Co-Ops: How Transitioning to Employee Ownership Creates a More Equitable Food System, Solidifies Community Ties, and Builds a Legacy for Your Food Business
Release Date: 07/29/2024
BABOYOT with People's Choice Beef Jerky: Crafting Legacy on Their Own Terms
The Good Food CFO podcast
In a world where food startups chase rapid growth and quick exits, People's Choice Beef Jerky stands as a refreshing counterexample. This Los Angeles-based company has been crafting premium meat products since 1929, and is now thriving under fourth-generation leadership. Their story offers valuable lessons for food founders looking to build sustainable, profitable businesses that can withstand the test of time. In this episode of the Good Food CFO podcast, Sarah Delevan sits down with owners and siblings Brian and Sara Bianchetti as they share all that they have learned while continuing to...
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Community, not FOMO: Sarah Returns to Expo West After 10 Years Away
The Good Food CFO podcast
After more than 10 years away, Sarah decided to return to natural foods' biggest industry event - but why now? In this candid Season 14 opener, Sarah takes you behind the scenes of her Expo West experience, revealing what's changed, what hasn't, and whether the industry hype actually lives up to reality. The conversation also explores the striking contrast between the big business of Expo West and the Intense Conference for farmers market founders, managers and vendors Sarah attended just days later. This juxtaposition frames an honest discussion about what really matters in our food systems -...
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Breaking the Monopoly: How Founders Can Navigate a Consolidated Market
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this eye-opening episode of the Good Food CFO podcast, Sarah Delevan talks with Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, about the myths of market consolidation and how food founders can fight back against corporate monopolies. Stacy Mitchell is a writer, strategist, and policy advocate whose work focuses on dismantling concentrated corporate power and building thriving local economies. As co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, she has played a leading role in today's growing anti-monopoly movement and has authored influential...
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Ask The Good Food CFO: Is Rent a COGS, How to Establish Channel Margins, and the Hidden Costs of Co-Packers
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this special episode of The Good Food CFO podcast, we’re sharing highlights from our live Q&A session with BABOYOT members. These quarterly events are an awesome opportunity to connect with Founders and answer their most pressing financial questions. Some of the topics we tackled: Food Service vs. Wholesale Pricing: Discover why conventional wisdom about which channel is most profitable doesn't always hold true. One founder shares how running her numbers completely changed her channel strategy. The COGS “Gray Area”: Is your kitchen rental really part of your Cost...
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Building a Profitable Business: Advice from a $400 Million Brand Founder
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this episode of The Good Food CFO Podcast, Sarah Delevan shares candid insights from a recent meeting with the founder of a brand generating over $400 million in annual revenue, and doing it profitably. Through a series of powerful "sound bites" captured during their conversation, Sarah reveals how this founder's approach challenges traditional industry wisdom while delivering remarkable results. You’ll hear: Why marketing shouldn't drive your offers and how to structure profitable promotions The surprising truth about driving trial in e-commerce vs retail How to identify and...
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BABOYOT with Hope Lawrence of Hudson Henry Baking Co.: Building and Selling a Million Dollar Brand
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this episode of the Good Food CFO Podcast, Sarah Delavan sits down with Hope Lawrence, founder of Hudson Henry Baking Co., who shares her remarkable journey of building a profitable granola business on her own terms. From starting with just $4,000 in her farmhouse kitchen to reaching $1.25M in annual revenue, Hope's story proves that sustainable growth and profitability are possible without outside investment. In this conversation, Hope shares: The strategic reason she chose granola Why she was laser focus on profitability from day one, and the sales channel strategy that enabled...
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Pivot Tables: A Secret Weapon for Food Business Profitability
The Good Food CFO podcast
In this episode, Sarah is sharing her favorite tool for quickly and easily transforming your basic data into actionable business intelligence - Pivot Tables. From helping you recognize sales patterns and trends, to identifying issues and opportunities, and seeing your customer and sales channel profitability, pivot tables are truly a secret weapon for improving your business profitability and cashflow! Tune into this episode to explore all of the valuable insights that pivot tables can provide and hear real world examples of how pivot tables helped Sarah’s clients. ...
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Values over Volume: Why Big Spoon Roasters is Breaking up with Big Grocery
The Good Food CFO podcast
After a decade of national growth, Big Spoon Roasters made a decision that has the CPG industry talking: they're walking away from Whole Foods, UNFI, and other national grocery chains. But this isn't a story about failure – it's about what happens when a good food brand chooses values over volume. In this episode of The Good Food CFO podcast, we dive into the pivot that has founders across the industry applauding. Discover why this prestigious nut butter brand is saying goodbye to national distribution despite consistent growth, and how AI-driven pricing systems, automated...
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Revolutionizing Local Food: The Story of Argus Farm Stop
The Good Food CFO podcast
When Bill Brinkerhoff and his wife stumbled upon a unique store model during a college drop-off trip, they had no idea it would lead them to transform an abandoned gas station into a revolutionary market that's paid out over $22 million to local farms. In this episode, discover how Argus Farm Stop flipped the traditional retail model on its head, giving farmers 70% of sales and complete control over pricing, and hear how they navigated legal battles over egg sales (and won!), and why farmers are actually moving TO their county instead of leaving. From University of Michigan...
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6 Strategic Questions to Drive Personal & Business Growth
The Good Food CFO podcast
Ready to dig into some questions that could transform the way you think about your business? In this episode, Sarah and Chelsea share six questions that every founder should ask themselves. They tackle everything from "If we close 100 more deals like this, will we be happy?" to "What's one thing I'm afraid to ask my team, but probably should?" Through real world examples and their own experiences, they explore how these questions can help you understand what your customers really want, when to kill a project that's not working, and how to spot (and break through!) those tricky revenue...
info_outlineTransitioning to a cooperative structure isn’t just a trend; it’s a transformative journey.
In this episode, Sarah welcomes a panel of leaders to explore the real-life experiences and benefits of transitioning to employee ownership and cooperative business structures.
Stacey Smith from Project Equity explains the different models like ESOPs, EOTs, and worker cooperatives, emphasizing their role in economic stability and community retention. Devra Gartenstein, founder of Patty Pan Cooperative, shares her journey of converting her food business into a worker cooperative to improve employee quality of life. And Monica Rocchino discusses her experience transitioning The Local Butcher Shop to a cooperative, highlighting the importance of financial literacy and structured management.
You’ll hear:
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About the challenges and successes in converting traditional business structures to cooperatives.
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The role that financial literacy and education plays in employee ownership
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The variety of Governance and management structures in employee-owned businesses
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The importance of financial viability for transitioning to employee ownership
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How employee ownership promotes equity and fair compensation in the workforce
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The ongoing support and resources available for businesses considering employee ownership transitions
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And more!
Connect with our Panel:
Stacey Smith - Project Equity
Monica Rocchino - The Local Butcher Shop
Devra Gartenstein - Patty Pan Co-Op
The Good Food CFO Book Club:
https://www.thegoodfoodcfo.com/live-events
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