Weekly Updates 08/21/23

The Online Community for Food and Beverage Startups

Good morning !,If you followed my saga last week, I found myself out of my Mizuba Matcha. Thank you for all the kind notes from people worried about me. Good news, Lauren (the Mizuba founder) made sure I got my resupply ASAP and now I'm happily sipping. Onto today's thoughts...As a fellow founder and advocate, I've found myself very viewing entrepreneurship very differently. For me, it all comes down to helping the most number of founders build successful businesses. There are two very different ways to build a business these days:1) A venture-backed startup.2) A profitable business.But guess what? Most products and businesses aren't successful as venture-backed startups, nor able to easily become profitable businesses.So what's the key? I've found that you need to be really clear on the path you want to take, and then design your product and business with that in mind. But Jordan, what if my business is about more than making money? It should be! But in order to make any lasting impact (social, environmental, etc), you need to have a lasting business, and that means making money.Let me know your thoughts!Jordan

 😋 This Week in #CPG

A roundup of CPG news that happened last week brought to you by Amber Caro

🛒 Retail Rollouts➡ Spritzal Cookie Company is now available at all Roche Bros. Supermarkets and Brothers Marketplace locations! 🍪 (Taylor Elizabeth Walker)➡ SAYSO has rolled out to multiple retailers including Citarella, Gourmet Garage and Fairway! (Alison Evans (Nathanson)) 🎉➡ Simply Good Jars is now available at Costco Wholesale in Los Angeles! (Jared Cannon)➡ Scott's Protein Balls is now available at Citarella - The Ultimate Gourmet Market! (Lori Levine, Scott Levine, CPA)➡ JiMMYBAR! is now available in LA and Hawaii Costco locations! (Jim Simon)➡ Tonic Health's Adult and Kids Multivitamin Gummies have just landed Sainsbury's stores UK-wide! (Sunna van Kampen)➡ Dream Pops Crunch can now be found at Harris Teeter 🚀🍫 (David Greenfeld)➡ Freestyle Snacks is now in select Sam's Club locations! Congratulations! (Nikki Seaman) 👏➡ Machu Picchu Energy can now be found at Mother's Market & Kitchen! (Daniel Scharff)➡ All 3 flavors of Sweet Nothings Nut Butter Bites are officially at all 80+ Juice Press locations - including in Equinox gyms! (Jake Kneller)➡ Blake's Seed Based Chewy Granola Bars are now available at Bay Area Costco Wholesale clubs! (Blake Sorensen)🚀 Product Launches➡ ELAVI is excited to launch their dessert cashew butters in eco-friendly jars! (Michelle Razavi)➡ Rip Van launched a new wafer flavor: Raspberry + Chocolate!🤝 Partnerships and Collabs➡ sweetgreen x Siete Family Foods partnerCHIP: Green Goddess Ranch Potato Chips with a Hint of Poblano 😍➡ Chobani and Graza partnered on select menu items at their Chobani SoHo Cafe in NYC! (Andrew Benin)Who did we miss? E-mail Me

JOYFUL CO. REDESIGN

    SOME WEEKS ARE SLOW   

This is just one of those weeks that's a little bit slower than the others. More updates next week!

WEEKLY UPDATES

  BACK-TO-SCHOOL    PLANNING    FOR F&B BRANDS  

The Summer months for Food & Beverage brands were difficult to read during the COVID years. Ecomm primarily would stay mostly steady, while experiencing retail behaviors fluctuating based on re-openings, and new variants emerging.

Since COVID has wound down, and consumer behaviors are entirely back to normal, it’s easier to predict what most brands’ summers will look like, and are looking like:Read Full Article

  HOW TO KNOW WHEN    YOU'RE READY    TO ENGAGE    A CO-MANUFACTURER  

Ambitious food brands are always looking to expand their market presence and reach a new audience. Partnering with external production specialists offers an opportunity to scale and grow with less expenditure and risk than going it on your own.

Deciding when to start outsourcing your manufacturing is a big decision, so you must be sure and get your timing right. In this guide, we’ll explore the topic to help you find the perfect time to engage a coman. Consider the below factors to determine if your brand is ready to get the most out of a coman partnership.Read Full Article

  QUARTERLY FINANCIAL   REVIEWS  

Throughout the lifetime of their business, founders will often need to fix or optimize their business finances and the management of them, yet for many this will not require the full-time or long-term employment of a Chief Financial Officer. Keith Kohler can help with short- and medium-term needs in many of the key areas the CFO’s typically handle, including these:

• Review of current financial statements and reports with recommendations for improvement

• Preparation of budgets, forecasts, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Weekly and monthly calls to review statements and progress with KPIs

• Alignment of financial objectives with overall business and personal objectives

• Founder advisory and decision-making support

Note:  Financing Man does not advise on tax or compliance subjects.

Schedule a Financing call with Keith

  OVERCOMING RETAIL    DEDUCTIONS  

With more distribution and sales comes more deductions taken by retailers and distributors, resulting in increasingly less-than-expected profits.

If you are like most emerging brands, you don’t have the time, resources or money to organize, research, and dispute hundreds of deductions. This can be frustrating when so much of your profit is at stake.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to sit there and take it anymore.

Learn More

As a startup or emerging brand, Promomash + Crisp together gives you insights that were only previously available to big CPGs with deep pockets and armies of analysts.  Now as a Foodbevy member, you can watch it work in the context of all your promotional activities free for 30 days.

Free Access

STARTUP TO SCALE PODCAST

133. Core Financial Metrics as a CPG Business

Do you know how your business is performing? If you aren’t crystal clear, then it’s time to learn how to review your finances to make sure you’re on track to hit your goals.

Join me as I discuss how to review your business finances with Alice Zhang, CEO of MyPocket CFO, a platform that helps you achieve financial independence through automated bookkeeping, simplified planning & analysis, and access to cash & capital.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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