The Visionaries & Disruptors Leading A New Paradigm For Food & Beverage

0:10Hello, friends. I'm Ray Latif, and you're listening to the top podcast for the food and beverage industry. Taste Radio. This is a special edition of the podcast, which highlights interviews with six founders, creators, and innovators who joined us on the show during the second half of 2023. Let's kick things off with John Fieldley, the chairman and CEO of fast-growing energy drink brand Celsius. In this clip, pulled from an episode published on September 19th, John spoke about how financial discipline is embedded in company culture, why ambition is key to maintaining the brand's momentum, and how he navigates disagreements with investors and shareholders.

0:59One of your colleagues at that Stiefel event had told me something kind of funny about you. Even though you're the chairman and CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, when it comes to your travel habits, you're pretty frugal. You fly inexpensively, is what he told me. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'll go tip for tat on any T &E expense report in the company. I think you got to lead by example. And that is what it is. I work for shareholders. You know, I'm not a founder. I'm an operator. And we're here to run the best efficient company in the world. And that's, I think, and to drive shareholder return.

1:35I mean, that's what it's all about at the end of the day. You know, being frugal is really important. It's not only in travel. It's everything we do, right? How do we be more efficient? Operations, sales, marketing, finance, HR, everything we do. So you got to have that mindset. And I think that starts from the top and that trinkles down. You know, some people don't think that every dollar is coming out of their pocket. And that's, you know, this is our company. And you really got to have that mindset, I think, is really important. And I think that's important how you also build culture. We pride ourselves on being efficient, driving profitable growth, and reinvesting in the business in the right way, in the right manner.

2:08And I think if you look at a lot of public companies and private companies out there, a lot of them, you know, do 100 million in revenue and lose money doing it. Right. So that's been cognizant. It's in the DNA. I used to be the CFO of the company. And it's extremely important. You got to continue to invest where you're seeing returns. You got to continue. Even if you're seeing returns, you got to second guess yourself. Right. Re-evaluate your initiatives, re-evaluate your strategies. I think one thing we're hyper paranoid here at Celsius, which is which I think is important. And yeah, we did something great and it worked, but did it really work the way we wanted it to work?

2:41And how do we make it work better? Every investment we make, we have financial statements that have to back it up and play books. And when you invest a dollar, you need to get a certain return on that dollar. And I think you got to have that mindset when you look at returns on marketing spend. And you could spend money really quickly in consumer products. I think we all know that. It can go extremely quickly. So, you know, if you set goals and expectations, did you achieve those goals? Did you exceed those goals? Why? And do we want to make another bet, right? I think when you look at investments in all parts of the business, and you're really looking at a roulette table, right?

3:17There's strategies on roulette on how do you place your right bet? How do you bet so you have a better edge against the house, even though at the end of the day, probably roulette doesn't have the best odds at all against the house. And I mean, consumer products is really that way as well. When you think about that. it's very difficult to get consumers to pick up a product, to try a product, and then purchase it again. I mean, it's very, very difficult. And you're up against the house. And a lot of times, you know, these large, more established brands have the house advantage, and you're trying to come up against that.

3:50And so just reevaluating your playbook, reevaluating your bets, really having the opportunity and the initiative to double down when the numbers are hot and they're in your favor and kind of have that mindset always on making sure you're trying to make calculated bets versus on kind of like making bets from the gut. Individuals, rightfully so, it's just human instinct, will kind of want to do something that's maybe comfortable to them or something they've experienced in the past. And a lot of times when you second guess yourself or you second guess the team, it allows that critical thinking to step in and to make sure it's the right move for the brand, right move for the retailer and the consumer.

4:25You use the term hyper paranoid. And I hear from a lot of entrepreneurs and founders that it's important to be cognizant of your competition and cognizant of, you know, what could be around the corner. On the flip side of the coin, ambition is such an important part of building a strong and healthy and scalable company. But I wonder which is more important, or at least which, I guess, takes precedent when it comes to how you've gotten to where you are and where you're going in the future? Ambition, I think, is your priority number one. Without ambition, you'll go nowhere. Ambition drives the paranoia to try to drive better.

