Episodes

Gail Becker has a bold message for CPG entrepreneurs: if your brand isn’t built to truly improve the lives of your consumers, “you should stay the hell out.”

Poppi just popped – big time. But was PepsiCo’s $1.65 billion acquisition driven by TikTok virality, perfect timing, or industry heavyweights like Rohan Oza? (Sorry, prebiotics, this one's not about you.) And now that the first major deal has landed, is the BFY soda space about to see a gold rush – or a bubble burst? The hosts break it all down. Plus, we revisit standout interviews from our Miami meetup.

Rosa Li, the founder and CEO of fast-growing functional beverage brand Wildwonder, explains how a focus on steady, incremental growth has been key to maintaining integrity. She also discusses how the brand aligns its expansion with core values, its unique position at the intersection of kombucha and soda, and the power of social listening in shaping the company’s future.

We're not exactly at odds, but there's definitely some healthy debate among the hosts around how to assess Expo West 2025. And it turns out, we're not alone. The biggest question on everyone's mind: how do we truly evaluate innovation, and what does it mean for the future of the food and beverage industry in the near term?

Dr. Pat Heist, the co-founder of groundbreaking whiskey brand Wilderness Trail offers a deep reflection on his entrepreneurial journey, from its debut 2018 to Campari’s $600 million acquisition of the company four years later.

Expo West 2025… OK, it wasn’t a classic. It would be hard to characterize anything we saw as "groundbreaking." Perhaps, however, incremental improvements, global flavors and innovative collaborations are enough to keep the train rolling. For now, anyway. We also sit down with Carolyn Hamlet, the founder and CEO of OKU, a trailblazing brand of energy gummies.

Mac Villarreal, the founder & CEO of I Eat My Greens, a pioneering plant-based soup company, takes us through his fascinating entrepreneurial journey, the impact of his brand’s innovative packaging, how he overcame initial retailer pushback, creating products that align with modern food trends and his patient, yet ambitious growth strategy.