Stone & Skillet

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 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.

0:42And 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 new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today, I have Cam Meekins.

1:30He is the co-founder and CEO of Stone & Skillet that makes super delicious New England style English muffins. Every time I see your social cam, it makes me want to eat an English muffin. And I'm so happy to have you on the show and talk shop about how you've been building the brand. It's really impressive what you've been doing in retail and just overall disrupting the English muffin space. So thank you so much for coming on the show.

2:01Cameron Meekins:Yeah, absolutely. Kelly, thank you for having me. You're so welcome. So let's first start with the product idea. As I was sharing before we hit record, I didn't even know New England had a unique style of English muffin. And I love niche food facts like that. Like this is what I, as a foodie myself, I love, but I would love to hear how did you first come up with this concept? Yeah. So it's, it's funny, you know, um, we've been around for a while now over 10 years. And, uh, so we started the company in Boston, obviously where we're all from, my brothers and I. And the idea really came from my brother, Kyle, who was actually working in the food industry at another bread company.

2:44Cameron Meekins:And his job was to sell bread wholesale to restaurants in Boston. So he was also a guy who just loved the food scene in Boston, was very close with a lot of the chefs in the city, and they were all friendly. And so these guys were always bugging my brother for an artisan English muffin for their Sunday brunch menus, because they would do elaborate eggs benedict dishes and put them on kind of a cheap English muffin it didn't really make sense and so at the time my brother was really trying to convince his boss that their their company should do English muffins and his boss was like no way it's a totally different process from making bread you know we make sourdough bread we don't make English muffins, but you're welcome to try it yourself.

3:28Cameron Meekins:And so it sparked an idea for my brother. We were all hanging out in his apartment, kind of living in the city, trying to figure out what we all wanted to do with our lives. And one night we're ideating on this recipe and we're rolling these dough balls on a stone countertop in his kitchen and griddling them on a cast iron skillet. And And that's how we came up with the name Stone and Skillet. And so New England style really is kind of this ode to our early roots of Boston making the muffins in his apartment for restaurants in a cast iron skillet one at a time. And, you know, we almost got kicked out of his apartment because there was just like flour everywhere and like craziness for months, you know, when we started the company.

4:15Cameron Meekins:but it was just all about a super premium English muffin because it was for restaurants at the time. That was the first use case. And so it kind of evolved through time into pivoting into a retail brand. And I can certainly tell you that part of the story. Yeah, I would love to hear more about that. So that was really, again, something that we kind of backed our way into because once we started selling to the restaurants that we knew in the city, we started doing farmer's markets. and one day we were doing a farmer's market and this woman came to our booth and she's like, hey, how come this isn't in Whole Foods?

4:49Cameron Meekins:And we were like, we would love to do that but we have no idea how to navigate that. And she basically slipped us her business card and she was like, it's because you haven't talked to me yet. And she was the local forager for Whole Foods. How cool. Yeah, and back then we literally used to just go to Staples, get these blue stickers and like sticker a logo on the bag and that was our brand. And so that's how we got into Whole Foods. And we got into one store, which, you know, it's very different these days. I think Whole Foods is such a bigger company now under Amazon that, you know, it's hard to even just get into one store.

5:26Cameron Meekins:You kind of have to go nothing, but we were lucky to kind of come up during the time where that was still a possibility. I think there's a number of great retailers now that are also doing that. But for us, it was that Whole Foods, you know, chance that they took on us in one store that opened up this whole new opportunity of retail for us. Wow. Okay. I want to dive more into that in a moment, but first, what was your background or what were you pursuing before this cool English muffin idea came to be? Yeah. I mean, you know, my, my brother, Kyle, my other brother, Nick, myself, our best friend, Dan, you know, we were all the original founders the business and all kind of came out this from a number of different angles.

6:09Cameron Meekins:I actually come from a music background. So when I was in high school, I started like putting music out on YouTube and Facebook, which was kind of a new idea at the time and ended up becoming, you know, a relatively successful artist in the music space and signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and was kind of pursuing music for a long time. Yeah. And, you know, that was really my first chapter of my career. And I like to think that's where I got a crash course in like entrepreneurship and business. Absolutely. Especially just the music industry is a very crazy place and you just learn a lot really quickly.

