Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love copertina

Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love

Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love

Di: Katie Mleziva (Real Food Brands) & Clint Matthews (Start Right Foods)
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A proposito di questo titolo

 Looking for ways to grow your natural food business or family farm business into a strong local, regional or national brand? Find actionable tips and insights from Food Brand Strategist, Katie Mleziva, to DEFINE, ALIGN, & ACTIVATE your brand strategy to set your food brand apart and align everything you do around that North Star. You will also hear from Clint Matthews, cofounder of Start Right Foods, about food business sales strategy. Clint has a unique perspective and useful tips about working with buyers, brokers, distributors and more. Focusing on cohesive, compelling, and consistent food branding and sales will help you build a business you love and make meaningful connections with your ideal audience, team, buyers, suppliers, influencers, and investors. The Food Business Marketing Podcast (formally known as the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast) answers critical food business strategy questions that will help food entrepreneurs take a brand-first approach, including these Top 10 questions: 1) What sets my food business apart? 2) How do I prioritize all my different ideas for my food business? 3) Who is the ideal customer for my food business? 4) What is brand strategy and brand management? 5) How can I lead my team to help build a strong brand? 6) What is a step-by-step approach to define my food brand? 7) What is the difference between a product feature and a consumer benefit? 8) How to create an impactful customer journey map for my food business? 9) What is a good marketing plan for a food business? 10) What's the best sales strategy to grow my natural food business? Let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie Brought to you by Real Food Brands (www.RealFoodBrands.com) and hosted by Katie Mleziva. Join Katie and other food business owners to continue the conversation by joining the free Real Food Brands Marketing Round Table group on Facebook!2018-2025 Real Food Brands Economia Gestione e leadership Leadership Marketing Marketing e vendite
Episodi
  • 172. Process Makes Perfect: How Operational Discipline Becomes a Competitive Advantage with Kyle Rood of Start Right Foods

    172. Process Makes Perfect: How Operational Discipline Becomes a Competitive Advantage with Kyle Rood of Start Right Foods
    Feb 18 2026

    Operations is a key part of building your brand. It's how you deliver consistently.

    And consistency builds trust — with consumers, retailers, distributors, and partners.

    In fact, Operations can become a true competitive advantage!

    In this episode, Katie Mleziva (Real Food Brands) and Clint Matthews (Start Right Foods) sit down with Kyle Rood, co-founder of Start Right Foods, to explore why operational discipline isn't just efficiency — it's strategy.

    Inside this conversation, you'll hear about:

    • Why you should start with Operations in mind
    • How small operational refinements can improve margins
    • Why packaging and logistics decisions ripple further than you think
    • The role of forecasting in protecting long-term growth
    • How strong relationships reduce risk and create opportunity
    • Why processes are critical to building your business
    • How execution separates intention from impact
    • Why these concepts are critical, whether you produce your own product or work with a co-manufacturer.

    This episode will shift how you think about competitive advantage.

    Process doesn't create perfection, but it does create consistency and efficiency!

    WANT TO GO DEEPER?

    Listening is helpful, but building is better!

    1) Connect with Kyle Rood, Clint Matthews, and Katie Mleziva on LinkedIn.

    2) Join Katie's weekly newsletter HERE to get the Weekly Worksheet for this episode, designed to help you build your own brand strategy workbook over time. You'll also get additional insights and reflections that aren't shared on the podcast.

    3) Book a Brand Strategy Session. Once you're on the newsletter list, you can book a single Brand Strategy Session through the link in every Friday email.

    Let's Go Shake Up Shopping Carts!

    Katie Mleziva

    Host & Food Brand Strategist

    Real Food Brands
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    27 min
  • 171. Has Growth Created A Blind Spot in Your Food Business?

    171. Has Growth Created A Blind Spot in Your Food Business?
    Feb 11 2026

    As your business grows and evolves, success can quietly create blind spots. Processes that once worked just fine may no longer fit the size or complexity of the business.

    Places where processes are missing can become hidden constraints.

    Decisions live in people's heads, and teams keep doing things a certain way simply because that's how they've always been done.

    In this episode, Katie Mleziva (Real Food Brands) and Clint Matthews (Start Right Foods) explore why outside perspective - from the right sources - is so helpful and becomes more valuable as your business evolves.

    Through real-world examples from startups to multi-million dollar businesses, Katie and Clint talk about what happens when "it's just how we've always done it" becomes the norm, but it's time to revisit something(s)...from sales systems and simple operational processes to understanding your consumer more deeply. They talk about how fresh eyes can help reveal what growth can cover up, and then silently hold you back.

