Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford

What happens when you’re not from the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, you’ve managed to bag $1M dollars in investment (I know right!) and you want to scale a big food business? You move to the other side of the world and participate in an accelerator program, lean heavily into everything you can learn and source as many contacts you can to grow your business fast and go on to land 200 retailers in just 12 months. That’s what happened to Veronica Fil, former CEO of Grounded Foods Co. and her partner and Creative Director, Shaun Quade. In 2020 they landed in New York City with their world’s first plant-based cheese that Shaun had created from hemp by isolating hemp protein. For the next four years, with Veronica leading their business to phenomenal success, she pitched to 100’s (and we mean 100’s) of more potential investors and they did land more millions of dollars in investment. In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford, you’ll hear Veronica talk about all those investor pitches. She also speaks about managing the two highest costs; manufacturing and logistics and she highlights the struggles many brand owners face when surprised with all the other costs associated with retailing many don’t know about, like slotting fees and trade spend. Listen to find out: 🧀 What Veronica did when their company was growing 20% month on month. 🧀 What it was like pitching to 100’s and 100’s of investors. 🧀 How Grounded Foods was a cool lifestyle brand by design and how that was achieved. 🧀 Veronica’s #1 piece of advice for CPG brand owners wanting real scale. You'll be surprised. LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Foodpreneurs Festival InsiderRegister for Naturally Good ExpSay My Name Agency This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Buyers inside the Pitch Hub at Foodpreneurs Festival told me what brands and products they really loved and wanted to see more of. Would you like to know what they told me? How handy would it be for you to understand why some brands were chosen, by the buyers, to pitch and others weren’t? Now you can. In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I invited Brent Vrdoljak and Mia Van Tubbergh to talk with me immediately following Foodpreneurs Festival 2024. Brent, a marketing strategist; Mia, a sales strategist; and me with my business scale lens on, discuss why some of the brands will land on the shelf and get picked up by consumers while others, unfortunately, will struggle. You’ll hear: 🎁 What’s important to consumers and buyers; 🎁 How to build demand; 🎁 What packaging choices need to be considered; 🎁 What appetite appeal, millennial ‘blanding’ and category management is; and 🎁 Tips on how to use this month as a marker for your success 12 months from now so you’re ready for your next big opportunity. LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Foodpreneurs Festival InsiderBrent Vrodoljak LinkedInMia Van Tubbergh LinkedInElm Professional websiteSpringhill Farm websiteLudoz Biscuits websiteHow Brands GrowRed Bull websiteOne Seen Bean websiteAugmentum Media websiteBae Juice websiteZuum Energy websiteBob’s Biscuits websiteBar None websiteWelly websiteSaturday Night Pasta websiteWholefood Family websiteNaturally Good websiteNaturally Good registration page This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

According to Warren Spence, founder Motor, a brand design agency and my guest in this episode, the modern world is as fast as a Japanese bullet train and our generation is fixated on digital media content. Let’s just say, according to Warren, that visual communication is a little out of control, mainly because of social media but it will only get faster. Supermarkets, pharmacies and other retailers stock thousands of brands that create visual noise. Products are competing fiercely so to cut through the ‘blah blah basic boring’, you need to disrupt, be outstanding, and simply stand out. In this episode Warren tells me what his 8 Game Plan is for getting food, drink & pet treat packaging design selling. Listen and discover: 📦 If you are a disrupter or a mover within category; 📦 How to marry words and icons to create an iconic brand; 📦 How to work with packaging design when it’s not flat (let’s be honest, hardly any is, so you need to know this); 📦 Colourality - what it is and why you have to get it right or get left on the shelf. The team, Warren and Wren, from Motor will be in the Festival Fairground at Foodpreneurs Festival on May 17th. Get your tickets now and talk directly with them about your brand and pack design to ensure your product is landing on more retail shelves and getting in more consumers’ hands! LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs FestivalYour Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderKreol DrinksCarman’sOcean ChefEpisode #87 Bringing Innovation to the Humble EggMotor InstagramMotor LinkedInMotor websiteWarren Spence's bookCollaboration Corner at Foodpreneurs FestivalThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Want to know all the steps to develop a food or drink packaged product for commercial scale? Want to bring a product from overseas and launch it in your local market? How about trying to get ahead of the food trends and launch a product before anyone else does? All these questions and more are answered in this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast where I chat to food scientist and entrepreneur, Naishad Dalal from Food Entrepreneurship