How to Build a $100M Beverage Business in Under 5 Years

Mid-Day Squares is the Canadian functional chocolate sensation that EVERYONE in the food and drink industry is talking about.Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcastFollow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedinLaunched in 2018, this family-led business is planning to disrupt the $8 billion dollar health bar market in the USA. But they're also disrupting what Food & Bev marketers define as best practice, in terms of approach to Social Media!Forbes 30 under 30 co-founderJake Karls talks Fiona through:How he, his sister Lezlie and brother-in-law Nick had been 'swinging and missing' with other startups before Mid-Day Squares was conceived...How they ended up with such a great product market fit...How they decided on the 1 MASSIVE way the brand would 'show up' to the world...How they built the momentum, energy, and hype that means their product is PULLED off shelf...Why an understanding of the entertainment world - and story-telling-  is so important to marketers....Why Jake didn’t originally want to get involved in this family business...His pitch for the brand to 'show-up' as a blend of the best of The Kardashians, the best of Shark Tank, and the best of Elon Musk...How to break through the biggest barrier to every F&B business -  the 'Attention Barrier'...How you need to be unapologetically yourself, even if 50% of people are going to dislike you...The 3 things you need to tell an amazing story...The three pillars around which the Mid-Day Squares business is organized...How therapy has been the answer to help them run the business successfully...How they personalized their relationship with their consumers in the early days, and how they continue to do that at scale...Want to work with Fiona?Email Fiona for a 1-1 session: fiona@fionafitzconsulting.comSee how Fiona can help develop your commercial and marketing teams internally: Fiona Fitz ConsultingMid-Day Squares InstagramMid-Day Squares Tiktok

26 Jan 202342min

Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcastFollow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedinCPG Founders: Want to know the secret *three NEW must-haves* that investors are insisting on in the current economic climate?Verlinvest is the investment company behind your favourite insurgent brands like Tony's Chocolonely, Oatly, Mutti, Vita Coco and Who Gives a Crap. Their investment - and their team - is helping to build some of the world's largest consumer brands. In this episode (recorded a few months back), I speak to Director Ben Black and I get some top advice for founders looking for funding.But most importantly...we'll let you in on a secret: There are THREE NEW THINGS that investors are looking for in today's economic climate. These are not listed here, you’re going to have to listen to the show!And as a bonus…you'll also learn:At what point in time do you need to be showing profitability in your business plan?What a consumer revolution is and why it mattersWhat Fiona means by 'understanding your consumers’ ‘inflation-friction’  and why it's KEYWhat VCs actually DO to help founders other than offer moneyHow you know that you're not trying HARD enough....I hope you enjoy this latest episode and learn as much as I did recording it!Want to work with Fiona?Email Fiona for a 1-1 session: fiona@fionafitzconsulting.comSee how Fiona can help develop your commercial and marketing teams internally: Fiona Fitz Consulting

12 Jan 202336min

As the founder of Veganuary, Veg Capital, Vegan Fried Chick*n or VFC,  and most recently a new venture capital fund called Sentient Ventures,  Matthew Glover is a business activist and a serial founder whose initiatives have contributed significantly to the changes we are all experiencing in how we eat today.(Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin) In this episode, Matthew shares how he left his career in double-glazing to fight animal cruelty; the exact steps he and his wife took to create the Veganuary movement and, arguably, how it has been the tipping point for the plant-based revolution in our eating habits and in the food industry today. He also tells us why he's made the decision to 'invest in growth up-front' in the VFC (Vegan Fried Chick*n) brand. Finally, we learn about his venture capital businesses - Veg Capital and Sentient Ventures, including what they look for when evaluating new investments. I hope you enjoy this latest episode and learn as much as I did recording it! Get Fiona on your brand team here: The Growth Strategy Programme and Fiona Fitz Consulting Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast

26 Aug 202241min

If you work in the food industry, you need to start swotting up on this subject area: **Regenerative Agriculture** (Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin)Wildfarmed is a regenerative food brand bringing together farmers, food businesses and consumers to build the largest soil and biodiversity restoration programme on British arable land. But uniquely, they are making delicious food grown in healthy soils widely available to the high street customer, whilst guaranteeing a stable price committed to the farmer who makes the transition to regenerative practices.Fiona speaks to Edd Lees, who along with Andy Cato of Groove Armada and George Lamb, is one of the co-founders of this revolutionary new business. Founded in 2018, Wildfarmed’s overriding premise is to 'fix the planet by fixing food'. Wildfarmed prioritises soil health and never uses pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, so the land is left rich for future harvests. This in turn ensures that any Wildfarmed loaf of bread will always be chemical-free and nutrient-dense. There are now 40 farmers growing under contract with Wildfarmed (with an ever-growing waitlist), representing a staggering 1% of British arable land.Wildfarmed’s first ever bakery partner was Jolene in Newington Green, London and soon Pizza Pilgrims, HIDE, Twelve Triangles, all joined the movement. They’re now up to a total of nearly 230 customers who bake, cook and educate consumers through using Wildfarmed flour.If you work in the food industry, how can you engage with regenerative farming practices?Find out more about Wildfarmed here. and on mob hereGet Fiona on your brand team here: The Growth Strategy Programme and Fiona Fitz ConsultingDon't miss further episodes! Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast

1 Aug 202237min

Scott McCulloch and his wife Karris started their vegan subscription box from the living room of their flat in 2013. Nine years later, The Vegan Kind Supermarket is a multi-million pound UK online vegan grocer, the first and largest of its kind. Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin.In this episode - our first with a grocery retailer - you'll learn:- Why and how Scott and Karris started their vegan subscription box business - including the steps they took to find their first 50 subscribers- How the business evolved to become the UK's biggest online exclusively-vegan supermarket- The exact steps YOU need to take to get YOUR retail buyer's attention... - Scott's view on what the vegan market/landscape will look like in 5 years' time (and it's radical...)- How you're going to have to get ready to compete with significant private-label/retailer own-brand vegan ranges over the coming year or so...- and why the time is right for him and his wife Karris to step back from running the day-to-day of their multi-million pound online supermarket.Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin.Follow The Vegan Kind Supermarket here.Come to Fiona's workshop at Bread and Jam Festival in London 18/19 July 2022 hereLearn more about the opportunity to work with Fiona's here: The Growth Strategy Programme and Fiona Fitz ConsultingDon't miss further episodes! Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast.

4 Juli 202249min

Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin. Serial founder and bestselling author Mike Stevens talks to Fiona about his new book 'The Direct-To-Consumer Playbook', and shares his learnings from 20 years in consumer packaged goods - and from being one of the first challenger food brands to sell directly to consumers.Hear how Mike and his co-founder built a successful DTC business with Peppersmith; why he sold the business; how and why he went about writing his best-selling business book; the secrets to winning at DTC straight from the mouths of the most successful founders and brands in this space...and finally, what Mike would do differently, knowing what he knows now. What you'll learn :When DTC is right for your business - and when it ISN'T. What you NEED to figure out to make DTC work financially for your businessThe importance of talking to your consumers on the phone or in-person every weekWhat Mike means by 'Having a Brand that Can Tell the Story'Why multi-channel is often crucial to winningWhat successful challenger brands are DOING DIFFERENTLY and what YOU can take from their strategies and implement in your own business...NOW.What Mike would do differently with all this knowledge and experience under his belt.Find Mike's book here.Meet Mike at Bread and Jam Fest hereCome to Fiona's workshop at Bread and Jam Fest here

18 Juni 202254min

The Cheeky Panda is on a mission to transform the type of paper products we all use across Household, Beauty, and Baby products. By using surplus bamboo instead of trees as their raw material, The Cheeky Panda makes products that are kinder to your skin as well as to the planet. In this episode, founders Chris and Julie tell us how and why they set up the business, and how they’ve grown it to £17M in sales in only 6 years, with relatively little external funding. Find out more about The Cheeky Panda - and try some!Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram Discover more about Fiona Fitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionafitz/Discover more about the show: https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/Like what you hear & want to work with Fiona, and join a network of hundreds of scaling CPG brands? Discover her programmes for the founders of consumer/grocery brands below:For the founders of SCALING grocery brands: The Growth Strategy Programme: The only online Business Accelerator for scaling consumer packaged goods brands. Read the testimonials here: https://www.fionafitzconsulting.com/courses/brand-growth-strategy-programmeFor EARLY-STAGE brands, try Brand Growth Bootcamp Masterclass Membership - Fiona's classes & group for founders of early-stage startup consumer brands https://fionafitzconsulting.mykajabi.com/offers/eRBTBioC/checkoutThanks to Strong Roots for supporting series 5 of Brand Growth Heroes.

17 Maj 202239min