#242 - KeHE Grocery Run Recap

0:09There's such like camaraderie amongst the other brands, which I always really appreciate in these environments. It never feels competitive. It always feels like everyone's trying to help each other. There's more pie to be gained, I guess, for everybody else. And then in terms of just the buzz of the buyers, I think there was such an openness that everybody had, which I really appreciated. The buyers are there to actually explore new items. They want to be there because they know that these are vetted brands that have a lot of potential in their markets. So everything felt like an open conversation and less of like a prove to me what your value is, which I think sometimes there can be that dynamic.

0:47Welcome to the Startup CPG podcast. Recently, we got to throw our biggest grocery run ever at the Kehi Summer Show in Denver. We had 400 buyers and Kehi account managers there. We had 70 of the best brands of the year. And overall, we're so grateful for Kehi for partnering with us on this incredible opportunity for all of these brands to get discovered and first to market opportunities and so much more. It was such a special event that I wanted to invite the three winning brands onto the podcast so you could hear it right from them. I want you to hear what it was like, who they met, and you just aren't going to believe the overall energy of the event unless you hear it directly from them.

1:26I'm also so excited to announce we are running it back. Kehi is so thankfully partnering with us again at the Chicago Show, and you can apply for your brand. The application details are going to be sent out via the Startup CPG email list and on our Slack channel, and I really can't recommend highly enough taking advantage of this opportunity. It can be a complete game changer as you're about to hear from the brands on the podcast. Thank you so much also to our sponsors. We don't get to do any of the fun stuff that we want to do without them. So thank you to them for sponsoring us and supporting all of the brands in this community.

2:02That's Advantage Solutions, FDM Sales Management, Greenspoon Sales, Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers, Ignite Sales Service, which is part of Acosta, and Vori. Thank you all so much. All right. I hope you all enjoy this episode. Here we go.

2:22All right. Welcome, everybody, to a very special episode of the Startup CBG podcast. Recently, we got to put on one of the most ridiculously incredible events that we've ever done. And I'm so excited for everyone to get to hear a little bit about it. Honestly, it blows my mind that this is the kind of stuff that we get to do and the opportunities we get to bring to brands. And it makes me so happy. So we partnered with Kehi recently and we got to do our biggest grocery run event ever the night before their Kehi summer show that was in Denver, Colorado. So the night before the show, there are tons of buyers in town.

2:59The Kehi team is in town and they let us show up with 70 of the absolute best brands from our community who are not yet working with Kehi. and they had their team and the buyers walk around this grocery run, sample all these brands. They're looking for first-to-market opportunities. They're looking for which brands should be onboarded to Kehi for distribution opportunities, and actually everybody's getting to vote on it. So at the end of the night, then we tallied up all of the votes, and today you're going to get to hear from the three winners. So first of all, thank you guys each for joining us here today.

3:34So maybe we could just start with some quick intros. Kiki, I'm going to come to you first. Awesome. Thank you, Daniel, so much for having us here. My name is Kiki. I'm the co-founder of Sour Milk. We are a Greek yogurt that's specifically designed for your gut because other yogurts don't actually have the probiotics your body needs to heal. So we're putting that in the foods that you eat every single day. So you can get 15 grams of protein, zero grams of added sugar, and all the benefits in probiotic supplement. That's a little background on my company. Perfect. Yes, we will come back to that.

4:02Okay, Cam, coming to you next. Thank you, Daniel, for having us and for putting on the grocery run. It was a fantastic experience. Honeymoon started out of a dorm room. We make ethical craft chocolate sweetened with raw honey. Most recently, we received our organic certification and yeah, excited to be here today. All right. Okay, Ryan, round us off here. Coming to you. Awesome. Thanks, Daniel. Yeah, my name is Ryan Raich. I'm the founder of Fave. We are an organic flavor-first drink mix, reinventing the nostalgic powder drink mixes that we all grew up with, those high sugar, high artificial drink mixes.

