When you peruse Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors, do you ever think, “What would my flavor be if I were famous?” Maybe that’s just me, but perhaps you dream about your own brand one day collaborating with Ben & Jerry’s? This became a reality for Partake Foods, and when I saw the news, I wanted to know the behind the scenes of how a collaboration like this gets to market. Partake makes inclusive allergy-friendly snacks that give delicious peace of mind to those with dietary restrictions along with “How is this so good?!” enjoyment. Partake’s collaboration with Ben & Jerry’s all started with a cold email in 2020 from Marlo Giudice who was one of Partake’s 3 total team members at the time. Now their Ben & Jerry’s collaboration flavor, Oatmeal Dream Pie, launched this year and has been added to the Ben & Jerry’s evergreen lineup available nationwide in Target, Walgreens, and more retailers near you. Partake has also experienced other very impressive growth the past few years. Marlo is now Partake’s Vice President of Sales, Strategic Channels, there are nearly 20 people on the Partake team, and their cookies and snacks will be available in over 13,000 stores as of this July 2023.

Listen in as Marlo shares about:

• Her career journey from culinary school to food brand founder to selling her food company to working with Partake Foods
• The story behind Marlo’s cold outreach to Ben & Jerry’s and her tips for reaching out to dream partners
• The process of working with Ben & Jerry’s R&D team to develop the final flavor
• How Partake had to become an ingredient supplier to support the collaboration
• Tips for being a great partner as an emerging brand
• Partake’s strategy around the foodservice channel
• How to be “pleasantly persistent” and stay organized in your outreach
• And more!

Episode Links:

• Partake website, Instagram
• Marlo’s LinkedIn
• Find the Ben & Jerry's flavor near you

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Social Nature Links:

• Social Nature website
• Social Nature team email: marketing@socialnature.com
• Learn from & get to know the Social Nature team: 
  • Episode #87 How Natural Shoppers are Responding to Inflation with Social Nature's Jessica Malach
  • Episode #50 The Data Behind the Modern Wellness Consumer with Social Nature's Jessica Malach
  • Overview of Digital Sampling with Social Nature founder Annalea Krebs
• Episodes that mention Social Nature campaigns: 
  • Episode #66 Sharing is Caring: How Alison Cayne & Haven's Kitchen share cooking confidence and industry knowledge (Social Nature discussed at 41:15)
  • Episode #86 From Target Buyer to Nationally Launching Upcycled Pet Brand Shameless Pets with James Bello (Social Nature discussed at 37:33)

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• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Jessi at podcast@startupcpg.com
• Episode music by Super Fantastics