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In this special episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with the three winning brands from Startup CPG's biggest-ever Grocery Run event — held the night before the KeHE Summer Show in Denver. Kiki Couchman (co-founder of Sourmilk), Cam Loyet (founder of Honeymoon Chocolate), and Ryan Raish (founder of Fave) share what it was like to compete among 70 vetted brands in front of 400 buyers and KeHE account managers, and what the night led to for each of their businesses.
Kiki describes how the Grocery Run served as the perfect training ground before Expo West — her brand's very first trade show experience — and how every single conversation felt worth the flight to Denver. Cam shares how the reaction to his brand-new honeycomb chocolate product completely blew away his expectations compared to years of selling bars at Whole Foods. And Ryan reveals how a 15-minute huddle at the event turned into a verbal commitment from Sprouts for a national launch into their innovation set in June — completely reshaping Fave's go-to-market strategy.
Throughout the episode, the founders share hard-won advice on how to stand out at a trade show: bringing a physical hook to the table (like a raw honeycomb frame or a cocoa pod), using bright visuals and branded tablecloths, asking questions instead of pitching, and keeping the energy low-pressure and relationship-first. Ryan also opens up about what made him finally launch his own brand after years in the industry — and why his 4-year-old daughter naming the company "Fave" during a preschool taste test was the sign he needed.
Whether you're preparing for your first trade show, evaluating whether KeHE is the right distribution partner, or just trying to understand what these Grocery Run events are all about, this episode is packed with real, actionable insight from founders who just lived it.
Listen in as they discuss:
- What it actually feels like to exhibit at a Grocery Run event — the energy, the camaraderie, and the buyer openness
- How Sourmilk used the event to identify which regions were responding best to their product without paying for SPINS data
- Why Honeymoon Chocolate's new honeycomb product stole the show — and what it means for their product strategy going forward
- How Fave secured a verbal commitment from Sprouts for a national innovation set launch — all from a 15-minute conversation at the event
- Booth setup tips: physical hooks, branded tablecloths, tall pitchers, and light leave-behinds buyers will actually carry
- How to get a buyer's attention without being pushy — asking for feedback instead of selling, calling out the double-take, and keeping it friendly
- Why Ryan spent years in CPG before launching his own brand — and the personal criteria he required before doing it
- What early-stage brands can realistically expect from a KeHE onboarding opportunity
Episode Links:
Thank you to KeHe Distributors and our sponsors from our Denver Grocery Run!
Thank you to KeHe Distributors and our sponsors from our Denver Grocery Run!
What's Next? KeHE Holiday Show Grocery Run, Chicago, June 9th
APPLY NOW: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCr-xzT5_hPGE0CpRhVE2QnTIK_pysg-Sz-o-TP2l_rDsVBQ/viewform
Kiki Couchman – Sourmilk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-kiki-c-242929112/
Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sourmilk/ Website: https://www.sourmilk.com/
Cam Loyet – Honeymoon Chocolate
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camloyet/
Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/honeymoonchocolates/
Website: https://hmchocolates.com/
Ryan Raish – Fave
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanraish/
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/favemixes/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanraish/
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/favemixes/
Daniel Scharff – Founder, Startup CPG
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danscharff/
Startup CPG Newswire: https://startupcpg.com/newswire
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danscharff/
Startup CPG Newswire: https://startupcpg.com/newswire
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
- 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.
Kiki Couchman
There's such, like, camaraderie amongst the other brands, which I always really appreciate in these environments. It never feels competitive. It always feels like everyone's trying to help each other. There's more pie to be gained, I guess, for everybody else. And then in terms of just the buzz of the buyers, I think there was such an openness that everybody had, which I really appreciated. Right. The buyers are there to actually explore new items. They want to because they know that these are vetted brands that are, you know, have a lot of potential in their market. So everything felt like an open conversation and less of like a prove to me what your value is. Which I think sometimes there can be that dynamic.
