Scaling Lessons from Dubai Chocolates Recall; Don't drop the basics in Exponential growth.
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
Release Date: 08/22/2025
52 Episodes Later: A Thank You + Giveaway for Food Founders
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
This episode is a celebration. When I set the goal to record 52 podcast episodes, I committed to showing up consistently for food founders navigating the real work of building and scaling their businesses. Reaching this milestone reinforced something I see every day in my work: growth does not come from doing everything at once. It comes from building simple systems and using them consistently. In this episode, I’m reflecting on what recording 52 episodes taught me about consistency, focus, and the behind-the-scenes work that actually supports growth for direct-to-consumer food brands. To...
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Looking Ahead: What 2026 Holds for Food Brands.
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
In this year-in-review episode, I reflect on what 2025 taught me about scaling food businesses and the conversations founders truly need as they grow from kitchen production to retail readiness. We revisit key themes from the year including retail readiness beyond buyer meetings, shelf life and formulation stability, co-manufacturing preparation, and the leadership decisions that quietly shape long-term success. I also share what’s ahead for the podcast in 2026, including more ETS Method–aligned episodes, deeper technical discussions, and founder spotlights focused on real scale-up...
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Unlocking Retail Success: Specialty Store Strategies
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
In this milestone 50th episode, Jacinta Kemboi reflects on the journey of building the Scaling Your Healthy Food Product podcast and the founders who have grown alongside it. She dives into the power of specialty food stores, one of the most overlooked but highest leverage opportunities for emerging food brands. Jacinta breaks down: • Why specialty food stores are one of the fastest ways to validate demand and build early retail traction • How to confidently approach store owners and buyers without overthinking it • The hidden advantages of local listings, from real-time product feedback...
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How the ETS Method Reveals Your Scale Up Readiness
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
Many food founders reach a point where they ask the same thing: “How do I actually know if my product is ready for bigger production runs, wholesale, or a co-manufacturer?” It is easy to feel almost ready, but without a clear assessment, it is just guesswork. Food founders either move too early and get stuck in reformulations, packaging issues, and expensive delays, or they hold back because they are unsure what ready really looks like. After helping brands launch millions of units into retail, I created a simple way to evaluate readiness using my ETS Method Framework: Evaluate, Test...
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Founder Spotlight: The Power of Wholesale — Lessons from The Sea Moss Guy & Co
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
In this episode, I sit down with Dezie St. Hilaire, co-founder of The Sea Moss Guy & Co, to unpack how a simple wellness habit turned into a fast-growing sea moss brand — and why wholesale became the unexpected growth engine behind their business. We cover the move from home production to a commercial kitchen, navigating perishable shipping, supplying cafés and wellness studios, and the real work behind running a business with your spouse. If you’re an emerging founder considering wholesale, this is a story you need to hear. Attend upcoming workshop on and the hidden gaps that...
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The Best Time to Approach a Co-Manufacturer
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
In this episode, I break down a question almost every emerging food founder asks: When is the best time to reach out to a co-manufacturer? The truth is simple. There is no perfect time. There is only a prepared time. Co-manufacturers do not expect perfection. They expect clarity in your recipe, process flow, packaging direction, volume estimates, and cost targets. When you have these pieces, anytime can be the right time. I also share why Q4 is one of the strongest seasons to approach co-manufacturers. Plants are forecasting next year’s capacity, some categories slow down, budgets reset, and...
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The Leadership Shift Every Food Founder Needs to Make
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
At some point, every food founder has to make the shift from doing it all — production, sales, deliveries — to leading with vision and trust. In this episode, Jacinta Kemboi talks with leadership coach about how to make that transition successfully. They dive into what it means to lead with purpose, build a coaching culture, and create psychological safety within your team. Odette shares practical tools to help you delegate with confidence, reduce burnout, and lead through values — even when tough decisions arise. If you’re ready to grow beyond the kitchen and lead a team that scales...
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The After-Hours Founder: Building Your Food Dream While Working 9–5
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
Are you running your food business after work — squeezing in production between dinner and bedtime, wondering if it’ll ever be enough to grow? You’re not alone. Thousands of food founders start exactly this way — balancing a full-time job while chasing their dream of bringing better-for-you products to the world. I know what that feels like — the long nights, the doubt, and the quiet determination to keep going when no one’s watching. In this week’s episode, I’m speaking directly to those founders — the ones managing school drop-offs, meetings, and kitchen runs — who are...
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Following Your Bliss: How Ananda Elixirs Turned Functional Mushrooms into a Soda Alternative.
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
How Samantha and her husband turned a kitchen experiment into a functional mushroom soda brand redefining what it means to “follow your bliss.” In this Ottawa Founder Spotlight episode, I sit down with Samantha Dreiling, co-founder of , to talk about building a beverage brand rooted in intuition, wellness, and bliss. After rediscovering her energy and health through functional mushrooms, Samantha set out to create a soda alternative that actually made people feel good — no sugar spikes, no crash, just clean, sparkling bliss. From early kitchen extractions to pitching on Dragon’s Den,...
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Expert Segment: Clean Labels, Cocoa Volatility, and the Power of Upcycling — with Brad Buchholz of POM Wonderful
Scaling Your Healthy Food Product
In this expert segment, , VP of Business Development at POM Wonderful, shares how clean-label innovation, upcycling, and grit are shaping the future of food. From the MAHA movement and microbiome health to rising cocoa costs and ingredient reformulation, Brad reveals how founders can create products that are both sustainable and scalable — without sacrificing performance. We also dive into one of the most overlooked growth levers for better-for-you brands: shelf life. Brad explains how natural antioxidants and polyphenol-rich upcycled ingredients can extend product stability while meeting...
info_outlineWhen your food brand starts to grow fast, it’s exciting — but it also comes with hidden risks.
The recent Dubai Chocolates recall is a powerful reminder that when exponential growth happens, you can’t afford to drop the basics: compliance, product safety, and operational checks.
In this episode, I break down:
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✅ What went wrong in the Dubai Chocolates recall
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✅ The key blind spots that many food founders miss during rapid scaling
- ✅ How to apply the ETS Method (Step 3: Scale with Confidence) to avoid costly mistakes
If you’re a food founder aiming to grow into retail and beyond, this episode is a must-listen to ensure your business scales safely, sustainably, and profitably.
Schedule a free hot seat strategy call here
https://camaresearch.com/resources to Download resources including "Questions to Ask Potential Co-Manufacturers" to help you as you grow your better-for-you food brand.