Retail is a complex and, at times, difficult sales channel to navigate for Good Food Founders.

In this episode, Sarah and Chelsea discuss two articles that put the Brand/Retail relationship at the forefront.

First, in the news segment, Sarah shares a Civil Eats article that highlights why mid-size farms and brands are disappearing from retail shelves. Then in the main episode, Sarah and Chelsea discuss a Grub Street article that has been on Sarah’s mind since January 2023.

Emily Dyer-Schiefer traded her chef's knife for a business blueprint, and she hasn't looked back since. Tired of the conflicting advice and clichés saturating the food business landscape, Emily founded two platforms designed to streamline success. Whether through bite-sized lessons at Food Biz School or a dive into strategy at The Kitchen Think, she's committed to helping foodpreneurs build strong, thoughtful businesses that defy the status quo.

In this episode, Sarah gets to connect with Emily after years of following each other’s careers online. They become fast friends as they discuss all the common pit-falls they have encountered while working in the food industry and supporting Good Food Founders.

Sarah Delevan is an avid reader, committed to reading at least one book a month. Those around her know when the current read is a good one, because she won’t stop talking about it! This inspired us to create The Good Food CFO Book Club.

In this episode, Sarah and Chelsea share all the details on the Book Club, and announce the very first book, Stolen Focus by Johann Hari.

When it comes to building a business, it can be tempting to skip to the tactical work that feels like action, but we really need to make sure we get a few foundational pieces of strategy in place first to get all those tactical decisions optimized and working together as part of an integrated plan so have the ability to be proactive and cohesive vs feeling like things are disjointed.

In this episode, we are taking a step back and doing just that. Sarah is joined by Katie Mleziva, a Food Brand Strategist with over 20 years of experience in Brand & Marketing Strategy. Katie walks us through her step by step process to develop a brand strategy that is authentic to you and your business and will connect to your audience.

We are kicking off Season 8 of the podcast with a run down of the changes that are happening this season. You’ll meet our show producer, Chelsea Stier, as she and Sarah share all that we have in store for you.

Then, you’ll hear the conversation that has been on Sarah’s mind since August. It all started on a birthday road trip, while overhearing many frank conversations about money. Sarah asks the questions that came up for her after noticing an interesting pattern.

As a Food Founder, knowing your costs is the first and most important step you can take toward profitability. Having a tool that helps guide that work will make your life easier, and give you the confidence that you are on the right track. In this episode, Sarah talks with Percy Swint, founder and designer of Prophit App.

In November 2022, Percy launched Prophit, and he’s on the podcast today to share the evolution from spreadsheet to online tool, how it works, and how it can impact founders across the good food industry.

Q4 and the Holiday season bring with them HUGE opportunities for sales and top line revenue. But without the proper planning, sales don’t always translate to profits. Q4 planning includes having a strategy for not only your sales, but also production, labor and shipping! In this episode, Sarah is taking the stress out of creating your Q4 plan! And she’s offering up all the free and low cost resources available to make it even easier.

In this Building a Business on Your Own Terms episode, Sarah is joined by Bree & Michaela Fuller. Bree and Michaela are Seattle natives who have been paving their career paths with a mission to lead a purpose-driven and passion-filled life. The sisters currently own three businesses: Fuller Nutri-Fuel, a Seattle-based meal prep company; Table & Tines, a full-service catering company; and they co-host the PAVED Podcast. Not only are they super passionate about their brands, but they are equally passionate about self-care, which is at the core of everything they are doing.

In this episode, Sarah is joined by Paul Christian. Paul is an industry veteran with over thirty years of experience working with powerhouse companies like Hormel, Coca-Cola, Unilever Ice Cream, and Smuckers.

When you are ready to grow your food business beyond your backyard, you may seek the support of a broker. And how you build that relationship can make or break your business. Paul is sharing all that knowledge and experience in this conversation all about building an effective and successful partnership with a broker.

In this episode, we’ve invited individuals from throughout the food industry for a discussion about the true cost of food. Sarah is joined by food industry members from up and down the supply chain as they start to crack open the layers and consider all of the costs (financial and otherwise) that create the food system that we work within today, and discuss the changes that could benefit producers and consumers.