00:47
Daniel Scharff
Welcome to the Startup CPG podcast. Recently we got to throw our biggest grocery run ever at the KeHE Summer show in Denver. We had 400 buyers and KeHE account managers there. We had 70 of the best brands of the year. And overall, we're so grateful for KeHE for partnering with us on this incredible opportunity for all of these brands to get discovered and first to market opportunities and so much more. It was such a special event that I wanted to invite the three winning brands onto the podcast so you could hear it right from them. I want you to hear what it was like, who they met, and you just aren't going to believe the overall energy of the event unless you hear it directly from them. I'm also so excited to announce we are running it back.
01:30
Daniel Scharff
KeHE is so thankfully partnering with us again at the Chicago show and you can apply for your brand. The application details are going to be sent out via the Startup CPG email list and on our Slack channel. And I really can't recommend highly enough taking advantage of this opportunity. It can be a complete game changer. As you're about to hear from the brands on the podcast, thank you so much. Also to our sponsors, we don't get to do any of the fun stuff that we want to do without them. So thank you to them for sponsoring us and supporting all of the brands in this community. That's Advantage Solutions, FDM Sales Management, GreenSpoon Sales, Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers, Ignite Sales Service, which is part of Acosta and Vori. Thank you all so much. All right, I hope you all enjoy this episode.
02:17
Daniel Scharff
Here we go. All right, welcome everybody to a very special episode of the Startup CPG podcast. Recently we got to put one of the most ridiculously incredible events that we've ever done, and I'm so excited for everyone to get to hear a little bit about it. Honestly, it blows my mind that this is the kind of stuff that we get to do and the opportunities we get to bring to brands and it makes me so happy. So we partnered with KeHE recently and we got to do our biggest grocery run event ever the night before their KeHE summer show that was in Denver, Colorado. So the night before the show, there are tons of buyers in town.
02:59
Daniel Scharff
The K team is in town and they let us show up with 70 of the absolute best brands from our community who are not yet working with KeHE. And they had their team and the buyers walk around this grocery run, sample all these brands they're looking for first to market opportunities. They're looking for which brands should be onboarded to KeHE for distribution opportunities. And actually everybody's getting to vote on it. So at the end of the night, then we tallied up all of the votes and today you're going to get to hear from the three winners. So first of all, thank you guys each for joining us here today. So maybe we could just start with some quick intros. Kiki, I'm going to come to you first.
03:39
Kiki Couchman
Awesome. Thank you, Daniel, so much for having us here. My name is Kiki. I'm the co founder of Sour Milk. We are a Greek yogurt that's specifically designed for your gut because other yogurts don't actually have the probiotics. Your body needs to heal. So we're putting that in the foods that you eat every single day so you can get 15 grams of protein, 0 grams of added sugar and all the benefits of the probiotic supplement. That's a little background on my company.
04:00
Daniel Scharff
Perfect.
04:01
Daniel Scharff
Yes. We will come back to that. Okay, Cam, coming to you next.
04:04
Cam Loyet
Thank you, Daniel, for having us and for putting on the grocery run. It was a fantastic experience. Honeymoon started out of a dorm room. We make ethical craft chocolate sweetened with raw honey. Most recently, we received our organic certification.
04:17
Daniel Scharff
And yeah, excited to be here today. All right. Okay, Ryan, round us off here. Coming to you.
04:23
Ryan Raish
Awesome. Thanks, Daniel. Yeah. My name is Ryan Raish. I'm the founder of Fave. We are an organic flavor first drink mix, reinventing the nostalgic powdered drink mixes that we all grew up with. Those high sugar, high artificial drink mixes. We are the first certified organic non GMO flavor first drink mix with no artificial colors or flavors. So really excited to be here.
04:46
Daniel Scharff
All right. I love it. So first of all, congratulations to you guys because to get into this event was already incredibly competitive. We had many hundreds of applications because of the Magnitude of this opportunity, Right? So the KeHE shows are great shows and to be on the actual floor, you have to be working with KeHE, right? So you have to be distributed by KeHE and then you can purchase a booth and come and meet all of the epic buyers and KeHE team members who are at the show. This opportunity was for brands not yet working with them, who would like to. And this was such an incredible chance to actually get to come and sample the night before the show for so many of their key buyers and look for those opportunities to get anchored into the DCs.
