Category: Health and wellness

Jake Kneller wanted to bring a truly healthy product to the frozen aisle. And so, he co-founded Sweet Nothings, a brand of convenient, ready-to-eat, spoonable smoothies made with organic fruits, nuts and seeds, where he’s now CEO.

On my podcast, The Irresistible Factor, we dive into why the frozen food aisle’s options are so often unnecessarily unhealthy options, and how Jake and his team set out to create something better. We also explore why Jake is so passionate about food that’s not just “better for you,” but truly good for you. (That’s something I really love about Sweet Nothings, how they blend health and ease into one product. Many frozen foods are convenient, but they aren’t often healthy.)

Jake told me that the company initially aimed to create a product for cafeterias, before COVID forced them to pivot. And even then, Sweet Nothings faced challenges of getting distribution in grocery stores, and struggled with getting a new customer to make that first purchase. 

But the frozen food space has a lot going for it, Jake told me.

“There’s plenty of challenges that come with frozen supply chain,” he said, “[like] frozen storage, frozen selling, etc. But one beautiful part is, from a shelf-life standpoint, you can use really fresh, great, organic ingredients, and freeze them, and they’re going to last awhile.”

Jake’s advice to founders is simple: Do what you’re passionate about. That’s how you’ll find success. 

Listen to The Irresistible Factor’s Interview with Jake Kneller, CEO and co-founder of Sweet Nothings.

Here’s what you won’t want to miss from our conversation: 

• How Sweet Nothings is reframing healthy frozen food with a good-for-you product
• The importance of hiring the right people
• How Sweet Nothings raised capital and found investors to back them
• Jake’s advice on how to differentiate your brand from competitors’ 

Links mentioned in this episode: 

Jake Kneller

Sweet Nothings

Superfood Nut Butter Bites

Brands need funding. And capital investors need brands with good ideas. 

That’s why on my podcast, The Irresistible Factor, I recently spoke with Christopher Jane, CEO and co-founder of Proper Good, and Al Sambar, General Partner at XRC Labs, a venture capital firm and accelerator that invested in Proper Good. 

Proper Good is an innovative brand, which is why I was so excited to speak with Chris and Al. The company sells delicious 90-second meals, crafted with clean ingredients, direct to consumer.

“There’s a food renaissance going on,” Al told me. “It’s an explosion of [the] amount of categories, room for different brands, and they can’t be contained within the grocery store.” 

In this episode, Al explains what XRC Labs looks for in a startup and the importance of quality founders. He shares what he liked about Chris and Proper Good that made XRC Labs decide to invest in the company. And Chris talks about the need he identified that inspired him to start the brand, along with the challenges and benefits of launching it at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Together, we dive into learning from consumers and customers about how to develop products before launching them. We also discuss how Proper Good and XRC Labs are working to get the brand into retail, and the challenges of switching from being a direct-to-consumer product to being a retail brand. 

Listen to The Irresistible Factor’s Interview with Christopher Jane, CEO and co-founder Proper Good, and Al Sambar, General Partner at XRC Labs.

Here’s what you won’t want to miss from our conversation: 

• How Shark Tank helped Chris refine his brand
• What XRC Labs considers before investing in a company, and the types of brands they’re currently interested in
• How Proper Good mitigates risk while developing new products
• The benefits of a brand with shelf-stable products, and the types of lifestyles it suits

Links mentioned in this episode: 

Al Sambar

XRC Labs

Christopher Jane

Proper Good

Shark Tank – Episode #13.2 

Billie

CJ Rapp, founder of Karma Water, is on a mission to shake up the beverage industry, transforming water into wellness.

Ready-to-drink health beverages with active ingredients, like probiotics and vitamins, lose their strength over time. That’s why Karma Water is so special — they created a special cap that stores active ingredients. When consumers are ready to drink the beverage, they can release all that goodness into the water, creating a better, better-for-you beverage. 

In our conversation, CJ talks about his long career in the beverage industry and experience with his first brand of energy drinks, Jolt. We talk about the story of Jolt and why CJ decided to make a pivot into the health and wellness space with Karma. 

“I tend to spend more time on what is not working well,” CJ told me. “They say you should build out your strengths. I figure where we get it right, that will take care of itself, and where my time needs to be better spent are the areas that need improvement.”

