Eran Mizrahi

-- Podcast Teaser Alert -- "If you want to lead the consumer, you need to be the consumer." - Eric Ryan At one point, Eric Ryan and I were "frienemies". Friends personally, competitors professionally. He was the co-founder and CEO of Method Products PBC, while I led Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. ................ But in the real world, we were always on the same team. Our collective efforts, along with the team at 7th Generation, were revolutionizing the cleaning category. At Mrs. Meyer's, our mission was clear: 'Together, we dream of a world where the better way becomes THE way.' ................ Eric Ryan shares his insights on creating method products pbc, OLLY PBC, and Welly Bandages, along with his go-to-market approach. Stay tuned for the next drop of the CEO podcast. 🎙 You won't regret it. #cultureFIRSTleadership #ceoPodcast #ChiefEternalOptimist

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SAFE NOTES ARE NOW UNSAFE... OK so what is going to happen to the money that was poured into CPG Brands via these supposed SAFE Notes? Issue is that no priced round took place and now it is likely if it did happen it would be at a fraction of the valuation that was contemplated leading to massive dilution for the founder. Many have a cap...few have a floor. and unless they are converted it will be impossible to raise new money at any valuation. #cpg #safenotes #fundraising

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This resonates and is a terrific introspective piece by Andre Menezes. Love that he ends on an ambitious note: 🌱🍽️ "By focusing on addressing genuine consumer needs, fortifying health claims, and cultivating sustainable demand, the plant-based food industry can chart a course toward resilience and resurgence." 👉🏽As an early investor in both wins and losses in this space, I believe there is much more to come for alt proteins, and a resurgence is around the corner. #AlternativeProteins #Sustainability #FoodInnovation #FutureOfFood #ClimateAction #GlobalFoodSecurity https://lnkd.in/g8FwTivt

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A simple quote from Mike Tyson and one of my favorites of all time: "Everybody has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth." It rings true in the day to day battles of business, especially in CPG. Here are some examples many CPG founders go through or ones I've personally battled: 🥴 You launch a product, did all the research for R&D, focus group testing, and reviewed the packaging thousands of times before launching, but still something went wrong either with shelf life, negative consumer/retailer feedback, or weak sales on shelf 💰 You had cash flow projections in place and expected that with X amount raised, it would last you for Y Months, but ran short of runway and were scrambling to raise more cash to keep the company going in difficult times 🤝 Formed partnerships, only disappointed to find out the partner backed out, or it wasn't the partnership you envisioned and now you are doing damage control and it's causing emotional pain to be with this person 🚛 Brought on a distributor thinking they would push the brand and it would be an estimated cost, but they didn't do their job, and the costs ended up sky-rocketing from chargebacks, thus losing money on every unit 😲You release a great product, and then a competitor comes up with a version of yours that is a lower price point and they have all the marketing dollars in the world to out-compete you. I can go on and on, but in this business, like any business, you have intentions when you go into it, and many times, it doesn't turn out the way you envisioned. What's your story of getting punched in the mouth?

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Constellation Brands Inc. saw its stock climb during premarket trading on Thursday following an upward revision of its adjusted fiscal 2025 profit forecast, surpassing analyst predictions. The company also reported a robust fourth-quarter profit, driven by the stronger-than-anticipated performance of its beer division. CEO Bill Newlands highlighted the beer business's consistent volume growth over 56 quarters, coupled with impressive margins, although wine and spirits sales experienced a decline. https://lnkd.in/ggNU_G9r Constellation Brands Bill Newlands Branded Hospitality Ventures #Technology #Business #Innovation #AI #investing #venturecapital MarketWatch

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You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. People have asked why we are raising $2MM at a $15MM valuation at a revenue of $250k. The answer is simple. We have the best product on the market (not according to me, but to San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Beverage Testing Institute). We've been doing $48/per week/per store at a major chain retailer in California. And most importantly (see: Uncle Nearest and Liquid Death), if you don't allow room for dilution and large raises, you're hampering your room to grow your own investment. If you want to get in on the best RTD early, we're leaving space for your investment to grow, a lot!

