From DMs to Froco: The Smearcase Journey (to date)

How Matt McLean Financed Uncle Matt’s Through Growth, Crisis, PE, and a Buyback

Taking “Florida” off a Florida citrus label sounds like a branding tweak until you live it. Matt McLean, founder of Uncle Matt’s Organics and a fourth-generation citrus grower, walks us through the real cost of building an organic orange juice company when nature, cash flow, and supply chains refuse to cooperate. From the early days of learning juice quality through an import-export brokerage to launching a perishable CPG product with short shelf life and tight working capital, Matt shares what it actually takes to survive the cash conversion cycle. We dig into what “organic” means on the farm, why European demand tipped him off early, and how he financed growth with a mix of scrappy self-funding, a small family loan, and eventually a borrowing-base line of credit. Then the story turns: Publix becomes a breakthrough, the business expands into fresh organic citrus, and private equity helps professionalize operations with KPIs, board discipline, and longer-term planning. The biggest curveball is citrus greening, an industry-wide crisis that forces a global sourcing pivot across Mexico, Texas, California, and beyond. Matt also tells the wild second act: selling the company to Dean Foods, facing their bankruptcy as COVID hits, and choosing to buy the brand back through a one and final sealed bid, then rebuilding with aligned investors, Farm Credit financing, and a new Texas manufacturing footprint that unlocks faster innovation in teas, lemonades, and more. If you like founder stories with real numbers, hard trade-offs, and practical financing lessons, subscribe, share this with a builder friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/]

OMG!: Rebuilding After Their Co-Packer Went Sideways

A snack brand can do everything “right” and still get rocked by one thing going wrong at the wrong time. We sit down with Stephanie from OMG Pretzels to unpack how a family garlic pretzel recipe grew from two pans in her mom’s kitchen into a premium seasoned sourdough pretzel nuggets business selling through local retailers, distributors, and grocery accounts, and what it really takes to keep going when operations get messy. We trace the build step-by-step: early bootstrapping with credit cards, landing that first crucial shelf space, moving into commercial kitchens, and expanding through a regional distributor while also growing wholesale with Faire and testing Amazon. Stephanie explains why packaging decisions matter in grocery retail, how premium pricing collides with legacy snack brands, and how co-packer selection can make or break your supply chain. Then we get into the financing stack behind the growth: a bank line of credit that increases with revenue, an SBA term loan used to support larger production runs and expansion, plus pandemic-era EIDL and PPP support. Stephanie also shares what happened when a co-packer leadership change triggered long out-of-stocks and prepay terms, and how she rebuilt momentum with a new women-owned co-packer, tighter SKU focus, lower cost of goods, and a pivot toward in-person events and festivals for faster cash flow and brand awareness. If you’re building a CPG brand, navigating working capital, or evaluating co-packers and retail readiness, this conversation is packed with hard-earned lessons. Subscribe for more founder financing stories, share this with a CPG friend, and leave a review with your biggest scaling challenge. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/]

The Hidden Impact of Hormone Decline—and the Reality of Financing a Beauty Brand

Nobody tells you hormone decline can start in your early 30s or that it can change your face, your sleep, your weight, and even your confidence at work. We sit down with Lorrie King, founder of Caire Beauty, for a candid talk that connects menopause education to skincare science and the realities of building a consumer brand with limited capital.  We unpack why so many “anti-aging” promises miss the root cause, how perimenopause and menopause show up through dozens of symptoms, and why women often feel dismissed or confused when medical training and public conversation lag behind lived experience. Lorrie shares what finally made the pattern click for her, the resources she trusts, and why healthier skin starts with telling the truth about what’s happening inside the body.  Then we move into the money: discovery versus distribution, retail and marketplace pay-to-play fees, why QVC beauty can run on consignment purchase orders, and what it really costs to launch in beauty from packaging minimums to clinical testing. Along the way, we talk founder mindset, time boundaries, SEO, Google ads, and the constant balancing act of growth versus capital preservation.  If you’re building a CPG brand, navigating menopause skincare, or simply trying to understand what hormone decline means for everyday life, you’ll leave with clearer language, sharper strategy, and a few hard-earned lessons about financing. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/]

The OG of Organic Coffee: 30+ Years of Growth

Organic coffee wasn’t a trend when Jim Cannell started roasting it. It was a belief and a bet, made years before most shoppers could even explain what “certified organic” meant. I’m joined by Jim from Jim’s Organic Coffee as we trace the real origin story: starting in the early natural foods trade, educating buyers who assumed all coffee was organic, and building demand store by store until the brand grew into a semi-national footprint. We get specific about the money side, because coffee is a working-capital business. Jim breaks down how vendor terms and net-30 purchasing helped him manage the cash conversion cycle when every bean is imported, and why a traditional bank line of credit only makes sense once inventory turns quickly. He also shares how a merger early in his career created the nest egg that helped launch Jim’s Organic Coffee in 1996, plus how bank financing supported equipment purchases so the company could roast in-house rather than rely on co-packing. From there, we talk about scaling with intent: expanding from one unit to five, shifting from rent to real estate ownership, and growing beyond grocery into foodservice accounts like cafes, bakeries, and hotels where service, calibration, and consistency matter. We also walk through volatility, including COVID demand shifts, tariff pressure, and serious commodity price spikes, plus the hard-won lessons from 2008 that pushed tighter terms, smarter SKU choices, and more disciplined operations. If you care about entrepreneurship, CPG financing, organic food, or how a mission-led coffee roaster survives three decades of swings, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a founder friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/]

From DMs to Froco: The Smearcase Journey (to date)

Cottage cheese ice cream sounds like a dare until you hear how Smearcase made it taste great, look shelf-ready, and sell like a real brand. Keith sits down with founders Joe and Drew to unpack the full arc: a marathon-training craving for a healthier dessert becomes “Froco,” a high-protein frozen treat built around casein and a surprisingly powerful ingredient choice, collagen, to support creaminess without leaning on a long list of gums and stabilizers. We also get specific about what most founders actually need: a financing and execution plan that matches reality. Joe and Drew share how they bootstrapped product development, kept spend tight, and pushed for speed over perfection by getting an MVP into market before overbuilding the logo, website, or “perfect” brand world. They walk through early capital decisions, including paid-in capital, zero-interest credit cards, and the moment they felt ready to open a friends-and-family round using SAFE notes, an FAQ, and honest talk about risk and portfolio fit. From there, the conversation expands into practical CPG funding and growth levers: investor update emails as a duty and a network engine, the value of being visible and asking for help, and how non-dilutive funding can matter just as much as equity. Drew and Joe also talk next-step tools like SBA loans, AR factoring, PO financing, private credit, and strategic partnerships, plus what they’re most proud of as the business reaches more doors. If you’re building a CPG startup or thinking about retail distribution, startup funding, and working capital, you’ll walk away with a clearer playbook and a stronger founder mindset. Subscribe, share this with a founder friend, and leave a review with your biggest question about financing your next stage. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/]