#227 - Operations Ask-Me-Anything with Jamie Valenti-Jordan

Dec 16, 2025

Jamie Valenti-Jordan, CEO of Catapult Commercialization Services, shares her extensive expertise in food product development. She discusses the critical first steps for bringing food innovations to market, such as choosing the right product developers and the intricacies of frozen logistics. Jamie notes the benefits of sourcing ingredients locally and the importance of understanding the economics behind co-manufacturing. Additionally, she emphasizes building strong relationships with partners to navigate challenges and ensure long-term success.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

Hire Developers By Specialty And Experience

Vet independent product developers by category expertise and peer recommendations before hiring.
If hiring a junior developer, plan to add production-scale expertise later for commercialization.

ADVICE

Don't Rely On DTC For Frozen Products

Avoid DTC frozen shipping unless you can drive very high average order values or huge volumes.
Route frozen products through retail to leverage more cost-effective cold-chain logistics.

ADVICE

Source Ingredients Locally First

Start sourcing from local ingredient distributors or nearby bakeries for small quantities and traceability.
Use Restaurant Depot for early experimentation but get supplier documentation before scaling.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff speaks with Jamie Valenti-Jordan, CEO of Catapult Commercialization Services, a leader in food and beverage product development, scale-up, and manufacturing strategy. Jamie brings decades of experience guiding brands from concept to commercialization, and a mission-driven focus on helping innovators build sustainable food systems for a rapidly growing population.

Throughout the conversation, Jamie breaks down the realities of bringing products to market—from choosing the right product developer to navigating the complexities of frozen logistics, ingredient sourcing, and co-manufacturing partnerships. He offers clear, pragmatic frameworks for evaluating partners, managing risk, and building cost-effective operations, while emphasizing the importance of communication, collaboration, and long-term relationship building.

Daniel and Jamie also explore the structural challenges early-stage brands face when entering manufacturing environments not optimized for small batches, and why founders must understand the economics and constraints of their partners to negotiate effectively and scale responsibly.

Listen in as they discuss:

How to identify and evaluate independent product developers
Challenges and cost drivers in frozen DTC logistics
Where and how emerging brands can source core ingredients
Sampling strategies and pilot runs for early-stage commercialization
The operational realities behind low minimum order quantities
How co-manufacturers structure their costs and capacity planning
Best practices for visiting facilities and developing working relationships
Key considerations when reviewing co-packer contracts
The role of transparency, expectations, and shared accountability

Episode Links
Website: https://www.catapultserv.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fvmh97c/

Product Developer Database Submissions: https://bit.ly/productdevelopers

epg contact: janele@enterprisepurchasing.com, mention Startup CPG

Join the Startup CPG Slack: startupcpg.com

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.

Show Links:

Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
Join the Startup CPG Slack community (30K+ members and growing!)
Follow @startupcpg
Visit host Daniel's Linkedin
Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
Episode music by Super Fantastics