05:33
Daniel Scharff
No surprise there were so many applications then for this. And so even just to get selected for this already says incredible things about your brand. But then to actually be in the top three of the 70 brands that were there is ridiculous because the quality was just so high. That was the feedback that we got really consistently from KeHE. And the buyers on the floor was just like, kid in a candy store, kid in a non GMO organic candy store. They were just so happy with the selection and I'm sure you guys felt that. So Kiki, coming to you first. What did it actually feel like to be there? How would you describe this opportunity to somebody who had never heard of Grocery Run and didn't really even know what was going on?
06:14
Kiki Couchman
Daniel, I have so many thoughts and reflections in the most, in the best way possible. We had never done a show, period. I had never had a booth at any type of retail trade show. And for us, it felt like the training wheels to actually we ended up having a booth a few weeks later at Expo West. And so this was like the best experience to have before actually doing something at the Big Dog, so to speak. But what I will say is I was so surprised at the quality you said, the quality of us as the suppliers. I was so surprised at the quality of all the retailers. So, you know, everyone had warned me, you go to a trade show, you talk to a million people and it's exhausting. And most of those people don't provide any value.
06:54
Kiki Couchman
Well, actually, at the start of CPG grocery run, it was like 100% of the people that walked by were a potential buyer we would actually want to work with. And so it felt like every single conversation we had, like all three hours that were there, was well worth the flight to Denver just to be there and table and get in front of these folks. So for me, it was completely worth it, a hundred percent from the actual conversations we had, but then also the experience of like understanding what it Feels like to stand behind a booth and pitch your product, you know, a hundred times over and try to get somebody's attention to get a sample. So it was a fantastic experience for us.
07:30
Daniel Scharff
Well, for sure, you guys make it look like it's not your first time, especially because you did so well. And so who were some of the people that you were most excited to get to see there? Which buyers or reps?
07:46
Kiki Couchman
Yeah, this will definitely be sort of the, a little revealing of what our retail approach looks like. But for 2026, we're super early. We are currently just in the tri state area and the next six months is really focused on the northeast. And so it was really important for us to talk to folks who are like, who else are in the northeast that we can really work with that are part of KeHE? And then separately we're choosing two to three other regions that we actually really want to go deep into this year. And so that was super exciting was we found that there was a lot of pull with both the Midwest, so were talking to fresh time a lot and a lot of folks in that area.
08:22
Kiki Couchman
But then also Southern California, so lots of conversations with Gelson's and, you know, other big accounts down in Southern California. So that was really helpful data for us to understand, like, where's the market responding well to sour milk. So that way, you know, we don't have access to the spins data yet. We're not paying the big bucks. But can we get the sort of qualitative data points on where would be the best next few places to go?
08:45
Daniel Scharff
I love it. And they all did come by. It was just such a power packed room. It was really crazy. Can you just describe for me what the room actually felt like? Like the layout and you know, was it like crazy? Was it calm? What did it feel like in the moment?
09:02
Kiki Couchman
It was sort of one of those things where you have a little, I always, I had a little like butterflies right before, like all the buyers came in, but it almost felt like you're all part of a team. I don't know if Ryan and Cam, you felt like this, but there were like my teammates to my right and my left and across the way. Who, who are the other folks who have different companies and you know, we're all setting up, we're all there an hour before and you know, it's like the sprouts buyers walking around and everyone's looking at each other like, that's him. You know, like, get on your best behavior. Like make sure, you know, we're all trading notes and looking at each other. And so there's such, like, camaraderie amongst the other brands, which I always really appreciate in these environments.
