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In this special episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff and Caitlin Bricker — a former retail buyer and managing editor at Startup CPG — pull back the curtain on the biggest thing Startup CPG has ever built: Opportunity Knocks. This is a brand new platform designed to give emerging CPG brands a direct line to some of the most exciting retailers, distributors, and industry stakeholders in the game — no broker required.
Opportunity Knocks drops exclusively in the Startup CPG newsletter every other Friday, starting May 1st. Each opportunity opens a two-week submission window for brands to apply directly. Featured retailers include names like Raley's, The Fresh Market, Hungryroot, and Whole Foods UK — with more on the way. Many opportunities will also include a virtual fireside chat with the retailer or stakeholder, giving brands a chance to hear exactly what they're looking for before submitting.
Daniel and Caitlin walk through everything brands need to know to make the most of this new platform — from what gets an application noticed to what quietly kills it. Caitlin brings her buyer lens to break down the basics that too many brands overlook, and Daniel shares the incrementality story that actually moves buyers and the mindset shift that separates brands who get picked up from the ones who keep getting passed over.
Listen in as they cover:
- Why Opportunity Knocks exists — and how it evolved from the retail tracker and review calendar
- How the submission process works: two-week windows, fireside chats, and what happens after you apply
- Which retailers and stakeholders are already involved — and what kinds of brands they're looking for
- Why your ingredient list, product packaging, and founder story all need to be on your website before you submit
- How to tell an incrementality story that actually gives a buyer confidence Why knowing the retailer's set — and speaking their language — can 10x your chances
- What consistent rejection is really telling you — and when it's time to take a hard look The ingredient and formulation trends brands should be paying attention to right now
- How to reach out if you're a retailer, distributor, or investor interested in participating
Retailers and other industry stakeholders interested in becoming part of this campaign initiative can reach out to OK@startupcpg.com.
If you’re a brand looking to submit your products to individual campaigns, sign up for our newsletter and Slack via startupcpg.com. Make sure you do it before 5/1 so you don't miss out on the first opportunity!
Interested in sponsoring Startup CPG, Opportunity Knocks, and other initiatives? Reach out to partnerships@startupcpg.com.
Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.
Show Links:
- Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Daniel's Linkedin
- Visit host Caitlin's Linkedin
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Creators and Guests
What is The Startup CPG Podcast?
The top CPG podcast in the world, highlighting stories from founders, buyer spotlights, highly practical industry insights - all to give you a better chance at success.
Caitlin Bricker
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. Today we are sharing something extra special with you. We've been cooking up something huge behind the scenes. I know you probably hear this from us often, but this is bigger and better than anything we've ever done before. And if we do say so ourselves, you are the first ones that get a chance to hear what we've been working on. So, Daniel, let us know, let everybody know. What have we been cooking up that.
00:38
Daniel Scharff
Was such a good buildup. This like me, my job is basically hype man, but I think maybe you have gotten even better than I have with all of the eight years of practice from doing Startup CPG. That was very appropriate hype up for the excitement that I feel in my bones of this new opportunity that we are bringing to everyone. So before I tell you what it is, I've been doing this for a long time. I started Startup CPG in 2018 and the idea was always it's too tough to be a brand and we just want to help with things for free because we enjoy it and we really feel like early stage brands can use the help.
01:13
Daniel Scharff
We as an organization have evolved in such enjoyable, fantastic ways where in those early stages it was really fun and meaningful just to do an event and get a lot of people together and create community, but we always raise the bar. And after a few years when we're doing events, we're like, if there aren't even buyers or investors here, what are we even doing? We want action. We want stuff to come out of what we're doing. We want high impact. So because of that, we've been able to really improve everything that we do. It's designed to actually get deals done. And you can see that evolution in the Grocery Run series that we do, for example, that is focused around bringing buyers and brands together in the markets in the most accessible way for brands.
