.

18:34
Grace Kennedy
Because especially at an event like Fancy Foods, there's so many products to try. So to have someone, like, specifically point out a brand, you're like, okay, that means they really like it. But also thinking about going to events like Fancy Foods. And you mentioned some of the, like, retailers you're now in. I'd love to hear a Little bit about your approach to, you know, getting smear cases into people's hands and into freezer aisles, you know, both locally and beyond.

19:03
Joseph Rotondo
Sure, yeah. One quick comment on Fancy Food. I was just so blown away. Like, that was sort of our launch party as a New York brand. Like, we just wrapped up production and it was a place for us where were going to get retail buyers to try it and, you know, in hopes to get on shelf. So like, the response was just so incredible. Like, as a newcomer to cpg, we made so much noise as newbies to the space. Like, again, it was so validating and confidence building. And what was the coolest part about Fancy Food was product development teams from, you know, big name ice cream brands and private label retailers. Big cos won't drop names, but they're. They were. Product development teams were coming over and being. And like, we didn't think that this was possible. Like, this is so crazy.

19:56
Joseph Rotondo
And like, you heard that. I was like, shit. Like, all right, we're putting people on notice as like a. The competitor in me really got fired up. But yeah, like, how. How are we driving trial and educating our consumer? You know, as a new. We're creating a new category in the freezer aisle that comes with a lot of responsibility, the playbook we've developed and, you know, you have to write your own playbook. At the end of the day, I really leaned on my health and wellness community in New York that I really just became a part of these past couple years. And I just tapped my friends like, hey, listen, like, I have this ice cream brand, high protein, would love to, you know, collaborate with your run club or a group workout.

20:48
Joseph Rotondo
So were showing up building our tribe in person in New York City. Like were lucky enough to start a business here, so you have access to a huge demographic, a huge market. So like, that's like, we really wanted to get into the community and drive trial that way and really just cultivate that authentic connection. Like getting people to try it, getting their reaction and feedback in real time post workout. Like, we're humans are tribal creatures. Like, food breaks the barrier of like, it's a universal icebreaker. So, you know, once you, your endorphins are high after a workout, you get to enjoy some ice cream. You know, like, that's just pure love being spread. And saw that do really well this past summer. I'm excited for. To kick that back into gear.

21:38
Joseph Rotondo
And then, you know, other part of that playbook is store demos, obviously catching People in their shopping habit, where you can get them to taste and really just direct them to buy. So those two things. And then also, you know, we really try to do a good job on our social media, whether we're partnering with influencers or driving target ads, just driving that awareness, that sort of like trifecta we've seen to do pretty well. So I'm looking forward to, you know, that's in our backyard of New York City. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun challenge to see how we can duplicate that playbook to other markets as we grow and expand.

22:18
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And I know you are planning to grow and expand in 2025. And so could you speak a little bit to. To, like, what those retailer conversations have been like, has it been inbound or outbound? Reach out. And how have, you know, have they been as excited as everybody else has been about this product? And then also maybe second part of the question is how you are gearing up for some of that expansion outside of your backyard.

22:45
Joseph Rotondo
Sure, yeah. So we've been really fortunate. The product has really sold itself. You know, we're riding the waves of protein cottage cheese. Better for you. You know, it's a disruptor, it's an innovation, it's a need in the freezer aisle. So we've been really lucky. Where. How have we gotten stores? It's been a combination of, you know, ground and pound in New York City. Me showing up to a retailer with a cooler, getting the category manager to try it, and getting a sale in that moment. We've had some cold emails, cold calls. We submitted our brand for category review, and then one of the biggest retailers out there came to us.

23:33
Joseph Rotondo
We got a message through our website, and what was really validating about that conversation was this category manager for ice cream was actively reaching out to other cottage cheese brands, asking them to develop an ice cream. And they all said no. And then we come along and fill that blank space. And like, once I heard that, I was like, all right, like, this is. This is sort of wild, you know, getting out. And so we, yeah, we've been lucky enough to get into retailers in a. In a variety of ways. And again, like, what. What has worked for us may not work for another brand. That's okay. It's great to draw inspiration from those who are doing it, who came before you.

