My Food Job Rocks!

Lewis Bollard, Programme Director for Farm Animal Welfare at Open Philanthropy, discusses the critical intersection of technology and advocacy in improving animal welfare. He highlights the alarming rise in chicken consumption and the inhumane conditions in factory farming. Lewis emphasizes the importance of innovative solutions, such as In-ovo sexing technology, and the need for corporate responsibility in animal welfare. He also shares insights from a successful fundraising campaign that engaged new donors in the cause, illustrating the growing global concern for animal welfare and the potential for change in the industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef Robert Irvine shares his journey from a young boy interested in cooking to a renowned chef and television personality. He discusses the leadership skills he gained from his military background and how they shaped his approach to managing teams in the culinary world. Robert emphasizes the importance of food as a vehicle for community building and healing, particularly for veterans. He also highlights the mission of the Robert Irvine Foundation, which focuses on mental and physical health for veterans and their families. Throughout the conversation, Robert shares impactful stories and offers valuable advice for aspiring chefs and leaders, underscoring the significance of relationships and helping others in creating a positive change in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this conversation, Adam Yee interviews Vincent, an Asian American food innovator and founder of Dang Foods. They discuss Vincent's journey from his educational background at Cornell to the inception of his company, which focuses on coconut chips. The conversation delves into the challenges of navigating the food industry, sourcing ingredients, and the importance of product strategy. Vincent shares insights on funding, growth challenges, and the role of Asian brands in the market, as well as advice for aspiring food entrepreneurs. The discussion also touches on international competition and the dynamics of the food market. Learn more about Vincent: Sappan LLC How I Built This How I Built This - Art of Letting Go Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this conversation, Jaime Tulley shares her journey from a background in food science and pre-med studies to becoming a co-founder and COO of Hey Day Canning Co. She discusses her early experiences in the food industry, the challenges of launching a canned food brand, and the innovative approaches they are taking to revitalize the canned food aisle. Jaime emphasizes the importance of passion, adaptability, and collaboration in entrepreneurship, as well as the unique marketing strategies that have helped Hey Day gain traction in a competitive market. Jaime is a scientist by training and food manufacturing expert by trade. After spending several years doing nutrition-focused cancer research with the National Institute of Health, she decided to pivot into the world of food manufacturing where she felt she could have a more immediate positive impact on human health.Her first role in CPG was Plant Manager for Columbia Gorge Organic, a nationally distributed cold-pressed juice company. At Columbia George, Jaime got her feet wet (quite literally, often standing in a puddle of juice) managingthe front lines of the plant and overseeing all facets of Quality, Food Safety, and Operations.Seeking a role with more capacity for growth, Jaime joined Sweet Earth as the very first hire to lead Quality, R&D, and Operations. At Sweet Earth, Jaime built out the 30,000 square foot facility that would support the brand’s rise from $1M to $25M in revenue — doing everything soup to nuts from formulating dozens of new products across categories, designing production lines, implementing QA systems, hiring and training production teams, and instilling a culture of continuous improvements to drastically improve margins while maintaining quality. Jaime led the operational merge with Nestle, migrating major product lies from Sweet Earth's facility and launching new Sweet Earth products at Nestle plants all over the country.Prior to starting Heyday, Jaime was the VP of Operations at Catapult Commercialization Services, where she provided R&D and commercialization consulting services for startups in categories including dairy alternatives, meat alternatives, functional beverages, hot sauces, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jordan Buckner, founder and CEO of Foodbevy, shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting from his early ventures in the food industry to the challenges faced with his first company, T-Squares. He discusses the importance of product differentiation, the emotional toll of closing a business, and the transition to building Foodbevy as a community for emerging food brands. Jordan emphasizes the significance of personal mission statements, funding strategies for CPG brands, and the launch of the Foodbevy Insider program, which connects consumers with new products. Throughout the discussion, he offers valuable insights and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in the food industry. Jordan Buckner is on a mission to help food and beverage companies build successful businesses, and launched Foodbevy.com