🔥 From a shed in Birmingham to a £611M exit — Al Barratt’s story is a masterclass in brand-building, balance, and staying sane in the chaos.
The Grenade founder reveals how he built a world-class product, a world-class team, and a brand people actually love — while ignoring industry noise, financial vanity metrics, and the temptation to chase every shiny trend.
This is an episode about focus, systems, and having fun while you build something remarkable — even when revenue is flat, growth stalls, or the journey feels uphill.
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🍫 How Grenade reinvented the protein bar category — “We didn’t invent them, we invented good ones” 🚀 From shed to £611M exit at 27x EBITDA 🧠 Don’t solve problems that don’t exist — why simplicity wins 🏋️♂️ “Be good and new” — how to win in stale categories 💼 The hidden path to profitability (and why you should never use your own money) 🔥 “Better revenue ≠ better business” — how flat sales can still mean a better company 👊 Building a world-class team and killing cultural cancers fast 📊 Understanding systems: category, context, and shelf strategy 💸 The 6 rules Al uses when investing in other founders 🥇 Compete where you’re strong and they’re weak — love competition 😌 Finding contentment on the journey — and why happiness fuels success, not the other way around
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What is HUNGRY.?
HUNGRY is THE podcast for Challenger FMCG & Hospitality Founders wanting to pour gasoline on growth.
We chat with the industry BIG HITTERS. We ooze out the HIDDEN success secrets they’ve never told before and dive deep into their gut-wrenching failures, so you avoid them.
We help you grow bigger, faster, stronger.
Over the last 6 years, we’ve chatted to some insane guests on the poddy:
Rory Sutherland, Seth Godin, Jamie Laing, Spencer
Matthews, Tom Kerridge, Sir John Hegarty,
The founders of SOHO House, TRIP, The Devonshire, Tony’s Chocolonely, Vita Coco
Look, I’ll be blunt,
HUNGRY is NOT your normal podcast.
HUNGRY is NOT scripted and sterile Q&A interviews.
HUNGRY is for pretty much no one.
HUNRGY is a deliciously fun, wild and crazy, ADHD rollercoaster of free flowing conversations.
