Weekly Updates 05/15/23

The Online Community for Food and Beverage Startups

Hey ,

Being a founder is hard... like crazy hard. But do you know what's even harder? Being a Mom AND a founder. So with yesterday being Mother's Day I want to send a shoutout to all the Mompreneurs who are out here building amazing companies while raising amazing kids. You are true rockstars ⭐️and now for some tasty news...

 😋 TASTY NEWS

A roundup of CPG news that happened in the last week.

⭕️

 Target just announced their 2023 Food and Beverage

 cohort, which includes Foodbevy member Michelle Tew of Homiah. 

🍔

 Beyond Meat may be beyond saving. Dr. James Richardson does a deep dive into the failures of the meat alternative company and where they can go from here.

🍽 Launching in Foodservice? Matt Cotton has been dropping some free knowledge bombs about how to be successful in this channel. Check them out. 

JOYFUL CO. REDESIGN

    DELAYS,     DELAYS,     DELAYS    

Everything in CPG ALWAYS takes longer than you'd like. Case in point, our new beautifully designed gift boxes were all set to ship from China to the US last week, but got held up in customs because there's a Chinese brand with a fashion brand that has a local trademark for the name "Joyful" in China. So what can I do? Well, pretty much nothing but wait. One thing I've learned in this industry is that there are times of speed, and other times of waiting. I'm honestly ok with it, because after the chaotic stress of growing TeaSquares (which ultimately shut down anyways) I've come to a new worldview that building a business slow and steady brings me more happiness and I can enjoy the journey. No matter what you're dealing with, hang in there, it's a long ride.

WEEKLY UPDATES

    START WHERE     YOU ARE     FINANCIAL    ASSESSMENT   

How well do you have a grasp on your financials? Take our Start Where You Are Financial Assessment in partnership with Keith the Financing Man to see how you score.Take the Quiz

    HOW TO PITCH     RETAIL BUYERS     FOR CPG     BRANDS   

Successfully prepare for retail buyer meetings, new listings, and new items based on proven strategies.

This article will cover:

• How to capture consumer insights to build confidence with retail buyers

• How to create a winning sales presentation

• What to cover in your buyer meeting and how to follow up to get the listing

• Pitch Deck Template

Read Article

   TIG     WATERFALL     WORKSHEET   

Do you know the financial performance of each of your stores and channels? If not, I recommend you use the Waterfall method I first learned from Elliot Begoun. It's a simple, but powerful worksheet that allows you to calculate the contribution margin of each of your retail stores or channels so you know which ones are most profitable for you.

Start with your SRP, and then start backing out all the direct costs of supporting that transaction. This includes promotions, freight, fulfillment, acquisition, COGS, etc. What is left is your contribution margin. These dollars or cents contribute to the fixed cost of running your business.

Download Worksheet

STARTUP TO SCALE PODCAST

115. The Business Case for Sustainability

Sustainability has made it into the business discourse and is starting to change how companies behave in the world. At the same time, the pandemic forced many companies to release single serve packaging that resulted in higher waste. How are brands supposed to balance sustainability with their business and consumer needs?

To answer this question I’ve invited on Sherry Frey, VP of Total Wellness at NIQ, to talk about the evolving business case for sustainability.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

LINKEDIN POST OF THE WEEK

DISCOUNTS

Stripe is now providing $70,000 in fee-free processing for new and EXISTING customers. Save over $2000

NielsenIQ Byzzer platform provides data for emerging CPG brands. You can access 3 free reports using this link.

Mindful Goods is an awesome Amazon expert that can quickly get you started or optimize your pages for strong ROI. Get 10% of their services  use code FOODBEVY.

Maverick allows you to create individually personalized videos (with a customer's name) welcoming them to your community.