The Startup CPG Podcast

Matt Levine
It's very therapeutic for me to be in Expos when no one else is really there. I get there and I would say hello to my neighbors, get to know the other brands that are setting up the people around you. Become your best friends for those three, four days.

00:21
Pierre Jamet
So I think preparation are also training anyone that's going to work the booth. They can be a great representative of your brand, be able to talk about the story, the product and everything.

00:30
Clara Paye
It's a vacuum of time and your job is to just more ability be memorable that when you follow up with them, they remember who you are.

00:38
Daniel Scharff
Welcome to the Countdown to Anaheim everybody. It is the last few weeks until Expo West. Are you prepared? If not, you're in luck because today on the podcast we are replaying one of the most popular episodes from last year. It's called how to Crush Expo West. Featuring absolute all stars Matt Levine from Chlorophyll Water, Clara Pay from Unite Foods and Pierre Jamais from Fish Wife. These are three of the most prepared people who are crushing Expo every year. They know what to do before, during and after the show, both in and out of the booth. These are people worth listening to. So sit back, finish your booth preparations and learn how you are going to crush Expo west this year. See you there. Also, if you're looking for the Startup CPG section at the show, make sure to catch us.

01:24
Daniel Scharff
We are going to be on the top floor of acc. All the way at the top. That means if you're looking at Hall E, we're all the way on the top floor. Come up there, check out the 30 plus brands in our section. See you there everybody. Hello Cpgers. Welcome to the Startup CPG podcast. I'm your host, Daniel Scharf and today we have an awesome bonus episode. So we're joined by three CPG legends who are going to give you the inside track on how to crush all things Expo West. So the things you need to know to do before the show, during the show and after the show to make the most of the investment that you're making.

01:58
Daniel Scharff
I am really pleased to be joined today by Matt from Chlorophyll Water, Clara from Unite Foods and Pierre from Fishwife, each of whom I've personally seen Crush Expo west. So I think they're really great people to give advice here. So guys, let's just jump right into it. Can each of you please introduce yourselves and your brand before we get into the good stuff? Clara, maybe I could start with you. Sure.

02:20
Clara Paye
My name is Clara, the founder of Unite. We make GLUTEN free protein bars in a world of flavors. Been exhibiting at Expo west since 2022, which was the first one. We were set up in 2020, but that got canceled. Different story for a different day. So have about two Expos under our belt.

02:37
Daniel Scharff
All right, Pierre, do you want to go next?

02:39
Pierre Jamet
So I'm the head of sales for Fish Wife. Fish Wife was started by Becca Milstein in the heart of the pandemic in 2020 and is just really on a mission to really change the shape of the canned seafood set in brick and mortar retail. We make premium, delicious, ethically sourced tin seafood. And we're just getting started. DTC native now. Really scaling in brick and mortar this year. Obviously Expo is always a fun time in order to do that. I think I'm at 9th Expo now, so almost coming on that decade. So happy to be joined by an amazing panel and happy to share some tips.

03:18
Daniel Scharff
It'd be nice if you got a badge or something when you hit your 10th. I feel like they should have that. Like a Boy Scout 10th.

03:24
Pierre Jamet
Like a bib tag.

03:25
Daniel Scharff
Yeah. Oh, nice. And Fish Wife was just on Shark Tank, right?

03:29
Pierre Jamet
Yeah. Last Friday, struck a deal with Kadis and Lori was all hands on deck this past few days and yeah, it's just been amazing.

03:37
Daniel Scharff
All right, cool. Okay, Matt, your turn.

03:40
Matt Levine
Hey, what's going on? So I am the founder of Chlorophyll water. Chlorophyll is the first ever bottled water to pass clean label project certification. Made from 100% recycled plastic, chlorophyll, vitamin A, B12, C and D, A little organic lemon juice, Natural spermint. Sold nationwide at Aloe Yoga Sprouts, Erwan, Bristol Farms, Urban Outfitters. And this will be our second Expo west and we've done Expo east as well twice before.

04:07
Daniel Scharff
Yeah.

04:07
Matt Levine
So we're kind of rookies. So I could definitely give some first time knowledge, but I've been watching Walking the Show prior to exhibiting Walk the Show. So just to get to know it. But no, super stoked to be on this panel and always help here to help out other founders.

04:21
Daniel Scharff
All right, I think this is a super cool panel. I've seen each of you guys just do way better than anyone would expect to in their first couple Expos. So let's get everybody those tips. So starting out, I think first it would be cool to just dive into right now as of recording. So it's mid January. We've got two months until the big show. Are you guys doing now? What should people be doing now over the next two months? Leading up to the show. And Pierre, maybe we could start with you.

04:46
Pierre Jamet
I would say definitely rest and get some sleep, but that's obvious because Expo west is relentless. I think we all sick after expo and need a week break.

04:55
Daniel Scharff
I call it conference crud. Like you always come back a little like out of it after like you might have cold, I don't know.

05:01
Pierre Jamet
Yeah, people make fun of me because I wear a scarf starting day two, but I highly recommend a scarf. I, I think it's really important to like always do some goal setting about Expo thinking, like what you really want to get out of it and be reasonable about this, but really like be intentional in reaching out to those leads. Maybe some people that have gone like dark on you just being able to like say, hey, let's meet up in person. But don't do like the booth appointments because those never happen. Well, they're never on time. Maybe try to meet up for coffee. I like coffee because it's less of a commitment than a dinner. But a little coffee maybe if they're giving a presentation on the panel, you know, meet right after the panel. I love those kind of five, ten minute meetings.

05:43
Pierre Jamet
You go straight to the point. You don't bring a big deck, just have one or two pages samples of your product and just have a conversation. I mean a lot of Those buyers, investors, etc. Just keep it simple. So I think preparation are also training anyone that's going to work the booth so they can be a great representative of your brand. Be able to talk about the story, the product and everything. Some of the other things that you in my mind are really important is preparing a 10 second pitch. Like, what is it and why should I care? Why should I stop a lot of these guys? I mean there's so many booths, I don't even know how many boosts there are. Everybody has a story, everybody has an interesting product.

06:19
Pierre Jamet
So why should I care right now to quote unquote, waste five minutes with you? So having a really impactful 10 second pitch is really important and I think that's part of the preparation.

06:30
Daniel Scharff
I think. On that note, maybe we could just do a quick round of what's everyone's next. Maybe not like either 10 second pitch or if someone's walking by your booth and it's a buyer you want to talk to, what is the thing that you say about your product to grab their attention? We do a quick round of that maybe. Clara, I know you got this down. Do you want to go first?

06:46
Clara Paye
Sure. I felt like Matt just did a great One when he pitched his chlorophyll, it was like, sick working. I usually actually say, can I tell you a little bit about the brand? Because I don't want to inundate somebody and kind of irritate them. So when you seek permission that, like, automatically lowers their defenses, and they usually say, sure. And if they just blow you off, usually that doesn't happen.

