Shelf to Scale – Details, episodes & analysis

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Shelf to Scale

Devesh Tilokani

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/7d. Total Eps: 24

Shelf to Scale is a podcast featuring conversations with the founders, operators, and industry leaders behind today’s growing consumer products. Each episode explores how brands expand distribution, navigate retail partnerships, and scale across new channels and markets. From emerging CPG/FMCG startups to established manufacturers, we unpack the real-world challenges of growing consumer products across retailers, regions, and distribution networks. Hosted by Devesh Tilokani, Shelf to Scale brings together perspectives from across the consumer goods ecosystem to share what it takes to scale

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Data updated on 12/09/2026

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https://comebacksnacks.com/
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https://www.gnusante.com/
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Score global : 48%

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How to Get Your Product on Shelf in Canada | CPG Distribution

Thursday, September 10, 2026 • Duration 37:45

Jim Kavanagh spent 49 years in Canadian grocery as a Sobeys and Metro category manager, a distributor, and now a food broker.

He explains what getting on shelf actually costs.

In this episode:

- Why a $30,000 listing fee can be the wrong move in year one, and what to take instead.

- What a category manager is thinking the moment you sit down: what am I removing for you?

- Off-invoice programs, free fills, shrink allowances, and the costs founders never model,

- How to read a store before you pitch it, including the dust ring trick

- Why retailers now demand non-GMO certification instead of accepting the claim on pack,

- The signs Jim uses to decide a brand isn't ready for a broker yet

Jim founded Brandseed Marketing in 2014 after leaving a senior grocery role at 51.

He represents better-for-you brands into Canadian retail and works as a master broker into the US.

He turns down brands that compete with each other on the same shelf, which is rarer in brokerage than founders assume.

Website - https://www.brandseedmarketing.ca/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkavanagh/

Shelf to Scale is a weekly podcast for CPG and FMCG founders navigating distribution, retail, and international scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani.

Follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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How This Ice Cream Brand Went From 200 to 700 Stores | CPG Pivot

Thursday, September 3, 2026 • Duration 27:33

He was in 200 stores with pints.

He killed the entire product line and went to 700.

The idea that did it came from his sister, talking about her toddler's baby food.

Sam Rose founded Rosebud Ice Cream and spent two years making every single pint by hand.

Wake at 5am, teach boxing, drive from Denver to Longmont, make ice cream from 2pm to 2am, then deliver to Whole Foods before they stop receiving at 11.

Two years of that got him to roughly 200 stores. Then he pulled pints entirely, put soft serve in a pouch, and landed in about 700.

This episode is the full mechanics of a CPG packaging pivot:

why frozen retail distribution punishes new brands
why a co-packer will take your machine and refuse to run it
how he got retail buyers to say yes to a blank hand-packed pouch with taped-on artwork.

If you are a CPG or FMCG founder fighting for a shelf facing that only opens when someone else loses theirs, this is the episode.

GUEST

Sam Rose, Founder and Cream Executive Officer, Rosebud Ice Cream

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-rose-19998b1b0/

Website: https://rosebudicecream.com/

He Did $1M Running In-Store Demos. Here's What Works

Thursday, August 27, 2026 • Duration 35:40

Matthew Kubick has run tens of thousands of in-store CPG demos since 2015, and he says a profitable demo can still be a failed one.

Here is how he reads the numbers.In this episode:- Why he tells brands to take a loss on every unit sold at a demo- The metric that tells you whether the problem is your rep, your price, or your product- Costco roadshows: what six figures in four days actually costs you up front- Why the same product ships in different pack sizes to GNC and Walmart- Why 90 percent of CPG brands should sell direct to consumer before retail- The reason he turns down brands who negotiate on a ten demo minimumMatt founded Local Demo Service in November 2015 after a prayer, a farmers market booth in Honolulu, and a job bagging coffee for nine dollars an hour.

He now runs demo and field marketing activations nationwide for brands including Laird Superfoods and Alice Mushrooms, and this year the business crossed a million dollars in revenue.

