Food Marketing Nerds Restaurant and CPG Marketing Podcast
71 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 45 ratingsIn this weekly interview series, Alex Oesterle asks the hard and sometimes uncomfortable questions to dive into what's working and what isn't in world of food and beverage marketing. From CMO's to social media managers, the ideas and strategies will change the way you approach building your brand.
If you're a marketing professional in the food and beverage space or intend to launch a new product, these interviews are an amazing resource for practical tactics you can implement from day one.
After co-founding a digital agency aimed at helping food and beverage brands boost sales to millennials, I started interviewing experts in the field to get insights into what makes the best food and beverage brands so successful.
I created this podcast to share these interviews with you, and to help other food and beverage businesses achieve their goals in an actionable and entertaining way!
Visit FoodMarketingNerds.com to download your free social media e-book.
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Episodes
FMN 031: The American Food Revolution with Taylor West
March 08, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBOn the show today, we have Taylor West, VP of Marketing for Kodiak Cakes. Taylor has a wealth of experience in the food industry - before making the move into the Natural Products space, he spent around seven years in marketing for General Mills learning how the big dogs roll. Taylor recently published an incredible article on the state of the food industry in America and what’s driving the success behind natural food brands, which we’re going to be discussing a little more today. From ...
FMN 030: Hone Your Brand Strategy with Fred Hart
March 01, 2017 12:00 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBFor those of you looking to lock down your brand strategy, differentiating yourself in a crowded market, this episode is a gold mine for creative inspiration and how to get your marketing together. On the show, we’ve got Fred Hart, Creative Director of Interact, which is one of top branding and packaging design firms in the food and beverage industry, and they’re based in our home state of Colorado - so bonus points in my book. Fred is a thought leader on design thinking, especially in ...
FMN 029: Thinking (and Growing) Like a Tech Company with Rich Hope
February 22, 2017 21:17 - 30 minutes - 41.3 MBOn the podcast today, we've got Rich Hope, CMO of one of the fastest growing restaurant brands in the country, Jersey Mike's. At over 1,200 locations (and counting), we talk about the catalysts for the growth behind Jersey Mike's. You'll get a peak behind the curtains about how they're adjusting to account for underlying changes in the market. Jersey Mike's has nailed it when it comes to serving up a great product, but what might surprise you is how the company has adapted to the advanci...
FMN 028: The Smart Approach to Developing Food Products with Barr Hogen
February 15, 2017 10:30 - 21 minutes - 39.4 MBWe’re changing gears a little bit in today’s episode, and I think you'll really enjoy it. On the show, we have Barr Hogen, owner of Barr-None Consulting, and we’re going to talking about developing food products with an approach that sets you up for success. It today's episode, we talk with Barr about her expertise in developing food products that appeal to a specific target demographic’s flavor preferences. Barr is a product development consultant with an extensive background in creating ...
FMN 027: From Local Startup to 4000 Stores with Matt D'Amour
February 09, 2017 04:30 - 39 minutes - 44.9 MBIn this episode, we're chatting with Matt D'Amour, CEO of Yumbutter, about how he built his B Corp from the ground up, increasing his ability to make a positive impact on the world. Starting with only $900 and zero industry experience, Matt and his business partner launched the business, which has grown in distribution by over 430% this past year. Through their Buy One, Feed One model, which you'll get to hear about shortly, Yumbutter has helped feed over 150,000 children with malnutriti...
FMN 026: Capitalizing on a New Era of Advertising with Richard Cran
February 01, 2017 21:40 - 46 minutes - 85.6 MBToday’s episode is a little longer than usual, but it's well worth taking the time to listen to the podcast. We’ve got Richard Cran on the show who is about to drop some serious advertising and branding wisdom on you. Richard’s resume would make Don Draper jealous. Throughout Richard’s career, he’s worked with powerhouses like Taco Bell, Nike, Audi, Samsung, and Harley Davidson just to name a few. Over the past several years, and most relevant to our restaurant marketing nerds out there,...
FMN 025: Leveraging Emerging Social Trends to Build National Awareness with Marie Miller
January 25, 2017 17:00 - 36 minutes - 50.4 MBOn the show today, we have Marie Miller, who handles social media and public relations for Four Peaks Brewing Company out of Tempe, AZ. Marie brings a cool perspective to the table because she’s not only marketing for a brewery with multiple restaurant locations, but also a CPG brand with distribution all over the country. Today, we’re talking about emerging social media platforms and how you can leverage things like Facebook Live to grow your business. If you haven’t dabbled in Snapcha...
FMN 024: Building a Brand That Makes a Positive Impact with Kris Ford
January 19, 2017 00:39 - 26 minutes - 36.6 MBOn the show today, we’ve got Kris Ford, Marketing Director at Deep River Snacks, a company on a mission that makes some delicious, better-for-you chips. Deep River’s tagline is “We Give a Chip”, because they commit 10% of their net profits from each bag of chips sold to support a number of different charities. I love companies like this that use business as a vehicle to make the world a better place, and if you’re considering implementing a similar program, you’ll have plenty to learn from...
FMN 023: How to Market Innovative Food Products with Jenny Burns
January 11, 2017 19:00 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MBOn the show today, we’ve got Jenny Burns, Marketing Director of Dang Foods. If you’re not already familiar with Dang Foods, I’m sure you’ve seen their packaging and would recognize their line of toasted coconut chips on the end caps of most grocery stores around the country. Dang Foods was the trailblazer in the coconut chip category and since their founding several years back, there have been plenty of similar products to hit the market. They’ve recently launched a new line of onion ...
FMN 022: Content Marketing that Drives ROI with Julie Feickert
January 04, 2017 15:54 - 40 minutes - 55.9 MBIs your content marketing moving product for your brand? If you're like most people, you probably have a blog, a social media presence, and little to no idea of what kind of return your content is delivering. We took a week off for the holidays but the amount of knowledge today’s guest is about to drop on you will do plenty to make up for lost time. We’ve got Julie Feickert on the show today, who is the owner of Cultures for Health. Julie is somewhat of accidental food entrepreneur, her ...
FMN 021: How to Thrive in a Competitive Market with Kim Bartley
December 21, 2016 21:43 - 27 minutes - 31.3 MBIn today's episode, White Castle CMO, Kim Bartley, discusses how and why their iconic restaurants continue to thrive despite fierce competition in the burger space. When talking about competitive landscapes, most industries have something in common. You’ve got a few big fish with huge marketing budgets, and then you have the challengers, waking up each day looking for innovative ways to compete for the same customers in the same market. Some challengers lean on creative marketing, some i...
FMN 020: Turning Customers and Employees into Brand Advocates with Pat Warner
December 14, 2016 21:11 - 32 minutes - 36.7 MBToday, we’re talking with Pat Warner, VP of Culture at the Waffle House. For those of you who are not familiar with the Waffle House brand, they have over 1800 locations in 25 states — they are huge! They’ve also got social media presence that gotten them coverage on Colbert, ESPN, and TMZ — just to name a few. Waffle House has a case study of how to turn customers and employees into advocates for the brand and a lot of it comes from using social media and how it is intended to be used. ...
FMN 019: 2017 Trends Shaping the Food and Beverage Industry with Eric Pierce
December 07, 2016 14:00 - 38 minutes - 44.2 MBOn the show today, we have Eric Pierce, Director of Strategy and Insights at New Hope Natural Media. We’re talking 2017 trends that are affecting natural products and CPG companies. While this interview may be more geared toward our CPG marketing nerds out there, the macro and cultural shifts Eric covers really apply to anyone with a business model that relies on selling what people eat or drink. Restaurant marketing nerds, there’s knowledge for you to be gained here too. Eric and his te...
FMN 018: Cause Marketing Done Right with Amanda Sains
November 30, 2016 14:00 - 30 minutes - 35 MBOver the past several years, marketing to millennials has been a hot topic of conversation. By most definitions, millennials are anyone born between the early 80’s to the late 90’s, best known for their lov of snapchat, obsession with traveling, and most importantly, their massive spending power and large makeup of the US work force. So, It’s no surprise that many brands have shifted marketing budget to engage this generation – whether through relevant product offerings, on trend design, c...
FMN 016: Reinventing Food Brands to Attract New Customers with Juv Marchisio
November 16, 2016 20:22 - 21 minutes - 24.4 MBWhen it comes to the companies who win awards for product innovation, the first thought that comes to mind is probably some hot new startup on the bleeding edge of an emerging trend. And while that might be true in some cases, B&G Foods is no start up by any stretch of the imagination, and they’ve been reinventing some of the most classic brands in the CPG industry lately, picking up awards while they’re at it . Today we’re talking with Juv Marchisio, Marketing Director of B&G Foods, about in...
FMN 015: Marketing Like an Olympic Sponsor with Steele Meisenger
November 09, 2016 15:52 - 28 minutes - 32.2 MBOver the past several years, the beef jerky category has been on fire with investments from big money players and major acquisitions, and today, we’re talking with Steele Meisinger, te brand manager for one of the companies that started it all: Krave Jerky. After being acquired by Hershey in 2015, Krave has been growing like crazy, and it’s allowed them to do some amazing things in the marketing department. And you’re gonna get to hear about a few of those things from Steele herself. On today...
FMN 013: Grassroots Food Marketing Like a Boss with Hannah Kullberg
October 24, 2016 19:22 - 43 minutes - 49.4 MBI don’t know about you but it feels like every other week, there's yet another food company being acquired by an industry beast for 10’s and even 100’s of millions of dollars. It’s encouraging for food entrepreneurs, knowing that many of these companies started with good old-fashioned, grassroots marketing. But does that type of approach even work anymore? Well today’s guest will be the first to say that, yes, it absolutely does. Hannah Kuhlberg is the Bean Queen, aka handler of many things i...
FMN 012: Reinventing an Entire Food Category with Will Burger
October 17, 2016 04:35 - 25 minutes - 29.1 MBToday we’re talkin' Hummus. Hummus has been around for THOUSANDS of years, and yet, Hope Foods, makers of Hope Hummus, has redefined the category as we know it. On the show today, we’re gonna be chatting with Will Burger, Director of Marketing for Hope Foods, about how a group of friends went from making hummus in their kitchen at home, to now, still a group of friends making hummus for stores all over the country, all on a shoestring budget. On today’s episode, you’ll learn: How to get buyer...
FMN 011: Going Beyond Traditional Food Marketing with Will Schafer
October 07, 2016 02:39 - 32 minutes - 37.1 MBIs it possible to change the way people think about a food they’ve loved their entire lives? Today’s guest will tell you that it isn’t easy, but with a great product, and outstanding marketing, it is possible. Will Schafer is the Director of Marketing at Beyond Meat, a company that has been changing the game around plant based protein. And it’s not just vegetarians and vegans, carnivores are embracing their products and for good reason, because they taste exactly like actual meat. In our inte...
FMN 010: Challenging Food Industry Norms on a Startup Budget with Scott Jensen
September 30, 2016 15:57 - 27 minutes - 31.8 MBWhat does it really take to challenge the status quo in the CPG industry? Some might say time, or creativity, others might say strategy. Well today’s guest would likely say, “all of the above”. If you’ve never heard of Scott Jenson before this episode, then surely you’ve heard of his first food startup, Stubbs Barbeque sauce. Scott Jenson co-founded Stubbs BBQ sauce in the early ‘90s, which he sold just a few years ago. Being the pioneer that he is, Scott is now the CEO of Rhythm Superfoods a...
FMN 009: Bootstrapping a Food Startup to Explosive Growth with Lizzi Ackerman
September 23, 2016 02:59 - 27 minutes - 31.1 MBWhat’s up guys, this is Alex Oesterle and thank you for tuning into episode 9 of Food Marketing Nerds. We’ve all heard stories of food startups that have achieved insane growth in a short period of time. If you’re anything like me, those stories leave you thinking, Ok so I know what they achieved, but how did they go about doing it? Today’s guest is Lizzi Ackerman, who is the COO of the all-natural pancake mix brand, Birch Benders. Over the past two years, Birch Benders has gone from a distri...