Explore every episode of the podcast Brand Growth Heroes
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep72 How to Grow from £0 - £20m in JUST 5 YEARS with Child's Farm Joanna Jensen | 02 Sep 2024 | 00:55:13 | |
Listen and learn from Joanna Jensen, the founder of Child's Farm! This multi-award-winning natural skincare brand was founded (like 99% of businesses born to female founders) from Joanna's own need for something that didn't exist in the category at the time: a bath time solution for her child with medically diagnosed eczema. Created in 2010, Childs Farm was the number-one brand in the category by 2019 (ahead of Johnson's Baby, Baby Dove, and Aveeno). Joanna scaled the business to £20 million and decided the time was right to source additional funding for growth, but instead sold to PZ Cussons, which owns brands Imperial Leather, St Tropez and Carex. She describes herself as a driven workaholic, but she is also a brilliant mentor and advocate of female founders and female-founded businesses. She is also an investor in some of the businesses we've had on the show, including Freya Bone Broth and Hunter and Gather (look for their episodes on the show page of your favourite podcast player) During their chat, Joanna gives us many of what Fiona calls "those £500k ‘aha’ moments", including advice on margins, cash flow, when to hire and at what level, what to look for in your team, and more. Fiona’s challenge - how do we all get to the point where we're clear that the solution we're offering doesn't exist out there? Then, we can enter any negotiation, whether with a buyer or an investor, and we feel just as confident as Joanna does. By the way, if you're listening to this on Spotify, you'll find a place where it says ASK A QUESTION! You can now ask Fiona a question, and she will be able to answer you. So, if you have any questions about this episode or anything you thought helpful, please let Fiona know! Useful links: Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme Stop It by comedian Bob Newhart If this episode inspires you to think about new ways to drive business growth, don't forget to click FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE on your favourite podcast app and leave a review! You won’t want to miss the next episode, in which Fiona Fitz talks with another successful founder of a challenger brand who shares more valuable insights into driving growth. Plus, your small gesture will be truly appreciated. Please don't hesitate to join our Brand Growth Heroes community to stay updated with captivating stories and learnings from your beloved brands on their path to success! Follow us across our socials: Brand Growth Heroes on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X. Sign up for the latest news and information on the Brand Growth Heroes Accelerator Programme here. Thanks to my Sound Engineer, Gyp Buggane, Ballagroove.com and podcast producer/content creator, Kathryn Watts, Social KEWS. | |||
| Ep71 $500M: OLIPOP *Explodes* the USA Soda Market | 28 Jul 2024 | 00:46:24 | |
$500M: OLIPOP explodes the USA Soda Market Join us for Fiona Fitz’s recent conversation with OLIPOP Co-Founder & President David Lester, recorded live at the Bread and Jam Festival. OLIPOP Co-Founders David Lester and Ben Goodwin landed on the foundational recipe for “a new kind of soda”, redefining how consumers perceived the category. OLIPOP has successfully persuaded consumers to swap out sugary, familiar favourites for healthier alternatives. In colourful cans with vintage logos and fantastic flavours, OLIPOP aims to smash its target of $500 million in sales in 2024. Listen to this episode and find out how they've done it. David reveals: The eight-year journey behind OLIPOP's rapid growth, explaining that despite its apparent surge since the 2018 launch, the company actually underwent a crucial four-year trial process beforehand. The importance of balancing taste with health benefits and the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with being a founder. We all expected this interview to be about how he and Ben grew the business. In fact, David offers candid insights on ego, vulnerability, and the true meaning of success. If you are still alive then you are succeeding. Useful links: If this episode inspires you to think about new ways to drive business growth, don't forget to click FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE on your favourite podcast app and leave a review! You won’t want to miss the next episode, in which Fiona Fitz talks with another successful founder of a challenger brand who shares more valuable insights into driving growth. Plus, your small gesture will be truly appreciated. Please don't hesitate to join our Brand Growth Heroes community to stay updated with captivating stories and learnings from your beloved brands on their path to success! Follow us across our socials: Brand Growth Heroes on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X. Sign up for the latest news and information on the Brand Growth Heroes Accelerator Programme here. Thanks to our Sound Engineer, Gyp Buggane, Ballagroove.com and our social media manager/podcast producer, Kathryn Watts, Social KEWS. | |||
| Founders' Hotline: Bold Bean Co's Viral Mistake | 25 May 2023 | 00:02:00 | |
Get ready for a dose of entrepreneurial truth bombs as the vivacious trailblazer, Amelia Christie-Miller, spills the beans on one of the blunders she made whilst venturing towards business triumph! Bold Bean Co.
