{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Grow Good ","title":"Can You Afford To Do Things Differently? | Keith Bearden, CEO of Alter Eco and Maddie Hamann, Co-Founder of PACHA","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2484,"description":"EPISODE SUMMARY\n\nRecorded live at Ripple Fest, this episode features two leaders rethinking the conventions of the natural products industry. Keith Bearden, CEO of Alter Eco Foods, explains how the chocolate company balances premium product quality and environmental commitments with the economics of a national consumer brand. From eliminating ineffective promotions to restructuring logistics, he shows how operational discipline can create room for investments in farmers, regenerative agriculture, and lower-impact packaging. Long-standing relationships with cacao cooperatives also helped protect Alter Eco from the worst of a historic cocoa price spike.\n\nMaddie Hamann, co-founder of PACHA, shares the challenges of scaling a slow, labor-intensive buckwheat bread-making process and explains why the company is reconsidering its home-compostable packaging. She also discusses the personal work of leading when the day-to-day responsibilities don’t always feel like a natural calling. Together, these conversations explore how leaders can preserve their core commitments while adapting to commercial realities.\nKEY INSIGHTS\nWhy Alter Eco prioritizes taste first—and uses product quality to earn consumers’ attention before communicating its sustainability credentials.\nHow a seven-person team manages a national consumer brand through automation, detailed trade-spend management, and disciplined expense control.\nWhy Alter Eco moved its logistics operation to Columbus, Ohio, cutting carbon emissions by 30% and saving more than $1 million.\nHow the company evaluates packaging against product shelf life, ingredient integrity, price constraints, and environmental impact.\nWhy eliminating a 79-cent truffle promotion that failed to increase sales protected hundreds of thousands of dollars.\nHow two decades of relationships with cacao cooperatives helped Alter Eco secure beans at pre-negotiated prices during a major cocoa price spike—and what happened when demand exceeded its forecast.\nWhy...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/4_W9iNxov8TbmJi0hwOHIXG4gxg89YSz70tugMNyhMg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kZjEy/ZjJiMmJhNTdiZTI0/MGU1YzdmNzdmOGZk/ZjlhMS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}