07:05
Daniel Scharff
Do you have to look as sweet as you look like, oh, yeah, of course you can. I don't think I can pull that off.

07:11
Clara Paye
You have to smile. And my pitch is just like, hi, I'm Clara. You know, I'm the founder of Unite, we make globally inspired protein bars. We saw that a big hole in the market, and we want to welcome more people into wellness. And these are some of our flavors. Which one would you like to try?

07:24
Daniel Scharff
Pro. All right. Nailed it. Matt.

07:27
Matt Levine
Yeah, I take the approach of like, help, don't sell. So I just. I'm helping hydrate people. I don't even say anything. I just kind of hand them a chlorophyll water. Because people are eating so much. There's so much going on and there's so many samples. I'm just handing out chlorophyll water. And then people are getting bombarded with pitches, with this, with that. If someone's interested in your brand, they're interested. You need to sell them too much. Then they're most likely. You're wasting their time. You're wasting your time.

07:51
Daniel Scharff
So.

07:52
Matt Levine
So I just take the approach of just handing out chlorophyll waters and just hydrating people. And if they're interested. Kind of just take that help, don't sell, teach, don't preach approach. Cause there's so many people. There's so many. Everyone's running around, everyone's got friends there. People are being pulled in different directions. So, yeah, I kind of just hand out chlorophyll waters.

08:09
Daniel Scharff
I love it. I do kind of wonder if you take the same approach to dating. If your approach is so laid back and chill like that, I bet it works for you. But that's a question for another day. All right. Fear coming to you.

08:19
Pierre Jamet
Similar to Matt, I like to welcome people in the world of fish wife, like holding array of beautiful samples. Maybe a little piece of anchovies and a really high quality butter and a piece of cracker or something. Something that's really easy for them to be like, sure. Like, why would I not try this? And then after they have a sample, that's when I have, like at least 5, 10, 20 seconds to give them more of a spiel about what they're eating. Invite them more to come towards the booth maybe. Obviously, if we're talking for more than a minute or two, proposed other samples saying, hey, would you like to try our collaboration with Fly by Jing? You know, do you want to try our Sardis with lemon? It really preach about the product and the deliciousness.

09:00
Pierre Jamet
I think there's so many products at Expo that don't actually taste good. So you would be surprised when you have a product that tastes good. People really love to like spend more time.

09:09
Daniel Scharff
All right, Matt wants to.

09:10
Clara Paye
We all want to talk about this. Go ahead, Matt.

09:12
Matt Levine
No, I think to echo that, I think it's just having like quick one liners as well. Like when someone has a quick comment about the brand. I know people come over our booth and they're like, why should I have chlorophyl? And my always one liner is like, well, why shouldn't you? It's like reading your horoscope. What are you looking for? You know, looking for detox, energy, antioxidants. So I think having those one liners, less is more. I think Pierre mentioned that just a less is more. Keep it simple. And what's that saying? Keep it simple, stupid. Like, just keep everything really simple. Because if you can't communicate your brand within the first one or two seconds, how's it going to sell on the shelf?

09:45
Matt Levine
So it's like consumers that one or three seconds when a buyer is walking by your booth and stopping by your booth, if you can't communicate to them why they be drinking it, then it goes for the same reason of why would someone purchase it in the store? So it's just having those quick selling points on the bottle, brand design, booth design, and obviously just wear a smile too. Just be happy. That's kind of like just be happy to be there while wearing comfortable shoes.

10:10
Clara Paye
So I wanted to talk actually about sample freshness. And so I think making your samples look as fresh and appealing as possible because there's so many sample stations that are overrun and I've heard buyers say, oh, I don't eat anything at Expo because I don't want to get sick. Like, I don't know how long it's been sitting there. I don't know what's going on. So we try to chop fresh samples every hour versus just like chopping for the whole day. We always want to keep our samples as fresh as possible. We keep them in sample cups with lids so they're clean they're not just sitting out there with people talking and spitting all over them. And it's really like thinking about the cleanliness and hygiene of how you're sampling will affect if people try it or not.

10:45
Daniel Scharff
Yes, I'm sure anybody from show standards also will appreciate you reinforcing that the health and safety guidelines. I love that comment because like even I used to work for a company that does plant based eggs and I went to an event once that they were sampling at and I didn't work there anymore but I went up to try it and the product was cold and it's not good if it's cold. Like that's something that is supposed to be meant to have eaten warm. Obviously it's a completely different experience. And same with drinks. That has the benefit of his turn tasting great warm. But you know most drinks that people are serving at expo need to be ice cold.

11:16
Daniel Scharff
Would just blow my mind if people did not have the iced down like at the bottom of the cooler, the dripping cold one to make your best first impression. So I love that comment. And Matt, also I liked what you were saying about just trying to navigate quick little conversations and one liners. I was just remembering one time I had a conversation with buyer for a national natural chain who came by the booth and they're like well yeah, I don't really like this. And I was like oh okay. But like talking to them then it turned out they actually like this was a flavored energy drink and they only like water. I was like oh wait, I've heard that about you actually that you only drink water. Water, you don't drink anything with flavor. She was like yeah, that's true.

11:51
Daniel Scharff
I was like okay, well here's why this is. It would appeal to a lot of people. And she completely came around on it. So I think it is important to remember that also that the buyer may actually not be the consumer of it, but they do know how to make those kind of decisions based off their consumers. So I like you bringing that up. Okay Pierre, were still going through some of your tips. Did we get to the end or do you have more to contribute?

12:12
Pierre Jamet
I have a couple more I think. You know Daniel, you're going to launch some new tools also the startup CPG Channel which I think is going to be tremendously helpful for everybody. But LinkedIn, search, CPG, Slack community, so many great resources just to plan that outreach, make it known that you're going to be there, plan your nights, your happy hours, all the fun stuff that you can do outside of the show and a lot of the retail buyers are there on that Wednesday, that first day, but also a day before sometimes taking meetings to talk about promotions, sometimes you could talk about new items or seasonal skus that you're doing. So I think really take those opportunities to meet up with people, make the most out of that week.

12:51
Pierre Jamet
That's why again, being fully rested is really important because you're going to be really tired after it.

12:57
Matt Levine
I love it.

12:58
Daniel Scharff
All right, so I totally, yes, I totally agree with that and there is so much going on but if you don't actually just try to plan everything out ahead of time, you get there and you don't have anywhere to go. So I like the prep thought and yes, you are right about the tools we will be releasing, one of which is the startup CPG Retail Sales tracker in partnership with Cultivate CPG. We will be releasing that I think on the 25th of January. So probably by the time this is out. And it's going to be the ultimate sales resource for everyone for free, listing all the chains that you could be going after and you can use that to help you make your own little list for expo. More to come on that.