So that you don't miss your favourite brands talk about how they grew their inspirational businesses, Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community! | |||
| Nurture Brands: Co-conquering your Costs with Other Brands. Ben Arbib. | 22 May 2023 | 00:43:36 | |
As the founder or leader of a grocery brand, have you ever thought it would be GREAT to pool your central costs with other brands like yours? Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin So that you don't miss the leaders of your favourite brands talk about how they grew their inspirational businesses, click the Follow button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app (on apple podcasts it's three dots like this (...) Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community! | |||
| Renée Elliott: Rescuing Planet Organic. Empowering Women. | 17 May 2023 | 00:38:26 | |
Renée Elliott is the original founder of much-loved UK organic retailer Planet Organic...and now she's back: to rescue the business out of administration. At the time of recording, we are 3 weeks into this rescue deal. All the latest insider info is right inside this episode, along with some invitations to suppliers to join Planet Organic on their new journey, as well as information on Renée's upcoming women's retreat (www.womentree.uk). | |||
| Founders' Hotline: Nojo London's Big Screw Up | 27 Apr 2023 | 00:03:40 | |
Have you ever messed up and felt like you were the only founder in the world to make such a stupid mistake? YOU can be featured on Brand Growth Bloopers! Just send me a WhatsApp on +447418605547 and tell me the following:
So that you don't miss your favourite brands talk about how they grew their inspirational businesses, Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community! | |||
| Founders' Hotline: Perfect Ted's Manufacturing Disaster | 13 Apr 2023 | 00:02:36 | |
Hear how Marisa and Teddy learned from their big-green-explosion-mistake, whilst preparing for their first-ever show - the London Coffee Festival! If you'd like the chance to be featured on Brand Growth Bloopers, please send us a WhatsApp on +447418605547 and tell us the following:
Click the Follow button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app (on apple podcasts it's three dots like this (...) Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community! See how Fiona’s group coaching programmes can help develop your senior commercial and marketing teams internally: Fiona Fitz Consulting
| |||
| How Perfect Ted Grew From £0-5M in Just 18 months | 01 Apr 2023 | 00:58:52 | |
Perfect Ted, the natural energy drinks brand powered by matcha green tea, has taken the UK food and drink industry by storm. Despite launching just 18 months ago, Marisa, Teddie, and Levi have grown their business to a run-rate of £5M, secured a national listing with Tesco UK across three different in-store categories, and even won offers from all five dragons on Dragon's Den. What's more, they've accomplished this by successfully taking a niche ingredient that they are passionate about into the mass market.
The duo also share their experience on Dragon's Den and how it was by far the biggest risk they've taken to date. They talk about the impact the show has had on their sales, and the personal investment necessary to grow their business. Additionally, they discuss the benefits of having a strong multi-channel customer base and reveal how they secured their first Michelin star listing. Finally, Marisa and Teddie answer the question everyone wants to know: what it's like to have Dragon and serial entrepreneur Steven Bartlett as a mentor!! Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community!
| |||
| Mid-Day Squares: How to Disrupt the $8Billion Healthy Snacking Category | 26 Jan 2023 | 00:42:44 | |
Mid-Day Squares is the Canadian functional chocolate sensation that EVERYONE in the food and drink industry is talking about. Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin But they're also disrupting what Food & Bev marketers define as best practice, in terms of approach to Social Media! Forbes 30 under 30 co-founderJake Karls talks Fiona through:
Want to work with Fiona? | |||
| Verlinvest: The *3 Secrets* that Founders Looking for *Investment* NEED to Know | 12 Jan 2023 | 00:36:48 | |
Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin Their investment - and their team - is helping to build some of the world's largest consumer brands. In this episode (recorded a few months back), I speak to Director Ben Black and I get some top advice for founders looking for funding.
There are THREE NEW THINGS that investors are looking for in today's economic climate. These are not listed here, you’re going to have to listen to the show! And as a bonus…you'll also learn:
I hope you enjoy this latest episode and learn as much as I did recording it! Want to work with Fiona? | |||
| Veganuary, Vegan Fried Chick*n, Veg Capital & Sentient Ventures with Matthew Glover | 26 Aug 2022 | 00:41:47 | |
As the founder of Veganuary, Veg Capital, Vegan Fried Chick*n or VFC, and most recently a new venture capital fund called Sentient Ventures, Matthew Glover is a business activist and a serial founder whose initiatives have contributed significantly to the changes we are all experiencing in how we eat today. (Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin) In this episode, Matthew shares how he left his career in double-glazing to fight animal cruelty; the exact steps he and his wife took to create the Veganuary movement and, arguably, how it has been the tipping point for the plant-based revolution in our eating habits and in the food industry today. He also tells us why he's made the decision to 'invest in growth up-front' in the VFC (Vegan Fried Chick*n) brand. I hope you enjoy this latest episode and learn as much as I did recording it! | |||
| Healthy Soil, Healthy People, Healthy Planet: How Wildfarmed Can Change How We Eat. | 01 Aug 2022 | 00:37:51 | |
If you work in the food industry, you need to start swotting up on this subject area: Wildfarmed is a regenerative food brand bringing together farmers, food businesses and consumers to build the largest soil and biodiversity restoration programme on British arable land. But uniquely, they are making delicious food grown in healthy soils widely available to the high street customer, whilst guaranteeing a stable price committed to the farmer who makes the transition to regenerative practices. Fiona speaks to Edd Lees, who along with Andy Cato of Groove Armada and George Lamb, is one of the co-founders of this revolutionary new business.
Founded in 2018, Wildfarmed’s overriding premise is to 'fix the planet by fixing food'. Wildfarmed prioritises soil health and never uses pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, so the land is left rich for future harvests. This in turn ensures that any Wildfarmed loaf of bread will always be chemical-free and nutrient-dense. There are now 40 farmers growing under contract with Wildfarmed (with an ever-growing waitlist), representing a staggering 1% of British arable land.
