Jessi Freitag
Appears in 103 Episodes
#90 Buyer Series: Earth Fare with Mitch Orland
This is the first episode in our new buyers series and today we’re joined by Mitch Orland, VP of Merchandising and Procurement at Earth Fare. Earth Fare is a health an...
An AWSM (Sauce) Bonus Episode with Carl Starkey
Today we have a bonus episode that actually pairs with this week’s earlier episode on packaging and design with Kirk and Andy. Kirk and Andy unboxed ASWM Sauce and gav...
#89 Packaging Design and Printing 101 with Kirk & Kurtts
Today we’re joined by two of my favorite Startup CPG community experts: Kirk Visola and Andy Kurtts. The world of printed packaging is complex to navigate, and I wonde...
#88 Undaunted Leadership with Hint Founder Kara Goldin
Today’s episode is really special - Kara Goldin, the founder of Hint, agreed to come on the show to talk about leadership! Kara founded Hint in 2005 and the company is...
#87 How Natural Shoppers are Responding to Inflation with Social Nature's Jessica Malach
At the time of recording, the numbers for the latest food at home index had increased 10.2% over the past 12 months. So what does that mean? How can we plan and adjust...
#86 From Target Buyer to Nationally Launching Upcycled Pet Brand Shameless Pets with James Bello
Today we have a special episode for you to celebrate the launch of the pet channel in the Startup CPG Slack! The number of pet brands in our community is growing and w...
#85 First Hire Series: Culture with Jennifer Yepez-Blundell (+ Tiny Sprouts)
Today is our seventh episode in the "First Hire" series where we’ve so far covered making first hires in marketing, finance, operations, and retail & foodservice sales...
#84 Legal Tips for Fundraising: Navigating SAFE Notes, Priced Rounds, Exits, & More (+ Balkan Bites)
We’ve heard on the show before how big of an undertaking fundraising is from both founders and investors, but we haven’t had a chance yet to really dig into the legal ...
#83 Trade Spend & Retail Promotions 101 with Jake Huber (+ Niramaya)
Trade spend and promotions. You want your product to have a shiny sale tag at the store and help people discover it, but how do we get there? It’s a topic that can get...
#82 Expo West 2023 Recap: Mushrooms, Mocktails, Mochi, and More
This episode is coming to you a bit later in the week, but I wanted to get you an Expo West audio recap as hot off the press as possible. New Hope just announced that ...
#81 Meet the Press: Behind the scenes on media publishing with Monica Watrous at Food Business News
Today we get to chat with one of the most incredible champions for emerging CPG brands, Monica Watrous, Managing Editor of Food Business News and Food Entrepreneur. Fo...
#80 From turning down Shark Tank offers to raising $2.7 million for Nopalera with Sandra Velasquez
I love that I get to bring you more Shark Tank content so soon, and with one of my favorite people. Today’s guest is Sandra Velasquez, the CEO & Founder of Nopalera, a...
#79 First Hire Series: Behind the scenes on hiring with Sweet Nothings
Today is our sixth episode in the "First Hire" series where we’ve so far covered making first hires in marketing, finance, operations, and retail & foodservice sales. ...
Pure Gold Series: How to Prep for a Successful Expo West with Seth Goldman (2022)
Earlier this week we had a bonus episode that was a bit shorter, so I thought this was a good chance to re-air one of my favorite episodes from last year with Seth Gol...
Bonus: Raising the bar in the alcoholic beverage category with G’s Dry Hard Ginger Beer
Today we have a bonus episode for you to celebrate the launch of the alcohol channel in the Startup CPG Slack! We realize that alcohol brands face many unique challeng...
#78 Forij adventures: meeting customers on land, air, sea, and online with Parker Olson
If you’ve been on LinkedIn in the last year, chances are you’ve seen pictures of a green van making it’s way around the country, spreading the good word about Forij. I...
#77 Making a deal on Shark Tank with wildwonder's Rosa Li
In case you missed it, long-time Startup CPG community member wildwonder just aired on Shark Tank, and today, Founder Rosa Li joins us to share all the details! You do...
#76 How Liquid Death is Murdering Lame Marketing with Hamid Saify
I figured it was worth putting my soul on the line to bring you some behind the scenes content from one of the hottest brands in CPG. Just a few months ago in October ...
#75 Behind the Scenes of Equity Crowdfunding with tbh (+ Popadelics)
A few weeks back, we talked about Angel Investing 101 on the show, and equity crowdfunding got a brief shoutout. I was super curious on the topic and thought who bette...
Shark Tank, Sea Moss, and an Ocean of Potential with Alexiou Gibson (2022)
Happy New Year! We’re coming at you this week from the archives again - host Jessi got COVID and temporarily lost her voice! I’m sharing another of our greatest hits f...
#74 First Hire Series: Foodservice Sales with Jenna Cameron (+ For Good Granola)
Today is our fifth episode in the "First Hire" series where we’ve so far covered making first hires in marketing, finance, operations, and retail sales. Now we get to ...
How to Mind your Packaging, Branding, (and the Font) with Designer and Agency Owner Kirk Visola (2021)
We’re coming at you this week from the archives. Many of you found this pod just this year, so I’m sharing one of our greatest hits from last year, 2021, in case you m...
#73 In-Store Demos 101: Building a Successful Demo Program (+ Funky Mello)
Let’s talk demos! In-store demonstrations are an important tool in a CPG company toolbox, so we brought our favorite team of demo experts to help us navigate this topi...
#72 How to Optimize the Deductions Management Process
I once received a check from a distributor for $500, but it listed a ton of invoices. I dug in and that check was for $40,000 worth of product - it was a combination o...
#71 Building Content Creation Muscles - Behind Dream Pops’ Marketing with David Greenfeld (+ Nowhere Bakery)
Content creation. We all know it’s more important than ever. But how do you actually create great content as a brand and measure success? To help us answer these quest...
#70 Angel Investing 101 with Marcia Dawood (+ Uproot Teas)
You’ve all let me know that fundraising content is some of your favorite, so I thought I would bring my favorite angel investing expert on the show, Marcia Dawood, for...
#69 How to Design a High Converting Ecommerce Website
It’s November and we’re entering the biggest online shopping season of the year in the US. How is your ecommerce site functioning? Or are you thinking about launching ...
#68 How to Raise $10 Million: Fundraising Aura Bora Style with Paul Voge
Today’s hot topic is fundraising. And what could be better than talking fundraising with our favorite weird sparkling water brand, Aura Bora. Aura Bora just raised a S...
#67 Leveraging Mondelēz International's CoLab Program to Grow Bunny James Boxes
What could you learn from one of the largest snack companies in the world? Lonny James Ruben from Bunny James Boxes got to learn just that this year as a member of the...
#66 Sharing is Caring: How Alison Cayne & Haven's Kitchen share cooking confidence and industry knowledge
What's it like to build out a new section at the grocery store? We saw Perfect Bar create a refrigerated bar section, so why not a refrigerated, delicious, easy-squeez...