Food Marketing Nerds Restaurant and CPG Marketing Podcast

Today we’re talking with Koel Thomae, Founder of Noosa Yoghurt.

I’m sure you’ve seen the Noosa brand in the thousands of stores they’re in across the country, and today, Koel discusses what it was like growing the business with an extremely tight budget.

Before partnering with an investment firm, Koel and her business partner had bootstrapped their way to a projected $100M a year in revenue. Everyone loves to talk about big investments and overnight successes, which is why I wanted to dig into the early years of Noosa, what it was like growing the company in the early stages to where it is now.

In the episode, you’ll learn 

• How flexibility in your growth strategy can actually be a good thing
• Why tactically picking your retail partners is essential in scaling a food startup
• How to market a brand with a small team and small budget

And plenty more…

Books Mentioned in the Episode

Penguin Bloom

On the show today, we have Tripp Hughes, Director of Brand Management for a company whose marketing I absolutely love, Organic Valley.

Organic Valley seems to have figured out the recipe behind viral marketing content, and before the interview, I wondered how they consistently put out content that was on brand, and always felt so genuine.

You’ll get to hear more about it in just a second, but Organic Valley’s business model is extremely unique. With some context, you'll start to understand why their marketing is so strong.

In the episode with Tripp, you’ll learn…

• Why transparency is crucial in building a successful company
• How to empower your team to create great marketing that’s on-brand
• Why listening to your customers is essential to launching strong campaigns

And plenty more…

Book Recommendation:

Let My People Go Surfing - Yvon Chouinard

It’s episode number 38, and definitely one of my favorite interviews we’ve done, and I don’t say that often.

We have Brandon Rhoten on the show, who get ready for this title, is the VP, Advertising, Social Media, Media, and Digital Marketing for Wendy’s. It’s a mouthful, and I don’t know how he does it, but everything you see with a Wendy’s logo on it, is the work of Brandon and his team.

This episode is all about how Wendy's went from middle of the pack, to a front runner with one of the strongest brands in the industry. Of course, we discuss the insane amount of publicity they've received from Carter's quest to 18 million Retweets - and more importantly, how to create a culture where partners and employees can do work that gets those kinds of results.

Brandon has a history of transforming brands, and since joining the company in 2011, he’s done the same for Wendy’s in an industry that’s notorious for commoditizing it’s products.

To give you a little more context, since Brandon joined Wendy’s, their stock price has increased nearly 200%, not to mention the 15 consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales they’ve had – which is unreal in that industry.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Why leaving silos between marketing teams is a big mistake
• How to sell a brand when your competitors are selling a commodity
• Why consistency is crucial across every customer facing platform
• And so much more.

Yes, this is a food marketing podcast, and yes, we talk about food marketing, but the a lot of the advice in this episode is universal to building a great brand in any industry. So grab a pen a paper, and get ready to jot down some notes, because Brandon is about to lay down some knowledge on you.

On the show today, we have Katie Washburn, Manager of Marketing Partnerships for Suja Juice. Katie has been with Suja since they were just local San Deigo brand selling a few hundred bottles per week, to where they are now bottling 800k bottles per week. 

Today’s episode is all about influencer marketing. We’ll be diving into how Suja’s launched their midnight tonic last October with an influencer campaign that was so successful, it crashed their website and they sold out of the product in just three days.

On the episode, Katie discusses

Why a follower count isn’t the only thing you should look at when selecting influencers

How to build an influencer program that’s sustainable for the long term

What platforms you should focus on for the most effective influencer marketing…

And of course, what made the launch of their midnight tonic so ridiculously successful. If you’ve had influencer marketing on your radar or you’re thinking it’s time to up your game, you are in for a treat.

Book recommendation:

The Leader Phrase Book - Patrick Alain

On the show today, we have Lacie Mackey, co-founder and COO of Caveman Coffee. If you’re not already familiar with the story behind Caveman, then you’re in for a treat.

Lacie is a professional stunt trainer and crossfit athlete with a business background in guerilla marketing. Her co-founders Keith Jardine and Tait Fletcher are both professional MMA fighters who combined have either acted in or did stunts for Breaking Bad, Maze Runner, Jurrassic World and a lot more stuff you’ve probably seen or heard of.

We’re talking with Lacie today about how she and her cofounders stumbled upon their successful business idea, and then leveraged their skills to grow their business through social media, podcasting, and just being themselves.

On the episode, you’ll learn:

• What benefits and challenges come with starting an e-commerce first brand
• How Caveman leveraged social media and their community to grow their brand
• How to stay sharp and focused when you have a massive to do list

And plenty more.