Academy. Naishad has launched over 110 products for 35 startups, so he knows a thing or two about the end-to-end process of getting product development right. And there’s far more rigour than many think. Listen to find out: 😋 how long it typically takes to get a product to market; 😋 what the costs are; 😋 why knowing your vision, mission and values matter (that really intrigued me in this product development context); and 😋 why you can’t automatically follow trends from offshore and expect them to work in your local market (it’s fascinating to find out why not). If you want to scale a product from 50 kilos to 1000 and then some, you’ll love this episode because it’s full of practical recommendations and groundbreaking insights that are hard to identify by yourself, especially if you’ve never developed a product before! LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs FestivalYour Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderFood Entrepreneurship Academy websiteFEA emailFEA LinkedInThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Are you scaling your food, drink or pet treat brand and have taken time to think about how to get stocked into all the stores you’ve successfully landed? What about how much it’s costing you to store inventory rather than landing it on the retail shelf? Or how much each carton is costing you to deliver so you can work out what your precise CLOGS are? You quite possibly haven’t!!! Supply chain is not the first thing Foodpreneurs think about as they’re making amazing products. Well… that is until they’re scaling and got to get product into many, many different locations and make sure there’s enough to fulfil orders but not too much that it ties up cash. These and other supply chain by design processes are the expertise of my guests in this episode, Cameron Aboud and Joost Bekker from sc3sixty logistics management. They’re the supply chain masterminds behind the global expansion of the hangover-busting dream team that created Bae Juice, and countless other brands! If you want to get stock to stores without it costing a tonne of money, listen to what Cameron and Joost have to say about: 🚚 The exact steps of a well functioning supply chain including what’s the ideal storage, transport and inventory planning solution. 🚚 Calculating the cost per carton. 🚚 Avoiding all your stock being tied up in a warehouse going out of date rather than on shelf making money. 🚚 What supply chain acronyms like DIFOT, 3PL, 4PL, 5PL, FTL, LCL, POD + more mean, so you can talk with your provider like a supply chain superstar. LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs FestivalYour Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderDrink Bae Juice websitesc3sixty LinkedIn pagesc3sixty websiteThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

What should your sales script be when you get a ‘no, yes, or maybe’ response from a buyer? In this episode I speak with sales superstar, Mia Van Tubbergh from Elm Professional, and she tells you. For each reply, Mia says, there’s a response that you can have prepared, even if you’re not sure what they’re going to say, because sales is a predictable cycle. A Foodpreneur just needs to get to know the steps. Listen to this episode and walk away knowing: 💸 what to say in response to any three of the typical buyer responses; 💸 how to ‘stay at the table’ and keep negotiating if the initial response is not a ‘yes’; and 💸 how to navigate the beast that is the retail world, especially if you’re avoiding that race to the bottom that so many brand owners are faced with when pitching their products. Mia also has a solution for when you’re being ghosted too. You’re welcome. 😊 Mia will be speaking on the Main Stage at Foodpreneurs Festival about ‘Sales Strategies For When You Get a ‘No’, ‘Delisted’ or ‘Ghosted’, and the team from Elm Professional will be in the Festival Fairground on May 17th. Get your tickets now so you can hear more about what your sales script needs to be to ensure your product is landing on more retail shelves and staying there! LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs FestivalYour Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderElm ProfessionalEpisode #66 Reframing the Sales ConversationThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Getting product off the shelf and into more consumers’ baskets requires knowledge of what your consumer responds to, and what turns them off. Finding that out can be hard. In this episode I speak with Sally Breden, Managing Director of The VGood Company, a busy working mum with brand management and product development expertise who launched VGood pea-not spreads to bring to life a dream of making healthier options more delicious and accessible to more people. Sally knows how to discover the language her consumers want to hear. You don’t want to make a product that sits on the shelf collecting dust, do you? If not, listen now to discover: 🗣️ How Sally elicits keywords from her customers and tests them to make sure they’re working. 🗣️ What ‘owning’ an occasion means and why it’s important. 🗣️ What the hierarchy of communication on pack should be. 