13:31
Daniel Scharff
All right, so next, Clara, do you want to go next with some of your pre expo tips?

13:36
Clara Paye
Sure. I mean I think booth planning is really important if you have it in your budget. I think of expo as like my stage and I am there and it's showtime. Right. Like I am not leaving the booth unless I have to go to the bathroom. I am not eating in my booth, I am not having side conversations with my friends in my booth. Like I am there on stage, on show. Right. And so I invest in having a company set up our booth for us because I want to show up on that first day rested. I don't want to worry about did I get build the booth on time, did I get all the samples there, did I get all these things there?

14:07
Clara Paye
So if you have it in your budget to invest in somebody who's set up and dismantle your booth, it's the best money to me.

14:12
Daniel Scharff
How much is it spend?

14:13
Clara Paye
It's not as expensive. It depends on like obviously how complex your booth is, but probably between 1500 and 2500 dollars depending on how complex your booth is and for me to set up and dismantle like yeah, considering.

14:25
Daniel Scharff
The value of your time.

14:26
Clara Paye
Yeah, the value of your time and just how refreshed you're going to be and how energetic are you on that day one when that show starts. So I think that's a big planning for your samples is another one. Like precious is really important. You want the product that was just produced, you want product that tastes really good. If you can tease a new product or if you have something interesting coming up, Expo is a great time to tease that product. There's a lot of press looking for show trends for something new, something innovative. So it's a good time to debut something if you have it. So be thinking about that. Might be a little bit late to R and D something new, but maybe holding off like not launching something until Expo and making that the debut.

15:01
Clara Paye
So you have a thought starter or a talking point now that we've exhibited a few times. You know, we always want to have something fresh to show a new buyer and then starting to also plan out like New Hope does a great job in education events. So like before I was in this space, I went to an Expo west the year before and I just did the education before the show and so went to their business school and learned and started networking a year in advance. So if you're not ready to exhibit this year, look at the education events and maybe attend those. And I think my best thing that I ever did was I volunteered in an expo booth. Actually a couple of them the year before I exhibited. And that gave me a real test and taste.

15:36
Clara Paye
I had been to a million Expos before in the hardware industry, let me tell you, totally different in food. It's literally a figuratively Disneyland. So you kind of get a taste for what kind of buyers are there, what does the interaction feel like, look like. And so it's a good learning opportunity. I really appreciated that. And put your phone away. Like don't look at your phone in your booth. I can't stress how that enough. Like I walk down Expo and I see people like this and they're answering emails and they're doing God knows what. But it's like think about how much money you spent to be standing right there. Don't look at your phone. Look at your phone at like a scheduled interval. Answer emails at a scheduled interval.

16:09
Clara Paye
Maybe when your booth slows down but you're on stage and it's your job to like engage with everybody that comes into your booth. And I also have like decoys in my booth. So if like a salesperson is coming to pitch me something, I have a person I can pass them along to and say could you please talk to my marketing person? Or could you please talk to this person? And so that you can guide those People so that you're not interrupted. And then treating everybody with dignity, I think is really important. I think so many people are badge hunting and looking for just a color badge, but you might miss a huge opportunity if you're being really short sighted and just talk to everybody like a human.

16:41
Clara Paye
And your job, your number one job is to get as many samples in people's mouths as possible. Because that person might not be a buyer for your category, but they might best friends with that buyer or they might just be a consumer themselves who falls in love with your brand and becomes a super user.

16:55
Daniel Scharff
I love it. And controversial question for you here, Clara. Are you a behind the table or in front of the table kind of person in Expo? Are you back there waiting for them to come to you or are you out there fishing the stream?

17:06
Clara Paye
No, I'm fishing. I get told to please me. I'm back in my.

17:09
Daniel Scharff
I've never heard that. Is that true? Do they do that?

17:11
Clara Paye
Oh yeah. They're like, you can't stand out and pass out samples. And it's like, I'd rather ask forgiveness than ask for permission. But if it's slower time, I'm standing out there with a tray being like, hey, you want to try a churro flavored protein bar? I know you do. Come on over and if all else fails, I'll put on our churro mas. Got uniform and that one, that's great.

17:30
Daniel Scharff
And I know just speaking of outside of the booth also and like finding people at panels and stuff, I know you personally have gotten accounts. I think were on a panel last year with Mitch from Earth Fair and then you got to meet him there and I think then they started carrying your product. So definitely a lot of stuff going on at Expo, if you just research it ahead of time and figure out where people are going to be and just put that on your own agenda. Make sure you get to the places you need to go. And yeah, they're retailers who will hold sessions and maybe you don't go, but you can send somebody from your team just to make sure to go over there, get their business card, ask a question. Perfect. All right, Matt, coming to you.

18:04
Daniel Scharff
So I think we're still on pre Expo stuff, but I know it's all blending together which is great.

18:08
Matt Levine
So I think even before you exhibit at the show, attend it, any trade show you do. I think it's important to walk the show to know where you want to be, to understand what everyone else is doing, get some booth design information, intel. So I think before you Even exhibit, walk the show, bring samples, Bring a bag of samples. New Hope's not going to want to hear this, but yeah, my first year or two before I got a booth, I just packed book bag carrying around water. Super heavy. But I was just handing it out to people and just networking and getting the lay of the land. Because, you know, Expo west is so big that your location, your hall, where you're situated means so much. It is really important. So I definitely recommend attending the show before you exhibit.

18:47
Matt Levine
And that's not only with Expo west, it's with every trade show. Just attend. The other thing too is when you're applying for shows or after you get the show, you could apply for grants. So that's another thing too is that with chlorophyll water, this Expo west, we applied for a grant and we got it. There's so many state programs and so many programs that you could apply to and you could actually get your trade shows paid for. So that's just another little tidbit. I will definitely look out for those as well. Prepare to bring a lot of samples. If you have the opportunity to bring full samples, that's always great because you know this way while you're stationary in your booth, your products walking around the entire show. So my goal every expo is for everyone to be drinking green water.

19:22
Matt Levine
I want people in other booths, I want buyers, I want water everywhere. So I plan to bring a few pallets each and every Expo east and Wes just to kind of go through the inventory at the trade show and have everyone drinking it. Nothing left over. You could setting up appointments. I know as garment is super tough. So it's just knowing the familiar faces, reaching out to people before the show. Hey, we're exhibiting. Hey, we'll be there. Posting on LinkedIn saying that you're going to be exhibiting. Just letting people know that you're going to be at the trade show and you're going to be there. As far as a lot of prep that we're doing and we just keep the booth really simple. I actually like setting up the booth.

19:54
Matt Levine
It's very therapeutic for me to be in Expos when no one else is really there. I get there and I say hello to my neighbors, get to know the other brands, plans that are setting up. The people around you become your best friends for those three, four days and you bounce ideas off of them, you're bouncing buyers off of them. You're just really getting to know them. I mean Daniel, there's so many times we would crisscross buyers Introduce people here and there. I would even walk. I think you're around the corner but walk retailers over to you. So I think it's always important get to know your neighbors, become close with them. And there's neighbors that we kind of look for each and every year that we become close with that we've just worked well together.

