Retail Remix Podcast | Calling BS in the Sauce Aisle: How One CPG Brand is Taking on Big Food
This episode is brought to you by National Retail Federation.
If you’ve ever stood in the grocery aisle staring at a wall of “clean,” “natural” or “better-for-you” labels and wondered what any of it actually means, you’re not alone.
In this episode of Retail Remix, host Nicole Silberstein speaks with Anna Vocino — actor, comic, cookbook author and founder of Eat Happy Kitchen — about what it really takes to build a clean-label CPG brand in a market dominated by food giants.
Anna shares how her celiac diagnosis set her on a hunt for better-for-you foods that has evolved into a thriving food business and why breaking into grocery requires far more than a great-tasting product (although that matters). From label confusion and ingredient trickery to slotting pressure, promo costs and the realities of wholesale expansion, this conversation offers a candid look at what it takes to build a mission-driven food brand from the ground up.
Key Takeaways
- How Anna turned her personal health journey into cookbooks, a podcast and the growing CPG brand Eat Happy Kitchen;
- Why building a clean-label food brand means constantly pushing back against misleading ingredient claims and grocery aisle “trickery”;
- How to navigate the challenge of not just getting on shelves but staying there by driving trial and managing margin pressure;
- Why Anna’s direct-to-consumer community remains essential for the brand even as it expands to more than 1,300 retail doors; and
- What Anna’s background in acting and comedy has taught her about pitching, negotiating and surviving the “Walmart wince.”
- PLUS…Stick around to the end to hear the voice Anna would give one of her best-selling products.
Related Links
- Explore Eat Happy Kitchen’s sauces, spices and snacks
- Related reading- Small Business, Big Ideas: Eat Happy Kitchen’s Recipe for Breaking into a Crowded Market
- Get more retail industry insights from Retail TouchPoints
- Subscribe and catch up on all episodes of Retail Remix
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