The Startup CPG Podcast

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Leana Salamah from the Specialty Food Association, John Lane from The Raley's Companies, and Marc Brown, founder of ONOIN—to recap the Winter FancyFaire* 2026 in San Diego. After 18 months of planning, the SFA brought together 10,000 attendees and over 1,000 brands for three days of 70-degree sunshine, meaningful buyer-brand connections, and a reimagined trade show experience that integrated San Diego's culinary scene into every corner of the event.


Leana shares how the show evolved from a traditional trade show format into something that felt fresh, innovative, and community-driven—featuring restaurant takeovers, neighborhood activations, and a show floor designed to create a journey through specialty food trends. John discusses why he made the trek from Northern California to scout innovation for Raley's Get Curious initiative, what trends he's tracking for the back half of 2026 (hello, sense maxing and Protein 2.0), and how 20-30 brands from the show will land on Raley's shelves in the next 7-8 months. Marc pulls back the curtain on what it's really like to exhibit as an emerging brand—from missing the first hour because of a wedding in New York to getting swarmed by buyers the moment he arrived, to landing tangible retailer acceptances and building a pipeline for the next 6-12 months.


Throughout the episode, the group discusses the magic of the Startup CPG section (and why brands fight to get in), the importance of a 60-70% buyer-to-brand ratio, why Fancy shows offer the perfect middle ground between distributor deal-making and Expo's overwhelming scale, and how to use trade shows strategically across the year. They also preview what's coming for Summer Fancy Food in New York City (June 28-30)—and why you should book your hotel NOW because of the World Cup.


Whether you're deciding which trade shows to invest in, looking to understand what buyers are really seeking at events, or wondering how to maximize ROI from your booth investment, this conversation offers honest reflections on what makes a trade show worth it—and why Winter Fancy Fair 2026 set a new standard.


Listen in as they discuss:

  • Winter FancyFaire* 2026 recap: San Diego, 10,000 attendees, 1,030 brands, and 70-degree sunshine
  • How SFA reimagined the trade show experience with city activations, restaurant takeovers, and culinary integrations
  • The "sense maxing" trend of 2026: multi-sensory flavor experiences as pushback against AI
  • Why Raley's came to scout innovation: planning the back half of 2026 and spotting trends 6-7 months early
  • John Lane's trend predictions: Protein 2.0 (protein + fiber + benefits) and ready-to-drink broths making a comeback
  • The Startup CPG section advantage: curated brands, high buyer traffic, and a family atmosphere
  • Marc Brown's first-timer experience: missing the first hour, getting swarmed by TJ Maxx and Whole Foods, and landing retailer acceptances
  • Why the 60-70% buyer-to-brand ratio matters—and how it creates better conversations
  • The "How Do Retailers Spot Innovation" panel: standing room only with buyers from Raley's, Thrive, Whole Foods, and CVS
  • How 20-30 brands from Winter Fancy Fair will land on Raley's shelves in the next 7-8 months
  • Using trade shows strategically: distributor shows for deals, Expo for scale, Fancy for meaningful buyer relationships
  • Building friendships booth-to-booth: why CPG is a team sport and your booth neighbor is your future resource
  • The value of expert one-on-ones at Fancy: free sessions with buyers like CVS's Lauren Castro
  • Summer Fancy Food preview: June 28-30 in NYC—book hotels NOW because of the World Cup
  • Why going slow, building relationships, and playing the long game wins at trade shows


Episode Links:


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  • Episode music by Super Fantastics


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Creators and Guests

Host
Daniel Scharff
Founder/CEO, Startup CPG

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.

Leana
First of all, the location was different. You know, we've been in San Francisco, we've been in Vegas. I think we're in San Diego once a long time ago. But, you know, this marked our return to Southern California there. And really what were trying to do with the concept overall was migrate from a more traditional trade show format to something that included. Included at its core, a trade show and all those great connections that come with it. But that really involved the city and the neighborhoods and kind of the culinary scene of the destination to get people excited about the different cultures and different, you know, viewpoints of, you know, the different folks in the area.

00:45
Daniel Scharff
What a show. What a show. My friends, I am recently back from Specialty Food Association's Winter Fancy Fair in San Diego, and it was a huge hit. All the buyers, incredible brands, so many connections happening on the show floor and outside, and really just one of the overall best vibes for a trade show that I've ever been to. In case you missed it, today, you're going to get to hear about it from three really different perspectives. We've got Liana from sfa, we've got John from Raley's, and we've got Mark Brown from onom. If this doesn't make you want to sign up for next year, I don't know what will. So stay tuned in our slack for details about our startup CPG section at their upcoming New York summer fancy show and also next year in San Francisco. I cannot wait.

01:31
Daniel Scharff
All right, here we go. Welcome, everyone. We are post Winter Fancy Fair at this point, and I am so excited for everyone to hear what it was like. It was a great show. We had a great time. Our section was popping. There were so many great buyers there. From the absolute first minute of the show to the last, it was so great. And so I'm really excited for you to hear about it today from a couple different perspectives. So would everyone mind doing a couple intros? So, Liana, can we start with you?