20:27
Matt Levine
So that's kind of some quick little tidbits there. I would just say samples, have enough samples. You're spending a lot of money to be in that trade show. And don't leave early. I never really understood that if I'm paying all this money, I'm staying until the final second. I'm not leaving until like I'm literally the last. First person there in the morning, last person to leave. I really never understood brands that pack up shop before it's over. Just get your money's worth.

20:50
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, I like all of those points. And just to add on a few things. So Clara had mentioned about freeing yourself up or I think you said having a decoy in the booth. But one thing that I totally agree with is it's not going to be a great use of your energy to just if you're the salesperson, let's say, or you're the founder in charge of sales to be the one pouring every sample and pitching every single person who comes by. I mean it takes a lot of energy and a lot of breath and a lot of talking to do it all. And you know, if you don't have a scarf handy.

21:17
Daniel Scharff
By the way, Pierre, when you were describing that like if a nice looking man with a scarf offered me this lovely charcuterie board, I would be instantly like transported into this gourmet world. It just, it sounds like you got it dialed in. But yeah, if you just spend all your time just pitching to every single person and every service provider comes by, you won't have it left for you when the big buyer comes by. Right. So I really appreciate that. And actually on our startup CPG Slack, we do a little bit of matching with people who want to volunteer at booths. Clara was mentioning with brands who would like to have a little help. So I think it's great if you go on there and maybe find somebody who can volunteer for a day. As a brand I think you get seven total badges.

21:54
Daniel Scharff
So you should probably have a little bit to spare. It makes all the difference. I had at Expo East a Wharton student each day and they were phenomenal. And then I was just out there with my eyes going, looking for the right Badges, but. And then Matt, also the experience, I think it did super helps. Like my first year at Expo, I would say, like, I didn't even really know who the retailers were and had to have help for people to kind of clue me in. The second year, I knew the retailers, but not necessarily who the buyers were. My third expo, I know who I'm looking for. I can recognize them down the aisle and they're not getting by me.

22:25
Daniel Scharff
So I like all of those comments and then also like coming with a list, okay, you maybe even know who your retailers are. But I go into every show with, Here are the 15 people that I'm absolutely looking for. I've tried to contact all of them and with my nice little like graphic that I've made and like, come here, please. Come say hi. And they'll be like, oh yeah, I will. But then they forget and they'll walk right by your booth without noticing it. So I always hit them last minute, like, looking forward to seeing you today and something personalized or texting them if you have their number or whatever just to give them that last second, like, hey, don't forget. Because you know, there's nothing worse to missing the key buyer that you need to see there in person to get something going.

23:01
Matt Levine
When designing the booth too, and planning your booth, you don't spend a lot of money. I think our egos tell us we want this beautiful booth, we want to represent the brand, but really our brand speaks for our brand. So I think as you're starting off trade shows, especially in the beginning, you're going to make mistakes, you're going to not have enough one sheeters. So I just think get through it, keep the booth really simple, keep the design simple. And it's only three days. It's three days. You don't need an elaborate setup. You just need your brand to really speak for itself and really just have the key communication points that you want to get across. So that's with having one cheaters. You know, I think having really informative one cheaters that retailers could take with them, I think is super important.

23:38
Matt Levine
Plan those out, get those printed and any other swag. People love swag besides having your samples. We have stickers and now people put their stickers on there. I like to invest into things that will help market the brand. Stickers or that kind of hats or things that people will actually wear, use and be walking billboards for our brand. So I would say you don't need to spend a lot of money in the beginning. Less is more. Gain the experience of the trade show and kind of go from there. Really bootstrap it in the beginning. And just there's a lot of ways to get really creative with how you build out your booth.

24:11
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, there are definitely different ways to do it. I'm probably more in your camp mat of like. Like, I'm not really such an intro. Like, I don't care so much about marketing and just me personally, I'm more of sales guy. So I'm like, the booth is what it is. I honestly don't care what the booth is because I'm not even going to be in it. I'm going to be in the aisle as much as I can, just hunting people down. Like, I would just take like a demo table if I could and have a product and I'm good. Like, I'm gonna make it happen. But then there are people, like, Clara's booth always looks amazing. And then I remember, like, okay, Wild Wonder always does something like, really elaborate. And it's beautiful and it's an experience and it's cool.

24:42
Daniel Scharff
And like me as more of a sales oriented person, I'd be like, don't spend the money on that. Save our budget for something else. But it can be really impactful. They. Oh, Wild Wonder did these gorgeous. It was like a tote bag, but it was shiny and cool and everyone was desperate to have one. So if you're going to make the investment, make sure it's going to pay off.

25:00
Clara Paye
I think the most important thing is to have an inviting booth. So that doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money. We've all had the experience of walking into a boutique and feeling like we don't belong there because nobody wants to help us or talk to us and makes us feel awkward, and you're just like, okay, I'm just going to leave. And we've also been to the boutique. You want to be somewhere in the middle. You want to be friendly, you want to be inviting, you want to have a smile, but you don't want to, like, inundate people with everything. And your booty can draw them in if it's interesting or if it's colorful or if there's something going on. We actually did not spend a lot of money in our booth and we've used it for three years in a row.

25:33
Clara Paye
So it can be done in a cost efficient, effective way. But I think it's the perks that are more important than any booth design. Because if you have a bunch of people in there that just look like, don't bother me. Or if you have a bunch of people in there look like they've had too many energy drinks. They're both problematic.

25:46
Daniel Scharff
How did you actually design your booth? Did you come up with what you wanted the layout to be or did you hire somebody and they just kind of took care of the whole thing?

25:54
Clara Paye
It was a part of like our branding package. So when we did all of our branding, it's basically just a graphic, a little podium and that's about it, you know, and then flooring. So there's nothing really too complicated about our booth.

26:05
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, it can just be as simple as you have a backdrop and then you have maybe a table runner or something like that. And then I love featuring the product. And I think Matt does this better than almost anybody is like, there's not a lot going on in his booth other than a ton of beautiful green water that is very product focused, centric, like keeps you thinking about the product. And then I also think one thing Matt does really well is he'll have Mini P banner with just some super impactful data on there top rated Nielsen growth brand, stuff like that. Immediately I can look at it and be like, oh, this is a hot brand, I get it. So I love seeing that stuff. Okay, so let's say moving on to kind of like at the show.

