Consumer Packaged Goods
The food, beverage, household, and personal-care products sold through retail channels.
Loren Castle says Sweet Loren’s became profitable after allergen-free cookie dough outsold every original flavor in six months
The cookie dough company’s breakthrough was not making a slightly healthier Toll House rival, it was realizing the supposedly niche allergy aisle was the main event.
Tara Bosch says food startups should try natural grocery before mass retail
The SmartSweets founder's advice is less glamorous than a Target endcap and more useful: natural grocery can give tiny CPG brands room to prove they deserve the shelf.
Daymond John says big-box retail puts more small brands out of business than it puts in business
The FUBU founder told a Chicago salsa company that the dream of getting on big-store shelves can become a margin-crushing trap.
Krishna Kaliannan says he first coated Catalina Crunch cereal in a washing machine
The Catalina Crunch founder's weirdest manufacturing hack is also the cleanest explanation of why making a modern keto cereal is much harder than making a pitch deck.
Jeni Britton says seed oil panic is too fad-like to build a frozen-fry brand around
The Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams founder told a beef-tallow fries startup to sell taste first, not online wellness panic.