If you work in the food industry, how can you engage with regenerative farming practices? Find out more about Wildfarmed here. and on mob here
Don't miss further episodes!
| |||
| Ep70 Sauce Shop Secrets Unveiled: What DOES it take to manufacture in-house? | 10 Jun 2024 | 00:42:11 | |
Sauce Shop Secrets Unveiled: Pam & James Digva on everything from building their own factory to getting a national listing in Tesco If you’re ever wondering what it takes to own and run your own manufacturing facility, then this episode is for you. Brand Growth Heroes host Fiona Fitz has been tasting packaged food and beverage products as part of her job for over 25 years. When she first tasted Sauce Shop's lime and aioli sauce at the Alantra Fast 50 dinner, she knew she had to find out how it tasted so good. So, in this latest episode, Fiona chats with Sauce Shop's founders, Pam and James Digva, who explain exactly how they make products that taste just like they weren’t made in a factory at ALL. They have well over 20 years of food manufacturing experience, and there are just so many nuggets in this interview that we can't wait to share with you. We talk about building your own manufacturing facility while still staying true to the craft, as well as the importance of a dedicated team you can rely on, especially in high growth and challenging times. During the chat, Pam and James reveal their latest listing in one of the UK's largest retailers. Stay tuned until the end, as this source (sauce!!) of growth will really inspire you. Useful links: Sauce Shop® | UK Made Hot Sauce, BBQ Sauce & Ketchup | 35+ varieties Sauce Shop (@sauce_shop) • Instagram photos and videos (31)Sauce Shop (@sauceshop) | TikTok If this episode inspires you to think about new ways to drive business growth, don't forget to click FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE on your favourite podcast app and leave a review! You won’t want to miss the next episode, in which Fiona Fitz talks with another successful founder of a challenger brand who shares more valuable insights into driving growth. Plus, your small gesture will be truly appreciated. Please don't hesitate to join our Brand Growth Heroes community to stay updated with captivating stories and learnings from your beloved brands on their path to success! Follow us across our socials: Brand Growth Heroes on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X. Sign up for the latest news and information on the Brand Growth Heroes Accelerator Programme here. Thanks to our Sound Engineer, Gyp Buggane, Ballagroove.com and our social media manager, Kathryn Watts, Social KEWS. | |||
| How to Build a $100M Beverage Business in Under 5 Years | 12 Jul 2022 | 00:37:29 | |
waterdrop® is the $100M insurgent beverage brand that may not yet be on your radar...at least if you're based in the U.K. What is waterdrop®? waterdrop®'s purpose is to make it easy for everyone to drink more tap water, more often. The ecosystem of products and 'water-tech' that the company is building in order to deliver on its purpose is so clever that your eyes will water. They are present in 14 countries, and have 25 waterdrop® stores across the world, including a presence in supermarkets and high street beauty stores, as well as concessions in shopping malls. Believe it or not, they are now the largest seller of drinkware in Europe...and they've just launched an intelligent water bottle cap so you can keep track of how much water you're drinking. The business performance stats are astonishing too. In under 5 years, the company has turned over $100M, with over north of 100M drinks sold. They’ve recently raised a series B round of $60M, to invest in conquering the US market.
We talk to founder Martin Murray about why and how he started the company, the mistakes he made along the way…and something I know you’re going to love – how martin and his co-founders persuaded their co-manufacturers to pay for the machinery and trials they needed to make waterdrop cubes a reality.
What you'll learn in this episode:
Don't miss further episodes! Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast | |||
| How to Get a Retail Buyer's Attention with Scott McCulloch, Founder of The Vegan Kind Supermarket | 04 Jul 2022 | 00:49:28 | |
Scott McCulloch and his wife Karris started their vegan subscription box from the living room of their flat in 2013. Nine years later, The Vegan Kind Supermarket is a multi-million pound UK online vegan grocer, the first and largest of its kind. Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin. In this episode - our first with a grocery retailer - you'll learn: - Why and how Scott and Karris started their vegan subscription box business - including the steps they took to find their first 50 subscribers Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin. Don't miss further episodes! | |||
| Why Your DTC Business Isn’t Working & How to Fix it! | 18 Jun 2022 | 00:54:57 | |
Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin. Serial founder and bestselling author Mike Stevens talks to Fiona about his new book 'The Direct-To-Consumer Playbook', and shares his learnings from 20 years in consumer packaged goods - and from being one of the first challenger food brands to sell directly to consumers. Hear how Mike and his co-founder built a successful DTC business with Peppersmith; why he sold the business; how and why he went about writing his best-selling business book; the secrets to winning at DTC straight from the mouths of the most successful founders and brands in this space...and finally, what Mike would do differently, knowing what he knows now.
Find Mike's book here. | |||
| The Cheeky Panda is Changing How We Wipe | 17 May 2022 | 00:39:31 | |
The Cheeky Panda is on a mission to transform the type of paper products we all use across Household, Beauty, and Baby products. By using surplus bamboo instead of trees as their raw material, The Cheeky Panda makes products that are kinder to your skin as well as to the planet. In this episode, founders Chris and Julie tell us how and why they set up the business, and how they’ve grown it to £17M in sales in only 6 years, with relatively little external funding. Find out more about The Cheeky Panda - and try some! Like what you hear & want to work with Fiona, and join a network of hundreds of scaling CPG brands?