5:05And when I say paranoia, I'm not sure it's really focusing on competition. It's that strive, that's internal drive that you want to get better, you want to do better, you want to continue. There's external forces each and every day. Some are competition, some aren't. It's consumer changes, consumer shifts, you got government regulatory, you have supply chain challenges, you have macro economical changes, you have, you know, recession, non recessions, pricing, you know, you got a lot of different things to think about when you're running a business or thinking about go to market strategies and, you know, human resource capabilities and investing in the future.

5:42Or maybe, you know, you're not investing and you have to, you know, make some cuts that are hard decisions as well. And how does that impact? What does that impact? And how's that going to affect the overall business as well. And most importantly, the morale of the teams, right? How do you keep teams motivated? You can't do it on your own. You got to be able to motivate your teams. And that's extremely critical. You can have, you know, the best drive, the best strategy, but if you can't convince your team members to come along with you, you're not going to achieve anything. When you're making those bets on the future of the company and evaluating where you could take the brand, how much of the conversation is about risk?

6:22How much of the conversation is about, you know, if we do this, how will it affect brand perception and positioning versus what incremental value will it bring to the company? I think that's an equal weight. There's initiatives, there's opportunities, but you need to understand the risk factor. And I think, you know, being a public company like Celsius, you know, we have an even greater risk. You know, we're really running, when you think about it, we run three businesses here at Celsius. You have an amazing energy drink and amazing beverage that we're running, that we're activating and building upon.

6:57We're also a B2B sales and marketing organization that we need to, you know, sell our B2B customers. And then we also run another business, which is a public company business and, you know, is a whole other animal and different types of needs. And each of those three businesses have different risks associated with them. So when you think about risk, you really need to think about risk within those three elements on how each and every single one can be uniquely affected by that. So risk is definitely a priority within those discussions when you're thinking about opportunities and initiatives and pass forward.

7:31You know, the most important is have an open mind, right? You need to learn, you know, why, why do they have that priority? When friends and influence others is extremely important as well, right? I mean, everyone should read that book. I think that's very important. You got to understand everyone's perspective. Everyone has a different perspective in life. And then you need to be able to digest that and, you know, look at yourself in the mirror and make sure that you have the right strategy and perspective. I think always kind of second guessing yourself is important. And then if you still feel you have that right strategy or the right importance of prioritization that's needed, how do you win them over?

8:06You know, You need to win them on your team and work through those challenges. I've had disagreements with investors. We work through those. And disagreements with employees as well, right? And sometimes you're wrong. Sometimes you're right. And I'm sure if you both have the same passion, the same drive, you want the same outcome, there's multiple paths to get there. And you need to evaluate those accordingly and work through that. I feel like everything that Celsius has launched over the last few years has done really, really well. And again, is in line with what consumers are asking for. How do you do your research?

8:41How do you use data to influence and build an innovation strategy where you know, or at least you have a strong feeling that when this product hits the market, it's going to be a success? I think for a lot of entrepreneurs out there, I mean, it's part of the journey. It's part of constantly trying to follow the consumer, trying to understand where you are within the brand cycle, understand who your buyers are, your consumers are, your investors are. And, you know, without the early positioning, I don't know if this brand would be here. I probably it wouldn't be here. You know, we started off as a many of you may not know.

9:21We started off as a diet drink with burning calories and and body fat. And, you know, that's very unique and very unique for investors. They see it as a disruptive technology within food space. And we learned that consumers maybe don't see it as attractive. So the company has, you know, evolved from that through different strategies along the way. So I think for entrepreneurs, you know, it would be great if you hit a grand slam. But, you know, keep in mind, it's a lot of base hits. And sometimes you strike out and you need to get back in line to get back on the plate and continue to try it.

9:57next up we have maya kymal the founder and chief creative officer of maya kymal foods a groundbreaking brand of indian inspired sauces condiments and ready-to-eat dishes in a clip pulls from an episode featured on november 28th maya explained how the company operates and innovates at the intersection of data trends and retailer needs how she aligned with an investor that could support her vision and what she's learned about hiring the right and wrong people.

10:29How do you operate at that intersection of, you know, data trends in your own vision for the company when not everything is as defined as it might, you might want it to be? Ah, yeah. Well, it's funny, right? Because if we looked at data when we launched this company, We never would have launched a fresh sauce business. So I think you have to do that combination of looking at the numbers of what's trending and listening to your gut about what you believe in and what you see is missing. So we have these tailwinds, which have been there all along. And it's because the makeup of this country is changing and diversifying and social media has completely changed the way we're exposed to other cultures, other cuisines, and created an excitement around it.

11:31So I think for us, it's taking our knowledge base of the cuisine and marrying it up with, you know, how do Americans eat? What do they want to eat? Where are they ready for some Indian flavors? we know they're ready for them in their kind of entree, right? Dinner, use a tikka masala sauce with your chopped up chicken and have some rice and there's your dinner. We've played in snacks and actually had some success in the snack space. We're playing in soups right now and finding success there too. So I'm taking the overall sort of trend of interest in ethnic growing as permission to play in a lot of different parts of the store.

12:15And we'll see what, you know, we'll see where we end up. It really does for me come back to like, you have to trust your gut. It's funny. It's like, you have to trust your gut, but you can't be in an echo chamber. And that's something that we have to check ourselves on too, because we get so like, we can sometimes get caught up in an idea. But that's why I think their panel testing, what does my friend call it? A disaster check, right? Like you make sure that you don't like really go down the wrong road. And it's good to like have that as a sort of safety measure. It seems like you could use that term for a lot of things in the food and beverage industry, disaster check.

12:57I feel like some entrepreneurs wish they would have done that when they were vetting investors. Oh yeah. Because there has been a few of those disasters, at least for entrepreneurs who have lost control of their company. And I bring this up because it seems like Maya Kaimal Foods has a pretty solid partner in Northcastle Partners, which invested in the brand in 2019. How did you know that that was going to be a good alignment with you personally and with the company? Yeah, it has been a great partnership. I'm so happy that we have partnered with them because, well, first of all, to answer your question, I met them, you know, years before and it was through the shows and as you do, right?

13:44But there was sort of a personal connection with one person there that made me really stop and talk to them more. And so we didn't want to take any investment for a long time. We bootstrapped it just as long as we possibly could until we couldn't anymore. And at that point, they were the ones that we reached out to. They see the potential in this space, this category. They want to be a part of it. And, you know, I'm grateful they felt like I was the right one to take a chance on. But we had some experience with some much smaller investors in the past and it didn't go well. And And so it's a very, it's a tricky thing.

14:32You know, when it doesn't go well, it's like everything's on the line. You feel like we had no thoughts of like, oh, my God, we might have to sell our house. Like we were really like right up against like, are we going to go bankrupt? Like, you know, we've been through all of it. Like it's it's been a ride, but it makes me that much more grateful when that we did land the right investor. and found the right home. You said you had bootstrapped as long as you could before you couldn't anymore. And, you know, thoughts about selling your house or concerns about going bankrupt, you're certainly not the first, nor going to be the last entrepreneur with those concerns.

15:14But did you ever find yourself in a place where you were desperate for money? And I ask that because it seems like that's a bad place to be. And if you got into that place, I mean, And how do you avoid it if you can? Boy, oh boy. I think for us, in our case, you know, so my husband and I, neither of us were business people. My husband's a journalist, great at his work. And, you know, I was like an art major. So, you know, we tended to have a narrative in our heads that like, oh, we don't really know what we're doing. We're just sort of going through this and it seems to be working, but it's all kind of lucky.

