Founder Feature: Suzannah Raff of Cleo+Coco

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Editor Caitlin Bricker sits down with Suzannah Raff, the founder of Cleo+Coco, a clean personal care brand that's thinking about what it means to be truly "natural." 

Suzannah shares her journey from frustrated deodorant shopper to launching a brand that prioritizes ingredient efficacy, transparency, and eliminating synthetic fragrances—often overlooked but potentially harmful components in personal care products.

Suzannah opens up about the early days of building Cleo+Coco, her unique background in business strategy, and how she created a super-effective formula that leverages ingredients like charcoal, magnesium, and pre/probiotics to balance the skin microbiome. She also details how joining the Startup CPG community and showcasing at Expo West helped lead to a major national rollout in Whole Foods Market with nine SKUs.

Plus, hear how Cleo+Coco’s innovative magnesium spray is filling a white space in wellness, and why Suzannah believes we're on the cusp of a consumer awakening 

around synthetic fragrances.

Want to learn how to build a purpose-driven CPG brand and land national retail distribution the clean way? Tune in now!

Listen in as they share about:

• Cleo+Coco Overview
• Brand Philosophy & Vision
• Product Innovation & Formulation
• Retail & Growth Journey
• Marketing & Branding
• Industry Challenges
• Startup Lessons & Founder Advice

Episode Links:

Website: https://cleoandcoco.com/ 

Instagram: @cleoandcoconatural

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 (20K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Caitlin's Linkedin 
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
• Episode music by Super Fantastics