| |||
| How to Build a £20M Multi-Channel Business in Just 18 Months: Wild Deodorant | 25 Apr 2022 | 00:46:46 | |
How do you build a £20M multi-channel business in just 18 months? Find out more about Wild Deodorant https://www.wearewild.com/ Want to work with Fiona? Start-up brands: Thanks to Strong Roots for supporting Series 5 of Brand Growth Heroes. | |||
| Seedlip: How To Be Disruptive. | 05 Apr 2022 | 00:57:17 | |
In the 'No & Low' alcohol category, Seedlip is arguably the original poster child of insurgent brands. Started on a garden table in 2016, it quickly became the world's No 1 distilled non-alcoholic brand. It now sells across 49 countries and has an undisclosed market sales value in the £10s of millions of pounds. In this episode, founder Ben Branson talks to Fiona about how he developed one of the ultimate disruptive brands; why he got into bed with Big Co (Diageo) so early on; and he talks us through the disruptive way he approaches building culture, people, roles and teams. They also chat about robot chefs, about how there are 47,000 plant-based ingredients available out there...and Ben tells us about some big, exciting plans for Seedlip coming down the line. Find out more about Seedlip - and try some! https://www.seedlipdrinks.com/en-us/ Want to work with Fiona? Discover her programmes for the founders of consumer/grocery brands below: Thanks to Strong Roots for supporting series 5 of Brand Growth Heroes. | |||
| Strong Roots: How to Raise $55M Investment for a Minority Stake in your Business | 22 Mar 2022 | 00:22:06 | |
Sam Dennigan gives Fiona the latest news from Strong Roots HQ, explaining the backstory to their new TV ad; why they've sold a minority stake in the business to McCain Foods; and together Fiona & Sam announce a big piece of shared news: not only is Strong Roots sponsoring Brand Growth Heroes Series 5, but Sam also announces that he is offering a bursary for 2 founders to join The Growth Strategy Programme, Brand Growth Heroes' online business accelerator for the founders of scaling CPG brands. Brand Growth Heroes catches up with Sam and Strong Roots every 6 months or so. So if you want to follow the growth journey of an insurgent CPG brand in real-time, then check out Strong Root's other interviews on back episodes of Brand Growth Heroes: There's one in Sept 2021, May 2020 and June 2019. If you're the founder of a scaling consumer goods brand and you'd like to work with Fiona to drive growth for your business, check out The Growth Strategy Programme at https://www.fionafitzconsulting.com/courses/brand-growth-strategy-programme If it's too early for The Growth Strategy Programme, why not consider joining Brand Growth Bootcamp - Masterclass Membership group. See you there! | |||
| Hunter & Gather: Serving your Tribe. Honestly. | 22 Feb 2022 | 00:40:57 | |
Hunter and Gather is a cross-category food AND supplement brand that's already achieving a gross sales value of nearly £6 million pounds. | |||
| TRIP CBD Drinks & Oils: Finding Calm in the Everyday Chaos | 12 Jan 2022 | 00:34:55 | |
TRIP is the UK's best-selling CBD drinks company. Since its launch in 2019, UK consumers have spent literally millions of pounds on TRIP's delicious CBD infused canned drinks, as well as on their dinky little dropper bottles of CBD oils. Fiona speaks to co-founder Olivia Ferdi about leaving her law career to step into the unknown, about how she and her husband have created a mainstream category out of something that had tremendous barriers to purchase up until now, and we learn how the TRIP team have had to drive demand in the old fashioned way through experience and word of mouth rather than through paid advertising. | |||
| Nice: Wine Fit for Purpose...Whenever, Wherever! | 17 Dec 2021 | 00:45:58 | |
Nice describes itself as a 'Future Wine Company'. This modern, accessible brand offers wine in cans AND in boxes, so that you can have a great glass of wine wherever you are... without having to buy or open a whole bottle. Founders Lucy Wright and Jeremy May talk to Fiona about their massive multi-channel growth since launch, about the consumer and trade customer frictions that they're solving, about how they approached their recent round of funding and finally about the importance they place on people and culture. | |||
| Freja Bone Broth: How to Hit a £10M Run-Rate in Just 3 Years | 09 Apr 2024 | 00:42:29 | |
Episode 69: Freja Foods, Founder Ed Armitage How to Hit a £10m Run Rate in 3 Years! In this latest episode, Fiona talks to Ed Armitage, founder of Freja Bone Broth, who shares the secrets behind his award-winning, digital-first, scaling food business. By the way, we do a quick-fire Q&A at the end, and Ed is incredibly generous with his tips on how to grow a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brand profitably, so make sure you stay around and don’t miss these valuable nuggets. Here are the top 5 things you will learn from this episode:
Useful links: Freja's Website Find the founders on LinkedIn: Jessica Higgins & Ed Armitage Freja on Instagram Freja on Facebook
Follow us on social: Brand Growth Heroes on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. Sign up for the latest news and information on the Brand Growth Heroes Accelerator Programme here. Thanks to my Sound Engineer, Gyp Buggane, Ballagroove.com and my producer, Kathryn Watts, Social KEWS. | |||
| Little Moons: Revolutionising Ice Cream | 25 Nov 2021 | 00:29:25 | |
Over the past 20 months, Little Moons has become a national obsession. Although the company was founded in 2010, the brand has only recently brought transformational growth to the nation's favourite frozen category, and now sells tens of millions of pounds of their delicious mochi ice cream across all major supermarkets and foodservice channels... and employs over 300 people. | |||
| Tribe: Mission & Community at the Core. Delicious too. | 27 Oct 2021 | 00:30:00 | |
Tribe is the UK's leading plant-based performance brand, offering a range of bars, active oats and shakes that are super tasty and appeal to more than just serious fitness fanatics. But more importantly, Tribe is an *Impact* organisation that began in 2013 with a community long-distance 'Run for Love' to set up the first home for trafficked children in the UK. The product range was launched only after the community had already found a life of it's own, and sales gained serious traction at the beginning of lockdown. With the brand doubling in size, it's now about to hit £6 million in retail sales value at the end of this year. Tribe really is more than your average challenger brand. It's an ecosystem that includes their food business + their charitable organisation 'The Tribe Freedom Foundation' + the active community the founders have built since their very first run for love in 2013. I think Tribe has all the makings of a future mega-brand. Why? This is one to watch. | |||
| How Bio&Me's 'Good for your Gut' Ranges are Driving Growth Across TWO Categories | 22 Sep 2021 | 00:40:08 | |
Bio&Me offers consumers a range of granolas, porridges mueslis and yoghurts, all of which are allowed to carry the claim 'Good for your Gut'. In this episode:
| |||
| Dr. Will's: Taking on 'Big Food' in the Ketchup & Mayo Aisle | 17 Sep 2021 | 00:29:47 | |
Dr. Will Breakey is the Co-founder of Dr Will's natural condiments brand.
