Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford

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In the eighth and final episode of Season 17 of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I am joined by Helen Johnston, co-founder and creative director of Honey and Fox, and Henry Nevile from the Natural Foods Trading Company - two industry insiders who were on the ground at both the BiteBack Awards and Foodpreneurs Festival on 21 and 22 May. Both were there last year, too.
Together, the three of us unpack what actually happened. What stood out at Stickybeak Station, our product showcase. What Brand Story Studio revealed about where emerging brands are right now. And what Helen and Henry observed about the sophistication of this year's attendees' businesses.
More than 15 brands are named throughout the conversation - not as a roll call, but as real examples of what's working, what's standing out on shelf, and what the market is telling us right now to help you grow.
And after four years of bringing the event to life, and ten years working directly with emerging brands, I share what I’m seeing across the market and give you practical advice to help you grow your sales and brand faster.
If you were at the Foodpreneurs Festival, this is your recap. If you weren't, prepare to take notes - this is your free advisory session.
Season 17 is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company. If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, landing your first major retailer, or figuring out procurement—NFTC is worth knowing about.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Collide Drinks
Intentional Tea
Mulled Beverages
Uproar Snacks
Spicetub
Oaty Butter
Seedy Foods
Coast N Smoke
Fabio Soda
Umei Foods
Made4Change
Urban Forager
Raffi Cookies
Get Dressed
Sweet Pea & Poppy
Download your FREE Brand Story Starter Kit
Honey & Fox website
Honey & Fox Instagram
Food Marketing Academy
Jayne Gallagher LinkedIn
Helen Johnston LinkedIn
NFTC website
NFTC LinkedIn page
Henry Nevile LinkedIn
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Chelsea Ford Co. Industry Newsletter
Season 17 with NFTC
Season 17, out now, is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company.
If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, maybe landing your first major retailer, figuring out how to buy smarter—NFTC is worth knowing about.
They're a mid-tier ingredient supplier specialising in natural wholefoods: nuts, dried fruits, herbs, spices, seeds, and more. Small enough to offer lower minimums and genuine flexibility, but backed by serious sourcing capability and a team that actually knows its range inside out.
Think of them as the ingredient partner that grows with you—not one you'll outgrow.
Check them out at nftc.com.au

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Most people only think about fibre when something goes wrong. It's been sitting in the health aisle, powdered and medicinal, for decades. Nobody had moved it - until now.
Priscilla Mellado saw something everyone else missed.
Twenty years ago, pregnant and struggling with gut issues, she looked at the fibre category and thought: somebody has to do this better. That child is now 24. And Liquify Drinks is finally here.
In episode 164 of the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, Priscilla pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build a CPG brand from scratch. The 6,000 bottles she couldn't sell. The 6am fitness classes she shows up to pour tastings. Packing orders - even on the morning of this interview. 
Priscilla describes it best herself: sometimes it literally feels like hanging upside down, spinning.
And yet - she's built something with real substance, and this week she walks into a room of investors and pitches for the future of her business. You're hearing her story right before that moment.
This is episode one of two. Priscilla pitches at Foodpreneurs Festival this week. We follow up after. You're coming on the journey with us.
Season 17 is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company. If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase - scaling up, landing your first major retailer, or figuring out procurement - NFTC is worth knowing about.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Liquify Drinks website
Liquify Drinks Instagram
NFTC website
NFTC LinkedIn page
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Season 17 with NFTC
Season 17, out now, is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company.
If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, maybe landing your first major retailer, figuring out how to buy smarter—NFTC is worth knowing about.
They're a mid-tier ingredient supplier specialising in natural wholefoods: nuts, dried fruits, herbs, spices, seeds, and more. Small enough to offer lower minimums and genuine flexibility, but backed by serious sourcing capability and a team that actually knows its range inside out.
Think of them as the ingredient partner that grows with you—not one you'll outgrow.
Check them out at nftc.com.au

