The Libi Project

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. it.

0:22Carli: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. And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They're connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf-level awareness, drive in-store momentum, and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most.

1:09Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you. Now, let's dive into the new episode.

1:19Carli:Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of the Emerging Brands podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today, I have Carly Gordon. She is the founder of the Libby Project, which you may have heard about from this podcast or around New York City. Carly, I really, truly love what you're building, and I'm so excited to have you on the show today. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. Good. So for anyone listening who isn't familiar yet, can you walk us through what the Libby Project is? Because you do so many things for the culinary world and just creatives. Can you break it down for us? Yes. So the Libby Project is a mission-driven culinary community and somewhat creative studio, uplifting early stage culinary entrepreneurs, creatives and farmers, and all of the many different professionals that live within those realms of the food space.

2:22Carli:A big part of our work is industry programming, as well as more taste education workshops centered more on the food and beverage professional world, but also for anyone really interested in learning a bit more about production processes behind specific food products like extra virgin olive oil and coffee. and really learning kind of the ins and outs of those industries as well as like the the taste and processes behind it and then so programming is one big part of it and within that programming at the heart of libby project is culinary industry nights so uh this is a really you know event that started as a way to build bridges between chefs and farmers but then eventually grew into this very multidisciplinary culinary creative community that is a space for around it's been around 150 or so F &B professionals to come together to connect you know really build more genuine partnerships collaborations whether that be through pop-up dinner events they're going to do together or collaborations with specific products that they're going to launch together And so those events, you know, bring those professionals together, but also we highlight and curate a group of around 20 to 25 brands, chefs, farmers, food founders in many different forms to showcase their work.

4:03Carli:And, you know, whether that be to get feedback to, again, build partnerships, collaborations, the list goes on. And we pair that with a culinary panel centered around culinary entrepreneurship with through many different lenses, whether that be about, you know, brands or professionals or creatives who are preserving food culture through their products or through their work or, you know, how brands are working more closely with farmers. um so yeah I attended a culinary night event and it was really cool from the products that I sampled people who were in the room the panel discussion it was really thoughtful and I could just tell how much care went into creating that atmosphere yeah thank you so much I mean it's yeah it's hard to describe if you haven't you know been there in person and so we do those quarterly um and it's It's also something that I also want to include is it's an opportunity for, you know, peer to peer learning, more cross disciplinary exchange.

5:10Carli:So it's the goal is to really strengthen the food world from the inside out by, you know, building more meaningful relationships, sharing knowledge with one another. You know, it's a very warm, inviting atmosphere that we don't we don't want there to be barriers to enter to enter that. I want it to be very inclusive. And so you'll feel that if you come to an industry night where I genuinely felt that. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's also interesting that a lot of the creatives, brands, professionals who come are very much looking to carve their own paths in this food space. And, you know, maybe start projects that don't exist, start brands that are like CPG products that don't exist and really kind of champion new paths forward for the industry, beyond maybe that traditional hospitality or restaurant path or beyond even that traditional CPG path, finding new ways to pull your craft and your passion together to build an alternative career in food.

6:13I love it because again, as a brand strategist for CPG Food & Beverage, working with founders pre-launch and helping them solidify what is their brand concept, what makes it different, what makes it stand out, how are you going to create buzz around it? This to me, the Libby project is such a great connection, especially in New York city for those founders to just be in an environment with other people who are passionate about what they're building and open to ideas and giving feedback. I just really love that aspect of it too, because it could be really lonely, the culinary space, either if you're a chef in the kitchen or you're starting a CPG brand.

6:57I was a partner in a restaurant for many years. It's a lot. It's a lot. Right. So I love that you're creating a very healthy experience for people to just connect in real life and talk shop, but do it in a way that feels very supportive. Exactly.

