Jon and Jenna discuss how entrepreneurs are reimagining the food industry.
Learning Points
- A glimpse into Sonoma Brand’s two branch model and the companies they’re working with: Dang , ZÜPA NOMA and SmashMallow
- Food entrepreneurs’ intimate connections with consumer desires; “When you’re breaking conventional wisdom you must have an emotional connection with your consumers to drive trial.”
- The psychology behind building Smash Mallow and how the team is pioneering Marshmallow 2.0
- Introducing ZUPA Noma: A cold, on-the-go soup brand, and “stretching the word soup into a use case.”
- Why being nimble is young entrepreneurs’ competitive advantage over big business and how to leverage it
- Managing growth and supply chains as a food entrepreneur; “You can grow yourself out of business.”
- The pros and cons of bootstrapping versus raising institutional capital for food entrepreneurs. Rule of thumb: You want to have enough cash to survive two years of rapid growth.
- Acquisitions in the food world, Jon’s experience partnering with Hershey, and keeping KRAVE in Sonoma