6:43Cameron Meekins:So I was always passionate about starting companies and business. And my brother had this great idea. We all got involved early on to kind of take it to the next level. But my background was always more from a creative side and an entrepreneurial side. So as time went on and the company grew, you know, I stepped into that leadership role of the company and have been kind of charting the new path for the business recently. And it's been a fun, wild ride. But, you know, for 10 plus years, it's been kind of this family thing that we started in that apartment that has now grown into this, you know, national company with distribution across the country.

7:21Cameron Meekins:It's really cool to see. And, you know, we're just kind of, I think that's incredible. Yeah. And it's you and your three brothers. So my two brothers, two brothers. Yeah. And then, you know, there's some other people involved in the business as well, but it started off with the core kind of family group. That is so cool. I love a good family business story. I really do. There's like a special place in my heart for family businesses. So going back to what you were saying, you met the forager for Whole Foods at that local farmer's market you were given an opportunity to do one store which to your point is very rare now what did you learn fairly quickly about the retail channel something that maybe you had to change in production or even packaging and branding to then scale because now you're in quite a few doors and to your point national brand misfits market I know also carries you what did that strategy look like to really expand then?

8:24Cameron Meekins:Yeah, I think, you know, we had really no idea what it meant to launch into retail when we started. And I think we were very lucky to be able to walk before we ran in terms of one short of time. I think if we could go back in time, knowing what I know now about distribution and about how things work, like we would have maybe done things differently, but we also, I think only got here because of the learning experience that we had. So So I really think it's important to just dive head first, but also try and kind of stage things out in terms of the milestones that you're looking to do. So focus on getting into that one retailer, that one group of a handful of stores in a region and understand how it works with the buyer and placing POs and the distributor.

9:12Cameron Meekins:Every business is different in terms of exactly how it's distributed. But for us, I think one thing that really unlocked a world of possibilities was this idea of getting into the bakery category. Oh, interesting. Yeah, because I think, you know, bread is obviously such a hot topic right now and a unique kind of thing going on in our food system. I think something that we're passionate about, like the first, I think, real value of the business was just to make the best quality English muffins. Again, initially it was for restaurants. That was like the first idea. I think as it's evolved, we've had to identify what our mission is.

9:51Cameron Meekins:And I think it's really about being a part of a solution to this kind of broken food system. And if you look at bread in particular, there's so many challenges with bread, with preservatives and chemicals and, you know, all these problems that people associate with bread now. And, you know, want to be a part of, you know, some degree of the solution there in terms of trying to stay artisanal, cleaner ingredients, small batches, kind of making the muffins by hand and distributing them in a way that's kind of more associated with quality. And that might mean a reduction in shelf life or things like that.

10:29Cameron Meekins:But those are pros and cons that you weigh out for the kind of better quality that you're trying to make in the product. And we found that because we got put in the bakery section at Whole Foods, that was where people were going to find real quality. And so, you know, interesting. Yeah. It really identified a strategy for us of like, we want to own the bakery category, not the center store bread where you find kind of, you know, Wonder Bread or any of these other kinds of brands, but really in the bakery where a lot of it is private label typically, but we wanted to build a branded item that was great for the bakery, that is more fresh, more high quality, and it's going to have shorter shelf life, but in the long run, a better quality product.

11:15Cameron Meekins:And so that became a big part of what we built as time went on. And I wish I could say that that was like intentional from day one. It wasn't. I think it was the nature of that was the opportunity we got with Whole Foods. And you ran with it. Yeah, exactly. I love that. And that to me is like the entrepreneurial spirit, right? We could have a working understanding of where we're going, but it's also when we get a window of opportunity running with it. And that to me is like what really makes an entrepreneur stand out of like they know how to find those little moments where not everybody will have that same advantage and they they take it and run with it.

