waterdrop® is the $100M insurgent beverage brand that may not yet be on your radar...at least if you're based in the U.K.But you need to be all over it...here's why: What is waterdrop®?(Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin)waterdrop® is a 'microdrink' company that offers dissolvable cubes of flavour that you can carry with you and drop into tap water whenever you want a drink. Their flavour-cubes are plant-based, sugar-free, and even include vitamins, teas and energy. From a marketing strategy point of view, the cube becomes a carrier to deliver solutions to many different types of people, needs and occasions.waterdrop®'s purpose is to make it easy for everyone to drink more tap water, more often. The ecosystem of products and 'water-tech' that the company is building in order to deliver on its purpose is so clever that your eyes will water.  They are present in 14 countries, and have 25 waterdrop® stores across the world, including a presence in supermarkets and high street beauty stores, as well as concessions in shopping malls. Believe it or not, they are now the largest seller of drinkware in Europe...and they've just launched an intelligent water bottle cap so you can keep track of how much water you're drinking.The business performance stats are astonishing too. In under 5 years, the company has turned over $100M, with over north of 100M drinks sold. They’ve recently raised a series B round of $60M, to invest in conquering the US market. We talk to founder Martin Murray about why and how he started the company, the mistakes he made along the way…and something I know you’re going to love – how martin and his co-founders persuaded their co-manufacturers to pay for the machinery and trials they needed to make waterdrop cubes a reality. What you'll learn in this episode: - How Martin came up with the idea for waterdrop® while he was on an aeroplane with his mother- Why it made NO sense for anyone to try and do what they did...- How they got their co-manufacturer to pay for their R&D and machinery, each time they needed to scale.- How they are aiming to help more people to drink more clean water, more easily.- Why D2C was a blue ocean for beverages- How to create massive barriers to entry to the market you've created- Why you should never accept the status quoFind out more about waterdrop® here.Get Fiona on your brand team here: The Growth Strategy Programme and Fiona Fitz ConsultingDon't miss further episodes! Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast

Scott McCulloch and his wife Karris started their vegan subscription box from the living room of their flat in 2013. Nine years later, The Vegan Kind Supermarket is a multi-million pound UK online vegan grocer, the first and largest of its kind. Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin.In this episode - our first with a grocery retailer - you'll learn:- Why and how Scott and Karris started their vegan subscription box business - including the steps they took to find their first 50 subscribers- How the business evolved to become the UK's biggest online exclusively-vegan supermarket- The exact steps YOU need to take to get YOUR retail buyer's attention... - Scott's view on what the vegan market/landscape will look like in 5 years' time (and it's radical...)- How you're going to have to get ready to compete with significant private-label/retailer own-brand vegan ranges over the coming year or so...- and why the time is right for him and his wife Karris to step back from running the day-to-day of their multi-million pound online supermarket.Follow Brand Growth Heroes here on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin.Follow The Vegan Kind Supermarket here.Come to Fiona's workshop at Bread and Jam Festival in London 18/19 July 2022 hereLearn more about the opportunity to work with Fiona's here: The Growth Strategy Programme and Fiona Fitz ConsultingDon't miss further episodes! Click the subscribe or 'bell' button beside Brand Growth Heroes on your podcast app to make sure you get the latest from Brand Growth Heroes podcast.

Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin. Serial founder and bestselling author Mike Stevens talks to Fiona about his new book 'The Direct-To-Consumer Playbook', and shares his learnings from 20 years in consumer packaged goods - and from being one of the first challenger food brands to sell directly to consumers.Hear how Mike and his co-founder built a successful DTC business with Peppersmith; why he sold the business; how and why he went about writing his best-selling business book; the secrets to winning at DTC straight from the mouths of the most successful founders and brands in this space...and finally, what Mike would do differently, knowing what he knows now. What you'll learn :When DTC is right for your business - and when it ISN'T. What you NEED to figure out to make DTC work financially for your businessThe importance of talking to your consumers on the phone or in-person every weekWhat Mike means by 'Having a Brand that Can Tell the Story'Why multi-channel is often crucial to winningWhat successful challenger brands are DOING DIFFERENTLY and what YOU can take from their strategies and implement in your own business...NOW.What Mike would do differently with all this knowledge and experience under his belt.Find Mike's book here.Meet Mike at Bread and Jam Fest hereCome to Fiona's workshop at Bread and Jam Fest here

The Cheeky Panda is on a mission to transform the type of paper products we all use across Household, Beauty, and Baby products. By using surplus bamboo instead of trees as their raw material, The Cheeky Panda makes products that are kinder to your skin as well as to the planet. In this episode, founders Chris and Julie tell us how and why they set up the business, and how they’ve grown it to £17M in sales in only 6 years, with relatively little external funding. Find out more about The Cheeky Panda - and try some!Follow Brand Growth Heroes on Instagram Discover more about Fiona Fitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionafitz/Discover more about the show: https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/Like what you hear & want to work with Fiona, and join a network of hundreds of scaling CPG brands? Discover her programmes for the founders of consumer/grocery brands below:For the founders of SCALING grocery brands: The Growth Strategy Programme: The only online Business Accelerator for scaling consumer packaged goods brands. Read the testimonials here: https://www.fionafitzconsulting.com/courses/brand-growth-strategy-programmeFor EARLY-STAGE brands, try Brand Growth Bootcamp Masterclass Membership - Fiona's classes & group for founders of early-stage startup consumer brands https://fionafitzconsulting.mykajabi.com/offers/eRBTBioC/checkoutThanks to Strong Roots for supporting series 5 of Brand Growth Heroes.