🗣️ How to market a food product and discovering why people will or won’t buy your product. If you want to hear more about speaking your consumers’ language and get first-hand insights from Sally, she will be speaking at the Founder’s Luncheon on May 16th and will be at Foodpreneurs Festival on May 17th. Get your tickets now so you can hear more about getting your product in more consumers’ baskets! LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs FestivalYour Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderThe VGood Company websiteThe VGood Company InstagramThe VGood Company FacebookThe VGood Company emailOne Seen BeanThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Do you know you can get money back in your pocket for all your hard work crafting delicious new products, experimenting with exciting ingredients, or streamlining your production process? All those research and development (R&D) efforts could translate into government funding. It's like getting paid to create! In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I chat with with head of manufacturing and R&D tax incentive expert Jessica Olivier from RSM business advisory. Jess and her team have helped countless emerging and challenger brands in the food and beverage space get receipts out of shoe boxes, and navigate the world of government grants and tax incentives to turn packaged food and drink ideas into financial success stories. Jessica speaks in plain English about how to get the R&D tax incentive and grants, which could ultimately lead to you unlocking greater cashflow in your business. This is some of what Jessica talks about in this episode: 💲What the annual business cycle is and opportunities to be aware of. 💲What is the R&D tax incentive and how to get it. 💲The range of eligible R&D activities and how to claim for those and the associated costs. 💲Different types of grants foodpreneurs can apply for. 💲How to start the process of applying for these opportunities. LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs Festival (there are still limited Early Bird tickets on sale!)Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderRSM Manufacturing webpageRSM Food & Beverage Finance Update eventJessica Olivier’s emailJessica Olivier’s LinkedIn ProfileThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

The first 90 days after your product lands on the supermarket shelf are crucial to your long-term ability to keep it there. Setting up your rate of sale to continually improve will avoid the risk of your product being delisted. One of the fundamentals of getting this right is by ensuring your first promotional plan doesn’t sit outside of what else you’re doing. In fact it should complement your existing activities and tie back to your overarching business strategy. Strategy should never change, but your tactics will. In this episode I go beyond just telling you, you need a plan, and give you the structure of what to include and what key performance indicators you need to measure to make sure what you’re working on is worth your time and money. Identifying the vital signs for both your brand and your competitor’s brand (yes their success is key to your success, listen to the episode for what I mean by that), is how to avoid being delisted. You don’t want all your hard work going to waste do you? If not, listen now to discover: 📈 What data you should be measuring in the first 90 days. 📈 What applications you need to know in order to stay ahead of the category managers expectations to avoid the delisting conversation. 📈 The two ways to improve your rate of sale and lead the category. 📈 Discounting: when you should and when you shouldn’t. 📈 What to do with the weekly sales cycle data and why it’s so important to collect. LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs Festival (there are still limited Early Bird tickets on sale!)Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderOne Seen BeanThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Many food and drink founders dream of landing their product on the shelves of the major supermarkets. But why do they make it so hard for Foodpreneurs to do so? In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I chat with Allen Roberts, a former FMCG senior executive with food giants like Vegetable Oils which became Goodman Fielder, Cerebos the makers of Fountain Tomato Sauce and Dairy Farmers. Allen and I talk about the big issues for small brands when working with the majors and the multiples. We go beyond just speaking of the crippling price promotions asked of brand owners and retailers copying innovative products. We give insight into how to make it work, if this is the pathway you choose. If you’ve got the patience and willpower to commit to the long-game, it’s ‘relatively’ easy! 😉 If, however, you are pulling your hair out or have not yet got beyond the Pollyanna perspective, listen now to uncover: 🏪 What the impact of the duopoly in the Australian grocery industry really means for small business owners. 🏪 How to be successful with the supermarket giants and what you need to give up in order to do so. 🏪 How much of a threat Aldi really are and what play they’re making in the market. 🏪 How to make an independent supermarket business model work. 🏪 The compounding effect of the supermarkets’ phantom brands. And… we have some fun with marketing jingles and their memorability. LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs Festival (there are still limited Early Bird tickets on sale!)Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderAllen’s LinkedInStrategy AuditThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

