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

>>> 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

Whether you love being on camera or would rather stay behind the scenes, there are ways to show up on social that feel true to your brand and to YOU! Before you ask what you should post, there's a bigger question to answer: What do you need social media to do for your brand and your business? In this episode, Katie and Clint talk with Anna Brekken, founder of Picnic Studio and a social media manager for food and beverage brands, about using social media as a way to bring your brand strategy to life. When you connect your social back to your goals and also keep it feeling social versus forced, social media can become less about feeding the content machine and more about supporting the business you're building. In this episode, you'll hear: Why your social media goals should come from your broader business, brand, and strategy The difference between founder-led content and "building in public" Ways to show up without always having your face on camera Why follower count alone doesn't tell you whether your social media is working What Anna looks for when reviewing a food brand's social media profile Key things you want to have on your social page to drive engagement and sales How collaborations can help extend your reach and support retail relationships The value of repurposing content The goal isn't to do what every other brand is doing. It's to know what you want social media to accomplish and find an approach that works for your food business. Want more help thinking strategically about your brand? Resources: >>> Get your FREE Brand Checkup Scorecard HERE! >>> Subscribe HERE to Katie's weekly email for one brand insight story + three practical ways to apply it each week. >>> Find Anna Brekken:  Picnic Studio Website & Instagram —————————– Have a great week and see you next Wednesday. Let's go shake up shopping carts!  Katie & Clint

Adding a new product can feel like growth. But over time, new flavors, sizes, seasonal products, customer requests, and retail opportunities can quietly add A LOT of complexity to your business. That doesn't mean you need to start cutting SKUs or events. Reassessing your mix could lead to adding a SKU or event if there's a gap...although typically we're looking at reducing or right-sizing. It's worth periodically stepping back to ask whether each product, service, or experience you offer is still earning its place—and whether your product mix as a whole supports where your business is going. In this episode, Clint and I walk through a straightforward three-step check I use with clients to evaluate their product portfolio. And while we talk a lot about CPG products and SKUs, the same thinking applies to services, on-farm experiences, and any other offers. We talk about: Why every product should have a clear role or "job" within your business. The criteria you can use to evaluate individual products, from financial performance and consumer demand to brand alignment and operational complexity. Why an underperforming product doesn't automatically mean it's a bad product—or that it needs to get pruned. How adding another SKU can create complexity without creating incremental growth. What to look for when you step back and evaluate your portfolio as a whole, including gaps, redundancy, and consumer clarity. Why your product mix should reinforce what you want your brand to be known for. A simple place to start if it's been a while since you've taken stock of everything you offer. The goal isn't to end up with the fewest products possible. It's to make intentional decisions about where you're investing your time, money, and attention so your product mix works harder for the business you're building. Ready to create more clarity and take aligned action in your food business? Set up an intro call at RealFoodBrands.com. —————————– >>> Subscribe HERE to Katie's weekly email Newsletter for ways to bring the ideas you hear here to life for your business. —————————– Have a great week – see you next Wednesday! Katie & Clint

More sales sounds like a good thing, but we know that's not always true. With so many ways to sell and distribute your product, it's important to know which channels to focus on to help you meet your specific business goals—and how to crack the code within those channels. In this episode, we (Katie Mleziva & Clint Matthews) continue our Food Business Maintenance Check by looking at a few key things to consider as you assess your sales and distribution plan. We talk about choosing the channels that make sense for your product and business goals, understanding the financial and operational implications of how your product gets to the end user, and knowing when it may be time to change course. Clint also shares a costly lesson from Start Right Foods about a retail opportunity that once looked like a big win—but no longer made financial sense when circumstances changed. It's a good reminder that even when you have a plan, you need to keep reassessing it as the market, your business, and your goals evolve. In this episode, you'll hear: How to think about which sales channels make sense for your product and business goals Why it can be fruitful to focus on one channel and build a strong foothold before spreading yourself too thin How distribution can impact your margins Why a sales opportunity that once made sense may not always be the right opportunity to keep pursuing How questioning your assumptions can uncover opportunities to make your sales and distribution more effective Why grounding your sales strategy in your brand strategy can give you a major advantage when deciding where to focus You don't need to pursue every sales opportunity or have every answer today. The goal is to have a strategy for where you're focusing, understand why that path makes sense for the business you're working to build, and keep reassessing as you learn and circumstances change. If you could use support creating that and bringing it to life, we're happy to have a conversation about how we might be a good fit as part of your team. Mentioned in this episode: The 4 P's of Sales Series Playlist Choosing the Right Partners episode Brand Checkup Scorecard (Self Assessment) —————————– >>> Subscribe HERE to Katie's weekly email Newsletter for ways to bring the ideas you hear here to life for your business. —————————– Have a great week – see you next Wednesday! Katie & Clint

There are 200 episodes just waiting to help you build your business! 🎉 So where do you start listening? Or, if you've been listening for a while, what might be worth revisiting with a new perspective that some time and experience have given you? In this episode, Clint and I went back through the archives and pulled out 5 episodes we think are especially worth a listen. Our picks cover brand strategy, sales, leadership, and regenerative agriculture, with ideas you can put to work as you build your business. Our Picks from 200 Episodes Clint's Pick: Episode 176 — Build Your Inner Edge to Deliver When it Matters Most | with Chad McGehee A conversation about mental resilience, brain training, and taking care of yourself as a leader so you can show up better for your business. Katie's Pick: Episode 182 — Your Brand Adds Value Across Your Business, Not Just Marketing Why brand strategy isn't just a marketing tool. It can be a business asset that helps you make better decisions, reduce rework, strengthen your positioning, and build business value over time. Clint's Pick: Episode 153 — Sales Intro: Unsure About Sales? Use This to Create a Process You Love The starting point for Clint's sales series and his 4 Ps of sales: Planning, Prepping, Pitching, and Persisting. If you want to strengthen your approach to sales, start here and then keep going with the full series. Katie's Pick: Episode 163 — Brand Pillars: The Backbone of Your Brand That Makes a Major Impact A practical place to start organizing your brand strategy. We talk about how brand pillars help clarify what your brand consistently stands for and give you a foundation to build from when it comes to messaging, products, and more. Shared Pick: Episode 192 — Stewarding the Land and Building Brand | Scaling Regenerative Agriculture with StarWalker Organic Farms One of our favorite conversations about regenerative agriculture, stewardship, and building a business around something bigger than the products you sell. Jason and Kristina also share a bigger vision for bringing others along as they work to move regenerative farming forward. Keep Exploring You don't have to scroll through 200 episodes to find what you need. Browse podcast episodes by topic on the Real Food Brands website or explore the Spotify playlists: Brand Strategy 101 Playlist Brand Strategy 201 Playlist Sales Series Playlist Business Management Playlist And be sure to follow the Food Business Marketing Podcast on Spotify or your favorite podcast app so you don't miss what's coming next. Whether this is your first episode or you've been here for years, thank you for being part of the first 200. We've got no plans of stopping, and we're glad you're here as we keep working together to shake up shopping carts and help more people get access to real food. The best is yet to come - let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie Mleziva & Clint Matthews