Steven Kessler - Building Steaz, Selling to Novamex, the Fractional Sales Model

Steven Kessler - Building Steaz, Selling to Novamex, the Fractional Sales Model

On this episode, we're joined by Steven Kessler, Chief Sales Officer at Beyond Brands, the natural products consulting collective that acts as an outsourced management team for emerging CPG brands.  Steven co-founded Steaz, the organic green tea brand behind the first USDA Organic certified soda, and scaled it across the natural channel and into Costco and Target before a 2016 exit to Novamex. We dig into the Steaz journey, from spotting that carbonated soft drinks were sliding and deciding to carbonate green tea, to landing early yes's from UNFI and Whole Foods because nobody had done it before. We walk through the pivot to cans after a Whole Foods buyer told him to get rid of the bubbles, and the freight and sustainability math that made the switch obvious. Steven gets candid about the "top line, baby" years, when he and co-founder Eric Schnell chased quarterly numbers and handed out discounts to push purchase orders until their investors finally cut them off. We talk about the turn toward a path to profitability, why margin and EBITDA decided the exit, and what acquirers like Novamex actually look for: trajectory and profit, not just a great product. On the Beyond Brands side, Steven breaks down the fractional sales model, the channel, geography, and money framework he uses to slow founders down, and how to think like a retailer who treats every inch of shelf as real estate. He also shares the brands and categories he's watching right now. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🍵 Carbonating green tea to build a healthier soda 🏪 Why UNFI and Whole Foods said yes fast 🥫 Ditching glass bottles for cans (freight and sustainability) 📈 The "top line, baby" growth-at-all-costs trap 💸 When investors finally cut off the money 🧮 Turning toward margin, EBITDA, and profitability 🤝 Selling Steaz to Novamex in 2016 🎯 What acquirers really look for (trajectory and profit) 🧑‍🏫 Coming back to advise their own brand 🧭 The channel, geography, and money framework 🪑 Fractional sales vs hiring a $200K VP 🛒 Retail as a real estate game 👀 The brands and categories Steven is watching --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:14 – What Beyond Brands does 03:38 – The Steaz origin story 05:17 – Creating a healthy green tea soda 08:19 – The pivot to cans with Whole Foods 10:27 – Top line obsession and when investors pulled back 14:24 – Turning toward a path to profitability 15:46 – Deciding to sell, and why Novamex 17:58 – Preparing for an exit and what acquirers look for 19:36 – Coming back to advise their own brand 22:55 – The Beyond Brands fractional model 24:59 – Channel, geography, and money 27:32 – Fractional sales vs hiring a broker 30:55 – Questions to ask a fractional partner 32:41 – Being a good distributor partner 34:23 – How retail buyers really decide 37:29 – Cracking an off-cycle category review 39:02 – Brands, trends, and where to follow --------------- Links: Beyond Brands – https://beyondbrands.org/ Follow Steven on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-kessler-aa9b445/ Beyond Brands on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondbrands/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse [https://www.tryglimpse.com/?utm_source=podcast%20&utm_medium=podcast%20&utm_campaign=shelf_help], the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packagin [https://hdpackaging.com/]g. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.

Chris Fenster - A Masterclass in CPG Finance

On this episode, we're joined by Chris Fenster, Founder and Executive Chairman of Propeller Industries - the embedded finance and accounting partner behind some of the most iconic emerging consumer brands of the last 18 years.  Propeller has served more than 1,000 companies, including over a dozen unicorns, with a team of 250+ across three continents. Chris breaks down why the 40% margin founders pitch often lands closer to 12 to 18% once promos, slotting, and trade deductions come out of revenue, and why margins counterintuitively fall before they rise as brands push from natural into grocery and club. We get into the working capital death spiral, the gap between paying your co-packer and getting paid by the retailer, and the two failure modes Chris sees most: founders who size their raise off the P&L and forget the balance sheet, and brands that sprawl across too many SKUs and channels. He walks through the focus question every founder should ask, when to fund losses with equity versus layer on debt, and how to handle vendors when cash gets tight. Chris also shares the Billion Dollar Beverage Blueprint behind Olipop, Poppi, and Liquid Death, the four stages of finance hires from zero to 100 million, why the independent board member is an underused secret weapon, and what changes after a 100 million dollar raise. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🚲 From bike shops to founding Propeller in 2008 📉 The 40% gross margin myth (and the real number) 🔀 Why CPG margins fall before they rise 💸 The working capital death spiral, explained 🎯 Focus vs sprawl ($20M one SKU vs $30M many) 🏦 Funding losses: equity first, then debt 🧱 The "back against the wall" efficiency mindset 🥤 The Billion Dollar Beverage Blueprint (Olipop, Poppi, Liquid Death) 🪜 The four stages of finance hires (0 to $100M) 🤝 Why the independent board member is a secret weapon ⚠️ What really changes after a $100M raise 🛏️ The Casper cautionary tale and the risk ratchet --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:19 – The accidental path to founding Propeller 06:43 – The 40% gross margin myth 09:36 – Why CPG margins fall before they rise 13:06 – The working capital death spiral 16:01 – Focus vs sprawl ($20M one SKU vs $30M many) 19:33 – What to do when cash gets tight 22:03 – Funding losses: debt vs equity 23:51 – The 'back against the wall' mindset 25:24 – The Billion Dollar Beverage Blueprint 32:10 – The four stages of finance hires 38:43 – Founder and CFO fit, and when it breaks 44:00 – Minimum financial literacy for founders 46:38 – The independent board member secret weapon 47:50 – What changes after a $100M raise 52:10 – The Casper cautionary tale 56:34 – Why Chris speaks up now, and where to find him --------------- Links: Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/ Follow Chris on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisfenster/ Follow Propeller Industries on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/propeller-industries/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse [https://www.tryglimpse.com/?utm_source=podcast%20&utm_medium=podcast%20&utm_campaign=shelf_help], the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packagin [https://hdpackaging.com/]g. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.