26:42
Daniel Scharff
I know we've talked about it a little bit, but any other tips for people as they're sitting there in their booth or preferably standing out in front of their booth, or at least making sure no one's going to pass them by? You know, what are some additional tips that you would give to people? And you know, one that I'll throw in is just the distributors can be equally important as buyers. You are trained to go green beans, go get those green badges. But I think the distributors in some cases actually can be more important than meeting the buyer because some buyers just will pass everything through the distributor. And so for me, I'm always, if there's a distributor coming by, I'm always saying hello, especially unfike, we all know, and then just saying, oh, which account do you work with?

27:21
Daniel Scharff
And then so many times I've just been overjoyed because it's the account that I've been trying to get in touch with. And if you make them a fan of your product, the buyer is going to end up trying your product. Any other ones from you guys? I don't know. Matt, do you want to go first? Yeah.

27:34
Matt Levine
It's treating everyone equally at the show. You Never know who's going to come by your booth and you never know whether they're a distributor or whether they're a retailer with a different type of ads. You don't know. The goal is to. This is not necessarily a show where you're going to actually write orders, you know, so you're not going into this where you're not going to get a purchase order right there. You're not going to have. This is a follow up show. This is a hello, this is a meet and greet, so to speak.

27:57
Daniel Scharff
Speak.

27:57
Matt Levine
You just want to meet as many people as possible. You just want to give out as many samples as possible and get people to try your product. So if you're an introvert, this is your three days to be an extrovert, you know, and just smile and just give out product. And really this is also a lot of. We live in such a digital age right now where we don't even meet some of the retailers or the buyers or the unfi KE reps in person a year after until you actually take the product in. This is kind of a hello and meeting greet. So it's a networking event just as much as it is a trade show. So I treat it like a networking event. Have business cards, have a lot of business cards.

28:30
Matt Levine
Because usually those scanner things don't really work Too well, the LinkedIn scanner stuff. So have as many business cards as possible. I give out a business card. I don't let people leave my booth just taking a sample. They have to take a one sheeter and they have to take a business card. It's all coupled together. They throw out the business card, they throw out the one sheeter. It doesn't matter if 900 people throw it out. One could be a great distributor, one could be a great retail account. So I would say give out business cards, give out 1 sheeters with your samples and collect as many business cards as possible. So you could do your follow up. Not right after, wait a couple weeks, you know, to do that follow up. Just network, smile, give out as many samples as possible.

29:05
Daniel Scharff
I like the idea also just making sure you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Like if you're an introvert, become an extrovert. I remember any instance at a trade show where I just kind of let a buyer go and because I felt just not comfortable really putting myself out there or like just kind of jumping in and be like, hey, like I really need to talk to you. I think there are nice ways that you can do it though. I mean one I For sure have like seen a buyer walk by and missed them. And I've run back down the other aisle across so that I could then just by chance run into them coming like, oh, hey, like every show I've done that a bunch of times and had product with me, like, oh, cool.

29:38
Daniel Scharff
Actually just running back to my booth like, can you come by and try a sample? So sorry, if you're a buyer listening to this and you did not know that I did that, but probably I'm not such a good actor anyways and you knew about it. And secondly, I think also going back to Clara, what you were saying before about kind of like asking permission a little bit, I found that work for me sometimes where I mean, number one, if I meet a buyer, they're not the right buyer or I see them coming by and I don't know who the right buyer is for that account. I would always say something like, could I ask you, is the bright buyer, Can I ask you who is the buyer for the category? Are they here at the show?

30:09
Daniel Scharff
A hundred percent of the time people would answer me if I asked it that way. And then they would also respond really well if I said like, hey, can I just introduce myself? I just wanted to say hello. And usually they'll say yes to something like that. Like going back to what you were saying about like, can I just tell you about my brand delivery? Little bit if you're in an uncomfortable situation, kind of approaching it that way for me, worked pretty well. Instead of just being like, hey, here's my product, please can I tell you all about it? Like, so that I'm just sharing that tip in case it helps just to.

30:34
Matt Levine
Harp on that if you're over pitching, it's not going to work if the retailers know what they want. The other thing too is that at trade shows like this, you can't get discouraged by people coming to your booth and trying to sell you things. Which it happens, it realistically happens a lot. Ingredient suppliers, packaging suppliers, logistics companies. And be prepared. Once you do sign up for Expo, you're on mailing list, you're going to get random phone calls all the time from the logistics companies. But don't be discouraged. If you're getting pistol out of things, you gotta just give out samples. You want people, I know I said it a lot, but you want everybody walking around with your products because then you know that's your biggest advertising.

31:09
Daniel Scharff
I like the diversity of styles that we have here, which, I mean, for you guys, you've all been extremely successful. So I Think it's good for people to kind of like listen to the different approaches and then figure out what's the right one for them and their product. Like, Matt, you've had an explosive growth and you're very chill and confident in your product and kind of let stuff come to you. And also have your business cards out. I would say more high energy, high anxiety, also about trade shows. But I also, at the same time learn to stop putting my business card out because I don't want to be on those lists. But, you know, I would just, like, hand it to the buyer if they're actually there. So what about you here? Where do you fall on the spectrum of those things?

31:45
Pierre Jamet
Oh, that's interesting one. I'm probably closer to Clara. I'm definitely like in the aisle trying to start a conversation, but it's really around food. You know, I want people to, like, have a really nice time, a healthy bite of protein, you know, something that's super delicious. And then I want to casually, like, have a quick exchange, rapid fire questions. I'm also there to ask questions. I think that's a lot of the misunderstanding. Stop pitching so hard at a retailer or whoever. Ask questions and you can find out that may not be your buyer, but that buyer is walking one aisle away. So definitely ask questions, Focus on the product, focus on the story. And that's kind of my approach.

32:22
Pierre Jamet
I would say it's a little bit more thoughtful and methodical medical that you're not passing by my booth without me having the opportunity to have a conversation with you and you getting a sample. And by the way, they say I don't like fish. Totally fine. I'm still gonna say, well, you should definitely try this one. And maybe you can yell at me if you don't like it, but be a little pushy, but not too much.

32:41
Daniel Scharff
Clara, anything you want to add on all of those great thoughts?

32:44
Clara Paye
Well, I think you will find people that don't like your product. It's fine. Don't let it discourage you. You will find people who be like, I don't. Just don't like this. You just smile and say, well, thank you for trying. Right? Like, don't let it discourage you. That's just normal human behavior. Right. You're not going to please everybody. And then going back a couple conversations ago, were talking about like, this is. You're not there to close the business that day. So that I think makes you seem desperate. You're there to, like, get invited to the line review. You're there to get invited for a next conversation. They haven't asked you to the dance yet. And conversely, like, we've had retailers give us guesses on the trade show floor, and then, like, that actually never went anywhere. Right. And so.

33:20
Clara Paye
So it's a vacuum of time. And your job is to just ability be memorable, that when you follow up with them, they remember who you are.

