Nombase Podcast

Kendall Kransdorf, founder of Cotto, a whipped cottage cheese dip, on a hero ingredient with a short shelf life and high demand - a combination that forces hard operational decisions. Mary Kate Kloeblen, a supply chain consultant and co-fouder of Golden Thread Operations, walks through where Cotto is actually losing shelf life (it's not always the formula) and what to fix instead. You will learn: How LTL refrigerated shipping can quietly eat days of usable shelf life before a product even reaches a warehouse How to build formulation flexibility so a supply shortage on your hero ingredient doesn't stall production When to move production closer to your distribution centers, and how colocation reduces both transit risk and quality issues Why GS1 rules mean even a small product change can force a new UPC, and how to avoid retail errors because of it How to structure IP and manufacturing agreements during a tech transfer so you don't lose ownership of your own process  

Charlie New is the Global Category Merchant for Refrigerated Beverages at Whole Foods Market, overseeing coffee, tea, juice, and soda. He's spent years watching what separates brands that build lasting shelf presence from brands that stall. In this episode, he walks through how he'd approach building a brand, from spending strategy to team building. You will learn: Where Whole Foods Market shoppers are trading down, and where they're still paying a premium How the path into Whole Foods Market actually works, from local foragers to global category managers Which certifications and claims actually matter to shoppers, and how that shifts by category What separates functional beverage brands that succeed from those that struggle to find a lane How brands with a cultural or community-rooted story can expand without losing what made them work Where Charlie would put his money first if he were building a brand today  

Building products with better ingredients is easy to talk about. Building a successful business around them is much harder. Join Tom First, Founder of Culture Pop, and Heather Wood, SVP of Marketing at Goodles, as they discuss the realities of formulation, sourcing, branding, retail growth, and operations, and how they've turned clean label products into brands that drive trial, repeat purchase, and sustainable growth. You will learn: How to decide whether an innovation solves a real consumer need or is simply chasing a trend How to make ingredient decisions that balance taste, consumer value, manufacturing feasibility, and brand positioning How to simplify an unconventional production process so it can scale without compromising the product How to choose the right pace and path for growth based on your capital, team, and ability to support new distribution How to make sure your product and packaging can drive trial and repeat before spending heavily on marketing  

Most founders think getting a distributor is the hard part. Scott Rosenbaum, co-host of the Business of Drinks podcast, has spent 20 years in beverage alcohol distribution and knows landing one is just the beginning. In this episode, he mentors Daeyna Grant, a first-time founder building Gold Crush, an RTD rum-based cocktail, one bar and liquor store at a time. Together, they break down what it actually takes to land the right distributor — and how to make the relationship work once you do. You will learn: What a distributor actually owes you — and what you still have to earn on your own How to get a distributor's attention before you have much leverage The trade-off between a bigger distributor and one that can give your brand more attention What data and reporting you should expect — and how to fill the gaps when you don't get it How to build enough demand that distributors start coming to you instead of the other way around

New York's density makes it one of the best cities to build retail distribution — and one of the hardest to crack. Namik Soltan, founder and CEO of GNGR Labs, spent six years self-distributing into hundreds of NYC bodegas, independents, and chains before handing accounts to a distributor. Sean Rosenberg, founder of Goldie, is about to do the same. In this episode, Namik shares tips with Sean through the exact playbook, store by store. You will learn: How to build a retail footprint in NYC without a distributor, starting from zero What it actually takes to get into bodegas, independents, and regional chains When to bring on a distributor, and how to prep your territory before they arrive How to use free product, sales sheets, and intro deals to drive trial What separates brands that scale past their first 50 stores from those that stall How self-distribution today sets you up for regional and national growth later