| |||
| Scrumbles: How Pretty Poos are Driving Growth in Petfood | 14 Sep 2021 | 00:30:51 | |
In this episode, Fiona speaks to Aneisha Soobroyen, founder of the gorgeous pet food brand Scrumbles, food for cats and dogs that's good for their gut AND good for the planet. | |||
| Strong Roots: Heading for £100m by Driving Growth on a GLOBAL scale. | 02 Sep 2021 | 00:37:40 | |
Strong Roots has strong plans to hit £100 million in sales over the next few years. So if you want to hear what big-ticket innovation really means, how Sam and his team are approaching international expansion in both the USA and Europe, how their foray into Dark Kitchens in New York City is going AND why they've brought their creative agency in-house - and how that works - then don't miss this! | |||
| How to Build a €50M Brand - Twice. Founders of Fulfil Bars and Cali Cali Foods. | 16 Jun 2021 | 00:46:51 | |
You may not know their names yet, but you certainly know the first of their €50M brands. | |||
| Biotiful Dairy: Creating the Gut Health Category | 02 Jun 2021 | 00:43:21 | |
Natasha Bowes, the founder of innovative Kefir company Biotiful Dairy, shares the spellbinding business story behind the brand's success. It's a story that highlights the dedication, hard work, and obsessional focus on product quality that's necessary to become a brand leader in today's competitive marketplace. With a portfolio of 7 ranges and market retail sales value of around £30M, this is a brand we're going to see a lot more of in the future. | |||
| Minor Figures: The £30M Secret Success in Oat Milk | 17 May 2021 | 00:38:18 | |
Minor Figures is the secret success story and insurgent brand that I really wasn't all that aware of before now. At its origin, Minor Figures is a coffee business that was started in 2013 by barista friends Jonathan Chiu, Stuart Forsyth and Will Rixon. But although its original home was in the food service channel, in recent years a tremendous amount of growth has come from the Oatmilk category in Grocery Retail. The business now has retail sales of around £30M, employs 71 people across 3 offices, and is selling in over 25 countries across the globe..
Fiona speaks to Commercial Director Ben Vear, who along with his team has been behind much of this transformational growth. instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minorfigures/ | |||
| How to win in Consumer Packaged Goods...without Competing | 04 May 2021 | 00:40:15 | |
Fiona talks to Alex Smith, the founder of innovative Strategy Consultancy Basic Arts. A TedEx veteran, Alex has got some really interesting and different ideas around how a brand can create uncontested market space, how we should all avoid the current trend of 'Blanding', and how Brand Purpose has been hijacked. I came across Alex's Ted talk when I was deepening my understanding of Blue Ocean strategy or how to compete in uncontested market spaces, and you can find it here. Alex has a a great weekly newsletter and an email-based short-course that will stretch your strategic brain, which you can sign up for here | |||
| Ep68 (Part 2) Fuel10k Sells to Behemoth Premier Foods - The Week Before the Sale | 09 Nov 2023 | 00:42:28 | |
Founder Barney Mauleverer describes Fuel10k as 'a 12 year overnight success' In Part 2 of our two part series covering the growth journey & sale of the protein breakfast brand Fuel10k to Premier Foods, learn:
Don't miss your favourite brands talk about how they grew their inspirational businesses! Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community! | |||
| Dash Water: Wonky Fruit. Delicious Drinks. Category Growth. | 20 Apr 2021 | 00:31:20 | |
At the start of this episode we advertise The Growth Strategy Programme. Here’s the link to sign up for a discovery call and How do you grow a branded beverage business that is described by the The Grocer magazine as the brand that the traditional category brand leaders now have to challenge? Dash Water is a delicious range of canned infused sparkling water without any sugar or sweetener, made with wonky fruit and veg and thereby saving hundreds of tons of food waste every year! Founded in 2017 by Alex Wright and Jack Scott, both originally from farming backgrounds, Dash's retail sales are tracking at around £10M, and the brand boasts the leading market share in its category (37%). Dash is now available in 5,000 stores across the EU. In the UK you can find Dash at Sainsbury's, British Airways, Boots, Ocado and Amazon. In this episode we talk about the importance of sustainability at the core of their business, about how Alex and Jack invested a lot of time and shoe-leather driving brand awareness and trial from the ground up, as well exploring their very recent launch into the Soda Water market. Dash instagram https://www.instagram.com/dashdrinks/ | |||
| Moju Drinks: Creating a category and leading an omni-channel grocery business | 18 Mar 2021 | 00:43:56 | |
This is one of my favourite interviews so far, so I hope you enjoy it and learn as much as I did doing it! | |||
| How to Think About Growth: Tenzing, The UK's Leading Natural Energy Drink | 26 Jan 2021 | 00:47:58 | |
In 2016, Tenzing was the first Natural Energy drink to be launched on to the UK market, and for the past few years, it has been the LEADING Energy drink in terms of growth, and is (at time of recording) turning over between £5-6M in UK retail sales. It's founder, Huib van Buckel has an illustrious career in Energy Drinks, including 8 years at Red Bull, where he was Head of Marketing for Holland, UK and Europe. So there is TONS we can learn from him. In this video and audio episode you'll learn:
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkZzsoJx3-OtZ_zRViEG3CA | |||
| Lucky Saint: Changing the face of Alcohol Free Beer. | 05 Jan 2021 | 00:37:07 | |