to create a pipeline for companies to grow from startup to scale by reducing the resource and network gaps. Jordan previously co-founded TeaSquares, a line of superfood energy bars designed to help people stay focused and alert so they could achieve their passions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dane Atkinson is the Founder and CEO of Odeko, the operations partner helping independent coffee shops run and grow through smart software, next-day delivery, and a modern supply chain. Since launching Odeko in 2019, Dane has focused on giving small businesses enterprise-level tools, and he led the company through over $280M in funding to further scale that mission. Before Odeko, he served as CEO of Squarespace from 2007 to 2011 and later founded SumAll, a data-analytics platform built for SMBs. A long-time mentor and advocate for entrepreneurs, he regularly shares practical lessons on earning trust, using AI thoughtfully, and building systems that let local businesses compete with national brands. Today, Odeko supports tens of thousands of cafés across the U.S., enabling owners to spend less time on logistics and more time serving their communities. Adam and Dane talk about ADHD, his time at Squarespace and owning a coffee shop, and Table Top Role Playing Games, where Adam pitches his book, Interns in the Dark Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fred Hart is a brand consultant, creative director, and design strategist obsessed with building and studying CPG brands. Over the last decade, he's built a 30-person branding agency, transformed over 137 CPG brands, won an industry record 5 Designalytic Design Effectiveness Awards in the last five years, and been entrusted by visionary founders and Fortune 500 companies to craft strategic design that moves businesses forward. Fred shares his journey from running a successful design agency to creating an open-source agency model. He discusses the differences in branding strategies between small and large companies, the impact of influencer marketing, and the evolving landscape of the food industry. Fred emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer behavior, the rise of private label brands, and the current trends in protein and plant-based products. He offers valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs and designers, highlighting the significance of storytelling and audience engagement in branding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Roszell is an award-winning storyteller and communications leader with 25+ years of experience across biotech, tech, food and consumer brands. He now consults with companies—from startups to industry leaders—on brand and media strategy, investor communications, crisis communications and employee culture. He’s an expert in designing and delivering blockbuster branded media strategies that break through crowded channels. In just the past five years, his work has generated nearly 3 billion media impressions across 400+ articles and helped raise more than $250 million in early-stage funding. His campaigns have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Bloomberg Businessweek, NPR, CNN and more. Previously, Matt led marketing and communications at Elo Life Systems and Motif FoodWorks—high-profile startups backed by investors including Bill Gates, Novo Holdings, BlackRock and even Robert Downey Jr. (yes, Iron Man himself). He’s also held senior roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Workday, Yahoo! and Gap. Matt began his career shaping narratives for Congressman Joe Kennedy and at the global PR agency Shandwick, supporting major brands across industries. He earned his BS in Communications with a minor in Political Science from Boston University, where he competed in NCAA Division I track and field and was recognized as an America East Scholar-Athlete. He lives on the coast of Massachusetts with his two kids and a cat that plays fetch. Matt can be reached at matt@otrmarcomm.com. And via Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-roszell. His website is here: https://www.otrmarcomm.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alison Cayne shares her journey from urban planning to founding Haven's Kitchen, a cooking school that evolved into a consumer packaged goods brand. She discusses the challenges of navigating the food industry, the harsh realities of retail economics, and the impact of venture capital funding on food brands. Alison reflects on the lessons learned from shutting down Haven's Kitchen and emphasizes the importance of understanding the food ecosystem, knowing your target audience, and building a strong community. She also offers valuable advice for aspiring food entrepreneurs and shares her future aspirations, including teaching at Columbia Business School. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Adam chats with Yadu Dar about his career at Ingredion and his job at Plantible. They chat about the ingredient industry, how it has evolved since back in the day, and the challenges of working in a small less-than-a-decade old company versus a century old behemoth. Yadu gives great knowledge and insights in ingredient functionality as his team at Plantible explores the function of lemna leaf/duckweed, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices