In this episode, we interview Steve Silva, VP of Commercialization at Grass Fed Foods, to explore the realities of building and scaling premium protein brands in today’s CPG landscape. Steve shares insights from his 20+ year career across companies like Frito-Lay, WhiteWave, Walmart, and now Grass Fed Foods, highlighting the strategic differences between large corporations and lean growth platforms. The conversation covers category growth in grass-fed beef, retail strategy, brand integration, and career advice for MBA students interested in CPG.

During this episode, Lewis explains how his role has evolved from account manager to U.S. sales director, walking through how he structures his weeks in four-week cycles, collaborates internally with the VP of Digital Commerce, and balances long-term brand strategy with short-term commercial pressures in a privately held company. Lewis dives into how he uses data and forecasting to make decisions, mainly prioritizing availability as the top growth lever, and how he uses market share and retailer “sales out” to guide choices. He shares a key story of defending price increases during the cocoa supply crisis and removing a top-selling SKU when the long-term metrics support it. Throughout the conversation, he shares leadership and career lessons for emerging professionals, emphasizing the importance of being comfortable with discomfort and rejection, relying on team and data over ego, and always starting from the consumer and working backward in negotiations and sales strategy.

In this podcast, we interviewed Jessica Hamel, founder of PlantChi, a nutrient-dense seasoning brand built around simple, plant-based nourishment. We explored the company’s founding story, mission-driven values, real food ingredient positioning, and target consumer. We also covered the strategic trade-offs behind certain natural and organic certifications/claims, packaging decisions, conscious capitalism, consumer education, and DTC versus retail comparison as the brand continues to grow. Jessica offered thoughtful insights into build