4:38We are the first certified organic, non-GMO flavor-first drink mix with no artificial colors or flavors. So really excited to be here. All right. I love it. So first of all, congratulations to you guys, because to get into this event was already incredibly competitive. We had many hundreds of applications because of the magnitude of this opportunity, right? So the Kehi shows are great shows. And to be on the actual floor, you have to be working with Kehi, right? So you have to be distributed by Kehi. And then you can purchase a booth and come and meet all of the epic buyers and Kehi team members who are at the show.

5:16This opportunity was for brands not yet working with them who would like to. And this was such an incredible chance to actually get to come and sample the night before the show for so many of their key buyers and look for those opportunities to get anchored into the DCs. No surprise, there were so many applications then for this. And so even just to get selected for this already says incredible things about your brand. But then to actually be in the top three of the 70 brands that were there is ridiculous because the quality was just so high. That was the feedback that we got really consistently from K.

5:52He and the buyers on the floor was just like kid in a candy store, kid in a non GMO organic candy store. They were just so happy with the selection. And I'm sure you guys felt that. So Kiki, coming to you first, what did it actually feel like to be there? How would you describe this opportunity to somebody who had never heard of Grocery Run and didn't really even know what was going on? Daniel, I have so many thoughts and reflections in the most in the best way possible. We had never done a show, period. I had never had a booth at any type of retail trade show. And for us, it felt like the training wheels to actually, we ended up having a booth a few weeks later at Expo West.

6:33And so this was like the best experience to have before actually doing something at the big dog, so to speak. But what I will say is I was so surprised at the quality. You said the quality of us as the suppliers. I was so surprised at the quality of all the retailers. So, you know, everyone had warned me, you go to a trade show, you talk to a million people and it's exhausting and most of those people don't provide any value. Well, actually, at the start of CPG Grocery Run, it was like 100 % of the people that walked by were a potential buyer we would actually want to work with. And so it felt like every single conversation we had, like all three hours that we were there, was well worth the flight to Denver just to be there and table and get in front of these folks.

7:12So for me, it was completely worth it, 100 % from the actual conversations we had. But then also the experience of understanding what it feels like to stand behind a booth and pitch your product 100 times over and try to get somebody's attention to get a sample. So it was a fantastic experience for us. Well, for sure, you guys make it look like it's not your first time, especially because you did so well. And so who were some of the people that you were most excited to get to see there? Which buyers or reps? Yeah, this will definitely be sort of a little revealing of what our retail approach looks like.

7:51But for 2026, we're super early. We are currently just in the tri-state area. And the next six months is really focused on the Northeast. And so it was really important for us to talk to folks who are like who else are in the Northeast that we can really work with that are part of KEHI. And then separately, we're choosing two to three other regions that we actually really want to go deep into this year. And so that was super exciting was we found that there was a lot of pull with both the Midwest. So we were talking to Fresh Time a lot and a lot of folks in that area, but then also Southern California.

8:24So lots of conversations with Gelson's and other big accounts down in Southern California. So that was really helpful data for us to understand, like, where's the market responding well to sour milk? So that way, you know, we don't have access to the spins data yet. We're not paying the big bucks. But can we get the sort of qualitative data points on where would be the best next few places to go? I love it. And they all did come by. It was just such a power packed room. It was really crazy. Can you just describe for me what the room actually felt like, like the layout? And, you know, was it like crazy?

8:59Was it calm? What did it feel like in the moment? It was sort of one of those things where you have a little, I always, I had a little like butterflies right before like all the buyers came in, but it almost felt like you're all part of a team. I don't know if Ryan and Cam, you felt like this, but there were like my teammates to my right and my left and across the way who are the other folks who have different companies. And, you know, we're all setting up. We're all there an hour before. And, you know, it's like the Sprouts buyers walking around and everyone's looking at each other like, that's, you know, like get on your best behavior.

9:28They're like, make sure, you know, we're all trading notes and looking at each other. And so there's such like camaraderie amongst the other brands, which I always really appreciate in these environments. It never feels competitive. It always feels like everyone's trying to help each other. There's more pie to be gained, I guess, for everybody else. And then in terms of just the buzz of the buyers, I think there was such an openness that everybody had, which I really appreciated, right? The buyers are there to actually explore new items. They want to be there because they know that these are vetted brands that are, you know, have a lot of potential in their market.

