{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Startup CPG Podcast","title":"#251 - Scaling the Brand: Ops, Systems, and Simplicity with Mezcla and Doss","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2878,"description":"\nIn this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Yoga Charya, President and COO of Mezcla, and Sebastiaan Debrouwe from Doss, the operations cloud built for fast-growing CPG brands. Together, they trace the rise of Mezcla — one of the breakout brands in the crowded protein bar category — and unpack the operational philosophy that made it possible: simplicity scales.\n\nYoga shares how Mezcla has grown 2–3x annually for several years running, earned a cult following in specialty retail before breaking into Target, Publix, Costco, and Whole Foods (where they've expanded from 3 SKUs in 3 regions to 11–12 SKUs nationwide), and recently closed a Series B to fuel continued growth. The secret? Relentless focus on product quality, an ultra-lean team of tier-one operators, and a deliberate effort to keep the supply chain as simple as possible at every stage.\n\nSebastiaan adds the systems perspective — what Doss sees across the fast-growing brands they work with, why the real danger isn't complexity itself but the failure to design against it, and what separates brands that scale cleanly from those that get buried in operational debt.\n\nWhether you're just figuring out your ops model or wondering what breaks when you hit hypergrowth, this episode is full of hard-won insight.\n\nListen in as they discuss:\nHow Mezcla cracked the protein bar category with a product-led growth model and a \"bar made by foodies for foodies\" brand ethos\nWhy showing the actual product on front-of-pack — not flavor cues — became a competitive advantage\nThe \"land and expand\" playbook that took Mezcla from 3 Whole Foods regions to full national distribution\nWhy Yoga consolidated from two 3PLs to one Midwest warehouse — and why emerging brands almost always should\nHow a fully turnkey co-manufacturer relationship gives Mezcla cost visibility without operational overhead\nThe Crunch Council: how Mezcla brings structure to product quality and ingredient decisions as they scale\nWhy...","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}