Food Business Marketing Podcast | Brand Strategy, Sales, & Growth for Food & Farm Brands

Have an idea for a new flavor, size, or product line? Bringing something new to market can be exciting, especially when creating great products is one of the reasons you started your food business in the first place. But is launching another product the right next move for your business right now? In this episode, Clint and I explore how we'd approach that question if you brought it to us as a food or farm business owner (this conversation is more CPG-focused, but can apply to farm experiences or other services as well!). You'll hear that what seems like a product decision can have implications for your brand strategy, financials, sales, distribution, and operations. And that's the power of having true brand alignment and asking good questions.  Join us to talk about: How your brand strategy can help you evaluate whether a new product fits what you want your business to be known for. Why adding more SKUs doesn't necessarily mean more sales growth. What sales velocity, margins, production efficiency, and retailer shelf space have to do with the decision. How focusing on your existing products might create a greater opportunity than launching something new. Why asking the right questions helps you see the bigger picture before investing your time and money. Real examples from our work with food businesses (conceptual, not confidential). The takeaway? There isn't one right answer for every food business if you should luanch a new product, or not. And the answer can change over time. A new product could be a great opportunity, but it's important to understand what you're working to accomplish and how the decision fits into the bigger picture. Your brand strategy is the North Star that helps set the direction. The next step is making sure your decisions across the business are aligned with it. ➡️ Want more help thinking strategically about your brand? Resources: Work with me: Schedule an introductory call to talk through where you are, where you're working to go, and what's getting in the way. Business Maintenance Check: Episode 196: The Maintenance Check Your Food Business Needs | 8 Areas to Review — Explore the eight strategic priorities we reference in this conversation. Product Mix: Episode 202: Product Mix: Is Every Product Earning Its Place? — Go deeper into evaluating your existing assortment. Friday Newsletter: Real Food Brands — Get 1 insight + 3 questions every week to help you think strategically about your business. Have a business question you'd like us to explore in a future episode? We'd love to hear it: Contact me here. See you in your inbox Friday (be sure to join my list), then back here next Wednesday. Have a great week!  Let's go shake up shopping carts🛒 Katie & Clint

As your food business grows, the decisions get bigger too. You might be adding a retailer, investing in equipment, hiring someone, launching a new product...or all of the above! And as you know, any mistakes can get more expensive as the stakes get higher. The good news is that your financials aren't just there to tell you what already happened. They can help you look ahead, pressure-test decisions, and potentially avoid an expensive mistake before you make it. In this episode, Clint and I are joined by Abby June Richards, founder of The CPG CFO, to dig deeper into financials as one of the eight strategic priorities from our Business Maintenance Check series. We talk about the difference between looking at your financials in the rearview mirror versus using them to help guide what comes next, including how to think through decisions around debt, equipment, product profitability, margins, and growth. Abby also shares her CASH FIGHT framework and why avoiding preventable financial mistakes becomes increasingly important as your business grows. One of my favorite parts of the conversation is where it ultimately lands: ALIGNMENT. Something Clint & I talk about ALL the time related to your brand strategy and business strategy! Financials are one lens for making a decision. Your goals, market information, values, brand strategy, and the other areas of your business matter too. The goal isn't to optimize one area in isolation. It's to understand how the pieces work together so you can make intentional decisions that support the business and brand you're working to build. In this episode, you'll hear: Why your financials can be a forward-looking decision-making tool What Abby looks for when assessing the financial health of a growing food business How to pressure-test investments in equipment, capacity, and debt before committing Why understanding the full cost of a product can help you catch an expensive mistake before launch When bringing in deeper financial expertise may make sense Abby's CASH FIGHT framework for understanding where cash is coming from, where it's going, and where problems may be hiding Why brand strategy and financial information can work together to help you make more aligned decisions as you grow Resources BUSINESS MAINTENANCE CHECK SERIES PLAYLIST The CPG CFO website (find the CASHFIGHT framework here) Get your Brand Checkup Scorecard HERE! Ready for more strategic support? SET UP AN INTRO CALL Subscribe HERE to my weekly email for a brand insight + 3 practical ways to apply it each week. This week you'll find more details to help you think through your intentional customer journey. ------- Have a great week -- see you in your inbox Friday (be sure to join my list!), then back here next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts! 🛒 Katie & Clint