You might be a small business but that doesn’t mean you have to spend more than you earn. There might be a constant list of activities on your ‘to do list’, all seemingly urgent to keep your business afloat, but what are the things that are the most important that will put more money in your pocket, and not more money in the pockets of retailers or distributors? In this 100th episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I outline six ways for consumer packaged goods businesses to be more profitable. I unpack conversations with successful brand owners (you’ll hear them) who have spoken to me over the past two years about what they are doing and I give my insights into how you can do it too. This is an episode you’ll need to come back to over and over again, as my guests and I outline key actions you need to take to overcome your biggest challenges, including making each product sale more profitable for YOU and how to hit or exceed your target revenue, pay yourself a wage, get more help so you don’t burn out and put more money in your pocket rather than the retailers or distributors! These super valuable insights include: 📈 Developing a strategy to build a multi million dollar CPG business when you manufacture your own product. 📈 Why pricing your product so everyone can afford it maybe the best way to go-to-market when selling through the majors. 📈 Why Foodpreneurs get the smallest piece of the margin pie and what to do about it. 📈 Shifting your supply chain to increase the shelf life of your product will actually increase your sales. 📈 How leveling up and employing people is the best way to avoid burnout and a breakdown, even when affording the wages can be frightening. 📈 Buying new equipment is the answer to cost efficiency gains and scale and how to calculate the payback period. 📈 What numbers you absolutely MUST KNOW, especially if you want to EXIT. LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs Festival (there are still limited Early Bird tickets on sale!)Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderEpisode #27 Getting sales through a major retailer when you’ve got a lot of competition. Here's how.This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Many food and drink founders dream of taking their brand global. But where do you start, what does it take and what are the challenges that come with expanding into international markets? In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I chat with Kathryn Bricken, founder of Doughlicious - the London Dough Company. Kathryn shares the secrets behind scaling her cookie dough empire in just a few short years. We explore her journey from a London factory to landing on shelves in some of the largest retailers across the world, including Whole Foods, Costco and Marks and Spencer and now Woolworths! We go beyond just how delicious her products are (and trust me, they are!) and her initial story (which can be heard here), to delve into the next chapter in her global doughmination - from logistics to safety regulations to strategic marketing decisions - that comes with selling a product across three continents. If you knead inspiration or want to expand your brand globally, listen now to discover: 🍩 Clever guerilla marketing tactics Kathryn uses to grab attention and get customers reaching for Doughlicious amidst established brands. 🍩 How to get off the shelf when you’ve gone into a new territory and nobody knows about you! 🍩 The challenges that can come with shipping frozen treats across the world. 🍩 Kathryn's strategy of building brand familiarity before adjusting pricing, ensuring customers fall in love with the product before considering the cost. 🍩 How removing 2 grams from her product helped catch consumers’ attention in supermarket aisles. 🍩 The complexity of the safety regulations in creating a ready-to-eat product, and how Australian regulations are among the most stringent in the world. Want to get first-hand insights directly from Kathryn? She is coming over from the UK and will be both on the floor and speaking at the Founder’s Luncheon on May 16th and on the Main Stage at Foodpreneurs Festival on May 17th. Get your Early Bird tickets now if you’re wanting to take your brand global! LINKS & RESOURCES: Foodpreneurs Festival - Your Year’s Worth of Sales & Promotion Opportunities All in One Day!Tickets to Foodpreneurs Festival (there are still limited Early Bird tickets on sale!)Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderHear from Kathryn first-hand at the Founder’s LuncheonEpisode#36: How Doughlicious founder, Kathryn Bricken, Wins Retail Accounts.DoughliciousDoughlicious InstagramThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Many small packaged food and drink businesses see PR as complex, ill-defined, or expensive. But what if it could be simple, affordable, and highly effective? In this 2nd Anniversary episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I explore the power of PR for Foodpreneurs. Join me as I chat with PR expert Celia Harding, who's worked with both major brands including Smirnoff, and boutique favourites like Mr Black Coffee Liqueur. Celia breaks down insider tips and tools to get your brand noticed, without breaking the bank (or spending anything at all!). Tune in to discover: 📣 Strategies to attract retailers and customers (aka, the ‘right’ people). 📣 The 4 secrets to nailing media interviews and press releases. 📣 The key differences between PR vs. advertising, and how PR can complement your marketing efforts. 📣 How smaller brands can outmanoeuvre larger competitors with strategic PR. 📣 Why Australia is the perfect launching pad for your food and drink brand. LINKS & RESOURCES: Tickets to Foodpreneurs Festival (there are still limited Early Bird tickets on sale!)Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderHow 2 Foodpreneurs Created a Successful Business Selling a Largely Unknown Ingredient Mr BlackMobius DistillingFellr Alcoholic SeltzerCollabosaurusThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