01:55
Daniel Scharff
We also have been doing these one one meetings around all of the trade shows that result in so much for the brands. I mean, these we did, I think 600 one one meetings at one of the shows. It's amazing. And there are dozens, if not hundreds of deals that will actually happen. That's the stuff that really gets us going that makes us absolutely fight to sandwich in that last retailer meeting request that we get. And we've seen all of that success. And also at the same time, we're so lucky to get to partner with all of these incredible retailers around the country.
02:28
Daniel Scharff
And they actually come to us and say, how can I get More of this, because sometimes the one one meetings, they'll say it's the best thing that happens for them at the show because it's such a highly efficient use of their time. Or they'll come to one of our grocery runs and say, how could I, I want to be first to market with all of these brands? How could I be even sooner with them? These incredible high quality brands from our community who were so excited to help connect with them. The evolution of all of this incredible new platform that we are launching, it is called Opportunity Knocks. Because Startup CPG is the place where opportunity knocks year round.
03:06
Daniel Scharff
And we wanted to find a way to really encapsulate that and bring these opportunities not just at trade shows, not just at our events, but always for you. Because that's what I would want as a brand is a constant flow of opportunities to grow my brand. So what is Opportunity Knocks? We're getting to that. All right, but and just a reminder, we're very excited about it and it's a huge deal. It's the best thing we've ever done. But Opportunity Knocks is designed as a platform for brands to submit directly through exclusive opportunities to the most important retailers, distributors, stakeholders in the game. You guys know we did this review calendar, right? This retail tracker, we're so proud of it. It really is an extension of that work.
03:49
Daniel Scharff
So in case you aren't familiar, we created the retail tracker because when I was a brand, I didn't even know who the buyers were, but really even which retailers I should go after. And so we created the one true source of all the chains. It's hundreds of chains out there with full information on who they are, where they are. To help you understand that and then prioritize them, we also then went further and created the review calendar. So you know when, if they're on an actual review and if so, when is that review. This is even beyond that because what we wanted is to find opportunities to actually, maybe at some retailers, okay, you don't always have the time to wait a full year for another whenever the review is.
04:28
Daniel Scharff
But also they're really interested in finding the most exciting emerging brands, whether it happens to coincide with a review they're doing or they're just so interested in this pipeline of the most exciting emerging brands, which of course we have in our community. So we have created this opportunity that will drop on Fridays through a national email. And that's the only place it'll happen, is on our email where these opportunities are going to drop. And this is your chance to submit directly to these incredible opportunities. What are some of these opportunities, you might ask? These are going to be incredible retailers like Raley's, the Fresh Market, Hungryroot. These are the people you know are on the forefront of innovation trying to bring the most amazing stuff out there to their consumers.
05:16
Daniel Scharff
And we can help with that because if you're listening right now, there's a good chance you are one of those incredible brands that has what they're looking for. And when you're a brand it's sometimes you sit around and you don't necessarily know how to get access to even submit your product. It's hard to get through the clutter of maybe some of their portals. And so this is them saying we are here for it. We want to give you a direct line to our team through Opportunity Knocks. And we have some also retailers that we would not necessarily on your radar all the time, but we really think should be. And it may not be a fit for everyone, but it will definitely be for some people that never would have considered it.
05:54
Daniel Scharff
And I'll give you an example of that would be Whole Foods uk. If you're a brand interested in expanding the uk, they can be a really great place to start. They can help get you some anchoring, distribution and you know what to do with that once you get a foot in the door. And so expect from us. We're starting biweekly on Fridays to bring you some of the most incredible opportunities out there. And when opportunity knocks, you know what to do. Open the door, answer the door, throw your brand products through the door and hopefully we will get so many people on shelf with so many of these incredible retailers and they will be so excited the quantity and quality of what all you guys have been working on. Caitlin, how did I do? You've been very instrumental in this process as well.
06:41
Daniel Scharff
Do you feel like I'm missing any of the key details that brands might want to know?