You can have a great product, a clear vision, and a solid strategy, but at some point, we all need other people to help bring our vision to life. That's why we're wrapping up our Business Maintenance Check series with leadership and team. And when we say "team," we don't just mean employees. Your team may include contractors, designers, advisors, agencies, or anyone else helping you make decisions and move your business forward. The question is whether the people helping you build your business understand the standard you've set and are aligned around what you want your brand to be known for. In this episode, Clint and Katie talk about why leaders need to model that standard themselves, what to look for beyond experience when you're hiring, and how your brand strategy can help guide everything from interviewing and onboarding to coaching and developing future leaders. You'll also hear why it's important to hire people who can both lead and follow, how strong leaders create an environment where good ideas can come from anywhere on the team, and what Ernest Shackleton's story can teach us about building a team that can make it through some pretty challenging circumstances. Your strategy sets the direction, but aligning the right people around it carries it forward. In this episode: Why setting the standard (aka Brand Strategy) starts with your leadership How your brand strategy can help align employees, contractors, and other partners build towards your vision What to look for (beyond an impressive résumé) when you're hiring Using your values to guide interviewing, onboarding, coaching, and performance Why developing other leaders becomes increasingly important as your business grows Creating the trust and environment that allow good ideas to surface throughout your organization What the book Shackleton's Way can teach us about leadership, adaptability, and team culture Want to take a step back and look at your own business? We're here to help! The Real Food Brands Brand Checkup will help you assess where your brand is strong, where things may be getting out of alignment, and where to focus next.  Get your Brand Checkup Scorecard HERE! Want more help thinking strategically about your brand? Other resources: BUSINESS MAINTENANCE CHECK SERIES PLAYLIST to assess your business strategy + alignment across our 8 strategic priorities Find SHACKLETON'S WAY on Goodreads WORK WITH REAL FOOD BRANDS / SET UP AN INTRO CALL to see if it's a good fit for us to work together. Subscribe HERE to my weekly email for a brand insight + 3 practical ways to apply it each week. This week you'll find more details to help you think through your intentional customer journey. —————————– Have a great week -- see you in your inbox Friday, then in your favorite podcast app again next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts! 🛒 Katie & Clint

Customer experience isn't just what happens when someone buys your product. It's every interaction someone has with your brand, from the first time they discover your brand through using your product, buying it again, and hopefully telling someone else about it. And depending on where you sell, you won't control ALL of the interactions. A DTC brand has different opportunities than a brand selling through retail or distributors, of course, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be intentional about the parts you can influence. In this episode, we continue the Food Business Maintenance Check. Clint and I talk about thinking of your marketing plan as a customer connection plan to craft a memorable experience and using the customer journey as a framework to look intentionally at the experience you're creating. We break that journey into awareness, trial, usage, repeat, and referral and talk about how what you want your brand to be known for can shine through along the way. We also talk about: The different stakeholders who experience your brand, from B2B partners to your end customer, and even your internal team Why your level of control over the customer experience changes depending on your sales channel How all of your interactions and touchpoints can work together instead of feeling like separate activities Looking for unnecessary friction and making it easier for people to take the next step Why customer experience isn't only transactional and how the details can create a stronger emotional connection How a premium, playful, or farm brand might bring its brand strategy to life differently across the customer journey Why being intentional ahead of time helps you make more aligned day-to-day decisions instead of reacting as they come at you Why this can be a competitive advantage The Brand Maintenance Check Look across the customer journey and ask: What touchpoints can you control or influence? Where is there unnecessary friction? Does the experience you're creating reinforce what you want your brand to be known for? Customer experience brings together so many of the areas we've covered throughout this Maintenance Check series. Your brand, marketing, sales, product, and operations all ultimately influence what the person on the other end experiences. >>> Get your Brand Checkup Scorecard HERE! Referenced in this episode: Ep 131: Would You Rather Be Connecting or Marketing to Build Your Food Brand? Want more help thinking strategically about your brand? >>> Subscribe HERE to my weekly email for a brand insight + 3 practical ways to apply it each week. This week you'll find more details to help you think through your intentional customer journey. —————————– Have a great week! See you in your inbox Friday, then in your podcast app again next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie & Clint

>>> Get your Brand Checkup Scorecard HERE! Having growth goals is one thing...and then being able to produce your product, move it where it needs to go, and keep up with demand is another. In this episode of our Business Maintenance Check series, Clint and I look at the operations side of your food business and why what works today may not continue to be the right fit as your business grows. You'll hear: The pros and cons of making your product yourself vs. working with a co-manufacturer Why strong supplier relationships matter more than you might think How terms, inventory turns, and cash management connect to operational decisions Using sales and inventory data to forecast what you'll need before you need it Why it's worth reassessing your operations as your business and goals evolve ...and the game Clint always wanted as a kid but never got (any guesses?!) Think of this as a check-in on what your business needs now, what it may need next, and where changes could help you stay aligned with where you're working to go. Want to dig deeper into operations? Clint references our previous conversation with his Start Right Foods co-founder Kyle about the operational side of running a food business. >>> RELATED EPISODE: Ep 172.How Operations Can Be a Competitive Advantage Join the Friday Fun! >>> Subscribe HERE to Katie's weekly email for a brand insight + three practical ways to apply it each week. —————————– Have a great week and see you next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie & Clint