09:37
Kiki Couchman
It never feels competitive. It always feels like everyone's trying to help each other. There's pie to be gained, I guess, for everybody else. And then in terms of just the buzz of the buyers, I think there was such an openness that everybody had, which I really appreciated. Right. The buyers are there to actually explore new items. They want to be there because they know that these are vetted brands that are, you know, have a lot of potential in their market. So everything felt like an open conversation and less of like a prove to me what your value is. Which. Which I think sometimes there can be.
10:07
Daniel Scharff
That dynamic that is so great to hear, and that's what I hope. And I honestly think it's one of those situations where they're excited about the event and then they come and they're just seeing so many great brands that then they're in a great mood and then they're walking around just like, great, let's see what other hits are here. And so that's sort of where you get that open, great energy feeling, where it's just going well for everybody, and people are so open to discovery and seeing what other innovation is at the next booth. And everything is just hitting so well. So I love to hear that. Okay, Cam, I'm coming to you. Honestly, your product, for me was one of the just absolute breakout, surprise hits. One of the most interesting bites I've ever had, I think, where I just tried it.
10:53
Daniel Scharff
I remember looking around people like, have you ever heard of a honeycomb? Like a full, like, real honeycomb wrapped in chocolate, like, bite this. This is crazy. Cam, what was. What was that like for you?
11:08
Cam Loyet
We just recently launched that product. It's funny you mentioned that. And to kind of juxtapose it against our bars. Been selling bars and local whole foods for a few years now. Just seeing the reaction from the buyer at Gelson's and the buyer at Fresh Thyme, and kind of comparing that to what the bar market has been for us was just. It just blew my mind. But, yeah, the show itself, like Kiki mentioned, there was some camaraderie. People across from you, people next to you're all sharing samples and sharing tips and tricks, and it was kind of the best of Expo west or fancy food, without having all of the people come by that maybe want to sell you something.
11:46
Daniel Scharff
Yes. Yeah, that is true. It was a very focused environment. And just so everyone knows, we basically had a huge ballroom in a hotel and then we had the 70 brands lined up in rows and around the edge. And so it was just the buyers and the KeHE account managers who are incredible allies for brands and can really champion you through to a buyer as well. So it felt very focused. Yeah. Because the only people other than brands and buyers in the KeHE team who are there were our amazing sponsors and who are great partners for the brands. We're really happy to have them there. But yeah, really just. Yeah, pretty focused, I would say. So we.
12:26
Daniel Scharff
Wait, Cam, how would you describe this bite that I had to somebody in a way that's better than how I would describe it because mainly I just have my eyes wide open and I'm floored by it. But yeah, talk me through how you could describe it to somebody who'd never had it.
12:40
Cam Loyet
It's nature's most decadent or sweet truffle. We get honeycomb fresh from the hive. We cut it here at House and then we dip it with organic fair trade cocoa. So it's as natural as it gets. And it's really the coated's easiest way to enjoy honeycomb. It's not as messy, but it just kind of explodes in your mouth whenever you eat it. And yeah, super sweet. A great way to enjoy that is amazing.
13:04
Daniel Scharff
Cam, anybody who's listening right now, if you didn't just get starving for honeymoon chocolates, definitely, then I can't relate to you because it just makes me very hungry. So. Okay, Cam, just fast forwarding a little bit then. You obviously did so well at the show. People were really talking up your product a ton. Like you mentioned, you've been in Whole Foods for all and you've been selling bars. What does this kind of do to your trajectory? Like what you learned about the response for that product and now that you'll be getting into KeHE and growing with them as a result of how well you performed there, what does it mean for you guys?
13:39
Cam Loyet
It meets a lot. Being able to have that real time feedback. We were just going to double down on the product that people love. So the bars have been doing really well for us, but the honeycomb, it seems like we've received so well. I mean, you see people's face light up whenever they bite into the honeycomb. Quite the reaction and you get time after time.
13:59
Daniel Scharff
That's awesome. Okay, Ryan, saving our fav for last. Fav. Junk free favorites, of course. Ryan, take me through it for you as well. What was your experience like yeah, so.