06:46
Caitlin Bricker
No, I think you really built that up well and I think brands. If you are listening now, the first thing that you need to do after you stop listening to this episode is go and subscribe to the newsletter if you are not already subscribed. Daniel mentioned it already. But the only place you're going to find the link for these opportunities is via our newsletter. We're not free sharing them on Slack or not sharing them on social. You are only going to see it in your inbox via the newsletter and it drops on Fridays. Some details that you might want to know. We will be partnering with these Retailers, distributors, maybe even some investors, other stakeholders in the industry. And when these opportunities drop, you have the opportunity to go, then apply, submit your brand information to them.
07:30
Caitlin Bricker
The application will be open for two weeks. Once that two weeks is over, we close the gates, so you need to jump on them. We also have stakeholders who have opted into doing Fireside chats with us. So typically the Wednesday or the following week, after these opportunities open up, you'll get an opportunity to then sit down in a Fireside chat virtually with these stakeholders, where they'll share more about what they're looking for, what they're not looking for, how to best interact with them and work with them, and. And it will give you a little bit of insight into how they're thinking and what they're looking for. So this is going to be huge. These are happening off cycle, they're happening concurrently with reviews. But what's most exciting to me about this, everyone probably already knows this.
08:13
Caitlin Bricker
If you're not new here to the podcast, I have a buying background. The special thing about startup CPG is every single day there is a new and emerging brand hitting the market or about to hit the market. This is what's drawing these stakeholders and these retailers to us, because it's fresh every single day. So even if their category reviews open up and you miss it, they're missing out on you because they haven't even discovered you yet. How did I do?
08:40
Daniel Scharff
I love it. I love it. And yeah, I wonder, because probably so, okay, at this point, brands are beyond excited. They've heard how excited we are about this opportunity in there for foaming at the mouth to apply for all of these opportunities. But Caitlin, as a former buyer and having been with us for a long time, what kind of recommendations would you have for the brands for how to have their best chance at maybe getting picked up by one of these opportunities? What is it that they can do when they're submitting? You have seen so many of these applications and submissions. What do you think it is that can help them stand apart to hopefully at least get a conversation with the buyers when they have submitted?
09:19
Caitlin Bricker
Absolutely. Two things that immediately come to mind for me are if you do not have your ingredients listed on your website, get them on there now. What are you doing? A lot of these retailers have standards that you need to follow. They have sourcing standards, ingredient standards. If they can't see your ingredient list, they might not spend any more time looking on at your brand beyond the website. So get them on there. Second thing, have your brand packaging on your website. It's great to see your beverage poured out in a pretty glass, but we want to see what your product actually looks like because that's what it's going to look like on their shelves or on their online marketplaces. And a third one just because have an about section on your website. I personally love to learn about the founders behind the brands.
10:06
Caitlin Bricker
If you don't have that on there, get it on there. Tell your story. This is your chance. This is your opportunity. This all prepares you to be retail ready even if you're not on shelf yet.
10:17
Daniel Scharff
I love it. Those are pro tips. I will add in a couple more which are First, I think it's great for everybody to have that quick hitting data point that can separate you from the pack. Especially if you're in one of those categories that could be typically a little bit lower turning or extremely competitive because there are just so many brands who can launch in one of those categories like hot sauce or granola. Have something that will give the buyer confidence that your product will do well if they bring it in that it's incremental or highly differentiated because of flavors and you have some cool data point and we have plenty of resources to help you work on those data points if you're not sure exactly what that would be. Second, get to know the retailer.
10:57
Daniel Scharff
If you can include some of that in your application, something that's relevant to them, you are increasing your chances. 10X and Caitlin mentioned about the Fireside chats. We're hoping to do as many of those as possible with the retailers. But regardless, in the actual opportunity announcement we are going to include some info about them. It may be which distributors they can work with or what kind of products they're most interested in looking for. But in an ideal world you would actually go into their store and you would look at the set and you'd see what kind of products are there and how your product is different from those and what value you could add to the set for that buyer.