10:00So everything felt like an open conversation and less of like a prove to me what your value is, which I think sometimes there can be that dynamic. That is so great to hear. And that's what I hope. And I honestly think it's one of those situations where they're excited about the event and then they come and they're just seeing so many great brands that then they're in a great mood and then they're walking around just like, great, let's see what other hits are here and so that's sort of where you get that open great energy feeling where it's just going well for everybody and people are so open to discovery and seeing what other innovation is at the next booth and everything is just hitting so well so i love to hear that okay cam i'm coming to you honestly your product for me was one of the just absolute breakout surprise hits one of the most interesting bites i've ever had i think where i just tried it I remember looking around people like, have you ever heard of a honeycomb, like a full, like real honeycomb wrapped in chocolate?

11:03Like, bite this. This is crazy. Cam, what was it like for you? We just recently launched that product. It's funny you mentioned that. And to kind of juxtapose it against our bars, been selling bars in local Whole Foods for a few years now. Just seeing the reaction from the buyer at Gelson's and the buyer at Fresh Thyme and kind of comparing that to what the bar market has been for us, it just blew my mind. But yeah, the show itself, like Kiki mentioned, there was some camaraderie. People across from you, people next to you, you're all sharing samples and sharing tips and tricks. And it was kind of the best of Expo West or Fancy Food without having all of the people come by that maybe want to sell you something.

11:46Yes. Yeah, that is true. It was a very focused environment. And just so everyone knows, we basically had a huge ballroom in a hotel and then we had the 70 brands lined up in rows and around the edge. And so it was just the buyers and the KE account managers who are incredible allies for brands and can really champion you through to a buyer as well. so it felt very focused yeah because the only people other than brands and buyers and the khe team who were there were our amazing sponsors and who are great partners for the brands we're really happy to have them there but yeah really just yeah pretty focused i would say so wait cam how would you describe this bite that i had to somebody in a way that's better than how i would describe it because mainly i just have my eyes wide open and i'm floored by it but yeah talk me through how you could describe it to somebody who'd never had it.

12:40It's nature's most decadent or sweet truffle. We get honeycomb fresh from the hive. We cut it here at house and we dip it with organic fair trade cocoa. So it's as natural as it gets. And it's really the easiest way to enjoy honeycomb. It's not as messy, but it just kind of explodes in your mouth whenever you eat it. And yeah, super sweet. A great way to enjoy. That is amazing, Cam. Anybody who's listening right now, if you didn't just get starving for honeymoon chocolates, definitely then I can't relate to you because it just makes me very hungry. So, okay, Cam. Cam, just fast forwarding a little bit then, you obviously did so well at the show.

13:20People were really talking up your product a ton. Like you mentioned, you've been in Whole Foods for All and you've been selling bars. What does this kind of do to your trajectory? Like what you learned about the response for that product and now that you'll be getting into Kehi and growing with them as a result of how well you performed there what does it mean for you guys it means a lot being able to have that real-time feedback we were just going to double down on the product that people love so the bars have been doing really well for us but the honeycomb it seems like we've received so well I mean you see people's face light up whenever they bite into the honeycomb quite the reaction when you get time after time.

13:59That's awesome. Okay, Ryan, saving our fave for last. Fave junk free favorites, of course. Ryan, take me through it for you as well. What was your experience like? Yeah, so we're just launching and we're evaluating how we go to market, right? Do we find a larger strategic? Do we open up different regions of KEHI and this kind of opportunity gave us an opportunity to kind of jump right in and get face-to-face with a lot of different KHE account managers or category manager, and then all the retailers that come together. You know, that was really, I think the big opportunity there. And I've been in this industry for a long time, working for a lot of other brands and doing it with my own brand.

14:39Now, it's just a completely different mindset of how you take a brand from scratch to market and being able to put faces to names and get out from behind a computer and all that kind of stuff. and even not even be in a competitive trade show environment. I think Kiki, you like mentioned this, but it was just open conversations, right? It's not like a typical Kiki show where buyers are coming up and they know they're going to get sold. Like they had the ability to just come up and want to just chat with you and to learn about your product. And they had plenty of time to do it. There was no rush.