Brad Woodgate - Six Companies, Twenty Five Years, Billions in Sales

On this episode, we're joined by Brad Woodgate, Founder and CEO of the No Sugar Company, Joyburst, and Wellnx Life Sciences - the serial entrepreneur behind six companies and billions in lifetime sales.  Brad has spent 25 years building across supplements, snacks, and beverages, turning a thirty-thousand-dollar start into a self-funded portfolio. We start with the full origin story, from launching Wellnx Life Sciences in 2000 and scaling it to roughly 150 million a year, to the 2008 collapse that brought nine-figure lawsuits, mass layoffs, and a near-death rebuild. Brad breaks down the patterns that carried across every brand since, starting with his belief that in business there is no such thing as no, only not now. We get into his unusual club-first go-to-market, why he launches at Costco and Sam's instead of graduating into them, and how in-store demos became his most powerful marketing tool. Brad walks through the real mechanics of club margins, minimum order quantities, and the buyer and shopper differences between the two. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🚀 Building six companies over 25 years ⚠️ Surviving the 2008 collapse and nine-figure lawsuits 🔁 Why "no" really means "not now" in retail 🤝 Skillful persistence vs persistently annoying 🛒 Starting at club instead of graduating into it 🆚 Costco vs Sam's, the buyer and the shopper 💰 Planning around club's lower margins 📊 Demos as his most powerful marketing tool 🧪 Cracking soluble creatine for Kreo Joy 🥤 Why protein soda gets won on taste 📈 Joyburst's self-funded growth curve 📺 The reality show that birthed Mighty Minis 🔮 Implementing AI across ops and forecasting --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:11 – Building six companies: the origin story 04:18 – The 2008 collapse and nine-figure lawsuits 08:06 – Patterns for winning in retail 09:30 – Skillful persistence vs being annoying 11:35 – Storytelling that gets buyers to grow their category 12:53 – Why he starts in the club channel 15:12 – Costco vs Sam's: buyer and shopper 16:54 – Planning around club's lower margins 19:38 – Running demos at scale 21:13 – Cracking creatine in a soda (Kreo Joy) 24:55 – Where the protein soda category gets won 27:47 – Joyburst's self-funded growth curve 31:17 – Splitting time across six companies 33:25 – The reality show behind Mighty Minis 36:11 – Implementing AI across ops and forecasting --------------- Links: Joyburst – https://joyburst.com/ No Sugar Company – https://thenosugarcompany.com/ Follow Brad on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-woodgate-b30b8113/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse [https://www.tryglimpse.com/?utm_source=podcast%20&utm_medium=podcast%20&utm_campaign=shelf_help], the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packagin [https://hdpackaging.com/]g. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.

