Amara

0:00Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring those cool products

0:29Jess Sturzenegger:to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real life founders, their launch strategies and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf. And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Glimpse. Glimpse is an AI powered deduction management tool that disputes and recovers invalid deductions. winning brands thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours back to founders so that they can focus on what really matters most. If you're a brand selling in retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you.

1:17Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today, I have Jessica Sterzenegger. She is the founder of Amara, which is a very cool, cute kids food brand. I love the kids category. I love a good snack. And so Jessica, I've been really looking forward to having you on the show. Thank you so much for being here today.

1:48Jess Sturzenegger:Thank you, Kelly. And just congratulations. You've interviewed so many awesome founders. So happy to be here. Thank you so much. Yes. I was saying, I think we hit over 300 episodes, which is such a cool library of this innovative thought leaders, founders who are really in the trenches building better for you products. And I'm just so honored when someone says yes, like yourself, to come on the show and share because I know so many emerging brand founders listen to the show, people who are in the really early days are starting to build. And so a question that I love to kick things off with is how you first came up with the product concept, the brand concept.

2:30What was that aha or light bulb moment that really then kicked off the brand? Yeah.

2:38Jess Sturzenegger:And I just have to say, I feel like when I was starting, all I did was listen to founder podcasts. Good. So hear you so well. Just there are so many little nuggets. Yes. But yeah, I guess when I started, I think I started because I really wanted to kind of bridge the gap between like healthy food that I wanted to eat. Like I think most consumers know that they want to be eating healthy. And then what I was actually eating was a lot of processed snacks. I wasn't feeling very good. And I realized that like, you know, this kind of like hippy dippy, you are what you eat is very much rooted in science.

3:11Jess Sturzenegger:and when I realized like oh I can change how I eat and it actually changes how I like think and how I feel it's more than like gaining and losing weight like that was really an eye-opener and um then I learned way too much about food way too much about what I was actually eating like you know if I was eating a granola bar I had it said it was strawberry like did it actually have strawberries and then when I got down to it I was like wait most of what I'm eating is really processed and like the reason why I'm not feeling good is like there's actually really hard science now behind it and I realized that for me to bridge that gap between like what I wanted to eat and what I was actually which is a lot of processed food you have to start by how it's made so we actually started as a food technology company because we realized we actually had to change how things were made and then in that research I also kept coming from like zero to seven years old your gut microbiome your brain neural pathways like your preferences for healthy eating are all defined from in that stage.

4:07Jess Sturzenegger:So like literally what you eat for breakfast as a two-year-old is going to change what you eat for breakfast and how you feel and think and perform as a 40-year-old. And I was like, that is wild. Wait, that's so interesting. Yeah. It's like, I would tell friends, like, you know, like you're starting to figure out what to feed your family and everything. Like you almost want to know all of it, but then when you're in the grind, you just really want like snacks and meals that are really easy because you don't actually have the time to do what we all want to do, which is like everything homemade and fresh.

4:37Jess Sturzenegger:Like that's like everyone's dream. But oftentimes we just have to kind of compromise. Okay. I'm so locked in. I had no idea that zero to seven had such an impact. So what were you doing prior to going down this rabbit hole on food and child development? Like what was your career? What was your life? What was happening in the background? I was doing consulting. So like, like I was diving like deep into this, but it was really, it was a passion of mine. I grew up in such a, I grew up between, you know, just eating healthy food. And so when I just like, you know, as a young professional, I just got out into the real world and I was like, wait, I don't actually have time to make the food I eat at all.

5:22Jess Sturzenegger:I'm like, shout out to my parents. But yeah. And when you look at the science Kelly, it's like wild. Like it's all pretty new in the world of science, but like, it's wild how much like you can really make an impact. And just like, again, it's more than what you eat. Like eating well actually sets you up for success, like in how you think and how you perform and just like your food preferences. And that critical time period is really zero to seven years old. So what did it look like going from consulting to CPG founder? Like what made you say, okay, I'm in these rabbit holes. I'm finding the science.

6:00This is something that I can't shake. What did it look like of actually starting the brand?

6:08Jess Sturzenegger:Probably like a lot of founders. Maybe. I mean, so I didn't have a food background, didn't have a CBG background. I was just like, you know, very curious. And like most, I think probably like a two-year business plan of all the things I was going to do in two years that was, you know, now it's back wildly realistic. But yeah, it really started with a lot of research, finding good partners, finding, you know, the food experts, the microbiologists, like the people that actually understood, you know, what was happening. Like I knew what I wanted, but I wasn't the technician behind it. And then just a lot of trial and error, just a lot of figuring it out and just making sure, like for me, it was really important that we didn't build a house of cards, you know, So many brands are more sales and marketing than anything else.

6:58Jess Sturzenegger:And for me, I really wanted to make sure that, one, we had the best products because with your kids, you can't cut corners. We really wanted to make sure there was no added sugar, really clean ingredients. We literally just use whole fruits and vegetables, really simple. There's no tapioca starch or other additives that you might find. And so we really wanted to make a really clean product that, again, fit into the busy lives of where it matters most. So, you know, parents feeding kids from zero to seven. What did that look like logistically? Because creating a better for you product, especially a really clean product, is not easy.