    This conversation is a reminder that leadership doesn't mean having all the answers. It means knowing when to surround yourself with a team to invite fresh perspective, challenge habits, and evolve how your business works so growth feels intentional and aligned with your vision.

    In this episode, you'll hear:

      • Why growth naturally creates blind spots—even when things are going well
      • How habits and "the way we've always done it" can limit clarity over time
      • The value of outside perspective in sales, operations, and team communication
      • Why processes need to be revisited as your business grows
      • How fresh eyes can also lead to a closer consumer connection
      • Letting go of the lone-wolf mindset as a food business leader

    WANT TO GO DEEPER?

    Join Katie's weekly newsletter HERE to get the Weekly Worksheet for this episode, designed to help you build your own brand strategy workbook over time. You'll also get additional insights and reflections that aren't shared on the podcast.

    This is also the only way to get the link for single Brand Strategy Sessions! (more on why that is in the episode)

    Visit www.realfoodbrands.com to see how you can work with Katie & Clint to get an outside perspective on your food business, then reach out to Katie@RealFoodBrands.com.

    RELATED EPISODES MENTIONED:

    126. The Power of a Fresh Perspective to Avoid Running in Circles (Katie's funny but related story about a run and a port-a-potty :)

    Let's Go Shake Up Shopping Carts!

    Katie Mleziva

    Host & Food Brand Strategist | Real Food Brands
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    15 min
  • 170. Gaining Traction? Test & Learn As You Level Up Your Food Business

    170. Gaining Traction? Test & Learn As You Level Up Your Food Business
    Feb 4 2026
    Real-world examples of testing, learning, and evolving your brand as you create smart growth plans. Moving to the next level, e.g. from farmers markets into retail or expanding into a new channel, can bring up a lot of questions. Does my brand stand out when I'm not there to explain in person? What change needs to happen first? Can I afford to grow? Can I afford not to grow? What questions do I not even know that I should ask? In Episode 170, your hosts Katie Mleziva (Real Food Brands) and Clint Matthews (Start Right Foods) explore how food business owners who are looking for the next level of growth - in this example, going beyond farmers' markets - can approach growth using a thoughtful, test-and-learn mindset. This conversation was sparked by a real interaction Katie had at a farmers market with a brand that's doing well locally at in-person markets and some retail locations and starting to explore what leveling up could look like. However, this strategy + test & learn mindset can apply to all stages of growth. Katie & Clint do not think every food business needs or wants to grow beyond the farmers market - or are even currently at farmers markets! But if you're feeling curious about retail or another next phase, this episode will help you think through your options with some ideas on how to approach growth with expedited cautiousness, a term Clint and his co-founder Kyle Rood coined in their business to help use data to make decisions, then move forward with full speed. Using real-world examples from marketing and sales, Katie and Clint share how brand strategy and experimentation work together to guide smarter decisions as your brand evolves. In this episode, you'll hear: Why success at farmers' markets doesn't automatically translate to retail success, just like success at one retailer does not always mean success at another.How a test-and-learn mindset supports intentional, sustainable growthWhere to experiment first before making higher-stakes changes like packagingHow to think about sales channels as stepping stones, not giant leapsWhy progress and growth often look like — not usually a straight line upHow feedback and "misses" can actually strengthen your brand over time Who this episode is for: Food business owners exploring what's next to build on current successBrands that are feeling pressure to grow but want to do it intentionallyFounders who want to learn from real-world feedback instead of guessing Key takeaway: Growing beyond the farmers market (or your current distribution presence) isn't about moving faster — it's about making smarter moves, learning along the way, and letting real feedback guide your next step. RELATED EPISODES MENTIONED: 166. Profit and Margins and Cash Flow...OH MY! A Mini Masterclass in Food Business Financials WANT TO GO DEEPER? Each episode of the podcast is paired with a worksheet (emailed in the Friday newsletter) designed to help you apply what you're learning to your own business. These worksheets, along with 1:1 Brand Strategy Sessions, are available exclusively through Katie's email list, where you can save them over time and build your own brand strategy workbook—at the right pace, with the right information, at the right time. 1. 📧 Katie's Friday Newsletter: Sign up here. This is also the only way you can get access to single Brand Strategy Sessions (as of airing, this is $149 for a 60 min session…check email for current pricing). 2. 💬 Join the Conversation! Tune in to the podcast, then join us in the Real Food Brands Marketing Round Table – a free food & farm business owner community – to ask questions and meet other people who love producing real food as much as you do! Katie Mleziva Host & Food Brand Strategist | Real Food Brands
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    13 min
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