33:26
Daniel Scharff
I love it. I was just remembering, like, the most ridiculous interaction I had with somebody at Expo east was a sales guy came up to my booth when I was the CEO of this company, and he was wearing a green badge. So I was in my green badge mode, you know, pitching, and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm not really with this company. I just used this to get into the show. I'm actually a DP of sales. So when we ask you, how many salespeople do you have? Like, oh, you know, these are some salespeople that I have here. And he just looked at me and he goes, oh, that's funny. I would have expected you to be much further along with a salesperson or two in the market. And meanwhile, like, we thought were crushing it.

34:00
Daniel Scharff
And I think most people would have agreed that we had incredible growth and we're doing absolutely well. And I just looked at him and I was like, what's happening right now, dude? Like, what are you? Why are you.

34:08
Pierre Jamet
Is it.

34:09
Daniel Scharff
And he was like, yes, I'm available if you want to switch things up and really get to the next level. And I was just like, what is this kind of an approach? And so I basically just gave him my, like, get out of here, dude, kind of look and walked away. And then two days after the show, this dude hits me up on LinkedIn and he says, hey, I met your head of sales at the show. Sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing. Let me know if you want a change of leadership, man. That was me, like, you, dude. Oh, so tempted to blast that out there. But fortunately, I was in a better mood than that. But I couldn't believe it. Like, my face is, like, still red.

34:44
Clara Paye
There are crazy people. Like, I have to go. You'll be out of business by next year. I go, okay. Crazy person. Like, thank you.

34:50
Matt Levine
The funny thing is, too, when sometimes people will come to your booth and they, like, tell you how you should be doing business, and, oh, maybe you should add this ingredient. You should do that ingredient. And then by the third day, I'm like, well, you should start your own. But no, you just kind of be charismatic Have a personality, just smile and just take it all in. Because there is a cast characters at trade shows just par for the course. You're there because you believe in your product, you believe in your brand. Brand. And you know confidence is key. So that's the other thing too. When talking with everyone that comes by your booth, just be confident. You know your brand better than anyone else.

35:20
Matt Levine
You know the data, you know the sales, you know the analytics have those key 10 second pitch of why someone should take in your brand and the other retailers a lot of times too is that nobody wants to be the first retailer to take in your product. People want to see, quote, unquote, like groove in sales or where are you. So if you have any material where you could communicate, you're in this store, that store Daniel mentioned. Yeah, we've got great, basically pos great banners that have quotes from the Vogues, the Vanity Fairs. And then we've got a tabletop that has our Nielsen score with the retailers that carry us and quotes from retailers and. But really clean, really simple. Not. Not a lot of information, just the right information. So I think that's really important. Just the show is massive.

36:00
Matt Levine
You know, the show is really big. People are walking quick. So you literally have a few seconds to really engage that retailer. Confidence is key. Just be confident. You believe in your brand. You're investing into it by being there. You're investing your time, you're investing your dollars. So yeah, be patient and don't be discouraged if things, if your traffic's not there. The first day, the show works in very north hall. Be crazy first day, then everyone goes to the other halls, then north hall is slow. And then the last day, north hall is back. Have fun with it, enjoy it. It's kind of like a party, but you're working. But it's a party of everyone in your business. You really want to see everyone do well, everyone succeed and meet new people.

36:37
Clara Paye
I would say protect your energy too. So if your booth neighbor is like really Debbie Downer, like, don't spend time with them. Don't get sucked into. It's your energy that's sucking the room down. So I think that's important. I see people like sitting there, you know, bickering or. It's really weird to me, like if you're gonna have negative energy at the.

36:53
Matt Levine
Booth I think you spoke about, they give you like fake tickets if you stand out or if you're something's too high or your table's out a little. If they come by your booth and tell you to get back in or to move your table back. Do it. And just like you said, protecting your energy, protect your booth. Because yeah, sometimes I had my first year, I had a neighbor that had a huge sign which covered all my pockets product and it was like 8ft tall. And you're only allowed things that I think are fall 4ft. So it's letting your neighbors know you're all there for the same. You're all there to bring in business to meet new people. Yeah, I think protecting your energy is a great point.

37:23
Daniel Scharff
Yes. I love all of those comments. And I would go nuts if somebody did that to me with a sign for sure. But at the same time, if I go to like a distributor show, if I can shuffle my table out a little bit further into the aisle to try to stand out, I will. So you gotta look out for yourself, but also be fair to everybody. And people can help you so much. I mean, Matt, you've helped me out just tons of times and I've always tried to help you out. I mean, you have great product and there's so much that you can get done by working together.

37:49
Daniel Scharff
And then one of my favorite kind of advanced maneuvers also that I'll share is the buyer, like kind of pick and roll where like if you've ever been in an aisle and the buyer's coming down the opposite side and it doesn't look like they're going to come to your side or you don't know and you can't miss that buyer. I run like a two person play. I'm like, okay, so you need to go and stand opposite us in that aisle and just make yourself big. Like put your elbows out so that the buyer has to kind of bounce off you and come closer to our booth as they pass. And then I'm there right in front of them, like, hey, oh, hi. Like, I've got a sample for you. How are you?

38:21
Daniel Scharff
So I've seen other people pull that pretty well, like kind of use the physical space to push people one way or another. I also even just walking the show like without a booth, have like just, you know, instead of kind of like walking the whole show where if someone's walking in front of you'll never cross paths with them. I've just stood in one place maybe with like another salesperson or something and just basically everyone's going to come down the aisle at some point. You can kind of just stand there. And Matt, I know you do this at shows maybe where you haven't actually exhibited, but just kind of like hang in one place and then the whole stream will come by you at some point. Right. Like you're gonna see eventually it can be way more efficient than walking.

38:56
Matt Levine
Yeah, I actually just throw a water at people and I just throw bottles of water. No, I'm kidding. No. But if you see someone at the trade show and they don't stop by your booth, it's actually a great segue to follow up with them two weeks later. Hey, saw you at trade show. We were super swamped. And then you could send samples to it. So trade shows are not the only place to do business. It's a great way to email people after the show, even if they didn't come by your booth and say, hey, must have missed you at expo. I'd love to send you samples. So I think the follow up is key. I definitely set up head up situations at trade shows. I'm not really at just like my laptop and a couple samples before you have a booth.

39:27
Matt Levine
I think it's really important to walk the show. Walk the show, understand it and really get it. Lay of the line and.

39:33
Daniel Scharff
All right, so just rounding off here, let's say last question, which is so post show. I heard interestingly from Matt. It sounds like you actually wait a couple weeks to follow up with people. Me, I'm like fighting myself off from emailing the first day. So you probably like leaving the show. I'm on the airplane, setting my send later emails to go maybe like, I don't know, two, three days after the show where I want to like, I don't know. I always just felt like I want to keep the momentum. But for sure, I got scolded a couple times by buyers being like, don't talk to me right now. I'm drowning in email. Everybody else, what are some tips? Maybe Pierre, I'll start with you for the post show follow up.