7:37And I think that is one of the hardest parts for an emerging brand founder is, OK, I have this idea for a really clean product. but then to actually get it made is another thing, right? Because a lot of the reason of like, oh, I can't find a fill-in-the-blank product that's really clean because it's really hard, right? So what did that look like for you as far as like pushing through and saying, no, I don't want anything else. Like this is only what I want to use. How did you approach that?

8:09Jess Sturzenegger:Oh gosh. So I'd say this is like really, I think, probably where I came in the most, which was just like probably just the heads down stubbornness of like we will find i'm doing these apples like we will find apples without like a bunch of additives like yeah they're going to be brown you know but then we'll combine them with berries so that they you know the colors and the thing um you know i always give a shout out it's it's really on relations it's like a give a shout out to our black bean supplier like i found the guy that was doing black beans like and they were family owned and i went there and we like talked and uh you know i sold him the dream of what i was building and then um you know they're they're still they were with us when you know it was one pallet and now they're with us when it's trucks um but it really takes like key partners um to really understand what you're doing and probably like um the the blind just optimism that yes you know as any founder has just like yes we're gonna get this done why would this get done because it wasn't a cookie cutter it wasn't like we were we weren't going to a co-packer that was you know doing a bunch of bars and we just put our label on it.

9:15Jess Sturzenegger:It wasn't that at all because we were doing something that didn't exist. So I know that you're now in Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts, which is incredibly impressive. What did that ramp up look like? Because you mentioned going from, say, one pallet to now trucks. I would love to hear how you approach that also for major retailers of having such a clean product, being in the kids aisle that is now getting more and more competitive, I think, every day, right? What were just some of your point of views or strategies of getting Amara in front of them and making this a brand that had that bite that people were like, oh, we need this on the shelf?

9:59Jess Sturzenegger:Yeah. So I was in San Francisco. The first one that I would you know probably like most I was like I need to get to Whole Foods and so at that point um I don't know if I've ever told anybody about this but if we uh I went to every single Whole Foods location and all of NorCal and SoCal because I wanted to be close to home and then I had them fill out a card um so I went to I told you know anybody in the store that would pay attention to me I told them I said hey like I want to bring this product to like the headquarter call um you know this was before they were owned by amazon i said i want to bring this in and they all signed a card and i sent it in with our line review um so you have like a line review and i sent it in and i said like please like take me in and shout out to whole foods norcal um they took us in amazing and and then we we went really uh deliberately from there we went we started norcal first like in whole foods as our anchor account and then we opened up like you know the molly the Stones, the Olivers, the Berkeley Bowls, you know, all of those kind of more smaller, but really important natural grocery stores.

11:08And then we went to SoCal, opened, did the same thing

11:11Jess Sturzenegger:there. And then we just really were staying natural. Then we went to conventional. So again, shout out to Raley's. They were one of our first more conventional retailers up in NorCal because they were really focused, like really in that NorCal region. And then we started going nationwide. um sprouts was one of our first nationwide accounts and then we kept growing from there um but it was really like making sure you know when we launched and i'm just gonna give an example we launched in norcal uh whole foods like our packaging was really different if you go deep enough on the on the web you can actually see what it was like it was i'd say a pretty packaging but it just kind of got lost it was a white background uh you know we did different color to every flavors and then when we actually put it on the shelf we walked by the product all the time Right.

11:55Jess Sturzenegger:And so, so then we did, you know, one of my mentors once told me like, if you make mistakes, make them in like in a small amount of stores. Right. So we, we made a lot of mistakes. It was a lot of me replacing boxes, like literally going one by one and replacing boxes on shelves. And then, but then we had a really solid basis to grow from like our velocities were strong and then we just kept growing. To get that shift also with packaging and getting that feedback, was that from just observing people in the aisle or just getting feedback from retailers? Because I think that's a super important piece that a lot of early stage founders overlook.

12:38They get really excited. Some, it's like split in half, get really excited about the product, but then overlook brand. And then some get really obsessed with brand, but then overlook product. but we know that we need both in order to really have not just people pick us up, but continue to purchase the product, right, and get those velocities. I would love to hear what was that feedback and also the changes that you made.

13:02Jess Sturzenegger:Yeah. You know, the feedback in the early days, like we couldn't do – we only recently, like maybe two years ago, started doing consumer studies. Like actual – you know, like we've always done our form of consumer studies online. Right. You can get a lot, but in our very early days, it was me literally just sitting there watching people buy our aisle and asking them, like, hey, why are you buying that? Why are you buying that? And just talking to people at trade shows, at parenting events. Like, hey, where are you getting your information from? This is in the age we launched to market in 2017.

13:40Jess Sturzenegger:17. Like it was like the early ages of like Instagram and mom blogs. And so it's like, where are you getting your information? You know? And so it was a lot of just talking to our consumer. From then to now, what has maybe shifted the brand or become a new focus of the brand in the year 2026 when now information is everywhere, but a lot of information that I could be misleading or not real and true and honest. I would just love to hear how like you're keeping the integrity of your brand and your business and again, keeping it standing out as more competition comes on the market. Yeah, I think it's like for me, a brand is kind of two things.

