In short
Emerging Brands Podcast Episode Recap
Episode Title
Expo West Recap: Part 1 - The Power of Community
Episode Overview In this high-energy episode, Kelly Bennett and co-host Danielle Calabrese recap the highlights from Natural Products Expo West 2026. They delve into community activations, successful networking events, and standout brands involved in pitch competitions. The discussions emphasize the importance of human connection within the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry.
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Key Highlights
- Networking Activation for Women in CPG
- A last-minute networking event was organized for women in the CPG industry with only 12 hours of notice.
- Over 75 women attended, showcasing a strong desire for connection.
- The event emphasized the importance of building community among women in a predominantly male-dominated industry.
- Pitch Slam Competition
- Kelly and Danielle served as co-emcees for the Expo West Pitch Slam.
- Featured emerging brands included:
- Folkland Foods
- Good Wolf
- pi00a
- Farmwell Drinks
- Ulu Foods (winner)
- Sweeter Collective (runner-up)
- Blueshift Nutrition
- Better Together Foods
- The Pitch Slam provided a platform for founders to showcase their brands to an audience of industry leaders and investors.
- Panel of Experts Discussion
- Key insights on standing out in a crowded market were shared by:
- Jamie Borteck
- Lauren Ressel Castro (CVS Health)
- Jessie Kimsey (Misfits Market)
- Community Engagement Events
- A pizza happy hour drew over 500 RSVPs, featuring a topping bar from La Rossi Pizza and treats from Wobble and Cravings by Chrissy Teigen.
- Beverage partners included Ghia and Esprizio, enhancing community moments at the event.
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Important Themes
The Power of Community
- The episode highlighted the critical need for connection in the CPG industry, particularly among women.
- Founders and professionals are encouraged to network and foster relationships to support one another.
Overcoming Networking Challenges
- Networking can be daunting, especially for those coming from corporate environments.
- Strategies discussed included encouraging attendees to engage with new people and break out of their comfort zones.
Building Brand Community
- Danielle and Kelly noted that building a brand community can start with smaller connections.
- The importance of person-to-person interactions at events was underscored as a way to foster genuine relationships.
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Takeaways for Emerging Founders
- Be Proactive: Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you; create them, as demonstrated by the last-minute networking event.
- Engage with Your Community: Attend industry events to network and get your product in front of potential consumers and investors.
- Leverage Social Media: Use social media to amplify your presence before, during, and after events to maximize exposure and engagement.
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Closing Remarks The episode serves as a vital reminder of the importance of community in the CPG industry. It encourages founders to cultivate connections, share experiences, and support one another in their journeys.
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of the Expo West recap, where more insights and highlights will be shared!
Podcast Sponsor This episode was made possible by [Glimpse](https://www.tryglimpse.com/trial?utm_source=emerging%20brands%20pod&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=emerging_brands_pod), an AI-powered deduction management tool designed to help CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions.
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For more insights on building successful CPG brands, listen to the Emerging Brands Podcast and explore the featured brands discussed in this episode.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOExpo West Overview
1:18 to 1:52
Introduction to the special episodes covering Expo West.
“Welcome back to a special episode and episodes of the Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett.”
Reflecting on Expo West Experience
1:52 to 3:01
Hosts share their experiences and insights from the Expo.
“and just being such a great person to walk the floor with and co-host events with.”
Highlighting the Networking Event
3:01 to 4:48
Discussion on the successful networking event at Expo West.
“Pro tip, you need all the days, especially like to your point, if you're socializing.”
The Importance of Community in CPG
4:48 to 6:50
Exploring the significance of female community in the CPG industry.
“Like they wanted to meet other women in the space.”
Building Brand Community Strategies
6:50 to 9:39
Strategies for building brand community discussed by hosts.
“And I would even say I came from brand building, you know, 16 years now, but worked in many different verticals, even hospitality.”
Mixing Founders and Service Providers
9:39 to 14:03
The importance of integrating founders and service providers in the CPG space.
“And at the same time, we did push women in a kind way to talk to people across the room and talk to people outside of their arc that they didn't know.”
The Blend of Service Providers and Founders
14:03 to 14:30
Explore the importance of blending service providers and founders for brand success.
“away where I feel like all of our events we always blend we always blend service providers and founders because you need both you do to make a successful emerging brand and I will die on that hill.”
The Importance of Network for Life Changes
14:31 to 15:10
Learn how a strong network can provide support during significant life changes.
“And I think too, like if you are a woman in corporate and you never know what's going to happen in corporate, like you could get fired tomorrow.”
Building Business Through Community
15:11 to 16:02
Understand the role of community in building a sustainable business.
“So we'll definitely hopefully do something similar to that next year.”
Pitch Slam Highlights
16:03 to 16:50
Get an inside look at the excitement and challenges of the Pitch Slam event.
“So the next event we worked on, which was so fun, is that we were the co-emcees of the Natural Products Expo West 2026 Pitch Slam, which was such a moment too.”
Show all 21 chapters
The Nerve-Wracking Experience of Pitching
16:51 to 18:38
Discover the challenges and emotions involved in pitching to a large audience.
“There were several hundred people there.”
Introducing Ulu Foods and Its Unique Product
18:39 to 19:56
Learn about Ulu Foods and their innovative Caribbean breadfruit snack.
“Courtney, the founder, she was really practicing on her decks behind the stage and really went over it so many times.”
The Growth of Ladies Lounge
19:57 to 21:39
Hear about the success and expansion of the Ladies Lounge event.
“love that women winner and runner up, which was really cool to see too.”
Collaboration with LaRosi Pizza Family
21:40 to 23:26
Explore the partnership with LaRosi Pizza and its impact on the event.
“year we had closer to 500 in one year, which is wild.”
Showcasing New Products at Expo
23:27 to 24:26
Learn about the innovative products showcased at Expo and their reception.
“So it's using grass fed gelatin, clean ingredients, sweetened with fruits and veggies, no artificial coloring.”
Kendall's Success with Cotto
24:27 to 26:19
Discuss Kendall's achievements with Cotto and the importance of hard work.
“And it was literally the first time she ever sampled them, which was so fun.”
Leveraging Events for Brand Growth
26:20 to 28:01
Understand how participation in events can effectively promote your brand.
“And she started with a pickup model here in New York city and is now moving to manufacturing.”
The Importance of Events for Brand Awareness
28:01 to 29:32
Learn how events can amplify brand visibility and foster community engagement.
“She is on the event circuit, like constantly getting people to try the product and it's working.”
Showcasing Emerging Brands at Events
29:33 to 31:09
Discover how showcasing new brands at events can attract attention and investors.
“So thousands and thousands of people now have access to what happened at that event.”
Highlighting Innovative Products
31:10 to 33:38
Explore the unique offerings from various brands featured at the event.
“We've been working on this one for a while.”
Community Engagement and Event Success
33:39 to 34:35
Understand the role of community support in the success of brand events.
“It was just such a great, well-rounded event.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Danielle Calabrese:Welcome 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 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.
0:42Danielle Calabrese: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. Now, let's dive into the new episode. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a special episode and episodes of the Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett.
1:29Danielle Calabrese:I am here with Danielle Calabrese of It's All Happening. And this is a three-part recap of Expo West because it was so jam-packed with so many things. and Danielle and I needed to debrief on everything, but making sure that we give you all the information. And so this is going to be a three-parter. And Danielle, thank you for recording with me and just being such a great person to walk the floor with and co-host events with. This was such a fun expo. And seriously, thank you so much for making it so special.
2:07Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Oh, it was such a great show. I feel like this was like really a blockbuster one, wasn't it?
2:13Danielle Calabrese:It really was.
2:14Emerging Brands Podcast Host:We had such a good time and it went by so fast.
2:18Danielle Calabrese:And that's what we were just saying before hitting record that if we were to do it again, we would definitely walk the show floor Friday and just a note for next year. You really need all the days to do Expo right.
2:33Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Previous years, I've just done Wednesday and Thursday. But because we had so much that we were doing like during the show with networking and also outside events and both days I didn't arrive until like, you know, 1030, 11 o 'clock. I wished I would have had that third day to see additional things.
3:00Danielle Calabrese:So no tip to everybody here. Pro tip, you need all the days, especially like to your point, if you're socializing. And that's what I wanted to first recap because this was such a highlight being a co-host to three really cool events with you this year. Like we stacked it up. And I first want to talk about our networking event, which was just added to the calendar officially about 12 hours prior to Expo. It was part of the CPG Innovation Summit. And I was so surprised how many women came to network. I remember looking at you like.
3:48Emerging Brands Podcast Host:We were shocked.
3:49Danielle Calabrese:We were shocked. We were literally shocked.
3:52Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Well, we didn't think anybody was going to come. Like we didn't think you guys were going to show up because it just wasn't it didn't get a lot of promotional attention. And we also didn't have any signage. Don't forget about that. There was.
4:06Danielle Calabrese:Yeah, we had no signage outside.
4:08Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Signage. There was no signage. Like our screens were empty. The security, the women at the door really helped us. MVPs. Yeah. I forgot to tell you, by the way, several people told me they tried to come, but the security guards wouldn't let them in.
4:23Danielle Calabrese:Really?
4:24Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah. Yes, totally. So, so that's interesting. Interesting. But yeah, I mean, like the women showed up to network and like chat with each other. I was so impressed with just like all these like really cool women that like work in big brands showed up because they wanted to make connections. That's a really good point.
4:49Danielle Calabrese:I think for the networking event, to my understanding and getting a sense of the room, I feel like we had bigger strategics of women who work inside those brands wanting to come and network, where they usually stay with maybe just their brand or they're not necessarily in the founder community that does feel a bit more communal. Like they wanted to meet other women in the space. And that was, that stood out to me.
5:19Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Well, you know, it's interesting. And I noticed that right away. So like, okay, so coming from corporate, like I worked in this industry, I've been a founder before, but I've worked in this industry for many years, running companies in a corporate environment and you get in the bubble of your company and you, you forget that there's other people and other brands and other things out there outside of your company, especially if you're working in a startup environment where everybody is like seriously hustling. Right. Right. And you're just like nose down, working like crazy, trying to like achieve, you know, like roll a boulder uphill.
6:00Emerging Brands Podcast Host:And sometimes you can lose track of your community when you work inside of these companies oftentimes. And that's when I became like so desperate for female community and CPG is when I finally went off on my own. And I was just like, oh my God, I need people. Like I I need other women because I was so used to having my work community, the community of my company surrounding me. And then I became independent and I was like, I need that still. And that's when I created the Slack channel and like really reached out to you. And we did Ladies Lounge last year and centered my whole podcast and my whole business around supporting women because it's just so crucial.
6:49Danielle Calabrese:It is so crucial. And I would even say I came from brand building, you know, 16 years now, but worked in many different verticals, even hospitality. But CPG, I could see how important it is for women to connect with each other, even versus other industries. It could get very male dominated very quickly in CPG. And I don't think we need to explain that to anyone who's probably listening to this. And it's often a critique that I do hear. And I think that to your point of you seeing this, being in CPG from a corporate side, from a founder side, then going independent and wanting to build it, I think it's such a brilliant concept what you brought to the space because it obviously is very clearly needed and women want to really be building together.
7:47Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm not like this like brilliant person. That's the first person that has ever thought of this. I was just like, because it already exists, but there needs to be more of it. It needs to be more. Yeah. There's not enough of it. Right. So, okay. But something that I noticed that both you and I, I think you and I spotted too, which I thought was so funny, is that there was a lot of women who showed up that really wanted to stick together.
8:16Danielle Calabrese:So we wanted to differentiate this networking activation as a really simple, engaging, very approachable way for women to think about how to build brand community. And when Danielle and I were going over the notes, Danielle brought a really great point of brand community can sound very big and very daunting. But what your point was is that it's much easier to approach building community around other people within the industry first and growing from there. And I thought that was such a great point. And so in the activation, what we literally did, Danielle and I set timers and made women literally like turn to their right, almost like a speed dating and introduce themselves.
9:08Danielle Calabrese:And the only issue we had with this idea was that women were talking so much and it was so loud and engaging that it was hard to like tell everyone to then talk to someone else, which is a great problem to have. We didn't have a mic. Next year we need a mic. But I thought it was such a great testimony of how engaged people were and how they really wanted to connect with each other. And at the same time, we did push women in a kind way to talk to people across the room and talk to people outside of their arc that they didn't know.