02:06
Leana
Yeah, you bet. Thanks, Daniel. I'm Liana Salama. I head up the marketing communications department for the Specialty Food Association.

02:12
Daniel Scharff
Okay. And Specialty Food association, you probably know, runs these lovely fancy food and fancy fair shows of ours. So we're really excited to have Leanna here today. Okay, John, do you mind going next?

02:24
John Lane
Yeah. So I'm John Lane. I'm the product innovation manager for the Raley's companies, and I head up bringing net new brands into our Get Curious initiative.

02:31
Daniel Scharff
All right. And I would say if we had, like, rising star breakout new buyer Awards to give out. I feel like, John, your profile, especially now that you've. Because of the innovation set, all of a sudden, I think you're like one of the best known buyers in the industry now, which I'm really excited to see. People are. There are, like, long lines to talk to you and everything. So I love that for you.

02:56
John Lane
Crazy change in the last two years.

02:57
Daniel Scharff
You know, it's so good. Okay, Mark, you're up.

03:02
Marc Brown
So I'm Mark Brown. I'm the founder of on O in shelf stable pre chopped onions and 100% olive oil added flavors designed to help you save your time and tears at meal prep. All right.

03:13
Daniel Scharff
And if you don't know, you better ask somebody, because Ono in absolutely crushed the show. There just was a constant line to check out their products. I think a lot of people hadn't had a chance to have it before, and it was really just one of the most buzzworthy products, I think, in the whole show.

03:33
Marc Brown
So.

03:33
Daniel Scharff
All right, let's kick it off here. First of all, Liene, I think, you know, a lot of people had heard different things about the show leading up to it, like, oh, there's this new thing and this. But, like, it's sometimes it's actually hard to pay attention to all of those things because you just focused on, like, getting your booth ready or like, you know, like. So can you just tell people, remind us what was this show all about? What actually happened? How is it different from past shows?

03:56
Leana
Yeah, you bet. So, I mean, first of all, the location was different. You know, we've been in San Francisco, we've been in Vegas. I think we're in San Diego once, a long time ago. But, you know, this marked our return to Southern California there. And really what were trying to do with the concept overall was migrate from a more traditional trade show format to something that included, at its core, a trade show and all those great connections that come with it. But that really involved the city and the neighborhoods and kind of the culinary scene of the destination to get people excited about the different cultures and different viewpoints of the different folks in the area. So it turned out fantastic. We had a lot of great success with.

04:36
Leana
In convention center activations and outside of convention center activations, we wound up with about 10,000 people who showed up on site over the course of three days. About a little over a thousand brands. 10:30, I think, to be exact. And I have to say, I mean, I. I'm not the one who cut the check to the God of gods above for the San Diego Weather, but man, it was glorious. It was three days of 70 and sunshine. And I think everybody, you know, there were a lot of great catalysts for conversations and connections in the show floor. But just being there kind of after the. The craziness of the holiday season and some of us coming from slushy and cold areas of the country, it was just a great opportunity to kind of recon everyone and re energize for the year ahead.

05:21
Daniel Scharff
You're so right. And it really matters. It actually does, because I was one of those people coming from New York City and just stepped off the plane like, look at this sunshine. It's so good. And then I just popped on my flip flops and walked to meet up with a friend for lunch. It was glorious. And I think when you actually walk into a trade show with that kind of energy, whether you're like, John, you're a buyer, anybody, you're just open to stuff, you're really excited. When you're. When the vibes are right, things happen. And I learned that once because we did. We did a yacht party once outside of a trade show, and we had the California sunset. And everyone was just so happy to be there. So many things happened on that yacht, like just deals getting struck, new friendships formed.

06:07
Daniel Scharff
Everyone was telling me for weeks after, and I'm like, yeah, because you were happy. And that's what I think. Everyone just felt really happy to be there. So thank you, guys. That was a, that was a really awesome place to do it. And can you just tell me a little bit more about the stuff that happened outside the show floor? Because I was, you know, like, I never leave the booth when I'm there. I even. I like, try not to drink too much because I can't bear to have to run to the bathroom. I don't want to miss anything. But I do miss some of the stuff outside the show and you see it all. So what was some of that stuff like?

06:34
Leana
So a lot of it was outside of the trade show hours. Cause we really didn't want to allow, you know, that those buyer seller connections to happen on the trade show floor. But went out into the city of San Diego and we partnered with a number of different venues and neighborhoods, restaurants and retailers in different neighborhoods to infuse the city of San Diego with our member products over the three days of the show. So you had 13 different restaurants offering bespoke dishes while were in town that incorporated SFA member exhibitor products in there. We had retailers giving away member products as free Gifts.

07:07
Leana
We had hosted buyer party and, you know, a community event that leveraged, again, member products, having San Diego chefs and culinary professionals from the area take those and kind of reimagine or reflect specialty food back to us through their own lens. So a really fun way to engage the community in the specialty food industry and give our audience new ways to experience the products that they're also seeing on the show floor.