Not happy with the alcohol free beers on the market, Luke Boase spent 741 days in research, travelled over 7,500 miles and brewed nearly 60,000 litres of beer before he came up with what he calls the definitive alcohol free lager, which he called Lucky Saint. The multi award winning 0.5% pilsner launched in the On-trade in October 2013... And after only a year, Lucky Saint. was listed in over 1500 venues, including over 30 Michelin star restaurants and casual dining institutions like Dish Room, the Ivy Collection and Honest Burgers. It was also the first alcohol free lager to launch on draught in January 2020 and 50 pubs and bars across London. Learn how Luke and his Managing Director Emma Heal (ex innocent, Graze) pivoted their out-of-home business model right at the start of the pandemic, to drive #transformationalgrowth. | |||
| Cully & Sully: The original Irish insurgent is now #4 in the UK! | 11 Dec 2020 | 00:57:46 | |
If you’re thinking about building the kind of food business that creates its very own category, where it continues to win for years to come, then you need to listen to this episode where we interview Cullen Allen, co-founder of Ireland’s original insurgent food brand, Cully & Sully. In this interview, you’re going to learn what an obsession with product really means; the common mistakes that Cullen has seen prove fatal for many scaling food brands over the past 20 years; and what it’s like to love going to bed with your investor every day. Launched in 2004, Cully and Sully soups, broths and pies are still market leaders in Ireland, but also racing up the ladder as the challenger brand in UK Chilled Soup, where their delicious range of soups is available in over 5000 stores nationwide. (Tesco, Co-op, Asda). https://cullyandsully.com/our-meals The pea soup Cully mentions during the interview: | |||
| Update episode & launch of Brand Growth Blueprint online Growth Strategy programme | 22 Nov 2020 | 00:05:19 | |
Hello everyone! In celebration of hitting 10.5K downloads, welcome to the first UPDATE episode of Brand Growth Heroes podcast, where I'm going to spend just 5 minutes or so telling you what you can expect over the coming months. I'm really excited to share some big launch news right at the end, so don't go anywhere just yet! First of all, I can't believe that it's nearly 18 months since the first BGH episode. What started out as a way of updating my suitcase of brand growth case studies, BGH has now become way bigger than I ever intended it to, with over 50 5star ratings in different iTunes stores across the world. This might be still small in the world of podcasts, but it's helping me to realise MY brand purpose, which is to create lightbulb moments for leaders of scaling brands, in order to smooth their path to profitable, transformational growth. So, thanks so much to all of you who have listened, subscribed, reviewed it on iTunes and written to me to say just how much you're learning from the interviews. I'm learning a huge amount from too, and for that I'm truly grateful to all of our super guests. Big shout out particularly to James McMaster of Huel for taking the risk of being my first interviewee, that could have gone either way, so thank you James. We've just begun recording series 3, in which alongside more insurgent food and beverage brands, we're going to dip in and out of learning about scaling personal care brands such as soap, feminine care and the future of toothpaste. This month and next we are recording episodes with Lucky Saint beer and as well as another Masterclass with Mark Mulhern from Brand Performance Labs in New York, this time on what Performance Marketing is and why you need to understand it. I've been spending lots of time preparing for a big talk I'm giving to the grocery industry in Austria tomorrow, as well as working on some exciting new developments that I'll share with you at the end of this update. OK so finally I wanted to share some big news: Over the past 10 years, my own business has evolved from delivering traditional consultancy projects for consumer goods clients, to helping them upskill their teams to do this work themselves. This, I'm reliably informed, is called Capability Development, and that's squarely where I serve.. I do this through individual and group coaching of senior teams, but also by developing and delivering workshops and programmes to help clients develop their strategic thinking and people. Why am I telling you this? Because in January I'm launching a new online course arm to the business, under the sub-brand Brand Growth Blueprint. That's it from me, watch out for our new episodes coming late November! | |||
| The Little Soap Company: Parallels between Food/Personal Care with Emma Heathcote-James, Founder/ CEO. | 15 Sep 2020 | 00:41:16 | |
So here’s a question for you: Which grocery category of non-edible products do you shop making increasingly careful choices around the products’ ingredients, choosing your favourites based on something very akin to flavours, looking for additive free or organic options, and even buying different versions of the product to cater for different members of the household? For me, there are quite a few parallels between how we shop Food & Beverage grocery categories, and how we shop the Personal Care categories. After all, the products in Personal Care are about how we take care of, nourish and draw experience from our bodies from the outside-in, whereas we buy Food and Beverage products to solve these needs from the inside-out. Another really interesting parallel is that like Food and Bev. start-ups, skin and hair care brands also increasingly try to develop their products from natural kitchen-cupboard ingredients and have a brand purpose that is centred on being kind to nature. Another striking similarity is that these businesses often start at the kitchen table, getting proof of concept at farmers markets, before moving into retail. What I find interesting about the Personal Care category is that it remains majorly dominated by the large global brands that our grandmothers and mothers would recognise: Head&Shoulders, Radox, Palmolive, Dove… or slightly more recently, all the “famous hairdresser” hair care brands that have launched since I was in my 20s. And although there has been a real change on the fringes of the category for years, in the Whole Foods and the Holland& Barretts, why aren’t more of the local, natural, purpose-led brands not stealing share from big brands in the supermarkets? I