15:53And then, you know, and after that, for a few years, this company got to a certain size and we're like, well, we really need some management in here. And I think that we reached, like, kind of grasped for people who had the, like, more big corporate company experience, thinking that that would be helpful and relevant, when in fact, it was not. It was, you know, the playbook for a massive corporation that had nothing to do with a small, just scrappy little business that had to had to spend really super smartly and not spend on like big salaries for, you know, a whole new team. So when you need help, I think the important thing is to find someone who understands your size business and the needs of that business, because otherwise you get way over your skis and you start spending money as if you're bigger than you are.

16:57and that's when the trouble starts right that's when you've kind of lost control of things and and yet you you sort of trusted that this person with much more experience than you knew what they were doing and and and maybe they don't you know maybe they they've got the exact wrong approach and end up like you know spending all the money so even the money you don't have Yeah, yeah. I don't have, exactly. It sounds like there were some pretty raw times, but I'm happy you've gotten past them. And I just want to go back to one point you made earlier in our conversation, which is about not wanting to be a boss, wanting someone to tell you what to do, sort of not being comfortable as an entrepreneur at the outset.

17:46What's given you confidence in your ability to lead a company? Was there a specific moment when you realized that you had to take the reins and you had to get control of it and that no one was going to tell you what to do except for you? Well, there was definitely that point when I realized we absolutely had to get rid of the management that we had. And it was just it was going to be me like there wasn't some other person that was going to do this for us. But this has been one of the like issues, challenges. You know, it's just I know my skill set. Right. And I feel really confident about the fact that I can make great food and I can make packaging the pops and I can tell the story of the brand and communicate what we're all about.

18:38But I do need support in running the other parts of the business and connecting the dots between, you know, ops and sales and marketing. And like, I need help with the strategic vision. So I don't, I've never felt like I can do it all. You know, I'm a born CEO and I see how it all needs to go. I need a partner in that. I need like another cohort that kind of completes me. so we figured out early on like you know wasn't going to be my husband and me like he he needed to have his career and and i needed to run the business and we need to find someone for me to partner with so through the years we've had these different sort of partner relationships some have been successful some have been really unsuccessful and when i say partner i don't mean that they were a part owner i mean that they were like you know we've brought them in to work for us with us But I also, I think, gained some confidence in myself through some of the less successful partnerships, realizing that, you know, really, I know what this can be and I know how we need to get there.

19:52And that's why finding North Castle was was the biggest boon possible, because then I had I had their help in kind of building out the team and people were drawn to being a part of it in a different way because we had private equity investments. So it's like, you know, you can attract a different level of talent and there's a different kind of promise when you have a backer, right? It's like, okay, there's going to be an exit here, you know, and it's an exciting proposition to people. And so with them, we really brought in, I mean, we had some great people here, but we needed some more great people.

20:36let's keep it going with actor comedian and entrepreneur dan akroyd who is the co-founder of crystal head vodka a globally distributed ultra premium spirit brand identified by its distinctive skull-shaped bottle in this clip from our episode published on august 22nd dan spoke about what makes him an effective salesman and why he believes that his celebrity has a limited impact on the brand's past and future.

21:05You know, I'd read in an article, a profile about you that you have a reputation as being a good salesman, a great salesman. How am I doing? Well, it's interesting because not everyone is a great salesman and sometimes a brand on its own can be its best salesperson. But I mean, I feel like it's really helpful when someone enjoys the process and, like you said, develops the kind of relationships that are the long-term backbone of a brand. How do you become a good salesman? And I guess, would you agree with the premise that you are a great salesperson and how do you become one? Well, there are a lot of techniques that other people have written about more convincingly than I might be able to, but I think an ebullient personality helps and a good voice.

21:57They can be heard in a room of three or four hundred people, and I guess confidence in yourself, and no wandering of the eye, look people in the eye. A really good salesman can basically sell anything. A good salesman, it doesn't matter what you give them, they can sell anything. I don't think I can sell anything, but I know I can sell this product and this vodka because I have confidence and faith in it. Some salesmen out there might not have confidence or faith in their products and kind of doubt that they're of quality and they're selling them anyway and they're doing a good job over history's time.