Send us Fan Mail
Many  founders sense something is getting in the way of their growth. They just can’t put their finger on what it is.
My guest today is Janessa Rutter, founder of Bask & Co., a Coeliac Australia-endorsed breakfast and snack company. Three years ago, Janessa was on the show with 40 stockists and baking her own product. Today she has 650 stockists nationally, including 300 Woolworths supermarkets and a co-manufacturer.
In this episode, Janessa and I talk about what actually changed  and what had to change, inside and out, before the business could scale. We get into her ADHD diagnosis, what it explained about the imposter syndrome and rejection sensitivity she'd been carrying for years, and why that single realisation was the moment everything shifted.
We also talk about the decision to step out of production, how niching into the coeliac community changed her ranging conversations with buyers, and why systems aren't boring;  they're the business.
If you face personal challenges that get in the way of building a scaling business, this episode is for you.
Season 17 is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company. If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, landing your first major retailer, or figuring out procurement—NFTC is worth knowing about.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Bask & Co website
Episode #75 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome to Land More Accounts
NFTC website
NFTC LinkedIn page
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Chelsea Ford Co. Industry Newsletter
Season 17 with NFTC
Season 17, out now, is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company.
If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, maybe landing your first major retailer, figuring out how to buy smarter—NFTC is worth knowing about.
They're a mid-tier ingredient supplier specialising in natural wholefoods: nuts, dried fruits, herbs, spices, seeds, and more. Small enough to offer lower minimums and genuine flexibility, but backed by serious sourcing capability and a team that actually knows its range inside out.
Think of them as the ingredient partner that grows with you—not one you'll outgrow.
Check them out at nftc.com.au

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Finding the right manufacturer is usually the key to scale. And getting it wrong doesn’t just slow you down. It costs you time and money.
My guest today is Naishad Dalal, founder of Food Entrepreneurship Academy, also known as FEA Food Innovation. They take brands from product concept all the way to shelf.
In this episode, Naishad and I talk about the red flags you should watch out for when you're talking to co-manufacturers — and the three questions every founder should ask before committing to a co-packer. We also talk about why the wrong fit doesn't just cost you money. Of course it does. But something far more valuable in small business. And that's time.
We also break down minimum order quantities and what happens when your packaging format blows your numbers out.
If you've ever looked at a shot bottle or a sauce jar and wondered how the math works at scale — listen closely.
If you're developing a product, about to go into commercial production, or dealing with issues with your current manufacturer — this episode is for you.
Season 17 is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company. If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, landing your first major retailer, or figuring out procurement—NFTC is worth knowing about.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
FEA website
Naishad Dalal LinkedIn
Stickybeak Station & People’s Choice Award at Foodpreneurs Festival
NFTC website
NFTC LinkedIn page
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Chelsea Ford Co. Industry Newsletter
Season 17 with NFTC
Season 17, out now, is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company.
If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, maybe landing your first major retailer, figuring out how to buy smarter—NFTC is worth knowing about.
They're a mid-tier ingredient supplier specialising in natural wholefoods: nuts, dried fruits, herbs, spices, seeds, and more. Small enough to offer lower minimums and genuine flexibility, but backed by serious sourcing capability and a team that actually knows its range inside out.
Think of them as the ingredient partner that grows with you—not one you'll outgrow.
Check them out at nftc.com.au

Send us Fan Mail
Don't treat your label as the last thing you sort before going to print. Retail buyers assess your label before they'll taste your product. They have to. Competitors can scan your claims looking for grounds to report you. A formulation change — even a small one - or a new product launch means you need a compliant label. Every time.
Bring compliance into your NPD from the start - not as a checklist, but as a strategic tool. Nutrient content claims, general level health claims, health star ratings — used together, they let you build a marketing story that's genuinely substantiated. One that holds up to a buyer, a competitor, and an enforcer. That's differentiation. And it comes from your regulatory work, not despite it.
In episode 161 of the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, Roslyn Anderson — founder of Tastebuddies, a regulatory compliance consultancy — breaks down why your food label is a legal document, not a design asset, and what's actually at stake if you get it wrong.
Don't miss this episode - you'll learn:
🛒 Why retail buyers assess label compliance before they'll taste your product 
⚗️ The ingredients tripping founders up right now
🔄 What a formulation change means for your entire regulatory position 
🚨 Allergen recalls: what they look like for a small brand, and why your recall plan needs to exist before you need it 
📈 Claims stacking: how to use compliance to build brand differentiation and a substantiated marketing story
This episode of Season 17 is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company. If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase - scaling up, maybe landing your first major retailer, figuring out how to buy smarter - NFTC is worth knowing about.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Tastebuddies website
Tastebuddies Instagram
NFTC website
NFTC LinkedIn page
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Grab Your Foodpreneurs Festival Ticket
Chelsea Ford Co. Industry Newsletter
Season 17 with NFTC
Season 17, out now, is brought to you by NFTC – The Natural Foods Trading Company.
If you're a growing food brand navigating that tricky middle phase—scaling up, maybe landing your first major retailer, figuring out how to buy smarter—NFTC is worth knowing about.
They're a mid-tier ingredient supplier specialising in natural wholefoods: nuts, dried fruits, herbs, spices, seeds, and more. Small enough to offer lower minimums and genuine flexibility, but backed by serious sourcing capability and a team that actually knows its range inside out.
Think of them as the ingredient partner that grows with you—not one you'll outgrow.
Check them out at nftc.com.au