have decided to pepper this series with the odd interview with founders of insurgent brands across various Personal Care categories, to see if we can learn from their experiences in a different category, in a different stage of the unavoidable 21st century category overhaul we are seeing across the board. I recently came across an inspiring emerging brand in Personal Care that started out on the kitchen table 12 years ago, but now has national listings across all the major grocery retailers and drugstore chains in the UK , has 30 employees and is currently seeing at at least £4M in market sales. The Little Soap Company is a purpose driven, vegan, cruelty free, ethically produced, free-from brand with a range of soaps, solid shampoo and shaving bars that use organic ingredients that you’d easily recognise. It was the first- and is still the only – “free from” range on the supermarket shelves, and has just started what could be a revolution for the category – a range of solid shampoos and washes, to avoid packaging in plastic containers. We also discuss whether it’s useful to talk about what it’s like being a female founder. To start to start your journey in understanding how emerging brands can transform the Personal Care category, and what we can learn from their experience, LISTEN to our interview with award winning and inspirational Founder/CEO Emma Heathcote-James. Hear how Emma’s vision is “to make pure soap the norm not the niche” and how as the first – and often only– “free from” range on the supermarket shelves, The Little Soap Company is at the forefront of some real category transformation. www.thelittlesoapcompany.co.uk Instagram: little_soap_co; eco_warrior_soap If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes or Spotify & SHARE it on LinkedIn (Brand Growth Heroes) and Instagram (brandgrowthheroespodcast) | |||
| The Carbonated Soft Drinks Revolution: Real Fruit Sodas and Dalston's Soda Co. Interview with Dan Broughton Co-Founder & CEO | 08 Sep 2020 | 00:42:00 | |
Across the Western world, the Carbonated Soft Drinks category is experiencing real transformation… thanks to the sugar backlash, the resulting sugar tax and the fight against plastic. I recently heard that the majority of fizzy soft drinks sold in the supermarkets now contain no or low amounts of added sugar, which really surprised me. For a category that has been built on the white stuff for over 100 years, that’s a pretty big change. It goes without saying that it has been a difficult few years for some of the big global soft drink brands, but the other side of that coin is that there are plenty of exciting emerging brands taking advantage of the move towards Healthier and Natural. They and creating new category sub segments some real #transformational growth. Think real fruit sodas, no added sugar seltzers, and even the more niche Kombuchas, kefir waters, sparkling coconut waters…. If you live in the UK, you probably recognise the very cool British soft drinks brand Dalston’s soda, whose mission is to put real ingredients back at the heart of soft drinks. I think their range of highly distinctive, brightly coloured metallic cans with the big standout D for Dalstons on the front is a future brand icon – just the right mix of cool yet accessible to the mass market. Together with great drinks made with real fruit, low sugar, local ingredients and even distilled botanicals for serious amount of great flavour, Dalston’s is one to watch. Dan Broughton, CEO DalstonsI spoke to Dan Broughton, CEO and Co-Founder to find out how he and his team is setting the brand up for success. If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes or Spotify & SHARE it on your social media | |||
| Oatly: the Insurgent Brand on Everyone's Lips. The 5 levers the UK team pulled to drive the business's #transformationalgrowth | 19 Aug 2020 | 00:44:36 | |
The case study in Category transformation that is on everyone’s lips right now is Oatly. But did you know that Oatly has been around for 30 years in the Dairy Alternatives Category? It’s only really in the past 5 years that something has changed massively, at least in the UK market. In 2016, Oatly’s UK revenue was around £6M, but this year they are looking at hitting around £75M! If you want to know how they did this, then you’re in luck! We spoke to Ishen Paran, UK Country Manager who told us about the 5 levers that he and the Oatly UK team have pulled to drive this incredible growth… #oatmilk #oatly #transformationalgrowth #brandgrowthheroes #plantbased If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes or Spotify & SHARE it on your social media | |||
| How should your Approach to Marketing Investment Change as you become a Grown-up Brand? | 12 Aug 2020 | 00:43:30 | |
Mark Mulhern is a Brand Performance Coach with a spectacular CV in brand advertising and through-the-line Marketing investment. He’s worked agency-side for the past 20+ years managing advertising accounts worth £100M of pounds and dollars, for clients such as Mars, Unilever, McDonalds, Amazon, Virgin and Sainsbury’s. If you’ve listened to the first few episodes of Series 1 of Brand Growth Heroes, you’ll know that one of the New 4Ps of Transformational Growth is PROCESS – how insurgent brands define and attack challenges differently to incumbent or less successful brands. One of these challenges is managing the transition of how you approach your MARKETING INVESTMENT as a start-up, vs. how you think about it and deliver it as an emerging brand with a serious growth trajectory. If you’ve been pootering along nicely with sampling and social media, but recognise that the time has come to get your head around what a more strategic approach looks like, then this episode is for you. If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes or Spotify & SHARE it on your social media | |||
| Ep67 (Part 1) Fuel10k: Build a £Multimillion Protein Breakfast Brand & Then Sell It | 05 Nov 2023 | 00:44:50 | |