How do you build a £20M multi-channel business in just 18 months?Wild deodorant is the sustainable, natural deodorant that smells good and looks great, delivered straight to your door. Founded by childhood friends Freddy Ward and Charlie Bowes-Lyons only 18 months ago, Wild has sold £20M worth of their deodorant in as many months. How did they do that? Fiona gets a masterclass in building a DtoC business from Freddy Ward. Don't miss this one! Find out more about Wild Deodorant https://www.wearewild.com/ Follow Wild on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wildrefill/Discover more about Fiona Fitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionafitz/Discover more about the show: https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/Want to work with Fiona? Scaling brands: Join The Growth Strategy Programme: The only online Business Accelerator for scaling consumer packaged goods brands. Read the testimonials here: https://www.fionafitzconsulting.com/courses/brand-growth-strategy-programmeStart-up brands: Join Brand Growth Bootcamp Masterclass Membership - A monthly masterclass from Fiona for just £49 ...as well as access to her community of founders of early-stage startup consumer brands https://fionafitzconsulting.mykajabi.com/offers/eRBTBioC/checkoutThanks to Strong Roots for supporting Series 5 of Brand Growth Heroes.

In the 'No & Low' alcohol category, Seedlip is arguably the original poster child of insurgent brands. Started on a garden table in 2016, it quickly became the world's No 1 distilled non-alcoholic brand. It now sells across 49 countries and has an undisclosed market sales value in the £10s of millions of pounds.In this episode, founder Ben Branson talks to Fiona about how he developed one of the ultimate disruptive brands; why he got into bed with Big Co (Diageo) so early on; and he talks us through the disruptive way he approaches building culture, people, roles and teams. They also chat about robot chefs, about how there are 47,000 plant-based ingredients available out there...and Ben tells us about some big, exciting plans for Seedlip coming down the line.Find out more about Seedlip - and try some! https://www.seedlipdrinks.com/en-us/Follow Seedlip on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/seedlipdrinks/Discover more about Fiona Fitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionafitz/Discover more about the show: https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/Want to work with Fiona? Discover her programmes for the founders of consumer/grocery brands below:The Growth Strategy Programme: The only online Business Accelerator for scaling consumer packaged goods brands. Read the testimonials here: https://www.fionafitzconsulting.com/courses/brand-growth-strategy-programmeBrand Growth Bootcamp Masterclass Membership - Fiona's group for founders of early-stage startup consumer brands https://fionafitzconsulting.mykajabi.com/offers/eRBTBioC/checkoutThanks to Strong Roots for supporting series 5 of Brand Growth Heroes.

Sam Dennigan gives Fiona the latest news from Strong Roots HQ, explaining the backstory to their new TV ad; why they've sold a minority stake in the business to McCain Foods; and together Fiona & Sam announce a big piece of shared news: not only is Strong Roots sponsoring Brand Growth Heroes Series 5, but Sam also announces that he is offering a bursary for 2 founders to join The Growth Strategy Programme, Brand Growth Heroes' online business accelerator for the founders of scaling CPG brands. Brand Growth Heroes catches up with Sam and Strong Roots every 6 months or so. So if you want to follow the growth journey of an insurgent CPG brand in real-time, then check out Strong Root's other interviews on back episodes of Brand Growth Heroes: There's one in Sept 2021, May 2020 and June 2019.If you're the founder of a scaling consumer goods brand and you'd like to work with Fiona to drive growth for your business, check out The Growth Strategy Programme at https://www.fionafitzconsulting.com/courses/brand-growth-strategy-programmeIf it's too early for The Growth Strategy Programme, why not consider joining Brand Growth Bootcamp - Masterclass Membership group. See you there!

Hunter and Gather is a cross-category food AND supplement brand that's already achieving a gross sales value of nearly £6 million pounds.In this episode, clever and passionate founders Amy Moring and Jeff Webster offer us a world-class case study on consumer targeting: if you can pinpoint a group of people who have a specific, higher-order need rooted in health, and you offer them a solution that satisfies this need in a far superior way to alternatives, the rules that the food industry has slavishly followed for 40-50 years can be broken.We talk half-truths from big food, charging £14 for a jar of mayonnaise, lost ancestral wisdom, and why Hunter & Gather is NOT a vegan brand.

TRIP is the UK's best-selling CBD drinks company. Since its launch in 2019, UK consumers have spent literally millions of pounds on TRIP's delicious CBD infused canned drinks, as well as on their dinky little dropper bottles of CBD oils. Fiona speaks to co-founder Olivia Ferdi about leaving her law career to step into the unknown, about how she and her husband have created a mainstream category out of something that had tremendous barriers to purchase up until now, and we learn how the TRIP team have had to drive demand in the old fashioned way through experience and word of mouth rather than through paid advertising. 

Nice describes itself as a 'Future Wine Company'. This modern, accessible brand offers wine in cans AND in boxes, so that you can have a great glass of wine wherever you are... without having to buy or open a whole bottle. Founders Lucy Wright and Jeremy May talk to Fiona about their massive multi-channel growth since launch, about the consumer and trade customer frictions that they're solving, about how they approached their recent round of funding and finally about the importance they place on people and culture.