24:27
Joseph Rotondo
But, like, I just encourage other brands and entrepreneurs to build their own playbook and really find what works for their product, for their brand and for their customer. Because it's different for everybody. There's no sort of one stop shop. There's no, there's no textbook in entrepreneurship. You just got to get your reps in and do it yourself.

24:50
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, there's also only so many products that are still really going to be completely new and like nothing, you know, has ever been seen before. So there's always going to be a different way. You're going to have to make yourself stand out. And they're just, every brand is going to be so different in terms of how they approach things and how they, you know, end up getting to their reaching their own goals. So we also were talking briefly before we got on the call about some of your goals in terms of, you know, maybe getting out to the west coast and utilizing some of the west coast dairy. But could you speak a little bit to those plans and how that's going?

25:30
Joseph Rotondo
Yeah. So at Fancy Food, were approached by Venture Fuel and the California Milk Advisory Board to apply to their accelerator program. And were lucky enough to get into this incubator cohort. So it was a 12 week program where we had mentor sessions once a week. And all the While throughout those 12 weeks were developing our pitch for their main event at an expo in California, which just happened November 14th to 17th. And Drew and I, my co founder, we worked really hard on this pitch and you know, were, we had a lot of fun with it and we ended up winning $30,000 from the CMAB to help launch our brand in California using Real California Milk.

26:16
Joseph Rotondo
And what was even more meaningful to us was we won the fan vote for the contest which was like, you know, such a blessing and thanks to all the fans who tried the Froco and voted us number one. So, yeah, we have an opportunity to launch in California in Q1 of 2025. And we're actively, you know, doing product development out there to get the seal of approval on our pint that says that we're using Real California milk because that's the goal at the end of the day. And over the course of the next year, we'll be competing with four other brands or three other brands for the chance to win $100,000 next November. And that's based off of who sells the most product in California with real California milk over the course of the year.

27:06
Joseph Rotondo
So, yeah, the competitor, me, is ready to dig in and get back to work. But yeah, right now we're riding pretty high off this win and we're looking forward to launching on the west coast because we're constantly reminded that we're, you know, we would do that. California needs this, and we've always wanted to be a bicoastal brand. This gives us more reason and easier accessibility to do that. So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to the California market because I think they're at the forefront of health and wellness. This was a big win for the east coast in New York, but I'm excited to be a bicoastal brand in 2025.

27:42
Grace Kennedy
Absolutely. Yeah. So everyone who's listening on the East, I mean, on the west coast, keep your eyes peeled for when Smear Case will. Will hit the stands. So we've talked a lot about a lot of the, like, wins and all the great things happening for Smear Case. But something I also always like to ask founders is just what has been one of the most challenging elements of founding a brand? I mean, I know there are many challenging elements of founding your own brand, but if one in particular comes to mind, that's been the most challenging, either pre founding or post founding or pre launch or post launch of your case.

28:17
Joseph Rotondo
I have good days. I have bad days. At the end of the day, you got to wake up and get back to it. You know, nobody's coming to save you. You got to really do it for yourself. You got to be your biggest fan, you got to be your biggest advocate. You got to be your biggest supporter. So, you know, just really having the discipline to wake up every day and just do the hard thing first. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. And I think that's why fitness for me, like, I ran the New York City Marathon. That was my outlet. You know, just pushing myself physically really helps translate to the mental. But I think the hardest thing for me was, like, making the decision to go for it.

28:58
Joseph Rotondo
You know, making the decision to leave the corporate world, take a risk on myself, do something a little crazy. Everybody has told me, oh, you're doing the hardest thing in the grocery store, in the freezer aisle. Like, ice cream's crowded, margins are low, whatever. And I just look at them and I smile, like. And I just love doing hard things. I love finding out what we're capable of. I'm willing to be uncomfortable, and I'm willing to do the hard. Like, that doesn't phase me. So, yeah, the hardest decision was making the choice to go for it. But, geez, once I made that decision, I gave a lot up to God and just having that blind faith that the sacrifice is and will be worth it.

