What does it take to build the next household chocolate brand name like Hershey or Cadbury? The team at Mid-Day Squares is on the road to find out, and today we’re joined by Jake Karls, Co-Founder and Rainmaker. If you aren’t familiar with Mid-Day Squares, head to your nearest Target produce section, grab a square of incredible functional chocolate, and give their product a little quick merchandising love in Startup CPG community fashion. My favorite flavor on the market is Peanut Butta, but as you may have heard in our Expo East recap, I got to try the new Cookie Dough flavor and it was my favorite bite of the show, maybe my new favorite in general and, P. S., this new flavor that we talk about in the episode drops December 22nd this year. Mid-Day Squares is on the road to $100 million in revenue and entertains die-hard fans (like myself) with their innovative use of social media as reality television. There are so many incredible interviews with the Mid-Day Squares team, including their own podcast and I’ll link a few favorites in the show notes, so I asked Jake if he’d go in deep for our Startup CPG community about mental health, navigating challenges, and how to celebrate wins and build momentum. And of course, he delivered.

Listen in to hear from Jake about:

• Their recent national US Target launch
• How the Mid-Day Squares team is structured, including working with two other co-founders and co-CEOs
• Why Mid-Day Squares is on the “road to $100 million” and to be “world-class” and what those mean
• How and why they intentionally work with a business therapist regularly and why founder conflict kills so many brands if left unresolved
• How they navigated really tough decisions and situations recently with changing pack sizes and pausing US e-commerce shipments
• What it looks like to regularly celebrate wins as a team and keep the momentum rolling
• Jake’s daily dance habit and how he now brings it to people around the world
• And more!

This episode was sponsored by Mondelēz International - applications for the 2023 SnackFutures CoLab program are open now! Go to applycolab.com

Episode Links:

• Mid-Day Squares website & IG @middaysqares
• Jake’s LinkedIn
• Mid-Day Squares UNCENSORED Podcast link
• Favorite other interviews with Jake: Kirk & Kurtts #31: Jake, not from State Farm and The 7 Hats Podcast: Jake and the Chocolate Factory

Mondelēz International‘s SnackFutures CoLab program:

• Apply for the 2023 cohort here (open as of 9/20/22)
• Podcast episode #54 sharing the CoLab experience of alumni Pan's Mushroom Jerky and GoNanas
• Podcast episode with the Mondelēz International team about CoLab
• SnackFutures website
• Mondelēz International website

Show Links:

• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (9K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Jessi's Linkedin or website
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Jessi at jessi@startupcpg.com