#232 - 2026 Brand Resolutions

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0:53so for a long time I said yes to a lot of things right growing a brand having things develop and there's a lot of noise when you're doing that so the resolution is to eliminate the noise this year right? Like it's all tied to my values. Saying yes to everything doesn't mean you're losing your value connection if you say no, but I'm trying to be more intentional this year. Saying yes when it's appropriate, no when it's appropriate, and really, you know, digging down deep into the opportunities that exist. Hello everyone. It's a new year. It's a new you. Recently I asked in our Startup CBG Slack channel, what is everyone's 2026 brand resolution?

1:32The responses were so great. I had to invite a few of the brands onto the podcast to tell us more. These resolutions are great ones. They're all about making better choices with resources, doubling down on what's working, casting aside your fears and stepping into the limelight. I can't wait for you to hear how everyone is stepping it up for their brands in 2026. Our very best wishes to all of you for a wonderful 2026 ahead. And I know you're going to love this episode as much as I did. Here we go.

2:05All right, New Year, new you. Rebecca, welcome to the podcast. Do you mind just starting off with an introduction? Absolutely. Rebecca Stein. I'm the founder of Blind Tiger Spirit Free Cocktails, and we create classic cocktails that are inspired by the pre and post Prohibition era. I love these cocktails, by the way. I know I've had them in my fridge and I've served them at parties that I've had at my house where a lot of people are looking for non-alc options. And there's actually a bar near me here in the West Village called Blind Tiger. So I think people feel like it looks like something that they recognize.

2:36And the design is beautiful. How would you describe the design to everybody? So I had a speakeasy restaurant and bar. So everything was tied to the pre and post-prohibition era. For some reason, that's a hard word for me to say today. We kind of married that into more of the Roaring Twenties meets Art Deco, right? So you kind of see the feathers on the cans, the colors, the glamorous little aspect to it. But yeah, it's just kind of, we've just mashed it all together into its own thing. That's so good. It looks just like so pro on the can. And maybe because I lived in Miami, I just love that Art Deco style as well.

3:11Sort of like I loved it, but I didn't know why I loved it so much. And now I do because you've explained it. So thank you. Okay. So Rebecca, what is your brand resolution for 2026? So for a long time, I said yes to a lot of things, right? Growing a brand, making, having things develop. and there's a lot of noise when you're doing that. So the resolution is to eliminate the noise this year, right? Like it's all tied to my values. Saying yes to everything doesn't mean you're losing your value connection if you say no. I'm trying to be more intentional this year, saying yes when it's appropriate, no when it's appropriate, and really, you know, digging down deep into the opportunities that exist.

3:47So what are some things that you might have said yes to before that you might not now that you're being more intentional? There's so many things I've probably said yes to, right? A lot of people tell you to go deep, not go wide, right, when you're building a brand. And I went wide. So it's really hard to build a brand from Northwest Pennsylvania. Like it's not an area where it's really deep into the CPG arena and not everybody understands kind of geography plays a critical role when you're working to develop something and the resources available to you and the population and the density and just the channels.

4:20So I said yes to a lot of things in a lot of ways. And then I kind of scaled back a little bit and went from everywhere closer to where I'm at. So now I'm really digging down into those areas, staying focused. Unless something miraculous happens and like tens of millions of dollars come my way, right? Like it's really just building what I have. I gotcha. And I can kind of read between the lines on this one where you have this cool product and people are always asking for product for stuff. Like, hey, we're doing this event. Could you send us a bunch of product? And it'll be really good for you, too.

4:49We have this cool audience. And it's always tempting to do it. Like, yeah, I could see that would be valuable. Or do you want to come and like demo at this thing? Is that part of what you're talking about? Daniel, that's so much of what I'm talking about. I honestly think sometimes people don't really realize as a growing brand, you're not like making a ton of money, right? Like capital is not only king, but product is as well. So you have to be scarce and resourceful when you're trying to get your name out there, but you're also trying to get your name out there. Yeah. And it's fun, too, also, because you made this thing because you love it.