29:43
Joseph Rotondo
And I'll tell you what, Grace, like this past year of being full time on Smear Case, I've never been happier, I've never been healthier and I've never been more fulfilled. And honestly, at the end of the day, like that's all I need. Yeah. So just feeling really blessed and grateful to be on this journey for sure.

30:01
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. That's so beautiful and definitely a testament to that you're on the right path, that you feel happy and healthy and grateful to be doing it. And obviously too, you know, the customer validation is nice too. Oh, I just like lost my train. Oh, I know what I was going to ask. So you know, you started to give a little advice there. But another thing I always like to ask founders who are on these shows is if you were to be starting over again from day one and you could have had like a magic fairy CPG godmother give you one piece of advice. What do you wish you had known.

30:35
Joseph Rotondo
On day one to do a shelf stable products probably. You know what I mean? Like I come from the e commerce world. DTC is in my blood. I'm a big fan of Amazon, to be quite honest. Yeah, I think like the opportunity to be both shelf stable for online consumption and then also having, you know, retail sort of shelf placement, the best of both worlds, like that sort of perks my ears up. So who knows what happens after Smear Case, But I think something I wish somebody told me was that again, like as the first frozen cottage cheese brand, as the first brand to use cottage cheese as an ingredient during the hottest time for cottage cheese. Like we're a startup, we're in our infancy stages. But what I've learned is that the cottage cheese industry isn't built for a brand like ours.

31:27
Joseph Rotondo
So right now one of our biggest challenges is fortifying our supply chain. It's a challenge I welcome with open arms. It's been difficult but like I'm super confident we'll solve for it because we have great partners in our corner. You know, Joe and I are great part business partners and great co founders. We have a great advisor in Danny and the CMAB and Venture Fuel have been such great partners in helping us source and find co packers. We have a strong network in our corner going to bat for us. But yeah, the magic wand is always a fun question. But yeah, I think what's been fun is like paving the way for others. You know, I'm excited to see who comes after this.

32:09
Joseph Rotondo
I think like right now we're seeing a lot of high protein ice cream brands we remain differentiated by being frozen cottage cheese. But I'm excited to see where cottage cheese enters other aisles of the grocery store. You know, it's a freaking power food. I would love to see the dairy industry invest more into this product. But yeah, I think we're just scratching the service on what we're going to see.

32:31
Grace Kennedy
Absolutely. And Smear Case will be leading the way, so that feels like a perfect note to end on. But I'd love for you to tell all of our listeners how they can support Smear Case and where they can learn more about Smear Case.

32:45
Joseph Rotondo
Yeah, for sure. Thank you, Grace. So you can follow us on Instagram at Eats Mere Case. That's, you know, we're trying to grow our social following, obviously, just like everybody else, but if you feel inclined to grab a pint of Smear Case, we're available in the Tri State area. For now, you can find us on GoPuff. We're in happier Grocery. We're in Gourmet Garage Fairway. We're in Shop Rights out in New Jersey. We're into Chico's up in Westchester. And next year we'll be hitting Miami and California. So excited about those markets. But yeah, pick up a pint of Froco. Let me know what you think. Tag us on Instagram. That would just make my freaking day. And to all other founders out there, like, feel free to DM me. I run our socials.

33:30
Joseph Rotondo
So, like, would love to connect with fellow founders or whoever else is in the CPG industry. But yeah, Grace, thank you so much to you and the whole Startup CPG team. Y'all are doing the Lord's work and without your team and effort, like, founders like myself would be probably a little lost. And I think you guys are really shrinking the timeline for brands and just providing resources that, you know, make founder life a little bit easier. So thank you so much.

33:59
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, I'm so glad to hear that. And thanks so much for coming on the show and everybody go follow them on social media and go buy a pint if you can. And yeah, thanks again for coming on, Jo.

34:12
Speaker 3
All right, everyone, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, it would help us out so much if you left a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I am Grace Kennedy, the editor for Startup CPG. So feel free to add me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on Slack. I'm always on the hunt for new and exciting brands to feature. And if you're a potential sponsor, that would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnerships@startupcpg.com and finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our community on Slack and you can sign up via our website, startupcpg.com.