14:10
Ryan Raish
You know, we're just launching and we're evaluating like how we go to market, right? Do we find a larger strategic, do we open up different regions of KeHE? And this kind of opportunity gave us an opportunity to kind of jump right in and get face to face with a lot of different KeHE account managers, our category manager and then all the retailers that come together. You know, that was really, I think the big opportunity there. And I've been in this industry for a long time working for a lot of other brands and doing it with my own brand.
14:39
Ryan Raish
Now it's just a completely different mindset of how you take a brand from scratch to market and being able to put faces to names and get out from behind a computer and all that kind of stuff and even not even be in a competitive trade show environment. I think Kiki, you like mentioned this, but it was just open conversations, right? It's not like a typical keiki show where buyers are coming up and they know they're going to get sold. Like they had the ability to just come up and want to just chat with you and to learn about your product and they had plenty of time to do it. There was no rush, they weren't walking a huge show floor, all that kind of stuff. So it was a very friendly environment.
15:17
Ryan Raish
And you know, you mentioned as well, like every brand there was just wanted to see everybody succeed. I think it was the last 30 minutes of it or so when it was kind of just brands still hanging around, running around, sampling and doing that sort of stuff. But just the super high energy which you normally don't get at the end of a full trade show. Everyone's pretty burnt out here. It was like this pumped up. Like we did it, we had a great show. Like let's see where this goes. So perfect opportunity. It was so much fun to attend.
15:44
Daniel Scharff
I love that. And I don't know if you felt this from my vantage point because I wasn't working a booth, I was working, walking around and seeing the interactions. I was watching a lot of these epic retailers who are also very much focused on first to market. They love being first to market with incredible new brands. So I'm watching Gelson's and Sprouts and Erewhon and I'm just, you know, seeing like them kind of rush up to so many of the different booths and get just wide eyed and excited and talk about first market opportunities and I'm just seeing the brands feeling like almost overwhelmed with all of this opportunity. It was just such a cool environment. To see that. So I'm really glad that everybody felt that same energy on the floor.
16:28
Daniel Scharff
Ryan, for you, what were some of the coolest conversations that you had or stuff that you're most excited about?
16:34
Ryan Raish
So, again, were trying to decide on our route to market. We're Southern California based. We had a mindset of just trying to open up the Chino DC here and go after some of the smaller retailers and pick some of those off. One of the my favorite that came by was a small little shop in my hometown called Just Peachy Market. Like, it was great to see them and just kind of see them at a big show like this. But a little bit later, the Sprouts team had come by and were super excited to see them. We initially had some earlier conversations with them and their whole team was there. A broker that were talking with about working with them was there, and were all huddled together for a good 15 minutes.
17:10
Ryan Raish
And while we're at the show, we got the verbal commitment from Brody and the team at Sprouts that were going into their set nationally and this last week of June into the innovation set. So really excited about that. And I think this partnership now, like with KeHE and having everyone there being able to fast track the setup process with KeHE and all these nuances of onboarding, distributor and all that kind of stuff, we're able to just quickly turn around here, which that process, I think can sometimes slow. Slow some brands down or opportunities down. And we're able to move quickly. Since were at the show and it was, okay, we're done, let's start filling out the paperwork. So that opportunity was huge for us, and that kind of like reestablishes a route to market.
17:51
Ryan Raish
And what we're going to do this summer, instead of a, like a narrower regional approach, we're going to jump in and go all in and give Sprouts the first to market. On the retail side of it, I love it.
18:02
Daniel Scharff
Okay. And then, Ryan, I have to ask this because you mentioned you've worked for so many other brands in the past, and now you're making a go for it with your own brand. What do you feel like are the lessons that you learned that are going to help you the most and what do you feel like has been the biggest surprise?
18:17
Ryan Raish
Yeah, you know, I think financial decisions are a lot. You really grasp those more. You're spending your own money and it's your investor's money or whatever it may be. So really taking a deep dive into all those Expenses and making sure that there's an ROI on them or that plan is clear with those. So that's been one of them. And again, just the launch, the route to market and the launch, like there's so many different ways you can go about this and the value of choosing the right retailer, the right distributor, the right broker as a brand new brand. And these are your first decisions. These can have huge impacts on the growth and the trajectory of where your brand goes.