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Traditional fast food stocks had a promising performance in Q1, with several companies exceeding expectations and demonstrating resilience in the market. Despite challenges regarding perceptions of healthiness, these chains showcased their strengths in delivering convenience and quality offerings to consumers. Restaurant Brands International reported impressive revenue growth, outperforming analysts' expectations and showcasing its strong market position. El Pollo Loco, Inc. had an exceptional quarter, surpassing expectations across multiple metrics and experiencing a significant increase in its stock price. These positive results underscore the robustness of these fast food brands and their ability to adapt to evolving consumer preferences. Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/eGxVFsEC Branded Hospitality Ventures #innovation #venturecapital #hospitality #marketing #startup Jourdan Daleo José Cil Chris Brigleb Duncan Fulton Nick Boyle Josh Kobza Maria Hollandsworth Liz Williams Brian Carmichall Samuel Nicholas Borgese Ira Fils

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What they didn't tell me as a CPG entrepreneur is that dealing with supply chain issues, manufacturing mishaps, investor rejections, cash flow issues, distributor problems, and retailer rejections are all the easy parts of running a business. What they didn't tell me is that the hard part will come from within. The hard part is having to deal with that inner voice. We all know it. It’s the one that’s constantly trying to be sabotaged, constantly trying to be undermined, constantly trying to be silenced, and constantly trying to be turned against you. It’s the voice you have to convince to keep going when the chips are down, the cards are stacked against you, and when it looks like there’s no way out. It’s the voice that tells you you’re not good enough, haven’t done enough, and aren’t capable enough. It’s the voice that wants you to give up and give in. It will be the single hardest thing that you will ever face as an entrepreneur, and it will also be the only thing that is constant throughout your entire journey. You can work on margins, supply, investment, product development, and growth all day long, but without working on the mind none of it will really matter much. Conquer what you can control. 

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“Growing a CPG company, especially in the food and beverage space, ‘is astronomically harder today,’. ” Paul Voge you said it, man. So many truth bombs dropped in this article about the challenges and difficulties growing and scaling a CPG brand in today’s world. The cruel reality is that it takes a whole lot of money or a whole lot of time (and most times both) along with a fair amount of luck to have a chance at making it. If you dont have a ton of money then you better have a ton of time, some good fortune, and a product that can withstand many changes of the seasons (and "trends"). For most emerging brands today its all about survival and just finding a way.  There are lots of traps out there– lots of shiny objects– lots of vanity metrics hoping to be noticed and cared about–but at the end of the day sometimes its just about living to see another one. Here’s to all you day-to-dayers and week-to-weekers out there that are all just finding a way. Keep finding it.

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Ending the week high on optimistic skepticism for the better-for-you CPG landscape. Big acquisition news leaves me optimistic that more money will start to flow back into BFY CPG companies, helping to further drive impact and food systems change. Anytime there is a big acquisition, investor FOMO reaches an all-time high. Skeptical though since the reality is that most of the money that will flow back into CPG because of this will come with similar exit and growth expectations. I truly believe that if we are going to make lasting, meaningful changes within our food system, then we need more independent companies invested in impact-centered long-term growth, and we need more investors willing to invest in companies like these. Creating further consolidation within a food system that has so much already is not the path to meaningful change. Creating a system in which Big Food gets bigger and uses acquisition to bandage over their core business that is destroying consumer health and planetary health is not the path to meaningful change. Creating short-term wins for shareholders while ignoring the impact that independent, evergreen, mission-driven companies can have on the world as they scale is not the path to meaningful change.   I get it. There’s an allure to big numbers– big returns. Money has allure, it has status, it has power. We love money. We praise it. We’re driven by it. But all of that money, status, power, ego, and praise really arent going to mean much if we continue to invest in short-term gains and shareholder value at the expense of investing in a better future. There are many ways to invest in mission-driven companies in which return is not predicated on an exit and companies can stay truly independent and impact-focused to drive long-term change. For the sake of our food future– we need more of those investors. Always happy to chat about those investment models for those curious.

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Today's #Foxtrot & #Dom's news is shocking and such a bummer for emerging CPG brands, as they've been early adopters. It does, however, serve as such a good reminder that: 1) Being sexy & raising tons of money does (necessarily) ≠ success. (Catherine tells me that being cool "can be a nice-to-have" though so maybe I should back off here. 😅) 2) Ops & execution matter (and I will happily show you not just co. ops any time.) 3) A reminder to stay true to my personality - all the way from HS sports to now - I have always cared more about fundamentals than flash. (Shoutout to my basketball coaches for working with me after hours on defense and post moves.) 4) Slow, thoughtful growth isn't the worst thing. Thoughts? Drop 'em below!

