EPISODE SUMMARY
Recorded 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.
Maddie 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.
KEY INSIGHTS
- Why Alter Eco prioritizes taste first—and uses product quality to earn consumers’ attention before communicating its sustainability credentials.
- How a seven-person team manages a national consumer brand through automation, detailed trade-spend management, and disciplined expense control.
- Why Alter Eco moved its logistics operation to Columbus, Ohio, cutting carbon emissions by 30% and saving more than $1 million.
- How the company evaluates packaging against product shelf life, ingredient integrity, price constraints, and environmental impact.
- Why eliminating a 79-cent truffle promotion that failed to increase sales protected hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- How 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.
- Why PACHA built its own manufacturing facility when the specialized, time-intensive sprouting and fermentation process proved difficult to outsource economically.
- How hand-slicing bread samples helped PACHA secure a Whole Foods contract before the company could afford the right industrial equipment.
- Why home-compostable packaging may not be the best environmental choice when consumer behavior and composting infrastructure cannot support it—and why PACHA is considering post-consumer recycled plastic instead.
- How Maddie Hamann uses written beliefs about her customers, company, and role to challenge unhelpful assumptions and stay effective in work that doesn’t always feel like her calling.
TIMESTAMPS
00:27 – Leading From the Edge at Ripple Fest
01:34– Keith Bearden: Building Alter Eco Around Sustainability
02:36 – Alter Eco’s Three Founding Principles
04:22 – Prioritizing Investments Within Price Constraints
06:50 – Why Taste Comes First
11:04 – How Lean Operations Fund Environmental Commitments
12:25 – The Logistics Decision That Cut Emissions and Costs
13:43 – Eliminating Promotions That Don’t Drive Sales
15:59 – Cocoa Prices, Supply Risk, and Farmer Relationships
21:37 – The Business Value of Long-Term Farmer Relationships
24:26 – Maddie Hamann: Scaling Pacha's Unconventional Product
25:25 – Pacha’s Unconventional Bread-Making Process
27:40 – Winning a Retail Contract Before Having the Right Equipment
30:53 – Rethinking Home-Compostable Packaging
35:55 – Leading When the Work Isn’t Your Calling
38:56 – The Written Beliefs That Help Maddie Keep Moving
RESOURCES & LINKS
Connect with Keith Bearden
Connect with Maddie Hamann
Connect with Anne Oudersluys and Core Impact:
What is Grow Good ?
Grow Good tells the story of purpose-driven leaders who grow their businesses while staying true to mission and values. Hosted by growth and brand strategist Anne Oudersluys, each episode features candid conversations with CEOs and founders about real decisions they make and how they operate across strategy, product, marketing, people, and scale. This show provides practical, thoughtful insight for leaders who want to grow with intention.