9:55Emerging Brands Podcast Host:That they didn't know, yeah. because if you're not used to that, to being in that type of environment and you work in like a corporate setting and you're not consistently networking with people day in, day out, it can feel like intimidating or just nerve wracking. Right. So I noticed this, that people were really, that came with friends and coworkers and stuff, they really wanted to stick together, but we were really encouraging everybody to split up and talk to people, move around and talk to people that they don't know, which is hard. That is, it's a hard thing to do. Yeah. It can be a hard thing to do, especially if you like show up together.
10:38Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Um, and I've done this a million times, show up at an event with somebody and you stick to with the person the whole time, but just, I think it's important to remember why you came there, right. Came there to make connections, to meet people, to be seen. But if you want to be seen, you also need to talk to people. And I think this is the discount that we see oftentimes. So many of us want to be seen, but we're so afraid to speak up and say something, right? We're just so afraid because, I don't know, I think it's just part of, you know, not everybody has this problem, but I know a lot of women do.
11:18Emerging Brands Podcast Host:I've had, I struggled with this for years.
11:20Danielle Calabrese:Yeah. No, I've struggled with it too, because sometimes you don't know what to say. You don't want to sound awkward or you feel like it's cringy to talk about yourself, but it's such an important skill to build. Yes. And also to the flip side, social has gotten much more normal about telling your story and storytelling. But at the same time, you still need to know how to talk to someone in person, offline, who you are, what you do, what's your brand, you know, finding ways to engage and start up a conversation. And I'm using the term old school, but like the tried and true ways that you build relationships that sometimes get glazed over because we're like, oh, just follow them on social or I follow them on social.
12:09Danielle Calabrese:It's also really important to bring that in person.
12:13Emerging Brands Podcast Host:yes yes exactly so anyway I was very impressed with with everybody there and you had like 75
12:21Danielle Calabrese:women right at least at least yeah and again this was 12 hours I mean like I was on the flight to LA being like hey is this happening like and then it went live you and I shared it on our Instagram stories, but that was really essentially it. But really, I was so impressed. And that was, again, part of the CPG Innovation Summit.
12:48Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. Yes.
12:49Danielle Calabrese:Which was that Tuesday before the show really kicked off, which was great too to see that people came early and wanted to essentially kick off Expo West with us as well.
13:00Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah. It was a lot of people working the show, like their companies were exhibiting, you know, that's why they, that's why they were there earlier. Like some of the, a lot of the bigger brands.
13:13Danielle Calabrese:That's a great point too. They were able to come.
13:16Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah. But we had a lot of startup founders too. Like we did a lot of women in there that were like, my idea it's brand new. I'm just getting the wheels turning. Like, what do you think? Um, we had, I noticed a lot too that day. We had a lot of, there was like a lot of women in supplements as well. Yes. Did you notice that?
13:36Danielle Calabrese:I did notice that more so than even ladies lounge.
13:40Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Oh yeah. Yeah, totally. I'm not sure why, but anyway, it was great to supplement women.
13:46Danielle Calabrese:And then also other service providers where I think that in many CPG community spaces, service providers are not necessarily in the mix that founders are in and we're kind of like siloed
14:03Emerging Brands Podcast Host:away where I feel like all of our events we always blend we always blend service providers and founders because you need both you do to make a successful emerging brand and I will die on that
14:18Danielle Calabrese:hill. Like you, you need both. You need people talking with each other and the right people around you to be successful. So I'm really proud of the fact that like we blend those two together.
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14:31Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah. Yeah, totally. Same. And I think too, like if you are a woman in corporate and you never know what's going to happen in corporate, like you could get fired tomorrow. you could decide that you want to make a life change. You could have a situation happen in your life where you're like, I have to make a life change, right? Having your network in your back pocket is the, that's like your soft landing, right? That's your place where you can fall back on when you need to make a big shift or you want to make a big shift.
