Insights
Insights for Scaling Food Brands
Specifically, these food brand growth insights cover operational strategy, compliance frameworks, and systems thinking for growing food brands navigating growth.
Latest Articles
How to Find a Co-Packer (and Get Them to Say Yes): A Brand’s Guide
The short version: Most food and beverage startups struggle to secure a co-packer because they approach it like hiring a supplier, when it actually works more like pitching an investor.… Read more
Why Your Co-Packer Wants a Plant Trial (And Why They’re Right)
Every founder I’ve worked with hits the same wall: the quote for a plant trial lands, and the instinct is to find a way around it. Here’s why that’s the… Read more
Your Date Paste Bars Are Riskier Than You Think. Your Co-Packer Probably Hasn’t Told You.
Between us, we’ve overseen the manufacturing of tens of millions of date paste bars. We’ve run these products on our own lines and managed them through co-packing relationships across multiple… Read more
Real World Painful Lessons: How a Recall Nearly Killed BumbleBar
There’s a moment in every founder’s journey when the thing you’ve built comes within inches of disappearing. For us, that moment came in the early 2000s, in the form of… Read more
From Training to Competence: What Food Founders Miss When They Stop Knowing Every Hire’s Name
Over the years, Liz and I have worked with a lot of founder led food manufacturing businesses. Different products, different personalities, different stages of growth. But there is a very… Read more
Why Your Founder’s Voice is Your Business’s Most Valuable Asset
In today’s food industry, consumers aren’t just buying products. They’re buying into a brand’s story, values, and authenticity. What separates brands that thrive from those that merely survive? It often… Read more
Conversation with Justin Freeman: Leadership, Boundaries, and Building Resilient Teams
Food industry leadership requires more than just operational know-how. It demands resilience, clear boundaries, and the ability to build teams that can weather the challenges of scaling a brand. In… Read more
The Biggest Fallacy I See Every Day: “I Just Need a Co-Packer.”
If I had a dollar for every email that starts with “I have a recipe and all I need is a co-packer,” I could probably fund a few startups myself.… Read more
Why You Can’t Rely on the Line Lead to “Figure It Out”
Last week I was back on the factory floor working on food manufacturing scale-up projects for two clients. These are the weeks I love most, when the ideas and spreadsheets… Read more
How AI-Powered Transcription Transforms Business Communication: A Case Study
🚀 How AI-Powered Transcription Transforms Business Communication: A Case Study One of our favorite clients, a fast-growing food brand, faced a challenge many growing businesses encounter: communication gaps that slowed… Read more
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