Are you curious to know what it's like for a founder in the week before a sale of their business? ➡ If you're building your consumer packaged goods business with the hope of one day selling it, and if you've ever wondered what it would be like to sell your branded business, then you've got to listen to this. Last week, FUEL10K (protein breakfast range) was sold to renowned UK CPG business Premier Foods. In a two part series, Brand Growth Heroes host Fiona Fitzpatrick talks to Barney😜 Mauleverer about: - How he & his team BUILT FUEL10K - Why it was the right FIT for Premier Foods, and - What it was like for him in the WEEK BEFORE the sale of the business at the end of October 2023. First up - we revisit our episode with Barney from 2020, where the business was already turning over £12M in revenue and present in multiple international markets. Barney Mauleverer cut his teeth in food and drink during the front five years of early stage Innocent Drinks. Leaving in 2006 as European Manager, Barney sought a more entrepreneurial route of his own and set up food brand exporting company Fresh Marketing with pal Alex Matheson. Listen to how Barney and his team built the Fuel 10K business, and in the next episode launching soon, we'll explore what it took to sell the business to Premier Foods. A favour! Could you #Payitforward? Don't miss your favourite brands talk about how they grew their inspirational businesses! Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin Become part of the Brand Growth Heroes community! | |||
| Child labour in your Chocolate? Warning - it's worse than it was. Tony’s Chocolonely UK update episode. | 21 Jul 2020 | 00:30:26 | |
How many of us eat chocolate or other cocoa-based products without realising – and this is deadly serious – that we could be unwittingly funding child labour and even child slavery in West Africa? Almost a year ago, we interviewed Ben Greensmith, the UK country manager of Tony’s Chocolonely, and we heard how this amazing company is trying to change the cocoa industry and eradicate child labour and childhood slavery. If you’d like to listen to this episode, look for Series 1 Episode 8 (SE1Ep8) on your podcast player. A month or so ago, I learned that the level of child labour in West African cocoa farms had actually increased over the past 10 years, which just really shocked and saddened me. In this special catch-up episode, I asked Ben to bring us up to speed with the situation in West Africa, as well as share with us how Tony’s Chocolonely is doing in the U.K. market since its launch. If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes or Spotify & SHARE it on your social media S2EP12 Timestamps to follow. | |||
| Funding/investment 101 by Piper, the investment partner of choice of Propercorn, Mindful Chef and many many more! | 09 Jun 2020 | 01:08:39 | |
It’s tough times out there for many brands. Even for the lucky ones who are seeing an increase in sales due to the current situation, future plans are up in the air and investment in growth is on pause, with so much depending on how things pan out over the next few months. We wanted to find out what’s happening in the world of investment & funding for brands with big growth plans: have most put their investment journeys on hold? What should you do if you were planning to raise money this year? In this episode we’re talking to Yasha Estraikh, who’s an Associate Partner at Piper, the investment partner of choice for brands such as Propercorn, Mindful Chef and many more you’ll recognise. Yasha is in charge of Brand and Customer Research and Insight, and he helps brands keep their customer at the centre of everything they do. I learnt SO much from this hour with Yasha – not only that most sources of investment are focusing on their current portfolios at the moment, but tons about how funding and investment for growing brands works in general. If you have ever really wanted to understand how it all works, you need to listen to this! If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes & SHARE it on your social media! S2EP11 Timestamps to follow. | |||
| Buymie On-Demand Grocery delivers in just 1hr… & it just got €2.2M in Funding | 18 May 2020 | 00:32:43 | |
Buymie was conceived when Founder Devan Hughes learned that the £9bn online retail grocery industry in UK & Irl, was loosing over £300M per year…and he reckoned it was therefore ripe for disruption. Buymie is a mobile-first, on-demand grocery delivery platform enabling consumers to order any grocery or household item from local stores using their mobile device, and get them delivered in as little as 1 hour. The Buymie platform connect customers, via the app, to a fully vetted and trained crowd sourced personal shopper network. Listen to Devan share the inside track on the super-charged growth that Buymie has seen over the past 18 months, how they’ve just received £2.2M in funding, and how they are now the online delivery platform for Lidl Ireland! An episode not to be missed! Devan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Same day grocery e-commerce platform Buymie. Devan holds a degree in Finance from the National College of Ireland, and has worked in the start-up sector for most of his career. A guest lecturer in some of Europe’s best Business Schools, Devan is recognised as one of Europe’s foremost thought leaders in the fields of grocery e-commerce, platform economics and architecture. If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes & SHARE it on your social media! S2EP10 Timestamps to follow. | |||
| Strong Roots Follow-up: The USA 1 year on…and the Covid 19 effect. | 13 May 2020 | 00:38:22 | |
In Episode 5of Series 1, we spoke to Sam Dennigan, founder of insurgent frozen brand STRONG ROOTS, which offers tasty plant-based food designed for busy lives. Sam promised to come back on the show and update us on how their impending launch in the USA went…which he does in this episode. Shortly after we recorded our update, Covid 19 hit, so we recorded a further section on how the current crisis has effected the Strong Roots business. An episode not to be missed! Instagram: Strong Roots Irl Strong Roots UK Strong Roots USA If you enjoy this episode, it would be really helpful if you REVIEW it on iTunes & SHARE it on your social media! S2EP9 Timestamps to follow. | |||