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Disclaimer: I’m not VC, but I do have a PE background. VC is not a monolith, so I’ll speak exclusively to the concept. No, it does not inherebtly corrupt brands. However, only in select circumstances does it work well in CPG and there are many very good VCs who can navigate this. It comes down to how VC funds are structured. To provide attractive returns to their investors (called LPs) they have to achieve at least one, if not a few massive outcomes (multiplying capital by the 10s and even hundreds) to make up for the inevitable failure of the others (small businesses fail a lot). Resultantly, they only invest on emerging brands that provide possible exposure to those outcomes. Furthermore, VC is really the only institutional capital available in large enough chunks to fund emerging brands, so emerging brands adopt high risk, high growth (hopefully) models to attract this capital. CPG, however, is not tech, and these businesses have all sorts of emergent constraints throughout the scaling journey, especially (but not only) manufacturing capacity and existing retail demand at emerging brand price points beyond what early adopters drive (aka crossing the chasm). The result? Bad outcomes (sometimes).

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Great to see the longstanding issue of mysterious fees impacting CPG brands and their consumers getting some national recognition by the The Wall Street Journal. Legacy distributors say that it's because emerging brands don't understand what they signed up for: “There are costs to doing business,” she said, noting that KeHE moves some 80,000 different products to 35,000 stores. “We don’t charge for the sake of charging.” Conklin said KeHE’s practices are spelled out in contracts signed by food makers, and that small brands often don’t fully understand the terms they agree to with distributors and grocers. While digital upstarts like Pod Foods say that it's more a problem with an outdated infrastructure: "That leaves distributors reliant on so-called inside income, or revenue generated from food manufacturers. “Inside income isn’t ancillary to [distributors’] business,” said Peter Gialantzis, chief merchandising officer of startup food distributor Pod Foods. “Without that, they would go out of business. Gialantzis, who has worked at KeHE and Amazon’s Whole Foods, said distributors aren’t malicious, but that their systems are challenging for smaller brands." Time for a change to keep emerging CPG brands healthy and thriving! https://lnkd.in/g-2iTGgR #CPG #fooddistribution #fees #distributors #grocery #prices Pod Foods Larissa Russell Peter Gialantzis Fiona Lee Ammar Hanafi Moment Ventures Jim Baum Michael Frederick Marcotte Christian Gammill Jim Curry Manan M.

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Food manufacturers in the U.S. have a rich legacy of creating beloved products, but their Amazon presence? That’s often a completely different story. Take Vita Specialty Foods, part of SVB Foods. Searching their products on Amazon reveals a common problem in the food manufacturing space: a lack of brand ownership over their listings. Here’s what’s happening: 1️⃣ Competitors are running billboard-sized ads on their branded search terms. 2️⃣ Listings are disorganized with variations like product sizes split across multiple pages. 3️⃣ Key elements like A+ content, brand stories, and optimized images are missing. This lack of oversight isn’t on purpose—it’s a result of relying on wholesalers and distributors who prioritize availability over optimization. Compare that to competitors like MV Dressing, who have a cohesive Amazon presence with: ✅ Organized product variations ✅ Mobile-friendly images ✅ Branded storefronts with engaging content For food manufacturers, the game has changed. Relying on third parties to “handle Amazon” isn’t enough anymore. Brand owners must take control to: ✔ Protect their name from competitor ads ✔ Consolidate reviews by organizing listings ✔ Elevate their product presentation with A+ content The world’s largest marketplace deserves your attention. Don’t let someone else tell your brand’s story. What’s your take—should food manufacturers take full ownership of their Amazon strategy in 2025? #FoodManufacturing #AmazonStrategy #eCommerce

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The non-alcoholic drinks market continues to grow and grow (and mature). Check out recent insights + stats from our friends at Grüvi: March Off Premise Retail Sales: → $48.6M > Identical to February, up 23% YoY → You can see subcategory performance in the chart below. Gruvi predicts: → 30-35% of YoY NA category growth. → 25%+ in off-prem and 50%+ in on-prem. → Premium, high quality craft or import NA beers will capture most of the growth of the NA beer market. → Big bet on NA RTDs to surpass NA wines by end of year. Gruvi has some more great stats in their blog post (link in comments). I’m hearing this same type of growth from members of the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association (ANBA). There's been some questioning about the growth of the category because of the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy by non-alc beverage retailer Boisson and the closing of their retail locations. I was going to share some thoughts on this but the Gruvi team summed it up well: “Having served as a supply partner for Boisson, and being intimately familiar with their retail locations, it became apparent that they faced challenges across their retail and e-commerce channels. Boisson positioned itself as the upscale destination for NA beverages, boasting premium locations and a curated assortment. However, despite the overall growth in the NA market, it remains predominantly composed of NA beer (80%) and NA wines/RTDs under $12 (10%). As larger retailers expanded their NA offerings to target the mainstream consumer—the 90% of the market as seen above - Boisson was left with a small addressable market. Unfortunately, the demand proved insufficient for Boisson to sustain its operations.” Andrea Hernández also has a great take on it in her most recent Snaxshot (link in the comments). The adult NA category is maturing. Brands that do not have good business models, have bad product-market, or average quality products will need to adapt or close their doors. And this is not a bad thing. Because what rises out of this are business and products that better serve the consumer. I’m always impressed by the continued release of higher and higher quality NA products, with each raising the bar for the category. And this is great for people looking to moderate or not drink alcohol for whatever reason, and in whatever situation that best suits them. The adult NA category is getting bigger and better each day. And ANBA, our members, and I are here to continue to create a world where everyone has access to great tasting adult non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy in every social situation. And that is something we can all celebrate! 🍾 🥂 🍻 You can join us in growing the category and this movement by visiting ANBA's website and signing up for a soon to launch newsletter (link in comments). And you can follow me, Marcos Salazar 🍺🍷🥃, (& click the bell under my profile banner) to get regular insights and news about NA drinks. ♻️ #Repost if you like this post :-)

