Fiddle Podcast

In this episode, we're joined by Nona Lim, Founder and CEO of Nona Lim; a fresh, modern, and clean label Asian CPG brand, that distributes healthy Asian comfort food in retail stores such as Whole Foods, Kroger, and Costco. Nona, a successful and experienced entrepreneur, tells us about how she started her journey competing professionally in fencing tournaments, working her way to the Olympics, before eventually moving to San Francisco and launching a meal kit delivery business. Nona also talks about what motivated her to productize some of her dishes, which eventually became her very own CPG brand. In addition to this, Nona reveals some of the supply chain challenges her business is currently facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they are shifting things to adapt to the changing landscape of distribution. Nona also disclosed some of the criteria she uses to assess whether to manufacture some of her products in-house while continuing to use co-packers for other product lines.

In this episode, we're joined by George Passantino, CEO, and Co-founder of Quokka Brew; a ready-to-drink, fully caffeinated generalist coffee. George talks about how inspiration hit while he and his Co-founder were cramming for finals at UC Berkeley realizing how much coffee they were consuming to try to stay sharp and realized ultimately it wasn't working. In addition to this, they were full of jitters, had a big rush of energy, then a sudden crash that got them thinking about developing a better coffee. Without a doubt, George subsequently shared about their college campus ambassador program and how they were able to do their initial research by tapping into their college campus connections of students and professors but then continued to promote the brand on campus after they launched. And finally, George revealed how their go-to-market strategy changed when COVID hit and all the students left campus.

In this episode, we're joined by Juan Salinas, Founder & CEO of P-nuff Crunch, a Mark Cuban Company; made from protein-filled Peanuts, fiber-full Navy Beans, and energy-lasting Rice baked into a crunchy, powerful puff snack. In this hot seat session with Andy Burningham, Juan tells us about his hardest-won lessons in the initial stage of developing and launching his product. He also shares important insights: for example... why you should bring on help as soon as you can for marketing, sales, and other business functions. And most importantly, he spills the beans on the benefits of selling online and how it leads to faster and quicker feedback directly from your customers and how getting into retail is more expensive than you think.

In this episode, we're joined by Jeremy Vandervoet, CEO and President at Little Secrets Chocolates; an innovative and fast growing chocolate company competing against some of the heavyweights in the confectionery industry. Jeremy talks about the trends he sees in the CPG space and what he describes as the white space for innovation, including new business models and ventures. We also talk about the effects of COVID-19 accelerating direct to consumer businesses and how it presents challenges with shipping a product like chocolate, especially in the summer months.

In this episode, we're joined by Josh Belinsky, Co-founder of Slate Milk; a line of lactose-free, high protein and better for you chocolate milk. Josh tells us about lactose intolerance and what motivated him to start his company. He also shares a story about a time when he sent random LinkedIn messages to someone he really looked up to, which led to them connecting and Josh gaining a new investor and mentor. Josh also talks about the importance of asking the right questions when doing customer research and staying curious, especially when breaking into a very competitive category.

In this episode, we're joined by Kimberly Le, CEO & Founder of Prime Roots. Kim studied Food Science and Technology at UC Berkeley, graduating Magna cum laude, and immediately started looking for a way to put her degree to use, leading to the founding of Prime Roots. Kim talks about product development, specifically focusing on plant-based diets. She also opens up about the effects COVID had on her business and shares her experience fundraising in the CPG space during the pandemic. Most importantly, Kim tells us about one of her basic ingredients “Koji”, a fungus commonly used in Asian cooking that is high in protein. This ingredient helped her to produce a delicious line of plant-based meat alternatives, starting with bacon.

In this episode, Morgan Gilliam, Co-founder and COO of Fiddle talks about getting your inventory and operations ready for Black Friday and other seasonal sales using four crucial strategies and tactics, why you need a plan for each aspect of your supply chain, and how to take advantage of the next wave of buyers after Black Friday.

In this episode, Taylor Howe introduced Morgan Gilliam, Co-founder and COO of Fiddle, for this special part of their webinar. During this workshop, Morgan talked about traceability across batches, tracking all orders, recipe and bill of material tracking, supplier pricing and lead times, production runs and reorder point best practices. Morgan shared some awesome new tips and strategies that will help you improve your inventory management.

In this episode, which is guest hosted by Andy Burningham, Sales Director at Fiddle, we’re joined by Dustin Finkel, CEO of Awakened Foods. Awakened Foods is a well-established private labeling and co-manufacturing company that works with some very well-known clients in the CPG industry. Dustin shared some transparent and actionable insights that will be of great help for those raising capital to scale their brands and some invaluable tips on how to partner with co-manufacturers.

In this episode, we're joined by Dan Stephenson, Co-founder and COO of Daily Crunch Snacks; A brand centered around superfood-infused sprouted nuts. Dan talks about how he fell in love with the taste and crunchiness of their product the instant he experienced it. He shares how that love for the product and his desire to use clean, natural ingredients has shaped Daily Crunch Snacks’ ethos. Dan talks about the challenges and opportunities of sourcing your own raw materials, how to engage with, and work with co-packers, and how to think about your margins for Wholesale, Retail, and D2C. With years of experience in CPG, Dan had great actionable advice for anyone trying to launch and grow a CPG brand.

In this episode, we're joined by Andrew Runnette, Operations Manager at Pod Foods, and the Founder and CEO of Natural Food Solutions, an operations and strategy consulting company to CPG brands and food-service businesses. First and foremost, Andrew started his career as an Italian-trained chef, then worked his way up the ranks at Whole Foods for 14 years, leaning into his experience in CPG as a consultant. In addition, he now helps brands avoid the common operations mistakes he sees them making. Importantly, he talks about powerful trends he sees in the marketplace and how brands are capitalizing on them. Last but not the least, Andrew also shares some valuable tips on how to reduce costs when launching a new CPG product or food service business.

In this episode, we're joined by Kayla Castañeda, Co-Founder, and CEO of Agua Bonita, a beverage brand made with 100 percent real fruit aguas frescas which gives the end-product a delicious flavor profile. Kayla discusses launching her company during the pandemic and only meeting her Co-Founder in person once before launch. She walks us through Agua Bonita’s timeline, from the genesis of her idea to this month when her company won the BEVNET and Coca-Cola best new beverage award. Kayla had some great advice for people looking to break into the beverage industry, including how to work closely with your packer to ensure you get the product you expect. She also delves into topics such as the best way to plug into the CBG community and how to keep your head up when going through hard times. We see big things in Kayla and Agua Bonita’s future and are delighted that they are so successful.