We also talk about the Karma launch strategy, involving a process of iteratively improving through a slow rollout on a shoestring budget, and how this attracted the strategic partnership of beverage giant Constellation Brands. Tuning in, you’ll hear perspectives on the burgeoning cannabis industry and CJ’s plans to release a new CBD product as soon as regulations allow for it!

Listen to The Irresistible Factor’s Interview with CJ Rapp, Karma Water Founder. 

Here’s what you won’t want to miss from our conversation: 

• What differentiates Karma Water from other drinks in the health and wellness space
• How early-stage brands can learn through a smart, small-scale product rollout
• The challenge of satisfying the FDA’s standards, and why Karma Water’s launch was delayed

Links mentioned in this episode: 

CJ Rapp on LinkedIn

Karma Water

Constellation Brands

Waterloo sips different. This one-of-a-kind, totally irresistible sparkling water company crafts premium products with unmistakable flavor. This week on my podcast, The Irresistible Factor, I talk with Waterloo’s dedicated and talented CEO, Jason Shiver, to figure out how the brand has broken into a crowded field, overcome challenges and, ultimately, found cult-status success.

If there’s anything that growing food and beverage companies should take away from this conversation, know that bold flavors are key to elevating new brands, and that authenticity starts at home. 

You can listen to the full podcast online, on Spotify or in the Apple Podcasts app.

Here are the highlights:

Bold flavors, big rewards

What are consumers looking for? When it comes to the food and beverage space, bold flavors bring a brand into the premium category. That’s certainly the case for Waterloo. As the company’s CEO, Jason Shiver wouldn’t settle for lackluster quality — instead, he wanted a drink that even he wanted to drink, something that tasted like nothing else on the market. 

What sets Waterloo apart from other companies, is that Waterloo prioritizes Pure Flavor Artistry, and crafted a catalogue of their own flavors. Many companies use existing flavors, but Waterloo is different. When it came to their Strawberry, for example, Jason described going through 100 iterations to find the perfect flavor, a process that took months and months. He told me that the company will not allow for the flavor to “escape” the Flavor Room without it being perfect, and that you should know a flavor as soon as you crack open a can, just by the scent alone. (I can attest to this. My favorite flavor is Grape — it’s totally irresistible.)

Standing out with authenticity — it comes from a strong team

Jason told me that people describe Waterloo as, “Just different.” That comes from the beverage’s bold flavor, and from their big bubbles. 

But standing out and rising above the noise also stems from the company’s culture. With around 40 employees, compared to companies with a similar size who have 100, Waterloo strives for authenticity. A big part of that is Jason. He has connections to a lot of his colleagues through years in the food and beverage business — did I mention that he helped build SkinnyPop Popcorn, and worked his way up at AriZona Beverages? — and knew 70 percent of Waterloo’s team through previous work.

That knowledge and experience brings trust, which builds genuine relationships. In my experience as a marketing guru, company dysfunction is a huge turnoff for investors.  Shared vision is important to building capital. At Waterloo, Jason’s been able to raise capital to scale because he understands the importance of consistency and collaboration among the management team. Employees and managers understand each other, and they’re told to play to their strengths. At the same time, the right hand always knows what the left is doing.

Don’t be afraid of the action, lean into it

Waterloo’s success has been like an action movie, Jason told me. I just love that. Entrepreneurship can certainly feel action-packed, with its risks, rewards and non-stop motion.

At the beginning of Waterloo’s journey, Jason stayed true to his high-standard goals, and his COO delivered: They both knew they had to make a product that was BPA-free, they needed to ensure that Waterloo became a premium brand, and they had to deliver that bold flavor that customers now love. But they also needed to bring the price of the products down, so that the business would be profitable, and so that consumers could access the irresistible Waterloo experience. Within the first six months, Jason raved that Waterloo’s COO was able to achieve all of that. They didn’t compromise.

To give the company the runway they needed to take off, Waterloo’s team signed a major deal with the largest independent bottler in the US. Waterloo told them: We’ll do a million cases within the first year. That was another big goal, and a big risk, too. If Waterloo didn’t reach that goal, they’d have to pay a penalty. The bottler thought they were crazy, like cowboys, Jason told me. But Waterloo succeeded.

The bigger your goals, and the more you stick to your brand values, the higher your rewards. Now that’s the Irresistible Factor.

If you’d like to be featured on The Irresistible Factor or need help figuring out how to make your brand Irresistible, reach out to me, Kristi Bridges, at kbridges@sawtoothgroup.com.