He Lost 1,500 Stores Overnight. Here's What He Did Next.

He Lost 1,500 Stores Overnight. Here's What He Did Next.

Arshad Bahl built Amrita Health Foods into 1,500 stores across Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Wegmans. Then lost all of it overnight to a product recall. What came next changed how he thinks about everything.In this episode: - Why a product recall was actually the best thing that happened to Arshad's business- The real role of distributors in your supply chain and why it's not what most founders think- How he built his own manufacturing facility for $150,000 using eBay and Facebook Marketplace- Why $10M in revenue at 15% margin beats $100M at 3% and the math behind staying small- What Peter Rahal, the Tom's Shoes founder, and dozens of other big exits have in commonArshad has been in CPG for over a decade — ran co-packers, ran his own factory, ran DTC, ran retail. He's one of the few founders in the space who has operated at every level of the value chain. This conversation is not about inspiration. It's about the structural decisions that actually determine whether a food brand survives. Guest links:- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshad-bahl-61206373/- Website: https://www.amritahealthfoods.com/ Shelf to Scale is a weekly podcast for CPG and FMCG founders navigating distribution, retail, and scaling. Hosted by Devesh Tilokani.

The Freezer Aisle Is The Hardest Shelf In Retail. Here's How To Get In | Stush Patty

The buyer conversation most CPG founders get completely wrong — and what to say instead. Opal Rowe started Stush Patty during COVID, delivering hot patties out of her car. Today she's in Whole Foods, RABBA, and four provinces across Canada. In this episode, she breaks down exactly how she got there: * two rejections from RABBA before getting in * landing Whole Foods at her very first trade show * the co-packing nightmare behind a product that looks simple. * the one mindset shift that changed how she talks to buyers. If you're building a frozen CPG brand or any retail brand, this is the episode. Guest: Opal Rowe, Founder of Stush Patty Website: https://stushpatties.com/ Instagram: @stushpatty New episodes every week. Subscribe for conversations with CPG founders on distribution, retail and the real mechanics of scaling a physical product brand.

A 26-Year China Veteran's Complete Guide to Asia Sourcing

Paul Weedman has spent 26 years on the ground in Shenzhen sourcing products for brands from the West. He says 60–80% of Vietnam factory inputs still come from China. So what is China + 1 actually solving? In this episode, Paul breaks down * the manufacturing ecosystem concept — why a factory is the smallest part of the supply chain * why industrial clusters make China nearly impossible to replicate * what actually happens when a brand finds a "good factory" and thinks the hard part is over. He also explains the human side of sourcing: why AI can teach you everything and still get you burned, why a translator is the wrong hire, and how a $10M business still comes down to two people walking a street in Shenzhen and sharing a beer. GUEST Paul Weedman — Victure Group LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-weedman/ Website: www.victuregroup.com SHELF TO SCALE Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling. Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

A Distributor Blocked Her For Years. She's Still Here. They Aren't. Here's How

Miriam built Delicious Without Gluten from her basement to coast-to-coast distribution, an 8-year Boston Pizza contract, and a Wegmans pretzel that their own buyers couldn't tell was gluten-free. In this episode: * Why the word "gluten-free" killed her Costco demo sales (and what she said instead) * How a distributor exclusivity blocked her from Metro for years, and why she's still standing while that competitor isn't * The pivot from retail to food service that saved her business after COVID * The Wegmans private-label deal that almost died when Trump's tariffs hit * The one financial mistake she made on day one that cost her 13 years of clean data Miriam started in fashion, moved into packaging design for food importers, then opened a peanut-free bakery for her daughter. When her two kids were diagnosed with celiac, she rebuilt everything from scratch. The factory had to have drains in the floor and lockers outside the production room. The certification took six months. The pretzel that pulled her into retail came from a kitchen experiment her kids actually wanted to eat. If you're a CPG founder who has been told the same retail playbook for years, this episode is the other side of the argument. Guest links: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriampearl/ * Website: https://www.deliciouswithout.com/ Shelf to Scale is a weekly podcast for CPG and FMCG founders navigating distribution, retail, and scaling. Hosted by Devesh Tilokani.

He Went From Zero to Sold Out on Amazon in 4 Months

Peanut butter is down 30% a year. Pistachio butter is up 500%. Utsab Roychowdhury and his partner quit investment banking to bet on the gap. In four months he went from a blender in his New York apartment to live on Amazon. Two-person team. No mass retail. $20 a jar. Sold out for two months straight. This conversation breaks down the exact moves: * how he found a co-packer in 20 calls * why he turned down big retail on purpose * the pricing rule that keeps his margins alive while other CPG founders bleed out at the shelf. GUESTUtsab Roychowdhury - Stesh Pistachio ButterLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utsab-roychowdhury/Website: https://steshbutter.com/ SHELF TO SCALE Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling. Hosted by Devesh Tilokani