18:56
Ryan Raish
So I think making those decisions, not taking them lightly, interviewing as many people as you can and taking your time with to this, it's not a rush, this. While this industry, things move quick, they also move slow. So taking your time and making sure you make those right decisions out of the gate was super important. And I think that this opportunity that you set up with a show was perfect proof for that you can find these opportunities in the community you've created, like to take that step back and connect with everyone else on it. So yeah.
19:25
Daniel Scharff
And how did you decide after being in the industry for so long that you were going to do your own brand, that this was the brand you were going to launch?
19:32
Ryan Raish
Yeah, great question. So I've always wanted to start my own brand, but I know just how tough this industry is. There was literally a couple years ago I was like, this industry's just, I'm getting gray hair now. You know, it's tough, but this industry's so much fun that I knew I wanted to do it. I personally had some criteria of a product line that I needed to have before I launched a brand and one that was, I needed something that had a very long shelf life. I needed something that was incredibly light to ship and I needed something that required little to no consumer education. And two years ago I was at the grocery store with my kids and my 4 year old at the time grabbed big tub of Kool Aid and handed it to me.
20:10
Ryan Raish
And I, you know, looked at the back and nothing but artificial colors, flavors, tons of sugar. And I took a step back, looked at the whole category and was like, whoa, how has there not been a brand disruptor in this category here? And did my homework and there isn't, you know, from what I've gained is that everyone innovates with some sort of a function and I didn't want to compete with that. So went town and my daughter, during a panel taste test we did with a bunch of preschool kids one day stood up and goes, dad, this one's my fave. It's like, whoa, hey, now we can name this company, like possibly if I can get the trademark. And all these stars started aligning. And that was the opportunity. I think when those stars align, you know, you need to go for it.
20:49
Ryan Raish
And that was it. So here we are.
20:51
Daniel Scharff
Oh yeah, that'll be the test. Can you come up with as good of a TV character as Kool Aid? Oh, yeah. Okay. So Cam, let me start with you. If you're going to talk to a brand who's getting this kind of an opportunity and they need to do well, you know, they're coming to the show, they're going to have a table set up. And in that crucial moment when a buyer is going to glance at their booth and decide whether they're going to stop or not or whether they're interested, how could they do really well and try to stand out? You know, aside from just the product being good?
21:25
Cam Loyet
I've always brought samples obviously in our retail setup just so they can kind of see what it looks like on shelf. But above and beyond that, we bring our branding branded tablecloth and then also kind of a hook. So we bring like a fresh honeycomb on a frame or a cocoa pod from Ecuador. It's just the little things you put on the edge of a table just to kind of bring them over and like, oh, what is this like? Well, all of our chocolate is maybe just these two ingredients. It's honeycomb and it's cocoa. So trying to have a little bit of a hook is nice. And some solid branding helps too. And then obviously having a solid product helps.
22:00
Daniel Scharff
I love that. And I, it didn't occur to me, but that probably is one of the reasons that I was so interested to stop by your booth at the beginning is because I probably saw that honeycomb and it looks amazing. Like, what is this? What do you have? Okay, I need to try this. What's going on? Okay, Brian, I'm going to come to you with the same question. If you're giving recommendations and I know you have worked trade show circuit, I know you know how to crush these things. So what would you tell to a new brand trying to stand out and crush at a show like this?
22:29
Ryan Raish
Yeah, I mean this show is a little different. Right. Because there was no full booths, we didn't have backdrops or we didn't have pop up banners. So coming, I think with the restrictions of what you can and can use at a booth, but I believe it's like a six foot table. So I think a branded tablecloth is key and the visualization on that table to capture attention. So we have a very bright, colorful drinks. We use some very tall pictures that people can see the product, the bright colors. Especially in natural food world, when you see super bright drinks like this, it's kind of out of the norm because you're not used to these vibrant colors. It's traditionally looks very artificial. So we like to be very bold with that to catch people's attention. And then beyond that, like just your basic sell sheets.
