Episodes

Kroger is drawing a line on pricing — and some of the biggest brands in CPG are finding themselves on the wrong side of it.

Scaling a CPG brand isn’t just about finding more ways to grow – it’s about knowing which opportunities are worth pursuing.Hero Bread is taking on some of food’s most entrenched categories with baked goods and pasta that deliver the taste and texture of traditional carbs with zero grams of sugar along with added protein and fiber.

The most overlooked aisle in the grocery store may be ripe for reinvention. Riff is betting on it. We dig into the new shelf-stable meal kit brand launched by Sir Kensington’s co-founder Mark Ramadan and Eleven Madison Park chef Daniel Humm. We also discuss Battle Bars’ attempt to broaden its appeal in the protein bar category and what investor network The Angel Group wants to see from emerging CPG brands.

Building a thriving CPG brand wasn’t Katie Lee’s plan. It was a crisis response that evolved into a national business. When the COVID-19 shutdown threatened her four St. Louis restaurants and the livelihoods of 150 employees, the chef and restaurateur created a line of frozen pizzas simply to keep her team working. That pizza became the foundation for Katie’s, a food brand that has grown from roughly $2 million in revenue in 2023 to a business on pace to surpass $24 million in sales this year.

In this interview, Ray sits down with Jordan Radke and Dan Abel, co-founders of Pilot Project Brewing, shortly after the duo hosted a Taste Radio Chicago Meetup at their Logan Square location. Radke and Abel, childhood friends from Minnesota who later reunited after college, built Pilot Project into a portfolio business that extends well beyond its brewing roots — working with hard kombucha, non-alcoholic beer, alcoholic and non-alcoholic RTDs, and, more recently, hemp-based beverages.The conversation centers on how Pilot Project functions less like a traditional co-packer and more like a "record label and recording studio" for beverage brands, evaluating founders on product quality, brand vision, and execution ability before taking an equity stake and backing them with production, tasting-room validation, and retail distribution in major markets like LA, New York, and Chicago. Radke and Abel also unpack the consumer trends shaping their portfolio decisions, from data-driven drinking habits and functional ingredient innovation to the uncertainty surrounding hemp regulation. Beverage founders interested in partnering with Pilot Project can apply directly at pilotprojectbrewing.com or reach the team at [email protected].

This week, we dig into Barilla Group’s acquisition of Goodles and how the mac and cheese brand’s success reflects growing demand for better-for-you versions of familiar, legacy products. We also look at David Protein maker Medici Brands’ $2.2 billion valuation following its Series B raise, the launch of its better-for-you candy brand HallPass and how the company is rethinking two of the most familiar formats in CPG. 

What if the smartest growth strategy for your CPG brand is to stop chasing growth?Larry Young spent nearly 50 years in the beverage business before trading corporate boardrooms for a cattle ranch. The former CEO and president of Keurig Dr Pepper and his wife, Colette, now own Texas-based 10-2-4 Ranch, where they’re building a premium beef brand on their own terms.