40:09
Pierre Jamet
Yeah, I think it goes back to like how your interactions and I think being clear on next steps. Am I sending you samples? Is it a CAT review? Am I requesting a meeting? Should I connect with your distributor, et cetera. And that's what you're going to include in an email. And that way the buyer is going to remember the conversation he had with you. But also back to Claire's point, like the memorability of the booth is going to be like, oh yeah, I remember them. I remember them for this flag. I remember them for the T shirt, for the food, for whatever it is. Find something that's really unique and Ownable, that's going to help you and maybe allude to it. Send a picture, the attachment of your booth or something. I think it's also in that note taking.

40:48
Pierre Jamet
You can staple that business card or something. Take that note down right away. You can always say to someone, hey, I just need five seconds. I was going to write this down and I'm right. But with you also back to. Sorry, quick sidebar. Back to when you're in at the booth, be quick at pivoting if you're not the right person. If they're talking about ingredients and I'm sales, well, pivot them to your ops person or like a. To a decoy business card of the ops manager, HR manager, quality, whatever. Because again, you need to use your time wisely. Also know when you're supposed to pull your founder, CEO to a conversation. But also a lot of people are going to want to talk to your founder and CEO.

41:25
Pierre Jamet
So like try to save the energy for the right conversation and again, be quick at utilizing them well. So I think again it goes back to like the note taking, being methodical about next steps. Not be sending samples in the wild. But again, you send samples because you have that conversation. I agree. Like 10 days, 2 weeks is good. Unless they said, oh, follow up in May. And I've had that happen before. They were like, I don't want to hear from you for two months. This is when I'm doing my review. This is great. All the ones that I have is also with the samples, you can send a handwritten note. You can find again, something that will make you different.

41:59
Daniel Scharff
Different.

41:59
Pierre Jamet
Because imagine, I mean, they're going to see 4,000 brands. They're going to have hundreds of samples going to the office the weeks after it. So even if they remember you, it's like, it's so much. Try to be on top of the pile as far as like being thoughtful, being caring, being mindful of their time and really thankful of them taking the time. So I think it's kind of all those things. One thing that we didn't mention is, and may you said it like, be early and don't leave early. I had a buyer like a couple years ago, Carrie Ma, Whole Foods on my booth on a Saturday, 45 minutes before the show. And I don't know how she got in, but she was there, so you never know. And we spent pretty much an hour talking.

42:36
Pierre Jamet
I also had at 5pm in the basement and I'll eat. I had Director, VP, SVP, NCAO of Whole Foods at my booth. Everybody around me was gone, no one there. And we spent like 5, 10 minutes talking, exchanging samples, et cetera. Obviously they were hiding their badge and everything. But like again it speaks to like don't actually just go badge hunting. But you never know who that can be. It can be an investor, it can be someone using a exhibitor badge and you could be like, oh, you're an exhibitor, I don't have time for you. Well, big mistake. You never know. And also it speaks badly about your brand. Everybody is a consumer, everybody's going to buy products. Everybody talks. Small world. People will ask, buyers will ask, will be like, oh, is there a brand that you've seen that I should check out?

43:18
Pierre Jamet
So be memorable in your sort of network.

43:20
Daniel Scharff
I love it. All right, Claire, how about you?

43:22
Clara Paye
I think one tip that we haven't talked about is also leaning on your brokers to like both to bring people and bring customers to your booth. Your any broker that you have being clear with them who you want them to bring to your booth and have them walk them, they have meetings with them. Having a list and clear direction for your brokers is really important. Relying on them also for some of the follow up. Here's all the people we met, here's what they were interested in because sometimes they have a better relationship with the retailer. They already have scheduled meetings with them and they can say, hey, Clara, met you tried this product. I'm still going to follow up too. But also relying on the brokers for a secondary touch point, a different person talking about your brand.

43:58
Clara Paye
And I like to send a picture of my booth, me standing in my booth usually. And I have my brokers put that in their emails so that it's memorable and they can remember of the 7,000 brands that were expo, which one was Unite?

44:10
Matt Levine
I love it.

44:10
Daniel Scharff
I think, yeah, you can look at your brokers almost as just another person you need to sell to at the show. I know I in general did not have great luck with my broker. Just like, hey, can you bring buyers by the booth? Like they almost never did that. But if it was a specific account, like, hey, I know you're going to be at the show. I need you to bring the buyer to our booth at some point about this specific account that usually would work and we'd be playing like spy games. I'm like, do you have eyes on the buyer? Like which aisle are you in? And like yes, there I'm tracking, they're in aisle two. I'm gonna make sure they come by your booth and then we'll rendezvous over like, okay. That's always something that I would run and. Yeah.

44:42
Daniel Scharff
Pierre, do you wanna say something?

44:43
Pierre Jamet
We need air tags. I've been thinking about it like every past expo and I almost wanna do it.

44:49
Matt Levine
I'm pretty sure, you know, sometimes.

44:52
Pierre Jamet
I'm sure it is.

44:53
Daniel Scharff
I'm sure it is.

44:53
Pierre Jamet
You know, that's why I'm saying I'm almost want to do it.

44:56
Daniel Scharff
If somebody would RFID tag all the buyers, I would pay for the feed and just see like that map in Har, like where you can see them moving around the castle. Yeah, I would pay a certain amount of money for that. I've heard someone tried that at some show. I don't know, maybe that'll be our next business together, guys. Cool. Matt, do you want to add any thoughts?

45:12
Matt Levine
Yeah, I think wear something with pockets. What I do is I collect so many business cards. I have one pocket follow up with these people and then another pocket. I just took your business card because I want to support you and show some love. And then yeah, I like to follow up a week or two after, keep it simple. Just wanted to check in, send you my contact information because realistically, the retailers know if they want to take in your product. Daniel, you touched on it earlier. It's a calculated, chill approach. I guess we have. If you're pitching too much, the retailer might take it in, they might ask for a bogo, they might ask for a free fill, they might ask for these things and then you're getting thrown in a location you're not excited about.

45:46
Matt Levine
If a retailer is excited about your brand, you know right away. And then once they're excited about your brand, you're getting merchandise in a great location and you're setting yourself up for success. Success. So I think post trade show, if something's not working, you're not hearing back, don't push too hard. The right time, the right retailers will come along. And just don't oversell, don't over pitch. After the trade show, everything works out. What's meant to be is meant to be. And the retailers that really love your brand will help support you and want to see you do well. And from these trade shows, you build long lasting friendships and relationships. So from these trade shows, I've met so many people that now I call friends. And I'm new to this industry, was never in this industry before, I felt like an outsider.

46:24
Matt Levine
Still kind of do feel like an outsider. But these trade shows are when you meet people that become your friends and make you feel part of this industry.