07:33
Daniel Scharff
That's so good. And, yeah, obviously, huge culinary traditions. SoCal San Diego. How many tacos did everybody have while were in town? And how many. What was your time to taco? For me, I landed. I went to the hotel, put on those flip flops, and I built in five minutes to stop at Tacos El Gordo on the way and just, like, ate the taco in line so I could still make my meeting in time. It was so good. So, Liana, can you then. Okay, that. That sounds amazing. And I heard people had a blast at Petco park, where you had the kickoff party also. And what a beautiful way to integrate the show into the city as well, because I think a lot of people haven't been to San Diego before. Maybe they haven't.

08:11
Daniel Scharff
It's just a cool way to experience the city and just feel like the show is part of it. Okay, so then back to the actual floor itself. How. What did it feel like compared if. If somebody had been to Vegas or SF back in the day, how did. How did this show compare to those ones? What was it like?

08:29
Leana
Yeah, I mean, some of what we did differently, we had some of the same setups that our folks will always expect, like the different pavilions that we set up so that folks who have concentrated needs, you know, can kind of meet those needs in a meaningful way. But we did some things to kind of spread out and change up the way the aisles were laid out and the way things were positioned across the show floor to create more of a journey and experience across everything. It helps to have just the one show floor. In New York, we have two, but we created a wide aisle in the middle that kind of took you through a lot of different trends over the eras, from the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, et cetera.

09:04
Leana
But at the same time, you know, left a lot of space and open area for you to converse with those different. The different vendors, the different pavilions. And some of the activations, which I think were really fun. We had some different activations this year. Things like our. We had a community career studio recognizing some of the volatility in the labor market right now. We brought some folks on who could help folks, you know, counsel folks on looking for their next opportunity, get a new headshot, that kind of thing, as well as some different culinary demo spaces, different, you know, pod demo areas.

09:37
Leana
Really thinking a lot about education information around, not just kind of what's trending in food products, food and beverage products, but also looking at the food system and where that's headed and how the specialty food industry can be part of that.

09:51
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, there were some really interesting new things and even I was so excited. One of the people who I recruited to come to the show was Lauren Castro from cvs. She does the Healthy Consumables, that very cool set that a lot of emerging brands are desperate to get into. And then I saw her post on LinkedIn, like, hey, I'm signed up for these one one expert, you know, meetings that you can just sign up for. I'm like, holy cow, like you could just sign up to meet with Lauren at the show. That's amazing.

10:17
Leana
Yeah, we had a lot of folks like that, folks who are experts in sales or marketing or trade spend or, you know, finding distribution just to give people. So many of our folks, you know, across the entire show floor and certainly Daniel in the startup CPG section are a lot of these emerging brands who, you know, this is a tough business. This is not something that you know, can just kind of stumble into and, you know, find your way around. You need the community and the resources that you find at a place like this to answer the tough questions and give you advice on how to navigate.

10:45
Daniel Scharff
And I love that because especially I would say the fancy shows, really, you get a very good variety of people at different stages. You get people who, these are legacy businesses and they have very high quality meat, cheese, whatever. They've been around for 30 years. They're super pros on the show. And you also have the maker program and people who are brand new and just excited to get out to the market and they don't know anything. And those meetings can help them so much with just the basics, the stuff that, like, who can I ask this? I don't even know anyone. That's such a great way to give people connections. I love that.

11:21
Daniel Scharff
And so I heard amazing things about the show from my like and again, I honestly don't do a good job of leaving our section because I'm there and I'm like, I'm gonna be here. I'm gonna just, you know, make sure that everything's going well the whole time. So I don't Actually leave the section that from my perspective, I, you know, I mentioned already just the doors open and it was crushed with buyers immediately, right away, and they kept coming back and they were circling the whole time and the brands could not have been happier with that. But what did you hear overall? Because I know you guys hear everything and you're constantly checking in and seeing how things are going. What was the feedback that you heard?

11:58
Leana
Yeah, we do. And certainly you would expect that as the comms person, I'm going to be like, everyone loved it. But you know what, it's one of those magical moments in my career when it's actually the truth. Right. You know, I mean, obviously there's always going be little hiccups here and there, but they were so teeny tiny compared to the overall experience that everyone had in terms of something that felt fresh, innovative, connective and community driven. And I'll just say, you know, for our brands that we've talked to, you know, we pride ourselves on curating a show floor that runs between 60 and 70% buyers. So we spend a lot of time making sure that the folks who are on that show floor are the people that the brands want to see.

12:40
Leana
So, you know, when you're producing a show floor for a lot of brands, whether they're emerging or established that, you know, every, you know, every 10 people that walk up to their booth, seven are buyers, you're going to create a good experience for them.

12:51
Daniel Scharff
I love that. And I have always said to people that I think the fancy shows have the best buyer to brand ratio and it was never better than at this show. I would say it was very good for brands. But yeah, congrats to you guys. That's exactly what I heard. And yeah, really congrats to your whole team because I know it was a lot to put that on. It's a lot to switch cities and put on events. We put on a lot of events. Not at your scale, but I understand how much work that is and I also know that everybody was sick this year and I know your team was even down a bunch of people and you still pulled it off perfectly. So congrats to you.