Mason Domecq - Going After the Energy Drink Aisle with Honey Kombucha

On this episode, we're joined by Mason Domecq, Founder of DIVINI, the Scottsdale honey kombucha brand that's about to take over Sprouts in the Southwest.  We get into the formulation that makes the product scalable: ferment the kombucha base to zero sugar, then add back honey, fruit juice, nootropics, and a probiotic strain. We dig into why he chose cans over glass and went after people stuck on energy drinks and soda rather than the high-end Whole Foods shopper, the recent rebrand that helps the cans jump off a crowded shelf, and Mason's pricing strategy and philosophy. We also cover the community-first playbook of music and art events, how a cold LinkedIn DM to category managers led to an imminent Sprouts launch in his Phoenix backyard, and what building in public actually did for the brand. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🍯 Borrowing a SCOBY from a family friend's table 🧪 Fermenting to zero sugar then adding honey back 🏭 Cold-calling the first brewery to white label 🥫 Why cans beat the $6 holistic bottle 🎨 Rebranding so the product sells itself on shelf 💰 Pricing from landed cost to a $4.49 Sprouts MSRP 🎶 Building a community through music and art events 🛒 Cold-DMing category managers into a Sprouts launch 🚚 The local playbook to hit 160 to 200 doors 📈 Going from a pre-seed round to a seed raise 📱 Building the brand in public before a polished product 🔭 What's next: more flavors and grab-and-go formats --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:51 – From investment banking to brewing kombucha 03:35 – The recipe that started DIVINI 04:36 – Quitting the day job and the first commercial run 06:01 – Formulating honey kombucha (and why honey is tricky) 07:36 – Finding the first brewery and white labeling in 10:59 – Why cans, and recategorizing functional health 12:29 – Packaging that sells itself on the shelf 14:51 – Knowing when it's time to rebrand 18:03 – Pricing and building the margin model 20:39 – Building community through music and art events 22:51 – The accessibility gap they had to fix 23:56 – Landing Sprouts through a LinkedIn DM 26:53 – The local distribution playbook 28:07 – Fundraising and scaling production 30:03 – Building the brand in public 32:49 – Product roadmap and what's next 34:27 – Where to find DIVINI --------------- Links: DIVINI – https://www.livedivini.com/ Follow Mason on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-domecq-2a3b34192/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse [https://www.tryglimpse.com/?utm_source=podcast%20&utm_medium=podcast%20&utm_campaign=shelf_help], the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packagin [https://hdpackaging.com/]g. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.

Isabel Washington - The Gap Hiding in 90% of the Retail Coffee Aisle

On this episode, we're joined by Isabel Washington, Founder & CEO of Laurel's - the canned latte brand made, built for people who actually look forward to their RTD coffee.  Isabel spotted the gap while working at McKinsey, noticing that roughly 90% of the RTD coffee aisle was non-dairy, ultimately leaving in early 2024 to build the dairy-forward latte she wanted to see on the shelf. We get into formulation, why decaf was the wrong white space, why every can lands at 80mg of caffeine instead of the category's usual 200, and why she bet that taste, not convenience, was the real gap in RTD coffee. We also dig into the realities of an A2 dairy supply chain, the white can and cow on the front that made people think it was canned milk, and why the most important job of a label is communicating one attribute clearly, not ten. Isabel shares how Laurel's got into Erewhon, what buyers really want (incrementality and a real promo plan), how UNFI Up Next and KeHE Elevate help young brands, pricing strategy, and the investor catch-22 that comes with scaling. --------------- Episode Highlights: ☕ Spotting the gap: 90% of RTD coffee is non-dairy 🥛 Why 100% A2 dairy, and what makes it gut-friendly ⚡ Building for 80mg caffeine, not 200 🏭 From kitchen espresso shots to a real co-packer 🐄 A2 supply chain risk and the Alec's Ice Cream drama 🎨 Why the can is white (people thought it was canned milk) 📦 Packaging advice: nail the one attribute that matters 🚀 Just launch, then iterate (40 demos in her first 40 days at Erewhon) 💰 The category price ceiling and making the unit economics work 🛒 How Laurel's got into Erewhon (they just applied online) 📊 What buyers want: incrementality, not another me-too SKU 🚚 UNFI Up Next and KeHE Elevate for emerging brands 👀 Brands Isabel is watching right now --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:05 – Origin story: from McKinsey to the RTD coffee gap 05:21 – Early R&D and why decaf was the wrong bet 07:36 – Why 80mg caffeine, and taste vs convenience 09:11 – From kitchen espresso shots to a co-packer 10:30 – A2 dairy supply chain and the Alec's drama 14:07 – Why the can is white 17:00 – Packaging advice: the one attribute that matters 18:36 – Just launch, then iterate 22:33 – Pricing and the category price ceiling 25:55 – How Laurel's got into Erewhon 26:48 – What buyers want: incrementality and support 29:25 – Distributors: UNFI Up Next and KeHE Elevate 32:30 – Being a true partner to your distributor 36:52 – Velocity vs expanding distribution 40:53 – National vs regional, and the investor catch-22 42:24 – Brands Isabel is watching 45:42 – Where to find Isabel and Laurel's --------------- Links: Laurel's – https://drinklaurels.com/ Follow Isabel on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabeldwashington/ Laurel's on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/drinklaurels/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse [https://www.tryglimpse.com/?utm_source=podcast%20&utm_medium=podcast%20&utm_campaign=shelf_help], the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packagin [https://hdpackaging.com/]g. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.