15:12They weren't walking a huge show floor, all that kind of stuff. So it was a very friendly environment. And you mentioned as well, like every brand there was just wanted to see everybody succeed. I think it was the last 30 minutes of it or so when it was kind of just brand still hanging around, running around, sampling and doing that sort of stuff. But just the super high energy, which you normally don't get at the end of a full trade show. Everyone's pretty burnt out here. It was like this pumped up, like we did it. We had a great show. Like, let's see where this goes. So perfect opportunity. It was so much fun to attend.

15:44I love that. And I don't know if you felt this from my vantage point, because I wasn't working a booth. I was walking around and seeing the interactions. I was watching a lot of these epic retailers who are also very much focused on first to market. They love being first to market with incredible new brands. So I'm watching Gelson's and Sprouts and Erwan. And I'm just, you know, seeing like them kind of rush up to so many of the different booths and get just wide-eyed and excited and talk about first market opportunities. And I'm just seeing the brands feeling like almost overwhelmed with all of this opportunity.

16:21It was just such a cool environment to see that. So I'm really glad that everybody felt that same energy on the floor. Ryan, for you, what were some of the coolest conversations that you had or stuff that you're most excited about? So, again, we were trying to decide on our route to market. We're Southern California based. We had a mindset of just trying to open up the Chino DC here and go after some of the smaller retailers and pick some of those off. One of my favorite that came by was a small little shop in my hometown called Just Peachy Market. It was great to see them and just kind of see them at a big show like this.

16:55But a little bit later, the Sprouts team had come by and we were super excited to see them. We initially had some earlier conversations with them and their whole team was there. A broker that we were talking with about working with them was there and we were all huddled together for a good 15 minutes. And while we're at the show, we got the verbal commitment from Brody and the team at Sprouts that were going into their set nationally in this last week of June into the innovation set. So really excited about that. And I think this partnership now, like with KE and having everyone there, being able to fast track the setup process with KE and all these nuances of onboarding distributor and all that kind of stuff, we're able to just quickly turn around here, which that process, I think, can sometimes slow some brands down or opportunities down.

17:40and we were able to move quickly since we were at the show and it was, okay, we're done. Let's start filling out the paperwork. So that opportunity was huge for us. And that kind of like reestablishes a route to market and what we're going to do this summer, instead of a, like a narrower regional approach, we're going to jump in and go all in and give Sprouts the first to market on the retail side of it. I love it. Okay. And then Ryan, I have to ask this because you mentioned you've worked for so many other brands in the past, and now you're making a go for it with your own brand, what do you feel like are the lessons that you learned that are going to help you the most?

18:14And what do you feel like has been the biggest surprise? Yeah, you know, I think financial decisions are a lot. You really grasp those more. You're spending your own money and it's your investors money or whatever it may be. So really taking a deep dive into all those expenses and making sure that there's an ROI on them or that plan is clear with those. So So that's been one of them. And again, just the launch, the route to market and the launch, like there's so many different ways you can go about this and the value of choosing the right retailer, the right distributor, the right broker as a brand new brand.

18:49And these are your first decisions. These can have huge impacts on the growth and the trajectory of where your brand goes. So I think making those decisions, not taking them lightly, interviewing as many people as you can and taking your time with to this. It's not a rush this while this industry things move quick. They also move slow. So taking your time and making sure you make those right decisions out of the gate was super important. And I think that this opportunity that you set up with a show was perfect proof for that, that you can find these opportunities in the community you've created, like to take that step back and connect with everyone else on it.

19:24So, yeah. And how did you decide after being in the industry for so long that you were going to do your own brand that this was the brand you were going to launch? Yeah, great question. So I've always wanted to start my own brand, but I know just how tough this industry is. There was literally a couple of years ago, I was like, this industry is just, I'm getting gray hair now. It's tough, but this industry is so much fun that I knew I wanted to do it. I personally had some criterias of a product line that I needed to have before I launched a brand. And one, that was, I needed something that had a very long shelf life.