Caveman Coffee is doing a lot of things right, tapping marketing channels most companies haven’t even thought about yet, and it’s paying big off for them in a big way. You’ll learn a lot from Lacie in this episode, not just about how to approach business, but managing the lifestyle as a marketer and entrepreneur.

On the show today, we’re talking with Billie Jo Waara, who is the CMO of a brand doing some really interesting things in a sector that’s flooded with competitors with deep pockets. We’re talking about Taco Johns.

Here’s a fun little fact about Taco John’s. They actually invented and own the trademark for the term Taco Tuesday. See, you already learned something new and the interview hasn’t even started yet.

Billie Jo spent the first part of her career in advertising before joining Taco Johns as their CMO, so she has a lot of great stories and insights we talk about in the interview.

In today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• How to create demand for your products before having a presence in a new market
• What you can do to fan the flames around good online conversations about your brand
• How to use product innovation to engage a younger audience

And a ton more.

Billie Jo's Book Recommendations:

• McDonalds: Behind the Arches
• Then We Set His Hair on Fire

This week’s episode is a solo-cast - which means you’re hanging out with yours truly. We’re talking about smart Facebook ad strategies to grow your sales without breaking the bank.

As a marketing consultant, I firmly believe there is no better place to spend advertising dollars right now than Facebook, which is why I wanted to do an episode solely focus ed on this topic.

While we have another solocast planned on Facebook ads for restaurant brands, this episode focuses primarily on how CPG brands can grow their sales with a few simple tactics.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why you should absolutely be advertising on Facebook if you’re not already
• What are the most common mistakes brands make with Facebook advertising
• How to set up a process that will drive higher ROI for your brand

And a lot more…

If you’re a Facebook ads whiz, go ahead and skip this episode. But if you’re not, or you’re starting to dabble in Facebook ads and want to up your game, then don’t go anywhere just yet.

For transcripts or more information, visit FoodMarketingNerds.com.

We're changing pace a little bit in today's episode, talking about the new advances in marketing technology and automation. 

Marketers barely have enough time as it is to get their own work done, let alone invest the added time in researching the latest innovations in marketing tech. 

That's exactly why we reached out to today's guest, Andrew Borella, Director of Business Development for Zenreach out of San Francisco. Zenreach is a super interesting company, working to quantify the foot traffic to grocery stores and restaurants as a result of your digital marketing efforts.

They've received some pretty substantial investments lately, and after this interview, I think you'll start to understand why. Joining us for San Francisco, let's go chat with Andrew...

For show notes, and more information on the podcast, visit FoodMarketingNerds.com.

Whether you're thinking of launching a new CPG brand, or just finding ways to differentiate a product that's already on the shelves, today's guest is a wealth of knowledge in the natural foods startup space.

We're talking with Pete Truby, founder of Salazon Chocolate. From working at Mrs. Meyer's when it was in its early stages, to being one of the first employees at Honest Tea, Pete has been a sponge - soaking up knowledge and information when it comes to startups, entrepreneurship, and the natural foods industry.

Today, you'll get to hear how he's applied that knowledge in bootstrapping Salazon into a brand with national distribution.

In our interview, you're going to learn:

• Why Pete believes branding is equally, or more, important than product value
• What the pros and cons are of taking outside investment money
• How to compete in-store with competitors that have deeper pockets than you

And a whole lot more...

Pete teaches at a local university, so I think you'll really appreciate the way he approaches my questions.

For show notes or to get more information about the podcast, go to FoodMarketingNerds.com.

Thanks for listening!

Whether you're thinking of launching a new CPG brand, or just finding ways to differentiate a product that's already on the shelves, today's guest is a wealth of knowledge in the natural foods startup space.

We're talking with Pete Truby, founder of Salazon Chocolate. From working at Mrs. Meyer's when it was in its early stages, to being one of the first employees at Honest Tea, Pete has been a sponge - soaking up knowledge and information when it comes to startups, entrepreneurship, and the natural foods industry.

Today, you'll get to hear how he's applied that knowledge in bootstrapping Salazon into a brand with national distribution.

In our interview, you're going to learn:

• Why Pete believes branding is equally, or more, important than product value
• What the pros and cons are of taking outside investment money
• How to compete in-store with competitors that have deeper pockets than you

And a whole lot more...

Pete teaches at a local university, so I think you'll really appreciate the way he approaches my questions.

For show notes or to get more information about the podcast, go to FoodMarketingNerds.com.

Thanks for listening!