The world's top business leaders know the secret ingredient for scaling success: people. Not just employees, but a powerful network of mentors, allies, and even family. In these turbulent times, going it alone limits your growth potential. That's why in this 2nd Anniversary episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, Episode 97: Behind the Scenes Look of what it Actually Takes to Scale, Scott Mendelsohn, the people-first powerhouse behind Australia's Raw C and Lesser Evil brands, shares his story of success by finding his ‘tribe’. He went from two shipping containers of coconut water to a $30 million international enterprise – and it wasn't through solo heroics. This episode goes deep into the real blueprint for scaling your packaged F&B business, including: 🥥 Scott's investment criteria: What makes a brand stand out? 🥥 The "do-it-all" trap: Why delegation is your secret weapon. 🥥 Community as fuel: How collaboration conquers challenges. 🥥 Top 3 tips for aspiring Foodpreneurs: Grow, don't go it alone. 🥥 Cracking the US market: Essential insights for expansion. 🥥 Self-doubt: The surprising foe of even big players. 🥥 The power of feedback: Why openness fuels success. 🥥 Universal launchpad principles: Grow anywhere, anytime. 🥥 From lone wolf to collaborative leader: The mindset shift you need. LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderScott’s LinkedIn Scott’s EmailNatural Raw CMandatory Spirit CoThis episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Forget the fantasy of buyers begging for your product. In the real world of packaged food and drink, thousands of brands are vying for limited shelf space. To stand out and get noticed, you need a strategic game plan. In this 2nd Anniversary episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford, I talk with RangeMe founder, Nicky Jackson, the queen of connecting suppliers with retailers. Nicki spills the beans on how to crush the buyer game and land more accounts. Get ready for insider tips and tricks on: 👀 Strategies for handling radio silence from buyers after sending samples (I bet you’ve never considered this!) 👀 Getting buyers to ‘lean in’. 👀 Key research to do before reaching out to a buyer. 👀 Techniques for getting feedback from buyers once they do try your samples. 👀 Essential allies to enlist to increase your chances of success. 👀 Plus, a stack load of other insights, tips and tricks from one of the best in the business! LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderRangeMeSarjesaMid-day SquaresDrunk Elephant This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Picture this, you’ve just launched a food brand with no FMCG experience, producing in a saturated market from your garage in a local town. Fast forward four years, and that brand is now a household name, generating millions in revenue, selling nationally and internationally, and self-manufacturing not only your product but others as well. It may sound like a dream, but it's the reality for Cian Dawson and Courtney Brown, co-founders of GYM BOD – a better-for-you ice cream brand that has skyrocketed since its conception. With a dedicated following among fitness enthusiasts and health-conscious consumers, their products are now available in over 1,200 locations across Australia and New Zealand. In this episode, we dive into Cian and Courtney's journey that will ignite your ambitions, encouraging you to dream big, set goals, and focus on the right aspects to achieve them. Tune in to discover: 🍨 Key focus areas that propelled them to reach their goals. 🍨 How they carved a niche in the competitive dessert market, becoming a household name. 🍨 The pivotal role of strategic thinking and planning in their journey. 🍨 Their most formidable challenge faced to date. 🍨 The importance of observing consumer actions rather than just relying on what the research says. 🍨 The necessity of defining your market early on to shape your business strategy. LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderGYM BOD WebsiteGYM BOD Instagram#27 Getting Sales Through A Major Retailer When You’ve Got A Lot Of Competition. Here’s How.This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

In the competitive world of packaged food and drink, your brand and packaging are your megaphone, your spotlight, your key to conquering the aisles, landing on more shelves and building loyal customers. In this 2nd Anniversary epsiode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I chat with with design experts Bex Deere and Nat Townsend from Griffin Grace. They've helped countless challenger brands in the food and beverage space cut through all the visual noise on shelves, and they're here to share their wisdom. These design wizards unveil the magic formula for forging that personal connection with your customers, including: 🧃 Navigating the ever-shifting design landscape and discovering styles that'll make your product pop (and the ones to avoid like burnt toast). 🧃 Learning how your packaging whispers your brand story across your entire range, creating a chorus of delicious consistency. 🧃 Why continuous brand evolution is the key to longevity. 🧃 The #1 tip for designing eco-conscious packaging that'll make Mother Earth (and your customers) happy. 