5:20And it's so much fun to get to share it. Yeah. But I think especially with beverage, people don't realize how much it actually costs for me to send you a couple cases of something like the shipping is more expensive than the actual product. And even if they love it, people don't really go and buy a lot of beverage online. So unless you're in a lot of stores around them, like what's it really going to lead to? So I really applaud you for making that decision unless it's just exactly aligned with your marketing strategy. strategy and we actually try to help brands with this a little bit proactively there's this growing trend where like anytime there's a bachelorette party or something you'll get a bunch of emails from them that's like hey we're going on this thing wouldn't you like to send us a bunch of free stuff like isn't that a good idea and why wouldn't you it's free and we're gonna post it on social media and we get a little bit of that in the startup cbg slack there are a lot of requests for product from brands and i get them personally from tons of people that i know like hey i'm doing this event wouldn't your brands like to give free stuff so we actually do in the channel because there's so many of those we have specific guidelines for it where we're like okay hey if you're gonna ask for product it must meet all of these criteria number one it must be a free opportunity you can't try to get brands to pay you to give you free product number two you must very clearly say what all the benefits are are there social media benefits who is the audience for this what are you gonna do for them how many people are coming how much product you need where do you need it?

6:44All of this stuff. So at least it's like a very tightly organized thing that you can make that decision, yes or no, whether or not it aligns. And then I'll tell you like a really quick story. Like you may have seen these two, you get these opportunities with famous people, right? Like, oh, Charlize Theron is having this event, only$500 for you to participate. And then we're going to do this whole social media reel. And I, sadly, I bought into it and I've done the$500 and I've given the product and then you see the reel and there's no product in the real world. Like you can kind of see it in the background, but there's no focus.

7:17And you're like, so those are the things, right? That you have to be like, is this really, what's the ROI? Yeah, that's a really tough one. You almost have to look at it as just entertainment value that you get to go to something like that. It's just all of these things, unless there's a really consistent strategy behind it, it's hard to make it make sense, which I think can be true with a lot of marketing stuff in general. So I think, yeah, really at least helps to have a good strategy. but I really like how you're thinking about it. Just so people out there know, what is something that you would absolutely say yes to?

7:49Candidly, I'd say yes to an airline. All right. I think it would go great on an airline. I'm just going big, right? I love our product on an airline. That's a really good question. I mean, the Charlize Theron thing, I was not invited to. It was just my product and my money. If I was invited, that might be different as well. Yeah, you're just like mailing something into the void. Okay, so because you like the airline opportunity, if somebody was like, hey, do you want to send product for a golf tournament for airline buyers, then you would say yes to that because that's aligned with your strategy.

8:23But yeah, anyways, I think your product would be perfect for airlines. So if anybody out there has contacts in that airline world, and I'll give you one privately after this because I think there's a good one for you, then definitely let Rebecca know. I've seen some really great brands from our community crushing with airlines. I flew on JetBlue recently and got to snack on some Tantos chips while I was there. I was very excited. Felt like having a friend on the flight. So I love that opportunity for you. That's great. Okay, Rebecca, I want to say thank you so much for sharing your brand resolution with us in 2026.

8:56And then maybe we'll check in at the end of the year and see how good you were. How much you stuck to your guns this year. I was going to tell you to go back. All right. Perfect. Cool. Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you. All right. let's go right to our next guest here okay i am bringing on deva here we go deva welcome to the podcast hello how's it going where are we finding you today i'm in san francisco all right obviously a little bit of sunshine finally so very excited about that oh very nice here in new york as well i'm loving it so deva what is your 2026 brand resolution and also please tell us about your brand?

9:36Yeah. So I have a brand called Adash of, which started from my own personal ridiculous salt collection. I started doing taste education. So teaching people how to taste. And when you're thinking about a single ingredient and tasting, it's about terroir, it's about texture, it's about the stories. And doing that kind of work for six months or so, everybody kept asking, where do I buy these things, right? Whatever I was bringing to the tastings. And so I started a little online shop to kind of supplement that. So a dash of was born. So it's a combination of taste education classes and an online store.