11:33
Daniel Scharff
And because they're not always thinking about that and you can help them by giving them that info like, hey, I went in, I looked at the set, I noticed that in my particular category you have this, but you don't have any product that does this. And we do really well when we sell and if we actually compare us to one of the products on your shelf, we're selling twice as much at this other store that's near you. That would be a great story to tell. You may not get quite that far, but at the very least, yeah, you could look at their ingredient standards or what they're all about, or see if you can hear the buyer on our podcast talking about what kind of products they look for and maybe weave some of that into your story.
12:06
Daniel Scharff
It's great when you show them that you know them because this industry, so much of it is about trust and speaking their language will help you build that trust in a lot of instances. So if you can do that stuff, I really recommend it. But I mean, that's on top of the basics, which is have a good product, have good branding, all of this stuff. There is a tough truth in this. And sometimes brands come to us and they say, I'm not getting picked by the retailers for all these opportunities. I apply for absolutely everything. I never get picked up. That also, there is feedback in that and I think sometimes it is worth taking a hard look at. Okay.
12:42
Daniel Scharff
If you've been doing this for a couple years and retailers are not picking up what you're putting down, you may be one magical pivot away from a product that will get yeses. And at some point, I think it is good to really consider, are you getting good looks? Are you consistently not getting good looks? And if so, is there something maybe you could do that will actually mean that all this love and care and time and passion that you're putting into this can be more fruitful? So I would say all of those things. But in general, remember what buyers are looking to do is sell more out of their set. And a lot of that is going to be around incrementality stories.
13:17
Daniel Scharff
Can you help me bring consumers into my store or into my set or just sell more in general because you have stuff that isn't here. Typically they don't care so much about, like, hey, I. You could swap me out instead of this other product and then sell mine. Like, okay, they don't care about that, right? What does that do for their overall metrics? But if you can really tell them a story of growth and then lock them in to believe in your product, you're going to be in a good state. You could also learn about what kind of marketing programs they have available. Often we will have that on our podcast, but we have that in the retail tracker sometimes as well. And just kind of be aware of what some of the fees are that may be involved.
13:54
Daniel Scharff
But there are ways to weave that in as well. There are questions in the form where you could talk about, like, you know, we'll do great on shelf, by the way. I really plan on leveraging the retail media network that you have to support the business or we have a healthy demo budget that we would deploy for you or hey, I know you like exclusive SKUs and here is a beautiful exclusive SKU for you for three months. Stuff like that I think can really help you stand out in a competitive world because we are bringing you these exclusive opportunities. But our community is big and highly engaged and the excitement that you feel right now, a lot of other people feel.
14:29
Daniel Scharff
And so what we want to do is just best prepare all of you to put your best foot forward when you are making these submissions. Caitlin, anything else that maybe I left out? Another final word for brands that are getting ready to take a big swing.
14:41
Caitlin Bricker
At some of these, I think we covered a lot. We covered a lot. I think the one last thing maybe I would add to that is if you are continuously getting these no's for these opportunities, if you're getting customer feedback and if it's consistent customer feedback, look into that. Because if it's coming from your customers, it's likely going to come from your retailers customers as well. So just a little something to consider.
15:05
Daniel Scharff
Very well said. And so I guess I'll just leave you guys with just a reminder that we want for all of you to be successful and we really recognize how much of your eggs are in this basket of launching your CPG brand and how much it takes from you. Because on our team we all come from the brand side. We've all been at brands and we understand you're. Whether you're a founder or you're just at a brand that is a startup, there is a amount of pressure, anxiety, ambition that is very different from working at a big corporate job, which most of us have done as well. And it's the kind of pressure that doesn't leave you on the weekends or at night or during spring break or summer, it's always with you.
15:51
Daniel Scharff
And it is a fundamental difference between you and a lot of your friends out there who can have a carefree enjoyment of leisure time where most people who are just absolutely locked into this thing trying to build their business, it's always on your mind. It's this weight and opportunity that you always carry. And we understand that and it is why we work so hard to bring these opportunities to you. Because most of you who are in that situation don't have unlimited budget to hire brokers who would have better access to the buyers or big marketing firms and all of the resources out there that when I did work in big cpg and I know what they have.
