National Wholesale Brand

The ideal market for Know Brainer's individual creamer products has been online with Amazon and their own online store while their multi-serve product is more of a conventional grocery item. They only started to scale their product after extensive customer research and testing.

Because food businesses tend to grow in a stairstep function rather than incrementally, most food businesses need to raise outside funding to be viable and profitable. Investor due diligence can help entrepreneurs to mature their businesses into viable enterprises because the process forces them to get clear and articulate about how they make money.

Women found innovative food and farm businesses all the time, yet they still have a harder time landing investment than male entrepreneurs do. Part of the issue is decision-makers in the investment world are predominantly men. Regardless, it is still entirely possible for female founders to raise money successfully. Gaining financial literacy is the first step. They need to be exceptionally well-versed in their needs and numbers and go into investment discussions with confidence.

In this episode Tera talks to Amazon expert Michael Zhang about what it takes to sell well on Amazon. Michael believes if you are committed to the channel you can make Amazon work for you. Tune in to learn more about what this commitment entails and how to tap into the power of Amazon to grow your food brand.

Physician-turned-entrepreneur Sylvie Charles, M.D., shares why she founded Just Date, how she has built a thriving business, and what will fuel its next phase of growth.

An SBA 504 loan is a special product that can only be offered by a Certified Development Company (CDC) like WBD in partnership with a local lender. The 504 loan is designed to help small businesses grow and create jobs by financing fixed assets like real estate and equipment through low, fixed rates and lower down payments (10%).

Food entrepreneurs themselves often feel changed when taking outside investor capital. They feel the weight of the responsibility of paying back those investors with a return. They often work even harder than they were before because others are sharing the risk with them and are emotionally invested in their business as well.

TRIBALÍ's clean, simple packaging communicates their organic, grass-fed and Paleo certifications, stands out on the freezer shelf and helps communicate their brand's promise to that tribe. Angela Mavridis, TRIBALÍ's founder and CEO reflects that the investor pitch process forces you to learn every single aspect of the business.

Since the snack category is crowded, Evolve Brands has focused their efforts on sales and marketing to build and continually support a strong distribution footprint of around 2,500 independent, natural and co-op grocery stores. From there, they can pursue a larger go-to-market strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every food and farm business in some way. But for all the roadblocks this situation has caused, it has also opened up new opportunities. That is why FFI has been talking about shifting business strategies in response to the pandemic and predicted recession. Could alternate sales channels, product offerings, or distribution models keep your company rocking?