14:28Jess Sturzenegger:You know, you have like the emotional part of the brand and the functional part, the functional being like the product, you know, like the packaging, everything that is that I'd say we've, for us, we've always been product first. Like it's been, um, it's been a big focus of ours. Um, you know, if you, if you look back to the founders, you mentioned, like we were definitely ones that like led first with product versus brand. Um, and I'd say as we've grown, we put more and more of an emphasis on the emotional, like that second brand tenant to like really, um, because we're part of such an important time in people's lives.

15:03Jess Sturzenegger:And I'd say when we were starting, it was just like parents talking about it. There's like a halo because this time is so critical and so much has changed when you're figuring out what your kid wants and everything. But we've started leaning a little bit more into that versus in the beginning, it was really just product functional. That totally makes sense. And also how we were marketing back then to how we're marketing now, right? I remember those days too. of just when we started it was so different like literally when we started our like our only marketing is we would just send people samples like we were like hey listen the products kind of speaks for itself like put it next to any other snack like we are like even snacks that look like us we are we actually taste so much better it's because of how we make it and it's so different than everybody else but like yeah like products goes a long way um and then as we've grown and kind of got a little bit more mature um we've leaned in a little bit more on the brand build what is some of the advice that you would pass down to someone who's again in the early days that wants to have the integrity of a great product they also you know being in the year 2026 they know that they have to have the brand piece there too um i would just love to hear your point of view of what you would share um i think for me there's probably maybe not one but too, but they both kind of tie together.

16:31For me, when you're in those early days,

16:35Jess Sturzenegger:you can't do it all. So I think just picking one thing and doing it really well. For me in the early days, I remember it was every single morning, it was three hours. I didn't look at my email. I just focused on sales. In the early days, I was the only salesperson. That is everything I did for the first three hours of every morning. I would check email to make sure there wasn't anything on fire. But I wouldn't answer an email and I would just spend three hours on it. So I think when you're in those early days, pick whatever your one thing is and be best in class at it. And for me, the only way I could do that is really just picking one thing because you can't do it all when you're starting.

17:17Jess Sturzenegger:There are some for us that were absolute guardrails that we wouldn't, quality, things like that. And then there's something that's going to move your brand forward. Like it's just one thing and you just have to pick it and be like monofocus on it. That's a good piece of advice, especially in the year 2026 and beyond where there's so many more distractions in the sense of social and a new platform and need to create content and you're doing all these things. But I like how you were saying of like, focus on one piece that you could do really well and kind of cut out the noise around that And really safeguard that time.

17:54Jess Sturzenegger:Yeah. And like, you know, if you're going to be on one channel, sorry, if you're going to be on social, like maybe don't try to do it all at once. Like pick, you know, be the best person at TikTok, you know? Right. People might not find you on Instagram or Meta, but they'll find you on TikTok. Right. And then you can kind of start layering in from there. Really good piece of advice. I love a good tunnel vision too, you know, because we can, especially as entrepreneurs. The only thing that worked for me. You know, be pulled in so many different directions. And I think our creative brains could work in so many different ways.

18:25But when you do channel that into one thing and do it really, really well, it's incredible how much progress you can make. What is the vision of Amara? Like you've done such incredible work over the years to get to this point. But what is like the thing that you're looking forward to or excited about or just how you want to continue building?

18:50Jess Sturzenegger:Gosh, I feel like we're just getting started. I feel like, for me, we just have so much left to do. One, we're not in every location yet. For me, there's 28 ,000 supermarkets in the US. We're not in all of them. And so I'd say, just continuing to bring the easiest and best options for parents that fit into their daily lives that are just really clean ingredients, whole foods, no added sugars, is really our focus. Great. And one last question, where can people shop the brand and product line? So you can find us at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, Walmarts, Amazon, Costco, Sam's. So hopefully in your closest grocery store, otherwise online.

19:38Great. Well, Jessica, congratulations in what you've built. It's incredibly impressive. such a great story and thank you again for sharing it here on the podcast yeah thank you kelly and congrats thank you so much thank you everyone for listening and i'll see you on the next episode bye this episode was brought to you by glimpse as we know building a brand is not as sexy and glamorous as it looks on social media at times a lot of those unsexy problems come into play when brands start to scale in retail distribution. Founders are always incredibly excited to see their products on shelves at major retail chains, but they don't realize all the hard work that starts to begin.

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21:27With a team of in-house deduction experts who come from some of the most successful and profitable CPG companies and custom built AI with 100 % accuracy and precision. You'll recover money that you never should have had leaked in the first place. If you're a brand selling in retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you. Thank you again for listening to this episode of the Emerging Brands Podcast. It really means so much to me that you listen to this show, share it with your friends and support it. If you are a CPG food and beverage founder and you're ready to launch a brand people want to shop, head to withkellybennett.com for the details.

22:19And as always, thank you so much for listening, shopping the brands featured on the show and following brands I'm working with. It means so much. See you on the next episode.