🧃 How collaborative design can turn grocery giants into partners, not gatekeepers. LINKS & RESOURCES Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderGriffin Grace Here.Small Steps to Sustainability Noshing Chai Spice BeveragesMount Henry Honey Tully’z This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Knowing what trends are happening in your industry is a smart way to find out how to not just stay on top of what’s happening, but ahead of it; differentiating yourself from a lot of the competition while doing so. Brands that don’t evolve, get left behind. It’s not about jumping on every new trend that comes along or creating a new product to meet every consumer’s demand. It’s about being in the know, staying attuned to consumer trends, and knowing which of these trends align with your brand and are feasible to incorporate into your NPD, marketing messaging, and content strategy. If you’re ready to dive into the trends that could shape 2024 and beyond to give your business a strategic boost, then you won’t want to miss Episode 93 of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast: Three Trends for 2024 You Need to Hear. You’ll walk away informed and empowered to capitalise on trends that resonate with your business plan, and garner insights into: 📈 Trends to boost your business and stay ahead of the curve. 👤 Product personalisation that goes beyond adding names to products. 🌊 Differentiating your product in a sea of brands. ❔ The unexpected food market experiencing significant growth. 🤩 How ambient foods are getting a ‘glow-up’. LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival Insider ZoeNGX: Nutri-geneticsBold Bean Co.This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

2023 was for many, a shock to the system. A steep change in consumer behaviour relative to previous years. We heard ‘cost of living crisis’ mentioned continually on the news. But was it all bad for emerging food and drink consumer packaged good brands? Absolutely not. In this week’s Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast episode, the final for 2023, I review what the landscape was like for startups and emerging brands and help you prepare to make more sales in 2024. Becoming aware of the marketplace patterns; the changing conditions; what consumers want; and what the mix of Australian grocery retailers currently looks like, will help you capitalise on all of it. And the insights might surprise you. If you don’t know and prepare for them, you may end up chasing your tail as you scale. 🏃🏻‍♀ In Australia, for example, the stats suggest that there’s a steady decline in independent retail store numbers and that will impact an emerging brand owners sales strategy. Listen to Episode 92 and walk away knowing: 📊 Current market share data. 🪟 Which brands closed the curtains on their operations in 2023. 📈 Which category had the most brand launches and what you can learn from them. 👍🏼 What the upside is of a cost of living crisis (there is one, I promise). LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderEpisode #90 How to Boost your Profits in Tough TimesAvalon Health ClubNimbusBlumeVIA DrinksFox PopsEpisode #80 The Centuries-Old Seed Vying for Aussie Snack Success This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .

Navigating social media as a brand owner is like wielding a double-edged sword. Master it, and you're on the path to becoming a household name, raking in sales through heightened social awareness. Misstep and you might find yourself pouring heaps of time into creating content that goes unnoticed or fails to captivate. Add the ever-evolving landscape of multiple platforms to the mix, and the challenge to stay on top of and adapt to constant changes becomes a wild (and exhausting!) ride. My guest this week on the podcast is Mary Proulx from Bread Agency, a specialised social media agency renowned for generating fresh and effective ideas. Social media evolves rapidly, making it challenging to stay on top of of the latest trends and strategies to monetise your channels. Mary, a former PR professional turned social media expert with a global perspective, delves into the most pressing issues and opportunities in social media. Tune in as she shares valuable insights on building your brand without succumbing to burnout, including: 👍Key things to focus on to avoid ‘social media fatigue’. 👍How often to post to each channel. 👍Tik Tok vs Instagram: where you should be posting in 2024. 👍How to get others to create your content for you. 👍The truth of what actually happens to your brand if you’re not active on social media. 👍What to include in your content calendar. 👍An easy trick to increasing social engagement that most brand owners don’t do! LINKS & RESOURCES: Your Free Pitch PlanBecome A Festival InsiderPricing for Distribution Workshop Re-releaseBread AgencyBread Agency LinkedInBread Agency InstagramAdam MosseriAlligator LaboratoriesOcean Spray StoryStanley Cup Story Gelato MessinaEverlane Chin Chin This episode is brought to you by Naturally Good, Australia's leading event for natural products, and it's just around the corner! Join industry peers at International Convention Centre Sydney on 3 to 4 June for two days of inspiration, innovation, and networking. Registration for the expo is free. Discover thousands of healthy products driving the future of retail. The very items consumers want to see on supermarket and grocery store shelves. From healthy foods and beverages to eco-friendly home goods and natural skincare, Naturally Good has everything you need to stay ahead of the curve. Register for your free ticket to the expo, and get your ticket to the Summit at https://naturallygood.com.au/ .