23:11
Ryan Raish
Something for somebody to go home with, your business cards and something light for buyers to carry.
23:16
Cam Loyet
Right.
23:16
Ryan Raish
They're not gonna lug around a bunch of heavy stuff usually. So those easy things that they can carry home with them and find in their bag later so they can reference you or reach back out to you is super important. So luckily for us, we have these small little flavor sticks so we can just throw it in a bag. They can take a bunch of them and it makes a lot easier.
23:32
Daniel Scharff
So Ryan, you're behind the table in this kind of an environment. What do you think when like, okay, you see a buyer come by and either you know who they are or you don't because we do have name tags at these events, but maybe you can't see it or maybe you do know who they are. What is your approach to trying to get them to stop and be engaged? Like trying to, you know, make sure you are being appropriately aggressive and flagging them down. You don't want them to just not really notice and kind of walk by and you miss your shot. But also without pressuring them too much and trying to force them to stop and try stuff.
24:05
Daniel Scharff
And maybe they don't want to and maybe, I don't know, like, what is your balanced approach to trying to make sure you're getting their attention and interest?
24:13
Ryan Raish
Yeah, timeless question, I guess. Right? Smile, wave them in, ask for em to come sample your product. I think if you're starting to get some hesitation on that, I've asked buyers that come step in and say, hey, just can you try this real quick? I just want your feedback. I don't even want to sell you on it. Just curious what you think or.
24:29
Cam Loyet
Right.
24:29
Ryan Raish
I have a product that's actually fairly new to the natural category. It doesn't really exist. Something that works better or much more relevant in the conventional retailers. So I'd say, hey, just out of curiosity, where would you find this product in your store? Would you see it with your juice set or your functional beverages? And that kind of gets their mind spinning of like, oh, where would I put this or how would this work inside my store? So trying to get them to creatively think about how to work with your product as well has seemed to help. If somebody walks by and they look twice and they don't walk over, I call them out. I'm like, you look twice. Like, you have to come over now. That's. You can't look twice and not try it. Like, don't leave me here.
25:05
Ryan Raish
So I think having a fun, sort of happy, go lucky attitude with them, very low sales pressure. Just I want to get to ask you a couple quick questions. Like, that opens the door. They don't feel pressured and that usually makes it just more of a friendly environment conversation. So all of these shows, very low pressure sales situation. Those sort of hard sells are going to come later when you're in person, when you're going back and forth on emails, sending new item forms, things like that. So there it's just like, hey, I'm a friendly person. I'm not going to make your life miserable. We're going to start this partnership together on the right foot and we're going to be friends, kind of. That attitude seems to usually play out pretty well.
25:46
Daniel Scharff
And maybe, just maybe, they'll discover their new fave.
25:50
Kiki Couchman
I was going to piggyback on that, Ryan, and always say, like, I find, you know, the best salespeople ask more questions than they like, talk to you, talk at you necessarily. And so that's what we also try to do. Similar to what you said, it's like, oh, sort of be friendly, be in an environment that they want to engage in. And, you know, we sometimes ask, hey, do you want to just try some yogurt? And most people like yogurt, so they'll kind of come over. And the first thing I do is not necessarily like, this is what our yogurt is, but it's like, oh, do you eat yogurt? If so, what kind?
26:19
Kiki Couchman
And then we use that as like a way to sort of then pitch our product sort of against or in addition to what that is, as a way to draw them in sort of similar to you. It's like, okay, this maybe isn't the time for like the hard sell, but the time to just make that initial contact and engage them in like a friendly way.
26:35
Daniel Scharff
I like that. I really like what you both said. I think it does a couple of things. One is it channels, I think, pretty well your natural personality and like, what you're good at. Like, I'm a friendly guy. I'm just gonna be out here being Friendly in the right way, but also it shows kind of thinking through and testing and using a couple different. I don't know if you would call them leads or hooks or whatever, but like how you'll actually try to capture people's attention at the beginning. And just for anybody listening, I really like the idea of just thinking a little bit more about that. What is your actual natural style? Like, what are ways that you can naturally come across to people in a way that will be good? And then.