7:16Carli:Yeah. I, you know, I, it's interesting because when, I guess this is going a little bit towards my background, but you know, I'd always worked full time in many different realms in the food and beverage world, you know, from food tech to food nonprofits, to hospitality operations, to more retail. And, you know, I always wanted to start something of my own. And that at one point existed very much as a physical space. But when I was thinking of, you know, how do I where do I even begin? How do I even start? I found it very difficult to find a community slash any resources for someone at my stage who was very very very early stage like didn't even have a fully fleshed out concept of what I was wanting to start um it felt like all the resources were a bit more geared towards like later stage um founders and so essentially as I was building the Libby project I was building culinary industry nights somewhat you know for myself to also learn and grow and and just find community for myself as an early stage you know founder of a project or entrepreneur and so I was trying to fill a gap that I felt was missing in this very kind of unique niche section of the culinary world.

8:45Carli:Because you've got restaurants and hospitality, you do have CPG world, and there's a lot of resources out there. But for people who want to also start at the intersection of a CPG brand, but also just any other interesting projects, I felt there was a link missing of where I could find that support. So let's go back to your background because you do have a really interesting perspective because you've worked in so many different verticals within the broader scope of food. So what made you want to start your own thing? yeah so you know I've always felt very entrepreneurial in my life since I was very young and I had always um yeah really envisioned at that for a long time a physical space uh that it would be a mission-driven culinary community space and we would do workshops and and this may still eventually at some point happen but right now you know there's a lot of moving pieces to having a physical space.

9:47Carli:So I guess like when I was younger, I started working a lot with slow food at the Madison chapter. So I studied business at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and I was quite honestly very unhappy in my classes. I felt like all the business courses were very much centered around corporate, working for a corporate company. And so I really needed to find an outlet that excited me outside of my day-to-day classes. And so Slow Food is an international movement, but they have a really big student-run chapter in Madison, Wisconsin. And I started just interning for them and essentially from cooking meals for the community, sourcing local farm products with farmers and creating market baskets, to partnering with chefs and orgs to do these community dinners kind of crazy how full circle it's all become but that was like really the start yeah yeah it was you know and so that was kind of the start of my interest in this this intersection of food and community um you know I had always loved food you know eating rush going to restaurants growing up in Chicago but I never really touched on this intersection of food and community until I started working for Slow Food.

11:09Carli:And so, you know, there was a lot of food education workshops we were doing, cooking classes. And then after university, I started working for Eataly doing training and development. So very much centered on working with, yeah, again, early stage more makers, CPG founders, brands who were coming into Eataly to share their product. And so I was working with them closely. And I decided at that point to like, okay, I want to keep learning, I want to keep growing, how do I keep expanding my knowledge of the food space. And I ended up doing a master's program where it was actually where Slow Foods, it's Slow Foods University, called the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Polenzo, Italy.

11:54Carli:So I essentially went from Italy to Italy, because I felt I wanted to continue to learn and grow and really understand the different intersections as you know in terms of cultural political social nutritional you know as it relates to food um so I studied there a master's and then after that worked um in many different realms from uh onboarding at bento box which works directly with restaurants pop bread kitchen uh which is a food non-profit doing culinary training resident hospitality which works with Michelin trained chefs to put on these beautiful dinners you know showcasing their work and menu and I found that the through line for all of these experiences was um supporting like more food and beverage um business owners brands makers and it was really about kind of working with these individuals to grow their business so that's kind of a little bit I guess about my background and then I realized when I was working at my most recent full-time role I felt there was a disconnect between chefs and farmers and there was this lack of opportunity for chefs and farmers to be in the same room to connect and to you know for chefs to really be able to build those relationships so the first industry night essentially was built around that.

13:20Carli:But then again, it grew into this very multidisciplinary, creative culinary space with from CPG founders, brands, farmers, chefs, anyone really touching the intersection of food, you know, so it really is cool. So for someone who's listening, who's starting a food business or getting into the possibility of being in this world, what resources or opportunities that you have that someone can connect with the Libby Project? Yeah, so I would say first things first is building network is really important in New York, I think, you know, it's a big city, but becomes very small very quickly once you start, you know, putting yourself in the rooms that you need to be putting yourself into.

14:07Carli:So I would say reaching out to Libby Project to participate in culinary industry nights is always a great first step. um that way you know we yeah we can put yourself in front of all of these other culinary creatives and uh brands and people really looking also to grow and collaborate and connect that would be the first thing I can think of and then we also do you know so we have the programming and educational workshops so we also have a bit more creative resources and services that we do just because of, you know, my passions and backgrounds and stuff. So one of which is called First Course, and it's a brand strategy slash graphic sort of design package for more so individuals who are looking to kind of build a mini branding package for, you know, very early stage.

15:02Carli:And so I work with them on brand strategy. And then my the partner I work with is Sarah from French Bread Studio based in Paris and she'll and we'll all work together to put the strategy and then the brand you know color palette typography logo all of that stuff so that's another thing and then the last thing would be photography because my partner is a photographer and we have a huge passion around documenting you know really stories at the intersection of craft food community passion around just really cool food projects. And so if you're ever in the need of photography and want to showcase, you know, through some beautiful visual storytelling, we love to do that as well.

15:47Also another great resource because so many founders, especially in the early stages of figuring out all the things that they need. Photography, I always, always emphasize of if you have a few good photos, your brand can really start getting some traction from pitching to PR or media or doing a podcast on your website, on your social. So I think that's really cool that you connected that dot too. And then do you also do branded events for say a brand that wants to host an event?

16:22Carli:Yeah. Yeah. So those are, you know, a little bit less frequent, but I'm, I love putting together, um, taste education workshops and also just community brand events that really feel we really tie in the educational component to it. You know, I think what kind of separates Libby project from some of the other, you know, um, branded events or experiential events is I really go in with a very, very kind of clear mission-driven educational um facet to it you know for example like having I worked with Bea Olive Oil and so we did she did a whole kind of lecture around her journey and her work with uh small-scale farmers in in Italy and uh building this actual olive oil brand yeah yeah it's amazing and so we put on a really you know beautiful tasting and got really we get really nerdy about it because that's you know my love of the food space is also just really getting nitty-gritty of learning like the processes the people the story behind you know the product so yeah if there's you know any brand really there's there's always a way to tie in this educational kind of, you know, facet to it.

17:42So which I think is great, especially for better for you brands or brands that want to be sustainable or use cleaner ingredients and have transparent sourcing. Education is a big piece of it because they're doing something that consumers aren't even aware of that is even a problem, right? When we start outside group of consumers who maybe aren't as nerdy about food as we are. So I like that you tie that in. Um, because again, you're going to need to create content. You're going to need to create information of explaining what is this differentiating point of your product and brand. And I love how you're connecting that dot through events as well.

18:24Carli:Yeah. And, you know, I think it's interesting because there's been this huge boom of like a lot of brands sponsoring all different types of events, you know, and I think, and that's wonderful getting products in front of communities and, and different, you know, attendees that different intersections from fashion and food and design and food and you know those different worlds but I think there is something to be said about making it as intentional as possible when really gathering um and and yeah and rather than maybe you know just supplying the brand for the event maybe you think a bit more strategically in terms of like the overall experience again but that's different obviously if you're planning event on your own versus like if another brand is pulling you in to right sponsor so but it is an interesting thought because there I've noticed this boom of like so many sponsorship opportunities for brands to get their their product in the hands at different types of events so um yeah and then I think it's interesting too because I feel like this is the collaboration aspect is something I really value.

19:36Carli:And because I work with so many different or have met so many different founders, brands, you name it, I think I love, I have a big passion for building those bridges. And so with those events, I always try to showcase as much as possible, like the Libby project, community members, and yeah, find a way to, to create that, you know, kind of that curation of the event using Libby, Libby community. That is something that also has stood out to me of how you really call out all of the different people within the community who are a part of the event and making sure they're getting credit where credit's yeah like it's usually people that could be overlooked but I I do feel that from you that you genuinely love giving credit to all the people who made something possible well it's interesting too because when I did start industry nights a big part of that was also giving back to I mean at that point it was more about the chefs and hospitality professionals of you know they work day in and day out to create these beautiful food moments for our communities and shape food culture and create beautiful memories for, you know, people coming into the restaurants to celebrate.