16:32
Daniel Scharff
I know what you're fighting against and these are the kind of things that we're trying to bring to you to give you a bit of an advantage, I would say. The one thing that probably everybody listening to this podcast has on their side is the tides are changing. Actually the industry, actually, as long as I've been in it, has been progressing more towards innovation and better for you. But the feeling that I have is that it's picking up and it's increasing and probably you can feel it in the water. Acquisition activity has picked back up. Retailers you never would have expected are now launching innovation sets and becoming much more accessible out at the trade shows. Really, it's a response to what consumers are looking for and maybe it's the Instagram Revolution or TikTok or whatever platform you're on.
17:22
Daniel Scharff
People are just interested in new stuff and discovering stuff and by and large the new stuff that they discover is going to better for you. Because very few people that I know start a new brand and they're like, yeah, it's just like that other stuff that's off shelf. Rather, most people are like, it's like that but better. And that's the thing that tickles us, that we get really excited about is just the ability of everybody to try to improve what's out there through their own sales and honestly, through influencing what a lot of the big CPGs do as well, because they do have to adapt and react.
17:54
Daniel Scharff
And just going back to the point, Caitlin, you made about ingredients on your website, it's an interesting point because I often notice that some of the brands that don't have it might because there is an ingredient they're not so sure about. Like, well, I do have that one sweetener in there. But if you do feel that way, do something about it. Actually, the technology that's out there with formulators and flavor houses, it's. There's a very good chance that they can fix that for you. And I wouldn't be shy about it. Like work on products for so long where I just wish we had actually changed one thing about the formulation so much earlier. It's not a huge thing to do. It just gets more painful the longer you wait.
18:32
Daniel Scharff
So you can see, like, pay attention to the trends around things like sweeteners and the kind of things that are popping up on some more progressive retailers. No, no list. Because it's going to come if that is your understand how that interacts with your channel strategy. Also, because we just, we hate to think of putting in A lot of effort, places where it just may not work out in the long run also. So those are the kind of things that we want for you that is reflected in us bringing you these opportunities. And you know, lastly, I would just say when opportunity knocks, but it doesn't always knock twice. So these submission windows are typically going to be open for two and that's it. The form will close, the ship has sailed and your brand is either on board or it's not.
19:16
Daniel Scharff
So definitely pay extra attention to our emails on Fridays. Be subscribed, be checking and when the opportunity comes along, would definitely encourage you to get across it as quickly as possible. If there is a Fireside Chat, it'll be listed in that email. You could decide, I want to wait for that Fireside Chat to see if there's any additional info. That's totally cool. We're not going to send over the submissions before that anyways. We'll send them along when they're complete with the full window, so feel free to do that. And yeah, definitely let us know if there are retailers you feel like we should be considering for some of these opportunities. If you are a retailer listening and you would like to get in on the fun, then you could let us know. You could email us if you're a retailer.
19:59
Daniel Scharff
Caitlin, what's the magic email?
20:00
Caitlin Bricker
It's OK@startupcpg.com it's just the two letters. OK. Opportunity Knocks. And that is just for. For stakeholders, retailers, distributors, investors, et cetera, not for brands. If you are a brand and you email us there, you will be ignored. Reading is a big part of applying to stores and submitting, so keep that in mind.
20:23
Daniel Scharff
Subtext. Do not email that.
20:25
Caitlin Bricker
If you're brand and you can sign up for the newsletter, just go to startupcpg.com. It's right on the homepage. Give us your info and you'll get a newsletter in return.
20:33
Daniel Scharff
All right, and just final reminder, for brands out there, we do love getting to know you and your product. These opportunities, they are decided by the retailers. We are here as a facilitator to give you the chance to submit to them. Our team is not involved in the selection process, nor should we be. We are just providing the means. We obviously also have some of our own programs. We have the Shelfie Awards. We have a lot of our own events as well. Do have a full committee on our team that looks at a lot of the submissions for those things. And if you're looking for the best way for us to get to know your products better, they are number One submit to the shelfies. That's a great thing to do. Submissions are currently open. You could submit right now to that program.