46:32
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, I guess one other tip I was going to add in about business cards is for me, I actually almost never ask a buyer for their card because I feel like they only bring so many and oftentimes they don't even have one. But I almost never had an issue if I said oh, can I write down your email? And they would just tell it to me and I would just type it into my phone right then and make my note about following up with some like point that Peter was making. I've seen people be like hey, do you have a business card? And they're like oh okay, yeah, let me like try to fish one out of my wallet or something.

46:57
Daniel Scharff
But like yeah, I was always super happy just to get their email address or asking a different buyer, like can you give me the right buyer's email address? Something like that. Like just pretty much always worked. So this has been a cornucopia or plethora of incredible. I hope everybody listening is just taking notes down and then I was just going to pass around to each of you guys for if you had a last thought and or way for people to follow up with your guys brands and kind of stay tuned with you in the future if you have a preferred channel for that. Matt.

47:24
Matt Levine
Yeah, I think just one thing to add is when you're exhibiting don't eat too much, don't eat all the samples yourself. Don't go around having because there's so much different types of food that you could get caught up. You're at your me bring a wake up early, have a proper breakfast, have proper meal before you start your trade show. And then these trade shows get all their dinners. The restaurants get booked up pretty quickly so make your reservations kind of in advance right after the show because you're going to be hungry around that 6:30 time frame. So that's just a little pointer there. But yeah, you can find us at chlorophyll water on all chlorophyllwater.com I forgot our booth number but we will be at Expo west and we will be in the hot products so you know, feel free to visit us there.

48:03
Matt Levine
You don't need to make an appointment. You could just swing by. Yeah, this was awesome as always. Really appreciate startup CBG does and Daniel for including us. So thank you.

48:11
Daniel Scharff
Absolutely. And that actually was one of the things about having a volunteer to help out is you can send them out for a proper lunch. I totally agree with you on having an actual meal especially if you're there for a couple days to keep your team going. Okay, Clara, any final points and follow up info?

48:25
Clara Paye
I would just say be you. You don't have to be me and you don't have to be Matt and you don't have to be Pierre. There's only one you. Be you. Be authentically you and that's enough. So just show up and be you. We will be in the North Hall, Booth 19,000 from the second floor, the top floor there. I will be in the booth the entire time. Like I said, I don't leave the booth unless I'm on a panel or something important. Just be in the booth, be first in, be last asked out and follow me on LinkedIn.

48:49
Daniel Scharff
All right, perfect. LinkedIn. Okay, Mr. Pierre.

48:52
Pierre Jamet
All right, last thought. Work on a good schedule. Some people like Clara can do the 8 to like 6pm every day and after and before hours. But I think find also like 10 minutes here and there to like be able to have a break, maybe get some sunshine outside before going back inside for many hours. But take that break. You will miss out on some buyers but also trust your team to do well. Goes back to like the preferred preparation before the show. For the first time I won't be exhibiting, so I'll be walking, which I cannot wait. I don't have to build a booth, break down the booth and be there for many hours. So I'll be kind of taking meetings, you know, here and there, spending time at friends's booth and having just a lot of fun.

49:31
Pierre Jamet
And then follow Fish Wife on our site, on our Instagram TikTok. Check out the Shark Tank episode from last Friday. Becca is amazing on it and it's a lot of fun to watch.

49:40
Daniel Scharff
All right.

49:41
Matt Levine
And yeah man, don't forget to stay high. Hydrated. Everybody hydrated. Stop our food. We give out full bottles of chlorophyll water.

49:49
Daniel Scharff
Somewhere between staying hydrated and not having to leave to go to the bathroom too often is where I like to be. So yeah, thank you guys so much. And I have a couple of cool announcements for startup CPG at the show. So as probably most people know, we have a dedicated section, it's ACC level three, which is part of Hot Products. If you're looking at the main convention center, you would look up at the top left. That's where our section of 25 booths is going to be. Tons of first timers for Expo west. Really exciting brands. We have a bunch of good stuff that's going to go on inside the section. We have a full day of one one buyer meetings for Central market that'll be announced on our slack where people can apply to meet up with their buyer.

50:25
Daniel Scharff
We also, I am so excited to announce, are realizing one of my dreams, which I hope is the first ever fashion show walk off for swag. So this is going to be sponsored by swag.com and so in our dedicated section, the vision is we will have people with their brand swag with their fish wife shirt or the Unite Foods hat walking up and down the aisle. Me and Patricia will be there. Oh, who are they wearing? Where's that from? Like hosting. We'll have a cool prize for the winner. So I'm really excited because everybody shows up for the show with looking good with their swag already in prep. So we're really excited to be able to do a lot of cool video content to feature all of that. So we have a lot of that and a lot more.

51:07
Daniel Scharff
Obviously we have our Expo west alley rally party which is the party at Expo West. It is a more than 1,000 person bowling party, also featuring lots of emerging backpack brands, the best of which will win a booth at next year's Expo. And then we have a lot of other stuff going on as well. So just make sure you're signed up for our email newsletter, startupcpg.com and in the Slack channel we have an Expos chat in there also if you want to hear about all of the cool stuff that's going on. What do you guys think about the fashion show walk off? Are you guys going to be there? Are you going to participate?

51:38
Clara Paye
I'm on swag.com right now looking to see what I'm going to participate.

51:42
Daniel Scharff
Yes, you're on the swag.com site already. Cool. They've got some good stuff there. Get ready to see some cool startup CPG SWAG as well. We don't need to be competing, we just need to look good as the hosts for it.

51:54
Clara Paye
Will there be like music and a disco ball? Smoke Runway?

51:57
Daniel Scharff
That's a good idea. We haven't gotten that far in the planning, but yeah, I think that's what we need. Absolutely. Maybe I need a tuxedo.

52:03
Matt Levine
I just want to see your blue steel. That's all I care about.

52:06
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, there will be very serious Zoolander vibes. All right guys, thank you so much. This has been another episode of the Startup CPG podcast. Thank you so much to Matt, Clara and Pierre for joining us. This was years and years of experience tips from all of the shows at Expo that you guys just got from them. So thank you so much to them for being generous with their knowledge and just being really interested in to share it with everybody. I'm always blown away by how much people just love to help. So in the spirit of all of that, thank you guys so much for joining us and all that you do for the community in general. And thank you everyone for listening and we will see you on the next episode. Bye everyone. All right everybody, thank you so much for listening.

52:49
Daniel Scharff
If you enjoyed the podcast today, it would really help us out if you can leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Spotify I am Daniel Scharf. I'm the host and founder of Startup cpg. Please feel free to reach out or add me on LinkedIn. If you're a potential sponsor that would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnershipstartupcpg.com and reminder to all of you out there, we would love to have you join the community. You can sign up at our website startupcpg.com to learn about our webinars events and Slack channel. If you enjoyed today's meeting music, you can check out my band, it's the Super Fantastics on Spotify. Music on behalf of the entire Startup CPG team, thank you so much for listening and your support. See you next time.