10:15And I just have to ask before we get into the resolution, can you tell me a little bit more that I don't know about salt that I should know? Whether it's just, hey, here's some really basic tips for a beginner chef, or here are a couple pairings you've never thought of with specific kinds of salt or just a favorite salt that you have from your brand or from your collection or a salt fun fact? Oh my God, we could talk about software. I would say one of the things I learned a lot, even just going through the 50, 60 salts that I had before I started this and then started interviewing makers and other brands was that Merroir is an actual thing, just like terroir.

10:56And a lot of people will tell you salt is salt, but I think where something is and the extra minerals that are sort of in those areas can change the flavor, change the color. The other thing that really adjusts salt a lot, I mean, there's a flortocellum, there's a flake salt, but there's a hundred things in between, right? So the way the salt is dried kind of changes the texture and different textures are used for different things. So a lot of what we talk about is that kind of stuff. I will say a huge fan of just like a great flake, you know, Maldon's fabulous. But one of my favorites is Blackthorn, which is from Scotland.

11:34And it is a flake salt, but it's a super delicate flake salt. They actually built this crazy three, four story tower full of Blackthorn branches. You know, Scotland is not, you know, a super sunny place. So we're not laying our salt out in the sun to dry. And those blackthorn branches give a tannin to, just like wine would, to the salt, and they actually break it down. They use gravity and wind to sort of create the brine, blah, blah, blah, blah. But again, a lot of it is about story, right? And, you know, every brand, you know, there's competitors out there for everything. And the sense of place and the storytelling and the information about those makers is really, it's like going to the farmer's market, right?

12:16But people don't think about single ingredients that way as much. So that's very beautiful. I'm a judge for the Good Food Awards. I've been doing that for 15 years and sort of taking that tasting knowledge and sharing it with people about these things that I find super interesting and just kind of sharing my passions. So that's your resolution is to be out there telling more of these stories. Exactly. I love learning about the brands and doing the curation and finding the companies. I'm not a huge fan of the white label. You know, there's a lot of amazing companies out there who find salts and seasonings and a lot of other things and they kind of package it for you and you have this fabulous collection all in one place.

12:55There's absolutely a use case for that. But my background is in branding and in storytelling. And so I love to meet the maker, the person who's drying salt, who cares about it, is going through the process. I also do butter and I also do chocolate and all these other things. But learning about the actual maker and the people who put the passion into it is something I care about a ton. And I started by doing interviews of a couple of the brands that I like the most. And I have many lined up for the new year. And the interview process is wonderful. I do it online like you're doing now. You know, I record it and I write an article.

13:29But just like with my other company, I'm behind the scenes always. Right. So I'm there to kind of build other people's brands or I'm there to tell other people's stories. And with a dash of, you know, especially having a retail store or like an online shop, I've realized how important it is that I have to put myself out there. Right. My passion has to shine through and absolutely have no problem doing that. And these in-person events when I'm tasting and doing all this fun stuff. But I have a real problem with that online. Right. I need to practice what I preach and tell my own story of why it's important to me that this is a big passion and I'm not just some random person selling ingredients.

14:12So the storytelling is really important. And I have to learn to be comfortable putting myself out there and sharing my passion. So that's a huge thing for me this year. Well, Deva, I'm really glad to hear that that is your resolution for this year. And I think you can just check it right off because you're here already on this podcast telling exactly that story. And you crushed it. It was really great to listen to. I find you to be an incredibly engaging and passionate speaker. So check. Got it. Now you just accelerate. I just have to do it more. I just have to put it online, right? I mean, social is something that, you know, if you look at any of my social media, it's like they're all pictures of things.

14:51It's not pictures of people. It's hardly ever my face or myself. And in this age of AI and all these other things, I think authenticity and the real and putting a face behind the project is super important. I mean, I'm doing that for the brands that I highlight and I showcase, but I'm not doing it for myself. It's like practice what you preach, right? Yeah, I love it. And there is something very tricky about finding the way to make sure that that story comes across to people. I was just remembering, you know, I went on a trip to Scotland with my family last year and we did whiskey tasting. My mother's from Scotland, so it was the 50th anniversary of her leaving Scotland.