21:14
Daniel Scharff
They will close soon. So again, opportunity opens, but it shuts real quick. But that is our team actually is all meeting up at a house in LA to try all the products together. And it's a great way for us to understand your brand and your products and what it could be a good fit for. Separate from that, you know, we have events everywhere and our team and you know, Caitlin and Patty and social media team, we are crawling those events, looking at all of the products there. So whether you have a table and you're sampling or you're just walking around with your product, we pretty much always say yes to trying whatever it is you have, even if it's like in a funny plastic baggie and we're like, this is what I'm here to do. Yes, I will try this.
21:51
Daniel Scharff
And actually, we have discovered some of the most amazing products that way. So that's what I would recommend is just please come out to our event, stop by our section, come chat with our team. We do this for the joy of helping emerging brands and discovering new products is one of the biggest joys for us.
22:09
Caitlin Bricker
My DMs are always open. You can slack me, you can get at me on Instagram. If your ingredients are checking out and they're looking good, you can always send me a sample. And if it's not for me, I'll pass it on to somebody else on the team. So don't be shy.
22:24
Daniel Scharff
Yes, pro tip. Caitlin does not like artificial flavors or colors.
22:29
Caitlin Bricker
I prefer no natural flavors. I do think the industry is trending that way. There's a big question mark on whether or not that's clean. So I think we're going to be seeing some more chatter about that. But retailers, as far as I know, are not. They're not giving the ax to natural flavors just yet. So you're in the clear for now. And for me, too. I'll still eat it. I prefer not to, but I'll still do it.
22:51
Daniel Scharff
But it better be good.
22:52
Caitlin Bricker
I have to say, this one time I got a pineapple flavored beverage. It had natural flavors in it. Pineapple was not listed on the ingredient list. It was pine flavored. I feel like there was a mistake in the flavor house and they put pine instead of pineapple. This is not a joke. I'll tell you who it was after we hang up. But just a little heads up there.
23:13
Daniel Scharff
Whoa. That is wild. Probably a food scientist listening could think of a lot of ways that could happen, but just like really again, also it gives me like flushed just remembering being a brand and all the times that could have easily happened because of, gosh, like so many things can go wrong when you're actually producing physical product. But we love it and despite all of the challenges of this industry, we're all in it because we love it. And so thank you everybody for listening today. I want to give a special thanks to Caitlin who is instrumental and actually bringing so many of these opportunities together to bring to you guys. It really is a joy for us. We really believe in this program and we think it's going to.
23:53
Daniel Scharff
We are so excited as a team to celebrate all of the wins that are going to come from this. As you guys can imagine, we as a team do celebrate your wins as if they were our own all the time. Our team chat is basically just a feed of celebrating all the brands that we hear about that are winning through opportunities that we've helped create. And we just party every time we hear it, whether it's from a one one meeting or one of our grocery runs or whatever it was. That's what we do all day long. And we are very excited to keep that party going and multiply it from through Opportunity Knocks. So look forward to hearing about the first one which will drop on May 1st.
24:31
Daniel Scharff
Lock your calendar, get your submission ready, take a big old swing because opportunity is coming and I hope you'll be home.
24:39
Caitlin Bricker
We are so excited. May 1st. Like Daniel said, mark your calendar and subscribe ASAP. If you're not in our newsletter yet. See you later.
24:47
Daniel Scharff
See you later. Bye everyone. Thank you. Well my friends, we've now arrived together at the end of another episode of the Startup CPG podcast, the top globally ranked podcast in cpg. As you may know, we're not just a podcast, we're a community of brands and experts and you should join. You can sign up @startupcpg.com you'll then get an invite to our online Slack community. You're going to hear about amazing events near you, all of our special opportunities to get you in front of buyers, investors, brands and more. It's a free community, so what are you waiting for? I will see you there or on our next episode. Bye Bye.