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Total head-scratcher here from the CPG/bakery industry. I remember the first time I saw this company. They were showcasing their bagel at the Winter Fancy Food Show. Their booth was giving off major AAPL minimalist product focused vibes. Quite the head-scratcher for the commercial baking industry. I tried to keep tabs on the company. Finding out they fetched such a huge valuation for such a product, also a head-scratcher. Expectations were high. I had just invested in Portofino Bakery. We have great people making great all-natural products, I couldn’t figure out the differences. Reading this article causes further head-scratching. How did things go so wrong?

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Any solo founders in the house?💼👩‍💻trying to navigate operations, store visits and shelf placements while managing the toughest thing of all… SOCIAL MEDIA 😂🤣😂 Excuse the shaky camera… no selfie sticks were harmed in this process 😜 But seriously, it’s often overlooked in the crazy world of CPG startups ups how difficult it really is being a 1-team founder! While a team would be amazing, capital is often limited and often prioritized for inventory (duh!!😅) The dream is to scale where operative costs get diluted (never nullified from what I’m learning!)…so until then back to the hustle and prayers 🙏🏼😃💪 Also, the point of this post is: Chai Diaries is trending UP 📈and the sale at Sprouts Farmers Market is FIRE! Stock up and impress all your friends this holiday season 😋 #sprouts #teasales #tea #chailatte #cpgfounders #startupcpg #sale #founderdiaries #teatime

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Interested in starting or scaling your CPG brand? I’m offering an exclusive opportunity to work 1:1 with me on building and scaling your CPG business — and 100% of proceeds will be donated to The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund, a program that has already donated over $350,000 in grants to minority small business owners. As the founder of SIA Scotch Whisky, I built and scaled a  one-employee company from a Kickstarter campaign to an exit in just 6 years. Now, I’m excited to share my playbook with you. The @Intro team has invited me to try out their new subscription feature, and I’m offering 5 exclusive mentorship slots. Here’s what we can cover together: ✔️ Brand building and product differentiation. ✔️ Retail distribution strategies for the spirits industry. ✔️ Early stage growth, PR, and preparing for acquisition. ✔️ Unlimited chat and 30-minute monthly video calls for hands-on support. $600/month — all proceeds go to The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund. Honored to be featured on Intro alongside other CPG Experts like Ariel Kaye (Founder of Parachute Home), Vanessa Dew (Founder of Health-Ade Kombucha), Nik Sharma (CPG Investor in brands like Feastables and Juneshine), Ben Zises (Founding Advisor for quip and Caraway), and Melanie Masarin (Founder and CEO of Ghia). Comment “interested” to secure your spot: intro.co/carin

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In 2024, energy drink sales in convenience stores are expected to remain robust despite anticipated price hikes. Sales surged 10.8% in the past year, with smaller brands like CELSIUS Holdings, Inc. and GHOST leading growth. These brands are forecasted to continue expanding shelf space significantly. C-store operators are preparing for higher prices by focusing on variety, promotional deals, and flexible sizing to maintain customer interest. Brands emphasizing functional and low-sugar claims are particularly popular, catering to consumer demand for health-focused beverages. Overall, while inflation poses challenges, the energy drink market in c-stores is poised for continued growth through strategic marketing and product innovation. Read More Here: https://lnkd.in/e84H9Bbn C-Store Dive Branded Hospitality Ventures Sally Lyons Wyatt #hospitality #beverage #foodandbeverage #technology #innovation Joe Sobolewski Paul Storey John Fieldly Giancarlo Morena Jarrod Langhans Toby David Mark Magnesen Ryan Hughes

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