15:10Danielle Calabrese:That's a great point. And also I would say on the reverse I am someone who never worked corporate I've been independent 16 years now and I've built my whole business for this long I've lasted this long by building community and it's the only the only other thing I mean yes I've gotten good at what I do but aside from just honing my skills it's always I'm always actively looking to build relationships take care of relationships, do right by people. And that is genuinely how I feel. I've built my business for this long. Yeah. It's community. So we'll definitely hopefully do something similar to that next year.
15:58Danielle Calabrese:Cause that was, that was really fun.
16:00Emerging Brands Podcast Host:I hope new hope has us back.
16:02Danielle Calabrese:Yes, please. That was really fun. So the next event we worked on, which was so fun, is that we were the co-emcees of the Natural Products Expo West 2026 Pitch Slam, which was such a moment too.
16:23Emerging Brands Podcast Host:It was. It was. Can we, can I just like, I am so impressed with the brands that go up there that pitch. Honestly, it's nerve wracking. And they all did great.
16:37Danielle Calabrese:They did fabulous. And again, something that I, every time I went up to introduce someone else, I'm like, can we clap again? Because this is so hard. Talk about networking and putting yourself out there, but literally going on a stage and having, there was like quite a few hundreds of people in that room.
16:57Emerging Brands Podcast Host:There were several hundred people there.
16:59Danielle Calabrese:There were several hundred people staring at you. You have judges of brands that you admire and you have you and your microphone and you're literally pitching your brand and your product and your concept. Like
17:14Emerging Brands Podcast Host:talk about being vulnerable.
17:17Danielle Calabrese:Yeah. And most people have probably never,
17:19Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Most of the founders had never done that before either. You, yeah, it takes, it takes confidence. And anyway, they, they did, they all honestly did so great. They did so great. It was such a fun.
17:34Danielle Calabrese:That was so fun. And it was really fun because that was on stage. We had production. We were mic'd, like it felt, it felt really extra special. And there was like this buzz and energy in the room with like our great judges that we had from Misfits Market, CVS Health. We had an angel investor. And then we also had Mindy from a casting of Shark Tank do a fireside.
18:00Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes, that was so great.
18:02Danielle Calabrese:That was so cool.
18:04Emerging Brands Podcast Host:And the founder of the founder of Incredibles.
18:07Danielle Calabrese:Yes.
18:08Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. Yes. She was awesome.
18:10Danielle Calabrese:Um, um, you introduce the winner and Ulu foods, Ulu foods. So what was the product that you, um, introduced onto the stage?
18:24Emerging Brands Podcast Host:So it's a Caribbean bread fruit. So it's almost like, like a cracker essentially. Um, but it's described as nature's bread from a tree. so gluten-free grain-free vegan non-gmo like all top 14 allergen free did you know there's 14
18:43Danielle Calabrese:allergens now i thought it was just nine i thought it was just nine now there's 14 now there's 14 yeah
18:50Emerging Brands Podcast Host:um so essentially it's it's a it's a snack made from a tropical fruit which is cool i never heard
18:57Danielle Calabrese:of breadfruit before but i was looking up on instagram i'm like oh this is cool and it was really sweet. Courtney, the founder, she was really practicing on her decks behind the stage and really went over it so many times. And I was so happy for her that she won because you could tell how much she was pouring into her pitch. And it was just cool to see that full circle.
19:22Emerging Brands Podcast Host:She was, yeah, she was great. We got some, I got some good behind the scenes photos of her, like, you know, cramming and practicing her pitch. It was very cute. And then our runner,
19:33Danielle Calabrese:a runner up yes sweeter collective yep so fun I've met her before at um summer fancy and her candies her Shirley Temple really tastes like Shirley Temple oh I didn't get to try it they're good it's like a hard candy and really fun flavors she's really sweet um she was the runner up and I love that women winner and runner up, which was really cool to see too.
20:08Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Oh yes, totally. They, they did great. Um, how good were her boots too? She had like serious, really cool boots,
20:16Danielle Calabrese:really sparkle, cool boots. And it's little things like that too, that helps people remember you, right? It's not that you always have to do a shtick, but like little things that you could do to just make your brand stand out and you stand out, it matters.