11:58So have you had any pushback from retailers? You don't have to say any names of having more of an artisanal English muffin or a shorter shelf life and just probably price point too? Or has it helped you vet out retail partners that are better fits? I would love to hear how you have gone about that. Yeah.

12:22Cameron Meekins:I mean, it's a great question. I think in general, we've been lucky that all the retail partners we've worked with, Like when we get the opportunity, by the time we get a chance to even present it, I think people already know what the business is about and what Stone and Skillet is about, particularly for the bakery category. So we haven't had too many situations yet where it hasn't been like the right fit. I do think, you know, shelf life, you know, there's nuance there. There's some center store breads that are 30, 60 days, you know, which is crazy. But for us, we actually have what we think is a really strong shelf life in the bakery category.

13:02Cameron Meekins:But it's not something that is, you know, these these crazy numbers that you'd see with a very processed bread. Right. And but, you know, for us living in the bakery category, it's it's probably the right, you know, number that we're that we're at. Right. So, yeah, I think every brand has to think about at least a kind of brand that's playing in a more better for you environment has to think about that transition into more conventional stores at a certain point. Right. Yes. And that is something that I think we're thinking a lot about right now of how to succeed not just in a Whole Foods or a Wegmans, but a place that's more conventional.

13:45Cameron Meekins:And even thinking about places like Target and these great retailers that can reach so many people. If you want to have a serious amount of distribution, you have to think about how to win in both those places. And price point plays a factor. I think we've always tried to be priced in a way that is reflective of the quality and obviously allows us to sustain a business fundamentally. Right. But also is not too premium that it's not attainable. Right. We want the price point to be something that people will agree to kind of trade up on incrementally, but not in some crazy way. And so when we're a$5 or$6 bag versus a$4 or$5 kind of commodity English muffin, we think that there's a real value there in that extra dollar.

14:36Cameron Meekins:And we're not talking about an extra$5, right? Right, exactly. It's finding that sweet spot that feels like a very small incremental upgrade and the quality is so vastly different. And what's interesting, too, because you're in the bakery, I'm sure you're not even sitting next to conventional options by and large, right? You're in a separate area, which is probably a nice way to navigate the price point as well. You're not being compared as much. Yeah, and I think price has caught up to us in a lot of ways. When we started, we were always kind of priced around this range and everything's just gotten so expensive these days that$5.99 isn't even that crazy of a price for something, which is sad in a lot of ways.

15:25Cameron Meekins:That's kind of how the grocery store has gone, but we at least feel good that we're at a good price point that feels fair for what we're trying to sell from a quality standpoint. And that's important to us. We don't need to go above and beyond on trying to be too crazy on price. We want to be the right price point. I love that. Are you also still servicing food service? Yeah, we do a lot of food service, particularly where we're based in the Northeast. Retail is a branded business for us is like our number one focus, but we do have a lot of fun food service that we do and some really amazing like collaboration things that we've done in the food service space.

16:06Cameron Meekins:There's a place in New York City called Ethel's. We're doing this like, you know, take on a egg McMuffin essentially with like super quality eggs and it's like really great breakfast sandwich on our English muffin. It's a kind of co-branded thing. Oh, I love that. Yeah. We try and do fun stuff like that that just drives excitement and, you know, creates a fun moment for the brand. And good content. Totally. We're all about the good content. So as far as advice that you would share with someone who's early stage, like I was sharing, I work with people who essentially have the product concept and they're starting to now take the steps to take this product idea and how can they bring it to retail shelves.

16:47And you mentioned lessons learned through distribution and retail. Could you share a piece of advice that you found really helpful? Like what you were saying, if you were to go back, right, and had that first retail store, anything that you've learned along the way that you found really insightful?

17:06Cameron Meekins:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think I'll start more general and try and get more specific. I think in general, part of the conversation that you and I have been having, Kelly, like you don't have to know everything, you know, but if you just feel like you know enough to get started, there's such an opportunity to learn through each milestone of the business that if you have that spirit to just push forward, you will find I'm I am still finding new things that I don't know about the business every single month. every single quarter that we push forward and get to a new level of growth in the business and a new experience with retailers, investors, the industry as a whole, the broader CPG community.