20:54Carli:And I felt that there was a lack of space to be just providing more career development opportunities, more education, more time to just like pause and, and build community for themselves, you know, beyond just like, grabbing a beer after work or having a happy hour. And so that's kind of how also those industry nights started was to really give back to the people who are shaping our food world. And then that also grew into, you know, the farmers and the people who were doing these really cool food projects. I was like, there's a lack of just genuine opportunity to pause and and give back to those folks so um that's also a big part of Libby Project programming is to yeah really very much uplift those folks and uh celebrate them in whatever way we can well you're doing an awesome job at it and something of course and something that I ask all of my guests because this is a part talking about community the podcast has such a great community of listeners, strategic partners, folks within the CPG industry, food and beverage.

22:16What piece of advice you would share to someone who's just getting started? And maybe that is becoming a food founder, either in CPG, you're going more of the culinary route, but I would love to hear from your perspective, what you would share with someone who's just, just starting?

22:34Carli:Well, that's a great question. I think what I would share is I feel like collaboration is really your can be your greatest resource, you know, really surrounding yourself with people who share your values who, you know, even if their skills or their type of work in the food spaces different um I think utilizing relationships and collaborations is only going to support you and help you grow and scale you know it doesn't have to be fast it can be slow and intentional but um yeah just really working together to uplift one another but also you know find ways to collaborate and grow together as well.

23:22And also to something that I see you doing and why I think Libby Project is such a great resource for emerging founders, it's just being in the same room with people who are figuring it out

23:34Carli:and who are really passionate and want to talk about this type of stuff. I feel like for so many people, they're doing something that maybe their friends and family aren't necessarily into as well. And I think just being in a room with other people who have that same passion and like buzz around it also was really encouraging. Yeah. And, you know, we started another sort of event programming around that called Culinary Creatives Collective, which, you know, we're taking a little bit of a break at the moment. But I started it with a friend in the industry, Lucia from Studio Rosa. and it was very much about taking what we learned what I learned from industry night where I'm putting the right people in the right room but I wanted to take it a step further and build more workshop-based opportunities for everybody to work together to you know get advice get feedback share like real struggles it is very hard it is very hard to make CPG brands work to make small food projects, pop-ups, all of that stuff.

24:38And so I really, really value honesty and no

24:44Carli:gatekeeping. Like I really feel because it is just, it's a really hard industry. It's a beautiful industry, but it's really hard. And it's important to put yourself in next to those people and who have the same values because it reminds you what you're doing and it reminds you your love for the food space and for your work so um eventually we'll have another culinary creatives collective event and i will yeah send that i was gonna say that last question how can people know what's happening within the libby project so that they can attend or join in uh best place to do to do best oh my gosh best thing to do is to follow on instagram i feel like that is where we post all of our events, but then also sign up for the newsletter, which typically we only share upcoming events and whatnot on there.

25:38Carli:So it's pretty straight to the point, like, hey, this is what we got coming up. And yeah. Amazing. Well, thank you, Carly, for all of your hard work and all the thought that you put into things. Genuinely, I feel that from everything that you work on. So thank you so much. Yes, it's true. And thank you everyone for listening. This was such a great conversation. Hope you found some really good insights and I'll see you on the next episode. Bye. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They are connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf level awareness, drive in-store momentum and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most.

26:29Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details 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. Before I wrap up, I just wanted to give a shout out to a few brands I want you to keep an eye out for that I'm working with. First up is She's the Sauce. She just launched her pre-orders sold out, which is incredible. This is a new protein pack fiber-filled sauce line starting with a creamy ranch and honey mustard skews. It's made without seed oils, gums, fillers, so it's a cleaner, better for you option that tastes incredible.

27:18Next is Kato, a new cottage cheese dip that's reimagining the classics in a modern way. Then we have Nomi, which is a better for kids brand making mealtime way easier. Next, we have Frankly Good Coffee, who is expanding in food service and specialty retail, bringing their air roasted, small batch, unique blends to more people. And I'm kicking off brand strategies for a new pudding brand, ready to drink beverage, and a baking brand, and a few more in the works that I'm really excited to share about soon. 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.

28:04And 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.