20:33Emerging Brands Podcast Host:It does. It really, really does. Yes. You don't have to be obnoxious about it, but like you want to have something, especially if you're not exhibiting, right? I mean, even more so if you're exhibiting, but like, especially if you're not exhibiting, but what I did notice too, and I don't want to like jump too far ahead because I know we're going to talk about this, but like, the, you know, the outfits, like every, everybody that came with their team, everybody like has, you know, a matching jacket or like doing something or a matching one piece or whatnot. I, I love, I love me too. I love a good uniform.
21:12Danielle Calabrese:Me too. I love it. So before we dive into too much of that, because I definitely want to do that in the next segment, we need to talk about ladies lounge because this was like our grand finale after working super hard on all the events this was the one that we really honed in on again this was your concept last year and I want to say we had like 150 women come last year and we're like whoa that was amazing which it was but this
21:43Emerging Brands Podcast Host:year we had closer to 500 in one year, which is wild. Yeah, it was, it was great. Yeah, everybody, we had so many people show up and, and pass pass through. It was very crowded. And yeah, as you all know, the event was on the trade show floor. And there's only so much space that you have on the trade show floor. But we did get lucky with having the bathrooms right across. And there actually was some extra space because we did have a corner booth. Huge shout out to the LaRosi pizza family. They're amazing. I know. They're amazing. Bianca and her mom are the best.
22:27Danielle Calabrese:So cool. Her mom is really from Italy, like authentic Italian vibes all the way. And again, which was funny is that I saw Bianca at the Prefix event in January. and we were just catching up and she was saying that she's going to Expo and she got this really great booth and I knew you and I were looking for a partner for this of a really great booth we could send all of our ladies lounge to and I was like hey can we can we host at your booth and she was like yeah okay I'll talk to the team but I think that would be great and I want to say the next day we started on it. And so I really appreciate Bianca for saying yes and going with it and also moving so quickly.
23:13Danielle Calabrese:Um, Sarah, who did PR with LaRosi did awesome too. Um, and it just moved really quickly. And that also is a good sign of like, when you have the right partners around you, what you're able to get done in a fairly short period of time.
23:30Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. Yes, totally. We got to sample out a lot of a couple of our brands yes which was so fun to have wobble there which nobody had ever tried or really heard about or seen I mean I was brand brand new yeah yeah and how cute were those little bites that so good they were so for anyone who isn't following yet wobble is a
23:59Danielle Calabrese:shared client with Danielle and myself. And it's a modern gelatin mix. So it's using grass fed gelatin, clean ingredients, sweetened with fruits and veggies, no artificial coloring. And she made these really cute bites with her. Was it sour berry, mango and strawberry? Yep.
24:24Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yep.
24:24Danielle Calabrese:And she made them really cute and fun for Expo. And it was literally the first time she ever sampled them, which was so fun.
24:34Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah, totally. Everybody loved that product. It was really interesting.
24:39Danielle Calabrese:I heard a lot of great feedback too.
24:42Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah. Yeah. And there's, there's, you know, there are some like new ready to eat options out there, but this is a mix. So the box is going to be the exact same footprint as the classic OG jello box. So this brand will actually be living in the baking aisle and the mixes aisle, the dessert section, the shelf-stable dessert section versus the ready-to-eat section for now.
25:11Danielle Calabrese:Yes, exactly. But that's a good distinction of where people are going to be able to find it. And the branding Benita Studio did, and it's so cute it's so good I'm obsessed with this branding yeah if you guys haven't checked it
25:27Emerging Brands Podcast Host:out you need to check it out yeah what's the Instagram handle it's eat wobble right wobble
25:31Danielle Calabrese:yeah wobble um and then of course Cotto Cotto another great shared client of ours um she is a whipped cottage cheese dip and she crushed it like I'm so proud of Kendall I she's a star I know I
25:49Emerging Brands Podcast Host:I know I was, we were on a call today with Esther and Andrea of Evolve food consultants. And they, we started the call and Esther was like, I honestly don't know if I have ever seen a client of mine work as hard as Kendall did during Expo West. And I'm like, I totally agree with you. Yes.
26:11Danielle Calabrese:That's a really big compliment.