15:30So we did kind of a route trip driving up around the North Coast. And we stopped at all these incredible places and whiskey distilleries. It was an amazing trip. The dry, it's so beautiful up around there, all the cliffs. And yeah, it's pretty gray. A lot of the time and very rainy, but you know, that's part of the beauty of it. That's a very Scottish thing. And it's incredible. But yeah, my sister was just reminding me the other day. She's like, yeah, don't you remember when we were learning about the whiskey, how they talk a lot about the water and how the water just really carries the flavor of the region that it's in.

15:59And that gives a lot of the character to the scotch. I mean, they say that about New York bagels. Yeah. And New York City water, the good stuff. Right. I know. But you're right. A lot of food is like that, right? Wine is like that. Then coffee beans, chocolate, all of that stuff is sort of a sense of place. And this passion of salt particularly started from my travels and something I would collect as I go. And as I've kind of leaned into things like chocolate or butter, you know, with butter, it's about the milk. And the milk is about the grass and the grass is about the air. It's one of the. But you don't think about it with this basic things that you're just like, yeah, butter is butter.

16:41salt is salt, but a peach is not a peach. So why would these other ingredients be that way? You're making me hungry and also just making me feel like I should never eat something like Fritos again because I can eat other stuff that has all this character in it that comes from such a complex chain of interesting, regional, beautiful things. Speaking of like favorite salts, what is some style of food do you cook the most? I honestly, maybe it should get added to my resolutions. I do not cook a lot. It's not something that I love to do. I would say I love way more to just sit there and watch TV until the Uber Eats arrives.

17:19But I at least did start making breakfast again and was just examining my salt shaker and wondering if I should make an upgrade. So I might talk to you about how I'm stocking up salt to go best. What is your kind of recommended salt? Let's say in the morning I am scrambling up a couple eggs, putting it on. I've been doing white bread, but I don't know. I guess we're not supposed to do that anymore, according to the new food pyramid. But so let's say I'll put it on some kind of a bread and with some cheese. What is just the absolute banger of a salt that I need to hit that with? I mean, if you want the super straightforward, your eggs are amazing.

17:53You want all of those things to shine through. something like the blackthorn or other kind of really clean flake salt. There's also an Icelandic salt from saltvork, which I also love. Those are great. If you want like a next level up, I would go with a smoked salt, but I would have a whole lecture on smoked salts. Don't use salts that have liquid smoke. Look for ones that are actually smoked with wood. And for something as delicate as eggs, I would go with a really mild smoked salt. Like again, salt work makes one And it's from birch wood, right, which is one of the lightest smoked salts that I've found.

18:25San Juan Island salt does another one with madrona wood, which is a little bit more intense and heavier, which I think is too much for eggs. But you can kind of play around with flavor there. But finishing flake salt is really great for eggs because it's kind of on top. And then, again, if you're a little bit health conscious and those of us who love packaged foods, marginal. But obviously, I own like almost 200 different salts. It's not that I use more salt than anybody else. I just use it really strategically. So obviously if you finish with it, it's really fresh and it's right at the end. It's like putting a squeeze of citrus, right?

19:00And so you can use less if you're just kind of topping it. So with something delicate, I would use a finishing salt. I love it. An interesting anecdote is I used to work for a plant-based egg company. And we actually tried not to do this too much. but if you used black salt on the product even if it like wasn't that good it would make it taste exactly like eggs because i think the sulfuric nature of it is it has a really eggy taste to it i mean we didn't need that the product was very good but like you can almost put that black salt on anything and you're like yes this is an exact and it's beautiful but black salt is like the charcoal in there i mean it's gorgeous right it looks nice on the top of something but yeah it adds a little flavor and it kind of mellows out the salt because it's got that extra ingredient.

19:46But yeah, good stuff. I could go on forever. Absolutely. I would love to, but I really appreciate you coming on the show today for this Salt University. This is a great question, by the way. Yeah. What a good, what a great one. All right. Well, thank you so much. And again, we'll look forward to hearing how you stuck to your resolution at the end of the year. So thanks so much for coming on. All right. All right. Bye, Deva. And we are now bringing up our third and final resolution to hear about. So welcome to the podcast. Andrew, how you doing? Where we find you today? I'm doing well. How you doing, Daniel?