13:25
Leana
Yeah, it was an 18 month labor of love. It was, you know, it was really incredibly exciting and rewarding to see it come to life and to see it to come to life in such a successful way and to, you know, see the joy on all of the brands buyer faces.

13:39
Daniel Scharff
So, and although I was really excited to get to go to San Diego because I just haven't spent a lot of time there. I, I've never spent time like that in San Diego. That was wonderful. I'm so excited about SF as well. I did used to live there. I lived there for five years. And so that was in the era when your show was there.

13:57
Marc Brown
It's.

13:57
Daniel Scharff
There are just so many powerhouse retailers up there. It's going to be so cool to have even more of them in the mix in the NorCal area. Luckily we get people like John who know to come down also. But to get even more of his, more of those guys, it's going to be so special. So John, coming to you, what made you want to go to the show in the first place to take the Trek down from NorCal, take time out of your busy day. I know how many emails and LinkedIn messages you get sitting at home. So what made you want to venture out for the winter fancy fair?

14:29
John Lane
So what really made me want to come out was, you know, trying to see what's going to be emerging and what's going to be the trend six to seven months down the line. Because right now I am planning the back half of the year for what we're going to be launching on innovation. And the show is really where you can go and find like all those cool things that the consumers don't know they want yet. So it's a great way to see, you know, what trends are going to be emerging. And that's why I wanted to come out, just to kind of get a holistic view of everything that is out there.

14:57
John Lane
And that's what I love about this show is that it's not just center store, so I'm able to go and walk and see what my service departments are going to be looking for, go see what the bakery department's going to be finding and then see if you can start to find those common threads of like, what flavor profiles across all categories are going to be the next wave of innovation coming out into the stores.

15:17
Daniel Scharff
And I, I expect that's especially relevant for someone with your kind of a background because although you look very young, you actually have been a Rayleigh's like forever and worked across so many different parts of the business that you probably have a really good holistic view of how the store runs. And we'll have insights from all those different departments, I imagine.

15:36
John Lane
Yeah, I actually have physically worked almost every department within the four walls of the stores. I think the only department I didn't spend a lot of time in was bakery, which is probably a good thing. Love sweets. So I don't know if I could have stayed around the cookies and not been tempted.

15:51
Daniel Scharff
I can relate to that. I don't even try. I can't. Yeah, I can't keep stuff like that in my house, so. And John, you can you just talk a little bit more about what it is Raley's is doing right now around innovation and how these kind of trends and products fit into that?

16:09
John Lane
Yeah. So right now at Raley's, what we're really focusing on is, you know, bringing the new brands to our stores in a faster click than we ever have before. So we're really looking for things that are on the cutting edge, things that are going to get people out of their house and away from the D2C model. Because as we've seen over the last few years, E Commerce has grown significantly and we don't really have that community, that exploring nature of walking into the four walls of the grocery store and just kind of perusing and seeing what's cool and interesting. So innovation right now for Raley's is a big focus because we want to bring that experience back and have people looking in the four walls for, like, what is that better for you? Wellness type item that is just different.

16:52
John Lane
And it's maybe something that you saw on the TikTok shop, but you were too afraid to order online. You can kind of know that if Raley's has taken the time to evaluate it and we decided it was a good fit for our product demographic, that you have a little bit more trust behind what you're purchasing.

17:10
Daniel Scharff
I love it. And so what was it like for you to actually be there and walk around? I know you spent some great time with the brands in our section, and there are so many great sections at the show in different parts of it. What do you. What was the experience like for you walking around? What kind of stuff did you find and learn?

17:26
John Lane
So what I really liked when walking through the show is that it didn't feel too segmented. I felt like as I was walking, I was able to get, you know, little bits of food service. As I'm looking at regular, you know, center store items, what I really felt was just a good overall energy. Like, the vibe of the show was so positive and everyone was just excited to connect and, you know, talk about what's new and what's happening. I think that those were some of the really big takeaways. The other thing I saw was just a lot of, like, sense maxing.

17:58
John Lane
I know that's probably gonna be the buzzword of 2026 is, you know, those different combination flavor experiences and then, you know, protein 2.0, where it's doing more than just, you know, satisfying your protein needs, it's having the extra benefits and the extra fiber. So I think those are gonna be some really cool trends that we see. And I saw a lot of brands doing it well and it was really cool to see like broth starting to make a comeback. I remember many years ago sifting broths were a thing, but now we're starting to see broths come into a ready to drink format and I think that's going to be a interesting thing to explore over here in the next year.

18:34
Daniel Scharff
Liana does that vibe with a lot of the stuff that you are hearing.

18:37
Leana
It really does. And you know, I appreciate, you know, John's shout out there because we unveiled Sense Maxing as our trend of the year, which is kind of this notion of not just flavor, but texture and everything else that goes into it. And we've been positioning it as kind of a pushback against the machines. Right. What do we have as consumers that the machines don't have? We have our emotions and our sensory ability. So there's kind of this need to be kind of reminded all the time that we are still a very sentient and sensory beings. And it's really fun to reflect that through the different types of food that are out there.

19:16
Marc Brown
Thank you.

19:16
Daniel Scharff
I appreciate the hope. And if any of the AI overlord bots watch this webinar later, we also welcome you. So be kinda.

19:27
John Lane
No, it's funny on the Sense mask maxing topic is for me, I see it from the light of like Gen Z. So you like my generation, I'm sure you guys, we all grew up like ingredient households. You know, were taught how to cook by like our mom or dad maybe we watched a little bit of Food Network, we looked at a magazine, but it was very traditional recipes. But like I have a seven year old son, an 18 year old daughter, They've had a cell phone in their hand probably since they've been six. They've learned all their recipes from TikTok. So they've really seen like the expectation of what flavor profiles are is significantly different. You take a $0.25 thing of top ramen and you add like $50 worth of ingredients to really like elevate that experience.

20:11
John Lane
And the next wave of shoppers, that's what they're coming in for. They're looking for these like cool bursts of flavors. In unexpected ways, because that's all they were taught and that's all they know when it comes to, like, culture and food.

20:25
Leana
Yeah, the protein piece is interesting, too, you know, because I grew up, you know, I was a teenager in the 80s during the diet culture. Right. And it was, you know, how. How few nutrients could you have in something, you know, to fill up your stomach? And, you know, now we look at things like, you know, with protein and fiber and all of that, you know, as people for a number of different. Different reasons. You know, smaller portions, but very dense nutrients. Right. And it's a different way of people thinking about their, you know, nutritional intake than before, which is really exciting.

20:53
Daniel Scharff
And. And speaking of some trends innovation, John, one of my favorite moments with you on the show is I was able to recruit you for a. An incredible panel that we got to do at the show. So thank you to SFA for letting us put this on. We did a How do Retailers spot Innovation panel on the main stage there on the show. Floor it. And the panel was stacked. So we had you. We had April, who is the chief merchandising officer at Thrive. We had Patrick, who is the Whole Foods forger for California and Hawaii, total industry legend. And we had Lauren from cvs. It was standing room only and not much of it. The whole, like, I saw your photo that you posted on your LinkedIn post of our view out into the crowd, like, whoa, this place is busy.

21:38
Daniel Scharff
But it was just. I mean, it's fun to do a panel like that's packed and brands got to jump up and quick pitch you guys. And that was all great, but just the discussion was so interesting because were really hearing, how do you guys look for innovation? What does it represent in your store? How, like, when someone shows you something here at this actual event, what's going to make you feel like it is true innovation? Any. Any reflections from that panel or any thoughts? I know you were taking a lot of mental notes during it, too.

22:04
John Lane
Yeah, I was taking plenty of mental notes. And what I really appreciated was just when we did got to the last round of, like, pitches, just how much it seemed like people were really paying attention to everything that was said and the keywords that were getting thrown in about what their brands were about and what the products were. I thought that was really awesome. I was taking notes. You know, we had powerhouses in the industry, so I'm listening to what they're doing over in their neck of the woods and took some stuff back over this way. So I Thought it was great for brands and I think great for us retailers to kind of get together and listen to what we all are doing.

22:39
Daniel Scharff
It is really special. And I also, I just am such a fan of so many of the buyers in this industry. It's really fun when I get to bring a couple who I'm, who I just love, and they all become friends too. And that's what I felt like, you know, we all did a prep call ahead of time. I'm like, I just want you guys to meet because you guys are all so amazing and each one of you is doing such incredible things for brands and pioneering on innovation, but also at different stages for brands. Like, you know, the kind of brand that, you know, you might look for at an early stage is also different from what CVS is going to look for at a stage or from, or thrive. You know, who wants to be first market?

23:15
Daniel Scharff
Who wants a brand that's a little bit more established and really ready to hit the gas? So it was so interesting. So thank you for doing that. And yet a quick pitch is, if anyone hasn't seen it, if I'm on stage somewhere and there are buyers, you know, I'm going to try to get brands up there for some kind of an opportunity. And it's so much fun. We just basically let any brand who's there in the audience jump up on the mic and shout out their 32nd pitch. And some of them are honed and they've done this before and some of them are shaking and it's their very first time. But that is where the innovation is going to come from. And it's so cool. I can think back on people.

23:48
Daniel Scharff
I heard their first time ever pitching was on the mic at one of those kinds of environments. So it's such a fun panel for us to get to do and yeah, just amazing. So, John, after this whole thing, what are the actual outputs going to be for you coming out of this? Like, how many brands do you think might eventually get a shot with you and Raley's that you learned about at the show or like really had a good further conversation with at the show. What kind of stuff do you think you might actually pick up?