26:13Emerging Brands Podcast Host:I know she, she did great. And she just launched at Meadow Lane today.
26:18Danielle Calabrese:And she's already sold out.
26:20Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Can you believe it? Like I can, I can. No, I can. I absolutely can.
26:26Danielle Calabrese:I'm so proud of her. And she started with a pickup model here in New York city and is now moving to manufacturing. It got her first retailer. And the fact that she had the energy to launch her first retailer right off of the heels of expo. I'm like, Kendall, you are a rock
26:45Emerging Brands Podcast Host:star.
26:46Danielle Calabrese:I, I need at least 10 business days to recuperate. Um, but she did it already sold out, which is amazing. And she, I think has done such a great job with creating content and with sampling and demoing. And so, so many people, even though she did not have a booth, she had her little cute backpack cooler. She, I think she did such a great job of showing that you could drive demand and leverage Expo to taste your products.
27:21Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. Yes, for sure. I mean, if you don't have the money to showcase at Expo, it's okay. But if you're going to go, like go and really show up. There are so many free ways that you can get your product out there and just participate by sampling. But I think Kendall's a really good example of how crucial it is at the, in the very early days, especially if like your product is refrigerated or like you have, you know what I mean? It's not super easy to just ship around and get people samples and products to do tastings and events. She is on the event circuit, like constantly getting people to try the product and it's working.
28:07Emerging Brands Podcast Host:It's helping spread the word because people are at the events. Like, I feel like some people get sort of, they like blow over events because they feel like it's, you just don't reach enough people and it's like kind of small and it's a lot of work and whatnot. But the thing is, I think that's the wrong way to think about it. If one person goes to your event and posts about your product at the event, Now, all of a sudden your product, you're exposed to all of their followers and all of the people that are looking at their social media. So I just events are not old school. Like they are really a way to quickly spread the word.
28:54Danielle Calabrese:And also why I love events is that it's also great content for the brand. you're showing people trying it getting their reviews showing that you're in the mix like it's showing that there's energy and buzz and you know I talk all about buzz pre-launch but this is why I emphasize events and putting yourself out there because you could also leverage it it's not just what happens at the event now it's social you're able to tell those stories and almost have another event after through social and you could use that content so many different ways. Right.
29:32Emerging Brands Podcast Host:And so, yeah, I think that was a great job. Exactly. So thousands and thousands of people now have access to what happened at that event. Exactly. It's this sense of FOMO, which immediately urges you to buy or learn more or to look into the brand or to seek it out. It just gets the buzz flywheel going.
29:54Danielle Calabrese:And what's really cool too is that for Cotto, for example, there were some angel investors at our ladies lounge. And so I was bringing them over to sample Cotto and they're like, oh, I've seen her on social. They were already familiar with her, even getting up to the booth. And I was like, this is a great example of why you build your own buzz. And then she has a really great product. Like everyone who tasted it was like, Oh, this is really good, which, you know, is low hanging fruit of what you need to be successful. But I think that was also a good testimony and why events like ladies lounge, we also had, um, show off, which is a really great chili oil that, um, was there salsa matcha, salsa matcha.
30:42Danielle Calabrese:Yes. Um, we had fish wife, which was so fun. And I love mixing more established cult brands with emerging brands. We also had Gia. Thanks to you.
30:54Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes, we had Gia. Thank you, Melanie, for participating.
30:57Danielle Calabrese:Yes, thank you so much. People thought that was like so cool. And then we had Espritzio, which is your client who just came off the line.
31:08Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Just came off the production line, sparkling espresso spritz. We've been working on this one for a while. You tried the product, right? Yeah. It's really delicious. When I thought of
31:21Danielle Calabrese:like espresso grapefruit sparkling, I'm like, huh, this is interesting. It was really delicious and very refreshing.
31:28Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. Surprisingly refreshing. Inspired by, of course, like summers in the Mediterranean, classic Mediterranean spritz, but, you know, inspired by cafe spritz culture. So having a sparkling espresso in a coffee shop in Europe and Australia, and now even in the US is a thing now, right? You can order an espresso and get like a side of sparkling water. And it hasn't really been canned until recently. And like I said, We've been working on this one for a while and it just came off the line. It just, we're about to hit retail shelves shortly.
