158. Using Grants to Grow Your Brand: VAPG and Beyond
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
Release Date: 11/12/2025
169. Can you say yes to help? How the right help can lead us to our goals
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
As entrepreneurs many of us are quick to offer help—but far slower to ask for it. Can you relate? But why NOT ask people who have been there or have the right tools to help us unlock the next level of success we’re working towards?
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168. What is a Brand Strategist, Anyway? Plus, Marketing vs Branding vs Brand Strategy
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
Clint puts Katie in the hot seat to ask a question many food business owners are wondering: what is a brand strategist, anyway?
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167. From Transaction to Tradition: How Food Brands Can Become the Go-To Choice
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
How food brands earn a place in everyday routines, go-to gifting, and meaningful traditions — and what it really takes to move from a transaction to a trusted, automatic choice.
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166. Profit, Margins and Cash Flow...OH MY! A Mini Masterclass in Food Business Financials with Sarah Delevan
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
A mini masterclass in food business finances with Sarah Delevan. We're covering margins, growth scenarios, and why "scale" isn’t a financial strategy.
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165. Choosing Your Word of the Year: Lean Into Who You’re Becoming as a Leader
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
How choosing your Word of the Year can help you lean into who you were meant to be....a benefit to your brand, your business, and beyond!
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164. Curating Holiday Traditions & Year-Round Food Rituals
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
In this fun episode, Katie & Clint swap stories about holiday traditions—and close with a simple idea about how brands become part of year-round rituals.
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163. Brand Pillars: The Backbone of Your Brand That Makes a Major Impact
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
A simple framework to help you review where you’ve been, regroup your resources, and refocus your next 12 months anytime you want more clarity and alignment. Great for year-end, or any time of year to reset!
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162. Review, Regroup & Refocus to Align With Your BHAG
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
A simple framework to help you review where you’ve been, regroup your resources, and refocus your next 12 months anytime you want more clarity and alignment. Great for year-end, or any time of year to reset!
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161. Should You Go? Choosing Events & Shows That Will Move Your Food Brand Forward
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
If your message feels messy, it’s likely not that you’re bad at writing...it’s because your brand strategy needs more structure. In ep 159, Katie shows how a strong foundation makes your messaging clearer + more consistent everywhere.
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160. Are You Using “Expedited Cautiousness”? Smart Growth for Food Brands
Food Business Marketing - Brand Strategy Tips to Build a Business You Love
If your message feels messy, it’s likely not that you’re bad at writing...it’s because your brand strategy needs more structure. In ep 159, Katie shows how a strong foundation makes your messaging clearer + more consistent everywhere.
info_outlineHow food and farm businesses can fund intentional growth through the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) and other aligned grant opportunities.
If you’ve been thinking about how to fund your next stage of growth, this episode will help you explore one of the most practical and accessible options — grants for food and farm businesses.
Katie Mleziva (Real Food Brands) and Clint Matthews (StartRight Foods) are joined by Stephen Ussery of Stewards Unlimited to break down the USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) — along with other grant funding opportunities that can help small food brands, farms, and makers expand production, marketing, or new product lines without drifting from their brand strategy or purpose.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- What the VAPG (Value-Added Producer Grant) is and who qualifies
- Why brand alignment and strategy matter when applying for grants
- Real examples of how food producers and makers have used grant funding to scale
- What to expect from the application, funds available, and the reporting process
- How grants can accelerate growth when they align with your long-term goals
- How Stewards Unlimited can help you get started
Whether you’re a farmer, maker, or packaged food brand owner, this conversation will help you understand how to use grants as a tool for intentional, sustainable business growth — so you can build your brand and your impact at the same time.
--> Join their email list at StewardsUnlimited.com to get grant alerts that apply to your business based on the criteria you select. I love getting grant alerts myself because I'm always looking for ways to support all of you!
WHAT TO DO NEXT?
1. 📧 Katie's Friday Newsletter includes a Weekly Worksheet to help you apply these ideas directly to your food business. Sign up here.
2. 💬 Join the Conversation! Tune in to the podcast, then join us in the Real Food Brands Marketing Round Table - a free food & farm business owner community - to ask questions and meet other people who love producing real food as much as you do!
3. 📞 If you're ready to talk about building a clear, cohesive brand or integrating your brand + sales strategy, you can Request an Intro Call to discuss the ways we work with food, farm, and natural product brands.
Thanks for listening – let’s go shake up shopping carts!
Katie Mleziva
Host & Food Brand Strategist | Real Food Brands