24:17
John Lane
So I would say from brands, there's probably gonna be at least 20 to 30 brands that are gonna end up in the next, like seven to eight months are gonna end up on the Get Curious platform. Like, really, there's a lot of great stuff out there and I, I like being able to test and learn and then I know I Didn't get a chance to stop by Mark's booth. Every time I looked around, it was, like, packed and jammed. So I'll be reaching out to talk to him and find out a little bit more about his products over there.

24:48
Daniel Scharff
But 21. 21. Let's make it. Love to hear that.

24:51
John Lane
Yeah, make it 21. But no, really, there was just a lot of good stuff happening and a lot of unique things that, you know, we wouldn't have tried maybe five, 10 years ago. Like going back to the broths. There might be one or two ready to drink broths out of the show that end up being part of. Get curious to see if our customers and Raleys are ready for that.

25:14
Daniel Scharff
That's. That's so productive. That's amazing. Like, what an incredible thing to hear from you that you discovered that many brands that are going to get such an incredible opportunity. And I. I really applaud Raley's for just seeing the way the world is going and taking this huge bet on innovation in the stores. It's amazing, obviously, for all the brands in the community, but that's so great. And I could really see why the conditions of the show made it really possible for you to find all of those great brands that are ready for that kind of a stage and opportunity. Okay, so, Mark, we've been talking a lot about brands. Let's actually hear from one. So can you tell me, first of all, what made you want to go to this show in the first place?

25:57
Marc Brown
So I came from the food industry. I'm a food scientist, and I've been. I had walked the show, mostly the New York show where I'm from, just as a consumer and a cheese lover, meat lover. But, you know, to really. What I wanted to do was as a brand, I wanted to be in the startup CPG section. To be perfectly honest, I would not have joined the show if I was not in this section. Because of everything you've been describing, Daniel. That traffic is worth it. You can end up paying full price for a booth and you can end up next to the bathroom where you're begging people to come in and try, you know, your product.

26:26
Marc Brown
But the fact that you were kind of delivering buyers to my booth or to John's point, that there's just so many people kind of circling the area. So I wanted to be there and be part of the action and just kind of get my name and my face and my product out there for people to start recognizing. Especially because it is a, I would say, difficult to understand product. But I always say it's not a beverage or a snack. You don't have to tell someone what to do with a beverage. You drink it. A snack open and consume mine requires.

26:53
John Lane
A little bit more.

26:53
Marc Brown
So the more I can get in front of people and start to have them understand what it's all about, the better for me.

26:59
Daniel Scharff
I love to hear that. Thank you. We appreciate the compliment of our section. We, we work hard for it. We honestly have just. I think because I am always so paranoid of like, oh, I'm bringing this opportunity to brands and we're saying it's going to be so great. Anytime we do this at any show, I'm just like, we have to get every single buyer there and it starts with a really great curated section so we actually get many times the applications over what we can fit into the section and so it is competitive and were really excited to have you and all the brands that were there and we're very sorry that we can't have all of them that we would like to see at all the shows. But there are shows forever so hopefully everyone gets an opportunity.

27:39
Daniel Scharff
But yeah, we really do focus on just making sure it's going to be a great experience so people like John will come and hang out and start their show there. I really liked seeing also like a lot of brands will get booths near us as well even though we can't fit the whole world. We have, we had 25 booths basically at this show and I feel like our section was so hot and SFA does such a great job to just like it just looks so beautiful when people arrive. They're like, I'm in a special place, I'm going to discover a lot. But there are a lot of great sections around us.

28:12
Daniel Scharff
I, I even, I always have to give props up to included because it was really like I saw their section at one of the shows a couple years back and it was so well done and clean and beautiful and like they, we actually, you know, if you get a booth at this show, you can put up banners, whatever you want. We actually don't allow it in our section because we want it to feel like a community and nice and clean and that we straight stole that from included as like, well this is so nice and it was really cool to be next to their section and I know all their brands had a fantastic show as well.

28:45
Daniel Scharff
Our friends from Vegpreneur also had a section next to us and the Naturally crew has a section and so I know everybody had a great time in all those as well as in the rest of the show, which I did not make it to a lot of that because as of the. As I mentioned before, I really always just like sit there paranoid at my booth, making sure everything goes well. But I appreciate you saying that about our section. Although I do think that everybody had a pretty good time at the show because with a buyer ratio like that, like, where else are they going to go? They're going to go to all the booths. So did John, did you have a chance to check out some of the other sections also? You must have seen some pretty cool stuff.

29:23
John Lane
Oh, yeah, I think I covered the whole show floor barely. I was up there till closing and you guys were trying to kick me out of the show. I can make my flight. But yeah, no, there was lots of really good sections. I did want to spend more time in the specialty cheese section, but there was no way I was going to make it through a tasting of that area and actually finish the show.

29:46
Daniel Scharff
That is a very dangerous right before a flight too. Maybe the other passengers will thank us for that. But yeah, I, yeah, it's. It really though, is a privilege for us to get to try to put on a great section at a great show. And I think it's made very easy for us because there are just so many great buyers there. But it never means we're not going to try to make it even better and just do everything that we can to make it just so good and so. And like have our whole team there working on it. So. I love to hear that, Mark. It means our poll is working. Like, we always want to attract great brands like you guys to be in the section. So tell me a little bit more about just what was it like then being there?