32:16Danielle Calabrese:So cool. The launch is up and coming and the product is certified organic too. Which I didn't realize at first.
32:26Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. We worked really hard to get that done at launch because that's a key differentiator for an important factor for some of the retailers that we will soon be in.
32:37Danielle Calabrese:Yes.
32:37Emerging Brands Podcast Host:So yeah, I'm so excited.
32:41Danielle Calabrese:And then also we had a surprise and delight. We had cravings by Chrissy Teigen, who her team was so lovely. They set up an interview for the emerging brands podcast. And tell us about that. That was honestly such a highlight. She was so cool and so real. Like I literally sat on the floor with her inside her booth and recorded an episode and is so generous with her time and you could tell that she's really in the trenches of CPG and that she cares a lot about what she's building and how she's approaching it and they just went through a rebrand that was very much led by how she wanted the brand to look and feel and yeah she was super generous with her time.
33:28Danielle Calabrese:And then they also sent cookies from their chocolate chip baking mix that was delicious to the event as well, which was super cool.
33:37Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yes. Yes.
33:38Danielle Calabrese:A nice fun surprise and delight moment.
33:41Emerging Brands Podcast Host:Yeah. I love that. It was just such a great, well-rounded event. And honestly, if you're listening and you popped by, thank you so much for coming to support. We loved it.
33:54Danielle Calabrese:It was so cool with people that you knew. I feel like it was a really nice mix of people that we know, but also new people who listen to both of our podcasts or follow us on social and saw it through our channels or from another brand and genuinely made the time to show up and also introduce themselves to where in Expo West, there's so much happening. But for people to genuinely take the time to show up to our event, that was really special.
34:25Emerging Brands Podcast Host:It was. It was. So good.
34:28Danielle Calabrese:So good. Okay. That's a recap on just the events. We have more to go. So stay tuned for part two.
34:35Emerging Brands Podcast Host:This episode was brought to you by Glimpse.
34:39Danielle Calabrese: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. Retailers and distributors are known for their processes of deducting amounts from invoices. Most of the time, those are totally valid. Promos, slotting fees, free fills, and all the things that brands agree to to be part of the retail experience. But sometimes those deductions are invalid, costing brands thousands to millions in fees.
35:31Danielle Calabrese:Actually finding those needles in the haystack though and fighting to win back lost revenue, it's a costly, manual, and time-consuming issue. And that's where Glimpse comes in. 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, scaling their businesses. With 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.
36:25Danielle Calabrese: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. And 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.
From the publisher
This week on Emerging Brands Podcast®, I am kicking off a high-energy, 3-part recap of Natural Products Expo West 2026. To dive into the highlights, I'm joined by my friend and co-host Danielle Calabrese, founder of It's All Happening, to pull back the curtain on the community moments that defined the show.
In Part 1, we're recapping the activations we helped bring to life in Anaheim—from high-stakes pitch competitions to the return of our favorite community tradition. We explore how 75+ women showed up for a networking activation at the Innovation Summit with only 12 hours of notice and why the energy behind this year's events is proof that the CPG industry is hungrier than ever for real, human connection.
Inside the Episode:
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How a last-minute networking activation for women in CPG turned into a massive community win, proving that the desire for connection outweighs the need for long lead times.
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Behind the scenes of emceeing the Expo West Pitch Slam and the emerging brands that caught our eye, including Folkland Foods, Good Wolf, pi00a, Farmwell Drinks, Ulu Foods, Sweeter Collective, Blueshift Nutrition, and Better Together Foods.
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Highlights from our panel of experts—Jamie Borteck, Lauren Ressel Castro (CVS Health), and Jessie Kimsey (Misfits Market)—on what it takes to stand out in a crowded market.
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Recapping our pizza happy hour with 500+ RSVPs, featuring a La Rossi Pizza topping bar with Fishwife, Cotto, and Showoff, plus treats from Wobble and Cravings by Chrissy Teigen.
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A look at the beverage partners who fueled our community moments, including the sophisticated flavors of Ghia and Esprizio.
I hope you enjoy this first look into the best of Expo West! Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3.
This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.