He also runs the activations for the two best-selling beverages on Sprouts shelves right now.If you are planning your first retail demos or you have a Costco roadshow on the calendar, this is the operational detail nobody publishes.

GUEST

Matt Kubick — Local Demo Service

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kubick/

Website: https://naturalbrokerage.com/

SHELF TO SCALE

Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

#CPG #FMCG #RetailDistribution #CostcoRoadshow #FoodAndBeverage

How to Build in Public and Launch a Food Brand | Cotto

Thursday, August 20, 2026 • Duration 33:40

She was blending cottage cheese in a rented New York commercial kitchen and meeting strangers in parks and Starbucks to hand off the dips they'd bought online.

That unscalable model is exactly what got Cotto onto shelves at Fairway Market and West Side Market.

Kendall Kransdorf started Cotto after health issues forced her to cut foods out of her diet and cottage cheese became her main whole food protein source.

She built a social audience before the product existed, used it as a free focus group to lock her packaging before printing a single case, and sold through a commercial kitchen so she could iterate the formulation week to week instead of waiting on a co-manufacturer.

In this episode she breaks down the parts of the refrigerated CPG business nobody warns you about: free fills, who actually pays for promotions, the distributor markup between you and the retailer, nine to twelve month retailer review cycles, and why a late freight truck costs you a week of shelf life you can never get back.

If you are building a refrigerated food brand, or trying to get from specialty stores into chain grocery, this is the operational reality.

GUEST

Kendall Kransdorf — Founder, Cotto

Instagram / TikTok: @getcotto

Website: https://getcotto.com/pages/find-us

SHELF TO SCALE

The podcast for CPG and FMCG founders navigating distribution, retail, and

international scaling.

He Lost $120,000 to a Recall. Here's What Saved the Company

Thursday, August 6, 2026 • Duration 37:29

One dairy trace cost this Canadian plant based brand $120,000, three months of unpaid shipments, and a public recall.

PlantUp founder Aamir Malkani on getting into Sobeys, UNFI, and 1,200 retail stores across Canada.

Aamir came to Canada from a textile manufacturing family in India, knew nothing about food, and cold messaged plant based protein suppliers on LinkedIn until one took a bet on him.

Three years later PlantUp is in the frozen aisle and the snack aisle at Sobeys, Metro, Longo's, Fortinos, Whole Foods, Save On Foods and IGA.

This conversation is the unglamorous version of CPG distribution.

How he booked a trade show booth directly opposite UNFI, served dumplings like a food fest, and turned a lukewarm distributor conversation into a national buyer referral in one afternoon.

Why he and his co-founder personally walked into 54 Sobeys and Foodland stores in five days and converted 42 of them before a single category review.

Why he thinks a Toronto brand chasing national listings in year one is making a mistake, and the 7 million person math behind that.

He also breaks down what a broker actually does versus a distributor, why trade spend is the line item most founders underestimate, and why he switched from pea and chickpea protein to Canadian grown fava beans for the snack line.

Then the hard part.

A dairy trace in the biggest butter chicken bite run of the year, a national recall, chargebacks that kept arriving seven months later, and what he did on a 20,000 member Facebook group instead of going quiet.

Self-Manufacturing a CPG Food Brand: Why oomé Built Its Own Smokehouse

Thursday, July 30, 2026 • Duration 27:17

Distributor or broker? Miki Talebi built oomé smoked tofu into Whole Foods and breaks down the CPG distribution mistake most founders make.

If you think signing a distributor means your product will finally get on shelves, this episode is the correction.

Miki Talebi, founder of oomé, grew a premium smoked tofu brand into Whole Foods, Save On Foods, Metro and Longos with no CPG background and a PhD in psychology instead.

She explains

why she self-manufactures (there are no vegan smokehouses)
why her product has to stay between 1 and 4 degrees or it gets rejected at the dock
how she prices at a premium and makes retail buyers more money doing it
the distributor-versus-broker confusion that quietly kills early food and beverage brands.

Essential listening for any CPG or FMCG founder working on distribution, retail, and getting into grocery.

