NOSH Live Winter 2022 Recap

During the first day of NOSH Live Winter 2022, held December 1-2 in Santa Monica, California, Melissa Urban, founder and creator of elimination diet Whole30, opened the show with a sitdown discussion on building a brand through community.

Throughout the conversation, Urban emphasized the deliberate choices the Whole30 team made to create the ​​cult following the nutritional philosophy has today, which enabled the platform to later extend into the world of CPG with a line of salad dressings. As an elimination style diet, she said followers often use Whole30 as a “self-experiment” with the understanding that it is not a diet intended to be a continuous part of their lifestyle. Even so, consumers keep coming back year after year. According to Urban, those who revisit Whole30 often do so because of the support of the community and the inclusivity that has been fostered by the brand’s leaders.

She also highlighted the importance of rhetoric when it comes to every aspect of copy associated with the brand. Citing an example from Whole30’s early days where the program labeled foods as compliant, she explained the word “compliance” gave a “militant” connotation leading the team to later adopt the phrase “Whole30 compatible” instead. The brand has made the conscious decision to be outspoken about topics that span beyond food, but impact the lives of many of its followers, which further helped develop a sense of community around the program. Urban explained that in taking an active stance on social media, the team knew it may lose portions of its audience but made the deliberate decision to do so anyway and it paid off.

Following Urban, Jared Stein, co-founder of Los Angeles-based private equity investment firm Monogram Capital Partners, spoke about capital efficiency, stating that it had not been a major factor for many investors until recent years. He said a business that has grown efficiently without taking on outside finds is alluring to many investors in today’s market, as it shows grit and a willingness to build a business no matter what.

Supply chains have now become a point of interest for investors when assessing a brand’s health and long term sustainability. Stein said in today’s market, an analysis of each piece of the puzzle that gets a product to market is required to assess the overall health of a business. This includes relationships with co-manufacturers which are increasingly being offered to join investors in fundraising rounds. Giving a co-manufacturer a financial stake in the business can help with a brand’s margins and help “whittle out” the toll rates that come with outsourced production. Meanwhile businesses that self-manufacture bring an added complexity when it comes to an investor assessment as these brands are often running two businesses under one roof. Many may want to see plans to diversify how the manufacturing business operates outside the brand itself, such as with private label products or offering co-manufacturing for other businesses.

Day one of the event also featured a presentation from YouTube sensation-turned-entrepreneur Emma Chamberlain, who provided insight into how she turned a love of coffee that she developed “at an inappropriately young age” into a rapidly growing CPG brand that has a multitude of SKUs, ranging from whole bean coffee blends to flavored matcha. Chamberlain, who has amassed a social media audience of more than 35 million followers, emphasized during the discussion the importance of establishing a brand that could stand on its own. The 21-year-old said it was important for her that the specialty coffee brand’s audience didn’t just “see her face everywhere” when they visited its social media pages.

Additionally, Chamberlain stressed the importance of recognizing when you need help, especially in the situation of creators making their first foray into the CPG world. Last year, she brought on Christopher Gallant as CEO. Following Gallant’s appointment, Chamberlain Coffee raised a $7 million dollar funding round to fuel omnichannel business growth.

For the second day of NOSH Live, better-for-you foods made with functional or upcycled ingredients were a common theme as speakers on Friday brought up the importance of reaching consumers who are shopping for natural products that are good-for-you and good-for-the-world.

Frozen Greek yogurt maker Yasso’s CEO Craig Shiesley shared insights from a 30-year career helping build sustainably-grown CPG food businesses. His brand-building strategy follows a six-point plan: Brand Power, Loyal Consumer Base, Distribution Upside, Industry-Leading Margins, Growth Potential and Strong Fundamentals. Shiesley laid out Yasso’s progression to becoming a $240 million company in 2021. It followed a three-phase approach utilizing his brand building strategy, leading the brand to a place where it can utilize its margins to maximize growth potential through innovation and prove its strong fundamentals.

Ex-professional skateboarder and TV personality turned CPG investor Rob Dyrdek also took to the stage on day two to discuss how he balances his investment strategy with his life philosophy.

“The same way you do a five-year projection on the growth of your business, you should have the same design and focus in your life, so you will grow your business and your life together,” Dyrdek said. “When you find success in business, you find success in life.”

In 2016, Dyrdek launched his venture creation studio Dyrdek Machine, which has invested in 16 brands and exited six companies so far. The portfolio runs the gamut from apparel to wellness and beauty to food and beverage; the latter group includes Muertos Coffee Co., THC-infused beverage brand Leisuretown, Outstanding Foods and functional snack brand Mindright.

Outstanding Foods produces dairy-free, plant-based cheese ball snacks and Mindright makes nootropic-infused snack bars and chips that promote brain health. Even though Dyrdek regularly wakes up between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., he cautioned entrepreneurs that maintaining energy and not “running on the edge” will provide more clarity to building a business. Many entrepreneurs can run into the problem where they fall in love with the idea of their product and assume that consumers will automatically love it too, he said. The key is doing the work to understand why a consumer will connect with and see value in a product.

Most important to Dyrdek’s investment strategy is connecting with the founder and finding products that have the highest probability of success. This starts with finding partners who are focused on a business’ fundamentals.

“Creating a business is the most exciting, incredible thing in the world – unless it doesn’t work,” he said. “Then it’s a nightmare. An ongoing, chaotic psychotic nightmare that you hang on to until you finally lose belief and give up.”