22:33But what makes me, I think, effective is that you can see that I know about the industry and what was added to these fluids in the past and what I have taken out of it and the impact that it's had on the consumer. So I'm aware that I'm vindicated by removing these fusel oils, having a pure spirit and a great package and winning awards and being worldwide, I can sell all of those as attributes and as real benefits to publicizing the product. So I've got a lot of help here. Yeah. Well, in publicizing, you have. You are promoting the brand on social media. I think if you Google Crystal Head Vodka, your name comes up pretty quickly.

23:15Although, and maybe I'm wrong here, I feel like the association between Dan Aykroyd and Crystal Head Vodka isn't as, I guess, apparent as that of, say, Casamigos and George Clooney or The Rock and Terra Mana. Am I accurate in thinking that? It's not. It's not. And that's good because if you ask our consumers, many of them, I would say two-thirds of the consumer does not know I'm associated with the brand. So that tells you that it's selling itself. The package is selling, the fluid is selling. As company, one of the I'm a senior manager, one of the managing partners. I'm a good, effective spokesman for my brand and my company.

23:54But the brand is not relying on me to do that. I could step away completely, although I'm enjoying it. I could step away completely and it would not hurt the brand, you know, because it's selling itself by virtue of its quality and then package appeal. But when you are promoting it, I wonder, how do you use your celebrity and promote the brand in a way that comes across as authentic to consumers? By meeting the consumer, by actually going out and saying hello to them, meeting them. We go to government liquor stores, we go to big chains, and we'll do a signing and we'll publicize it. And I will sign bottles for as long as it takes to go through a line of between 600 and 1 ,000 people.

24:40And I'm able to see what other beverages they're buying, whether they're older, whether I get my full demographic array there. They're coming, they bring memorabilia for me to sign, you know, and that, but, and they're coming because of the celebrity value of being there. But I'm able to actually interface directly with them and see who is buying my product, professionals, what economic range, gender, all of it is available to me as an active survey when I do these signings. So that's how I use the celebrity is to go and actually meet the consumer, find out who they are. And, and then we can go and target a little better.

25:21We, we have a big following in sort of the heavy metal community, the skull, I guess. And so, you know, we know that we've got some good friends in the bar business and heavy metal bars around the country that have consistently consumed us and supported us. And so that's where we're going to send our love to, to the people who love us.

25:44Next, we have Alison Louvera and Lauren De Niro-Peiffer, the co-founders of Juliet, a premium brand of multi-serve wine encased in an innovative cylindrical container. In the following clip, pulled from an episode published on August 1st, Alison and Lauren explain why developing a unique package was central to the planning process and their challenging but ultimately correct decision to change package designers.

26:12Now, certainly there have been premium and super premium versions of boxed wine prior to the debut of Juliet. And, you know, at that price point of$35 and up, I've had some good boxed wine, but I've never had a boxed wine that was as beautifully packaged and felt as luxurious, I would say, as what Juliet offers. So, you know, when you were thinking about the opportunity, were you thinking about the liquid first? Were you thinking about the brand or the package? In my mind, it starts with a package, but Allison, where did you guys start? You're exactly right. We started with the packaging because we recognized very early on that in order to really achieve our goal of kind of transcending the category and being this truly luxury product that we needed to create something that was unlike anything else on the market.

27:08And so we did focus on the packaging first, but hand in hand with that was the focus on the brand and in particular, the creative direction behind the brand. Because, you know, as you mentioned, there are some good box wines here or there, but none of them have this, this sort of commitment to design and this beautiful exterior like we do. And, you know, we didn't really see that combination out there of a boxed wine that had very high quality liquid, but then also had a really eye-catching, beautifully designed packaging. And so we knew that in order to kind of achieve our goal of crushing this stigma, this negative stigma against box wine, we had to nail the packaging first and in turn, the brand and the creative design.