30:27
Daniel Scharff
What was, you know, the first day like? What did you know? How is it different than what you expected? Yeah, I mean, I didn't really know.

30:34
Marc Brown
What to expect given that it was my first time exhibiting. And a little bit on a personal note, I had one of my best friend's weddings in New York on Saturday night. So I set my wife out there as the advanced team. And then I took the first flight out Sunday morning. I said, oh, I'll be there. You know, I land at 10 o', clock, I'll be at the show by 10:30. Like, I can't anticipate buyers flooding the section. And I get there, I'm, you know, still my plane outfit, whatever. My wife's like T.J. maxx and Whole Foods and all these people came over and I just Told them to come back and here's the cards. And I was like, okay, you know, don't worry.

31:04
Daniel Scharff
Three days.

31:05
Marc Brown
So it was really terrific of, you know, just being able to have that experience. And yeah, I was really excited to meet a lot of new people. Just the fact that so many people had heard of my brand and seen it before was really cool. And I made a lot of new friends. I spoke person who had the booth next to me, Paro gonna butcher her name. So Umamia, but spoke already today and just starting a relationship with her. Just being able to help out founder to founder and. And made some friends at some other events. Sean Tanto. So it's really nice.

31:36
Marc Brown
It's almost like a reunion at some of these events now where it's like, these people are my friends and I get to now, you know, to spend some time with them, talk about products and see how we can all, you know, kind of lift each other up.

31:47
Daniel Scharff
That's very beautiful. And that is actually one of my favorite things about our section is that it does become like a family and you help each other out when, you know, if you're not there, probably one of the other brands is helping you out and pitching your product for you. If a buyer walks by and then everyone stays in touch after because it is a. It is a really beautiful thing. And we actually did a founder dinner one of the evenings as well. And that is the tone that we set because we. I often, I'll get up usually and say something like, how many people here are open to make a new friend tonight? If somebody walks up and sticks out their hand and introduces themselves, are you open to that? Every single person raises their hand.

32:23
Marc Brown
It's.

32:24
Daniel Scharff
We all really understand the value of just having your friends in this industry because CPG is a team sport in every respect. And so I, I just, I love, especially at the early stage when people, some people don't come from the industry that you have a chance at a show like this. And I think it's actually true no matter where you are, like if you're in a section or not in a section, become friends with the booth next to you. And it does happen because, yeah, those are people that you'll always call on in a pinch or when you have a question. So that is. That's. I'm really glad that you highlighted that. So, yeah, it was. But that was a valuable hour for you to miss because, yeah, the buyers actually get to pop in.

33:05
Marc Brown
Right.

33:05
Daniel Scharff
I forget, was it 9? It was 9:30 or 10:30. 9:30. Right. And, and they just come right on in at like I got there right at 9:31 and it was, oh my God, this is buzzing already. And I mean it just stayed like that. Which is really beautiful because I was just like, I guess I don't have to do anything. It's just going great. So yeah, you guys were just packed the whole show, people coming in. What did, Was there any. If this is one of your first trade shows, was it really comfortable for you just to be there pitching all day, having those kind of high level conversations? Was it scary or you're like, oh my gosh, what am I taking on? Like, it seemed like you probably talked to every dream retailer you were hoping to.

33:47
Marc Brown
Yeah, you know, I, I think between doing demos and things like this, it was really helping to kind of highlight things about my brand that I didn't necessarily know about. You know, I think I highlighted before because it requires some sort of education. People that are in, if people are in the industry coming up and saying, oh, is it a dick spread? Oh, it's be great on charcuterie or bait on this. Like, it's kind of putting these ideas into my head about how people are viewing my product and that this, you know, the preconceived notions that I've had in my head about consumer fit or habit, it's may not be necessarily what's matching the actual purchasing or buying behavior. So just continuing to have these conversations and saying the same thing over and over again.

34:22
Marc Brown
You don't have to polish my speech, but even if I'm not necessarily in west coast distribution like John Raley's, great, I'm on their radar and I'm starting to talk and you know, next month at the UNFI show. Great, now we can, you know, continue these conversations. So it's just about laying the groundwork and the networking for your future 612 month pipeline.

34:41
Leana
That's just something that's really impressed me about the buyer community in specialty food. Since I've been doing this is the, you know, I've been in other industries where the buyers are like, are you ready to be on my shelf? But if you're not, I'm going to move on. Right. But the buyers here are really invested in this idea of having conversations with brands when they are early on and when there's still feedback to be made and you know, ways to think about things. So we see brands coming to the show who, you know, and we create space for them where we say, okay, you know what, maybe you're not ready for a full fledged order just yet, but come on in here and get some feedback and get to know the community and the industry.

35:15
Leana
And a lot of times those people take what they learn and they go back and they come up with some really great tweaks that, you know, skyrocket them to the next level. It's just the way that people embrace one another is just so special in this community.