27:11
Daniel Scharff
Okay, here are some ideas for things that you could say that might go well with your general approach to being is, are you funny? Are you charming? Are you sweet? Are you just very candid and down to business, whatever it is, figuring out how to use that well and finding hooks and language that fit well with that to get what you want, which is a chance to get their attention and interest and start building a relationship in the right footing. You know, there's no one correct approach to all of those things. I think, you know, it's great and you can hear people are still testing those things out and figuring out what's going to be the best attractor for them and their booths.
27:50
Daniel Scharff
Okay, so I really appreciate all of you guys sharing your thoughts here on this event, which in my mind was just like the greatest thing, maybe the best event that we've done to date. It was so incredible. I really want to give a very strong shout out and thank you to all of our partners who made this possible. So that was Advantage Solutions and FDM Sales Management, GreenSpoon Sales, Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers, Ignite Sales Service, which is part of Acosta and Vori. We don't get to do any of this fun stuff without our partners. We really don't. This is all the stuff that we want to be doing for brands and we are so grateful that they want to do this for brands as well. And it was. These are not just like logos on a banner.
28:38
Daniel Scharff
Like they really show up to the event and go around and they're really supporting the brands there and they want for you the same things that you want. And just I think all of them really contributed to this incredibly supportive, great energy environment. So it was such a pleasure to get to do all of this with them. And of course, the biggest shout out in the world for our friends from KeHEwho decided to take this huge chance with this great show that they have and all the people coming in town and basically just give us the night before the show to do one of these epic grocery runs.
29:12
Daniel Scharff
And wow, it paid off and we're so happy that we'll be able to come back now and run it back at their very famous Chicago show and get to bring this chance to so many new brands. And I mean I think the thing that really occurs to me to highlight is so Cam has been in the business for a while, but Kiki and Ryan, your brands are very new. You know, just in the last, I don't know, six, nine months, you guys are really making a go for it. Three months for Ryan. Okay. And like this is a huge chance that you can get and you can get it and then take huge advantage of it. So this is not an opportunity reserved only for some brands that are already out there crushing it.
29:51
Daniel Scharff
Like the whole idea of this is to discover the hottest innovations earlier stage brands not yet working with KeHE and give the biggest opportunity and platform out there, bring the most relevant buyers out there, the market makers, the changers, the anchors, people who can just absolutely get you into the distribution and really help you crush. So I just was so excited to see the full Sprouts team stopping at every booth, the Gelson's team just running around. Just so excited because there's so many first to market opportunities for them at an event like this. The fresh time team having a ball there also. Always so good to see Russell from Erewhon as well, who is just one of the most thoughtful people out there spending so much time at every booth and I think he was probably the last person standing at the hall event.
30:41
Daniel Scharff
We were so excited to see him with all of it's just spending real time with all of the brands and just so many more. So thank you so much to our retail partners and again to all the KeHE account managers who really spent time and like their leadership was there and every other category managers. It was just it's such a huge thing to support brands in this way. I just can't say enough good things about the whole KT team and organization for making this possible and dreaming this dream with us to be a little cheesy. But honestly that is what it the whole thing felt like.
31:10
Daniel Scharff
So thank you to you guys for doing such a great job and sharing all these insights and I'm really excited to check back in with you because as everybody knows, so for being in the top three, basically you guys all got these incredible opportunities with KeHE so you'll be onboarded. There's a lot of cool stuff they've been posting about it. They're really excited. I know they're going to give you the red carpet treatment. So I'm really excited to check back in with you in the future and see everything that it has led to. So thank you again. Thanks to our listeners and we will see all of you soon. All right, congrats again everybody. Thanks gang off. Thanks guys.
31:44
Cam Loyet
Thank you.
31:45
Daniel Scharff
Thank you. Well, 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.