{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Startup CPG Podcast","title":"R&D Radio: Product Development and 40+ Years of CPG Industry Experience","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2184,"description":"\nIn this episode of R&D RADIO, host and food scientist Adam Yee sits down with Bob Pankey, owner of Castlewood Food Innovation, to talk about what it takes to turn a product concept into something that survives manufacturing, retail, and real consumers.\n\nBob has spent more than 40 years in food, including 14 years helping build Hot Pockets into the powerhouse it became. He has worked on canned chili and stew, corn dogs, waffles, baby food, confections, compound butters, and most recently protein popcorn, and for the past six years he has consulted for emerging and growing CPG brands through Castlewood Food Innovation. Many of his current clients found him through Startup CPG’s Product Developer Database.\n\nAdam and Bob dig into why simple formulas scale best, how to coach founders through the hard truths about cost and timing, when it makes sense to skip retail and sell direct, and what separates the product developers clients choose. They also cover protein and fiber trends, the whey supply crunch, the psychology of ingredients like hemp, and Bob’s lessons from Hot Pockets about how consumers really use products.\n\nListen in as they discuss:\n\nWhy the simplest formula is the one that survives the jump from benchtop to manufacturing\nHow Bob coaches founders on whether consumers want what they are offering, and why a change in format can matter as much as the recipe\nWhy Bob tells clients not to expect to make money in the first year or two\nWhen to skip retail and start direct to consumer, including a client who got 12 inquiries in the first week of her website\nHow dropping gluten-free guardrails changed a protein and fiber cereal project\nWhy speed of response and momentum are a product developer’s best differentiators\nHow batter experience from corn dogs transferred to waffles, and why waffle batter has a short working life\nWhy protein popcorn is booming, and how a tight whey supply is pushing developers toward other proteins\nWhy parents happily ate a hemp protein...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/pMuUaMpWaAi3tfCEgC2OkLBVzokuLjLsIzwDIbGFqi4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9hMTFl/MTgxNTNlZTAwZjU1/ZmNmNWM1ZjkwMDg5/NTU4MS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}