GUEST
Miki Talebi — oomé Instagram: @thisisoomeWebsite: https://thisisoome.com/pages/store-locator

SHELF TO SCALE
Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

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How to Choose a 3PL That Won't Lose Your Inventory | Rahim, Get Set Prep

Thursday, July 23, 2026 • Duration 36:28

How to choose a 3PL for your ecommerce or CPG brand from a 3PL owner who once had a fulfillment company lose his entire $1,500 order.

Rahim is the founder of Get Set Prep, a Toronto 3PL fulfilling for CPG and ecommerce brands across Canada and the US.

In this episode, he walks through the complete playbook for finding a fulfillment partner:

when to switch from self-fulfillment to a 3PL,
the 5 data categories you need for an accurate 3PL quote
the questions to ask a 3PL before signing
how to negotiate a 3PL contract — including why the strongest lever isn't price.

He also shares a warehouse tour checklist for spotting red flags before your inventory arrives, and why 75% of brands that outsource fulfillment to him grow sales month over month.

If you're a CPG founder comparing third party logistics providers or still packing your own boxes, this is the buyer's guide.

GUEST
Rahim Velji — Get Set Prep

Website: https://getsetprep.com/contact-us/
Email: rahim@getsetprep.com

Rahim's Phone Number: ⁠416-802-0816⁠

SHELF TO SCALE
The podcast for CPG and FMCG founders navigating distribution, retail, and international scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

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Rejected by Dragons' Den 3 Times. Now in 1,300 Stores.

Thursday, July 16, 2026 • Duration 40:42

An ice cream brand put freezers in the produce aisle, next to the bananas, and sales jumped 200% in six weeks.
How does a local startup out-merchandise global brands, survive three Dragons' Den rejections, and land 1,300 stores?

Yazeed Yasin co-founded NanaShake with his wife Tamara after their son's asthma ruled out dairy and every alternative on shelf made things worse.

In this episode:

the pivot from a COVID-closed Toronto scoop shop to national CPG distribution,
the four product iterations behind Nanopops 4.0
why they deliberately avoided the pint category for six years,
the merchandising move no ice cream brand had ever pulled off.

GUEST
Yazeed Yasin - NanaShakeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yazeedyasin/Website: https://nanashake.com/store-locator/

SHELF TO SCALE
Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

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0 to 250 Stores in 12 Months Selling Vietnamese Fruit Snacks

Thursday, July 9, 2026 • Duration 41:48

David Ngo helped build North America's #1 poop bag brand. Then he bet everything on dried mango from Vietnam and hit 250 stores in 12 months.

How do you scale a CPG brand when your first dollar doesn't come back for 9 months?

David launched Nam Fruits in May 2025 and will be in 250+ Canadian stores including IGA, Provigo, and Metro by the end of June 2026.

In this episode he breaks down the exact math: why a $1 retail product needs to survive a store margin and a distributor cut, why trade shows cost $6-10K and are still worth it, and why he says he couldn't have started this company without AI.

If you're a CPG founder trying to crack retail distribution especially with an imported product, this is the operating manual.

GUESTDavid Ngo — Nam FruitsWebsite: https://namfruits.com

SHELF TO SCALE

Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

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The Pricing Mistake That Kills Beverage Brands

Thursday, July 2, 2026 • Duration 40:56

Costco will pull every price you've ever sold at, find the lowest, and ask for 40% under it.

Here's how a beverage operator prices so that never happens.

Autumn heads R&D at Gnusante (Newbies, Radiate, 52 North) without a food science degree, after a career in ballet, modeling, and scuba diving.

She breaks down the real margin math of beverage, the clear-pouch sampling trick that catches dishonest feedback, why a 33% velocity jump came from making the product smaller, and the barcode change that can get you delisted overnight.

If you're building a CPG brand and trying to survive the move from DTC to retail, this is the operator detail most founders learn the hard way.

GUEST

Autumn — Gnusante (Newbies, Radiate, 52 North)

Website: https://www.gnusante.com/

SHELF TO SCALE

Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani

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Shelf to Scale – Details, episodes & analysis

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Shelf to Scale – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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