35:28
Daniel Scharff
That is beautiful. I totally agree. And it's also at a show like Fancy Fair, I think there's just plenty of time and space for those kind of conversations where it's not so transactional. It's not like a distributor show where, like, I'm here trying to make a purchase right now for my winter selling season or whatever. You know, they like, yeah, someone like John is pretty interested to come and actually just have a longer chat. It's not like he, you know, I mean, Expo has 70,000 people there. It's not like you're in such a race, like, oh no, I like need to cover every single inch of this, like immediately.

36:02
Daniel Scharff
Like, you really have the time and space for those conversations to really get to know founders and you might come back around a couple times also just, I've always said that about Fancy where like, sometimes you can actually cut right to the second or third conversation that you would typically have with someone because, you know, you can come out of one of these shows and have like, you're like, I have so many leads, but then like, oh, okay. To like, to progress them, it actually takes a long time. They're crushed with a lot of those kind of leads. But Fancy does offer you the opportunity, I think, to just really take the ball a lot further on that first carry. Mark, tell me, okay, everyone had a great experience the show, but like, let's cut to the chase.

36:39
Daniel Scharff
What are you getting out of this? Like, what do you really feel like are going to be the tangible impacts for your business?

36:45
Marc Brown
You know, I don't want to say too many specifics, but I've already seen some sort of tangible impacts in terms of acceptances and conversations that have been happening as well as some, you know, independent retailers on the west coast that may not have distribution yet, but I am available on Fair. So, you know, some purchases have been made there and there's again starting to appear and all these things. So. So a lot of people that I have been targeting on LinkedIn or meaning to talk to, so getting on people's radars and as Leanna said, it may not be ready for this six months, but planogram season and getting in our pipeline, that's what it's really all about. And just one more thing, you know, Daniel, Fancy food. I think it's kind of that exact a perfect show where the distributor shows it's orders.

37:25
Marc Brown
What kind of discounts can I get? You know that's the kind of behavior there. And then expo is just kind of very overwhelming. So it really is the sort of perfect atmosphere between getting to see so many different things and getting that full range of new products and innovation for John's Point, but then also having that intimate level conversations where it's not just, can I get a free fill and 20% off and what's your promo period? You know?

37:46
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, I mean, all of these things have their time and place. I love the distributor shows as well, where actually I've never gone to one with the int to do that kind of selling. Like, maybe we had a deal, but I'm like, yeah, like whatever, some cases. But like, I want to have a relationship with you and get on your shelf in the long run. And sometimes they're open to that and sometimes they're like, okay, I'll be back maybe tomorrow after I get all the deals I'm looking for. But. And you know, you guys will do well at any of these shows as well. But I totally agree. It's just such a special place to have conversations for an emerging brand with just some of the most impactful people out there.

38:19
Daniel Scharff
So I'm really happy to hear that you got some acceptances, it sounds like. And I would imagine that there are some big ones also, just based off.

38:26
Leana
Congratulations, Mark. That's really fantastic.

38:28
Marc Brown
Thank you. Yes, some good stuff coming in. Yeah.

38:31
Leana
And we do see people use the shows differently, right. As they plan out kind of their strategy for the year. Look at some of these shows like us, like Expo, like distributor shows, and just know that you're going in there with different objectives, you know, a different approach, different objectives, and they can actually work very complimentary together. So, you know, that's, that's an interesting takeaway, you know, to think through when you think about how you progress through these shows.

38:53
Daniel Scharff
All right, guys, I've really enjoyed this chat, but, you know, like, with anything, I'm always just looking at, well, what's next? And what's next is we've got Fancy coming up before you know it, in New York City, the summer show. So, Leanna, what should we expect this year? Anything new, exciting, cool, coming up.

39:08
Leana
So lots of Things that are in progress. Nothing we're ready to talk about just yet. But you know, we will be in New York City at the Javits center from June 28th to 30th. One thing I will just put out to folks is that. So we're opening registration I think in two or three weeks here. But important to note, the World cup is happening at that same time. Hotels in New York City. Our hotel block is open even before you register. Get in there and grab some hotel rooms because it is going to be a. It's going to be a wild time in New York City right around that.

39:39
Daniel Scharff
I can attest to that because we also went and got a hotel block and it's a lot more expensive than it was previously. So I really think that's great advice for everyone to go lock down a place. Otherwise you might be busing in from Jersey or Brooklyn, which is okay too. But. All right, great. Well, hey, I really want to thank each of you. This was a really good time. Almost as much fun as the show itself. So. Yeah. And again, congratulations to your whole team on a wonderful show. It was just so great and I can't wait for next show year in SF and New York City before that. Mark, congrats again on all of the incredible traction for your business. And John, thank you as always.

40:16
Daniel Scharff
Just really one of my absolute favorites out there in this world of buyers who really strongly support emerging brands. So thank you again to all of you. Well, my friends, we've now arrived together at the end of another episode of The Startup CPG StartupG 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.