17:49Cameron Meekins:There's so much to learn. So you don't need to know everything to get started. I think you just need a great idea and some motivation behind executing it. And so my number one piece of advice would be like, focus on that first win that you can get. For us, it was initially getting that first 150 muffin order from the restaurant, which then became doing farmer's markets, which then became, let's just crush it with this one Whole Foods. And just stay laser focused on those initial goals at first. The kind of bigger goals will become more apparent as time goes on, and you keep pushing the goalposts further and further.

18:29Cameron Meekins:So I always try and tell people who are in an earlier stage, every different type of category or different type of product has specifics to their category. Like as an example, we distribute frozen. There's a whole network of frozen trucks that then we slack the bread out onto the bakery. Like there's a logistical complexity behind what we do that might be different to someone that's selling yogurt or someone that's selling a packaged candy or whatever it is. there's shelf life differences, there's category differences. So every brand is going to have their own unique challenges to figure out that I might not even know about for that category.

19:06Cameron Meekins:But if you can find that first thing that feels like a win to go get, maybe you found somebody's email at a retailer and you think you have an opportunity to pitch to them and you get that first chance to like be in a retail store, three stores or a mom and pop shop in the city or whatever it is. You start there and then just kind of build on that momentum and you will learn more about how the distribution network works in the grocery stores and how different stores use different distributors and all these other things that you have to find out through time. You don't need to know it all right away.

19:42Cameron Meekins:So that would be my number one piece of advice. and and i think like you know fundamentally if you've got a great product you find a way to produce it to some degree of scale where you have cases of product that you can sell now more than ever it's easy to find a home to like make that happen and that could even be great point to direct the consumer yeah that's a really great point anything else on the distribution that you've learned that a piece of advice on? Yeah, I think in general, you know, there are so many food distributors out there. And when you are at an early stage, there are a number of great local regional food distributors that are typically family companies that are willing to take a risk on a new brand.

20:33Cameron Meekins:And that might be for food service or might be for a couple independent stores. A great way to get started would be, depending on where you live, use a tool to find 10 distributors in your area, small individual kind of regional distributors, pick up the phone, see if you can meet with somebody and see if you can sell to them because a distributor opens up a number of opportunities from retail to food service, etc. So I think that could be a really cool way to break into opportunities. That's a very good tactile piece of advice where I think we've all could get caught up in the shininess or the glossiness.

21:19But you're saying literally Google who's in your local area and pick up the phone and call them and seeing who would give you a shot. Yeah. And I feel like that's such a good piece of advice where it's not overcomplicated. It's straight to the point. but that really can help move the needle.

21:37Cameron Meekins:100%. And then that's going to give you some understanding of, okay, I need to put, you know, 10 units in a case and that's my case pack. And, you know, just start figuring some of those things out. Right. And that's, that was our experience. We had a local distributor that started doing food service stuff for us. And that was like our first real kind of wholesale account when we first got started. That's great. Last question before I let you go. Where can people shop your incredible English muffins? Yeah, we are actually launching in all Whole Foods stores in about four weeks. Amazing. Yeah, we're in about half the Whole Foods across the country right now, but we're going to be, for all intents and purposes, hopefully by the time most people hear this, we will be in all Whole Foods across the country in the bakery category.

22:30Cameron Meekins:Which is amazing, yeah. we're also available in all publics in the southeast great launching in another big retailer later this year so we're we're all over the place now we're in over 3 000 doors a lot of natural stores a lot of conventional stores in the northeast if you follow us on instagram you can kind of stay up to date on the latest drops but yeah some some exciting stuff happening and we're really proud about. Well, congratulations to yourself, your family. I really enjoyed this conversation and thank you again for bringing us behind the scenes of what you've built and where everything is going as well.

23:09Cameron Meekins:Yeah. Likewise. Thank you so much, Kelly. This is a lot of fun. Good. Well, thank you everyone for listening. Be sure to pick up Stone and Skillet where you see it in your local grocery and I'll see everyone 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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24:41winning 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. 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.

25:35If 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.