20:19Very, very good. Really excited to have you here. Do you mind just doing a little bit of an intro, please? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So my wife and I launched a chuh. Got one right here. Oh, it's a little blurry, but chuh. It's a canned shelf stable matcha latte, and we use ceremonial grade matcha and organic ingredients. And our goal with chai is to make matcha fun and approachable. So we've got flavors like spiced vanilla, which is kind of a chai vibe and a blueberry, which is a nod to our home state of Maine. Interesting. That sounds cool. Fun fact for everybody. When you use a blur background, when you're on zoom or something like that, if you want to show that your product, you have to put it in front of you because it blurs stuff around you.

21:04But yeah, exactly. If you put it right in front of your face, then you can see it perfectly. I learned that on like demoing product on too many Zooms. So little tidbit, I hope it helps somebody out there. Okay, Andrew, aside from showing your product in front of you and your screen is blurred, what is your 2026 brand resolution? Yeah, so I think for us, we launched in July of this last year. So we're a baby company just getting going. But we I think really want to double down in 2026 on what works in stores and in retail and moving the needle there. You know, I think when we launched, it was kind of trying everything, which isn't a bad thing, right?

21:42It's, you know, let's do meta ads. Let's do like an Instagram campaign. Let's do a weird video series. Let's do in-store demos. And I think trying to take all that data and to see what worked in 2026 in those first six months and to just really lean into it. And so I think one of the things we found obviously worked best was just Chloe and I going out there and doing tastings ourselves and meeting people and getting to know customers. And I think it's really important to us to figure out how to transition from just being a cool new product on the shelf to being a brand that actually has a loyal following.

22:19And I think that loyal following is what helps transition to moving product off the shelf. We'll be right back. Are you going to crush it on Amazon this year? It's such an important channel, but it's so hard to do alone and most agencies are a total ripoff. We can't afford$5 ,000 a month and a commission on our sales. They just don't get it. That's why I love our partners at Daybreak. They are full service, meaning they do the creative work, the listings, the logistics, and of course, all the ads, all with the most reasonable retainer out there. I work with them personally. I'm so grateful we have such a good partner to recommend out to you, our community.

22:54They do evaluate your product first to see if it might be a fit. So if you want them to have a look, email them startupcpg at daybreak.agency and they'll do a free audit for you. Good luck, everyone.

23:08How do you know that's what worked the best from all the stuff that you were trying? Yeah, that's a really good question. I think when we launched, it's one of those hindsight 2020, but most people listen to this podcast. Most people in the country buy beverage in person. And so I think when we launched, we did think, oh, like we'll have, you know, a really nice four pack and we'll have the website and we'll really push social media and people are just going to be shipping heavy beverage, which costs a lot on shipping to their door. And we did get online sales and we're thankful for those. But I think when we started to lean more into retail and getting out there doing tastings, I think I was pleasantly surprised at how well it would receive when we were out there ourselves doing it.

23:54I think of one example, we were at this cool, like kind of organic farm stand grocery store in Wenham, Massachusetts. And we moved in a tasting like 45 cans in two hours. And it was like, wow, like just being here meeting people is great. You know, it's like, this is how you get, you know, get out there. And I think too, because matcha is, you know, it's certainly huge in popularity now in the United States. And it's certainly, you can find it at every coffee shop. But I do still think people can be a little hesitant towards canned products, right? I think people also come into matcha with their own perception of like, oh, it's matcha so grassy or like, oh, they have a very specific idea in mind.

24:37So I think to get out there and to try to convince people when they're walking by you and they have a grocery list of like, hey, you want to try this? And I think that's been really fun. So I think doubling down on that and then trying new things, right? It's like, does promo work? Does in-store floor displays work? I think it's just really learning what works in the retail space is what we want to drill into. I like it. This is kind of calls back to our first guest today, Rebecca, who also has a beverage company and was talking about just being more choiceful about what she would say yes to. I think it is kind of in line.