19:55I needed something that was incredible light to ship. And I needed something that required little to no consumer education. And two years ago, I was at the grocery store with my kids and my four-year-old at the time grabbed Big Tubba Kool-Aid and handed it to me. And I looked at the back and nothing but artificial colors, flavors, tons of sugar. And I took a step back, looked at the whole category and was like, whoa, how has there not been a brand disruptor in this category here? And did my homework and there isn't. From what I've gained is that everyone innovates with some sort of a function and I didn't want to compete with that.

20:31So I went to town and my daughter during a panel taste test we did with a bunch of preschool kids one day stood up and goes, dad, this one's my fave. I was like, whoa, hey, now we can name this company like possibly if I can get the trademark and all these stars started aligning and that was the opportunity. I think when those stars align, you know, you need to go for it. And that was it. So here we are. Oh yeah, that'll be the test. Can you come up with as good of a TV character as Kool-Aid. Oh, yeah. Okay. So, Cam, let me start with you. If you're going to talk to a brand who's getting this kind of an opportunity and they need to do well, you know, they're coming to the show, they're going to have a table set up.

21:13And in that crucial moment when a buyer is going to glance at their booth and decide whether they're going to stop or not, or whether they're interested, how could they do really well and try to stand out, you from just the product being good. I've always brought samples, obviously, in our retail setup, just so they can kind of see what it looks like on shelf. But above and beyond that, we bring our branding, branded tablecloth, and then also kind of a hook. So we bring like a fresh honeycomb on a frame or a cocoa pod from Ecuador. It's just the little things you put in the end of the table just to kind of bring them over and like, oh, what is this?

21:48Like, well, all of our chocolate is maybe just these two ingredients. It's honeycomb and it's cocoa. So trying to have a little bit of a hook is nice and some solid branding cults too. And then obviously having a solid product helps. I love that. And it didn't occur to me, but that probably is one of the reasons that I was so interested to stop by your booth at the beginning is because I probably saw that honeycomb and it looks amazing. Like, what is this? What do you have? Okay. I need to try this. What's going on? Okay. Brian, I'm going to come to you with the same question. If you're giving recommendations.

22:18And I know you have worked trade show circuit. I know you know how to crush these things. So what would you tell to a new brand trying to stand out and crush at a show like this? Yeah, I mean, the show is a little different, right? Because there was no full booths. We didn't have backdrops. We didn't have pop-up banners. So coming, I think, with the restrictions of what you can and can use at a booth, but I believe it's like a six-foot table. So I think Like a branded tablecloth is key. And the visualization on that table to capture attention. So we have a very bright, colorful drinks. We use some very tall pictures that people can see the product, the bright colors, especially in natural food world.

22:57When you see super bright drinks like this, it's kind of out of the norm because you're not used to these vibrant colors. It's traditionally looks very artificial. So we like to be very bold with that to catch people's attention. And then beyond that, like just your basic sell sheets, something for somebody to go home with, your business cards and something light for buyers to carry. Right. They're not going to lug around a bunch of heavy stuff usually. So those easy things that they can carry home with them and find in their bag later so they can re-reference you or reach back out to you is super important.

23:26So luckily for us, we have these small little flavor sticks so we can just throw it in a bag. They can take a bunch of them and it makes it a lot easier. So, Ryan, you're behind the table in this kind of an environment. environment what do you think when like okay you see a buyer come by and either you know who they are you don't because we do have name tags at these events but maybe you can't see it or maybe you do know who they are what is your approach to trying to get them to stop and be engaged like trying to you know make sure you are being appropriately aggressive and flagging them down you don't want them to just not really notice and kind of walk by and you miss your shot but also without pressuring them too much and trying to force them to stop and try stuff and maybe they don't want to and maybe, I don't know.

24:07Like what is your balanced approach to trying to make sure you're getting their attention and interest? Yeah, timeless question, I guess, right? Smile, wave them in, ask for them to come sample your product. I think if you're starting to get some hesitation on that, I've asked buyers to come step in and just say, hey, just can you try this real quick? I just want your feedback. I don't even want to sell you on it. Just curious what you think. Or, right, I have a product that's actually very new to the natural category. It doesn't really exist. something that works better or much more relevant in the conventional retailers.