Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford

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Getting on shelf is a milestone, but (close your ears if you're faint hearted), it's just the starting line.
In episode 151 of the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I sit down with Rebecca Brook, founder of Rise Growth Lab, a food and beverage accelerator.
This conversation is for brand owners already on shelf. If you want to finish 2026 with more accounts, more reorders and more money in your pocket - and stop leaving it on the table - this is your episode.
Grab your pen and tune in to hear:
🛒 How to improve your rate of sale
🎯 Best practice for selecting the right channel partners
💰 The difference between COGS-plus-guesswork and what consumers will actually pay
📊 What a 30, 60, 90 day promotional plan looks like without a big budget
🔄 What you need to do to get reorders
📦 The cost of goods levers most founders haven't pulled yet
This episode of Season 16 - Planning Season - is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Festival. The only Festival where packaged brands get seen, stocked and supported. Rebecca will be there speaking on the Dream Lab stage. Make sure you drop into her talk and say hi to her in the Festival Fairground!
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Rise Growth Lab website
Rise Growth Lab Instagram
Rebecca Brook LinkedIn
Product on More Shelves Checklist
Rise Food & Beverage Accelerator
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Chelsea Ford Co. Industry Newsletter
Season 16
Season 16, out now, is 'Planning Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival - a must-attend event dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors together under one roof.
Here’s why you should be there:
Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Brand Story Studio’ - 1:1 help with your messaging strategy - you'll leave with your founder story dialled in (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Distributor Lunch & Learn’ opportunity to speak directly with distributors about how they work and what they need you to do to work successfully with them.
Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors.
If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
And much, much more.
Schedule May 21-22 in your diary and click this link to see how you can be part of it.

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Your brand is killing it on social media. Sales are growing. But are you actually making money?
In episode 150 of the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast - the first episode of Season 16, Planning Season - I sit down with Jason Stockton, founder of ERP system, Supply'd, and Patrick LaManna, CEO of LaManna Supermarket and Director of social media sensation Pistachio Papi.
Here's the thing: even wildly successful brands with a multitude of followers need tight operational systems. They still need to nail forecasting, manage cashflow, and understand true costs. Jason's Supply'd helps food businesses do exactly that - streamlining inventory, production, and financial planning so you're not bleeding money as you scale.
This conversation is a reality check for every brand owner who thinks growth solves operational problems. It doesn't. It exposes them.
Grab your pen and tune in to hear:
💰 What you need to understand your true costs
🏭 How to manage unpredictable ordering patterns
📦 Managing your cashflow when you have multiple sales channels all with different lead times
⏱️ How to prevent overproduction, stockouts, and missed orders
🎯 The forecasting shift that protects your margins when wholesale customers are expecting their order and you can't just sell them something else
This is the first episode of Season 16 - Planning Season, brought to you by Foodpreneurs Festival. The only Festival where packaged brands get seen, stocked and supported. Jason will be there delivering his workshop, “What's Eating Your Margin? Uncovering Your Hidden Operational Costs.” for brands at the scale stage of their journey. Make sure you drop into his session or say hi to him in the Festival Fairground!
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Supply’d website
LaManna Instagram
Pistachio Papi Instagram
Patrick LaManna LinkedIn
Jason Stockton LinkedIn
Episode #134 Industry Insights from Foodpreneurs Festival 2025
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs
Season 16
Season 16, out now, is 'Planning Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival - a must-attend event dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors together under one roof.
Here’s why you should be there:
Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Brand Story Studio’ - 1:1 help with your messaging strategy - you'll leave with your founder story dialled in (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Distributor Lunch & Learn’ opportunity to speak directly with distributors about how they work and what they need you to do to work successfully with them.
Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors.
If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
And much, much more.
Schedule May 21-22 in your diary and click this link to see how you can be part of it.

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You're on shelf. Now what?
In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford, I chat with Sonia Martinez, a retail expert from AUR Foodworks who works with both retailers and brands to improve in-store ranging, product positioning, and merchandising.
Sonia is clear: retailers provide real estate, they won't do the selling for you. And if your product isn't moving, you're at risk of getting delisted.
Grab your pen and paper and take notes. If you're driving for velocity, tune in to hear:
🛒 The one thing brands in Whole Foods did every week for six months that kept them on shelf
📸 What to photograph in-store that reveals exactly where your opportunity is
🤝 The partnership tool that makes retailers less risk-averse about keeping your product
🍯 When to propose "off-location" displays (and what that actually means)
📦 Why repositioning your product in a different category could save it from delisting
🚫 The biggest mistake founders make once they're on shelf
Sonia shares what separates brands who stay on shelf from those who get delisted and why every stockist should be treated like an active campaign, not a done deal.
This is the eighth and final episode of Season 15 - Marketing Season. If your product isn't moving the way you hoped, this conversation gives you the playbook to turn it around.
Season 15 is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Festival, a year's worth of sales and promotion opportunities under one roof. Sonia will be there on the Buyer Tasting Panel and delivering workshops for start-ups and scaling brands. Say hi to her!
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Sonia’s LinkedIn 
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Chelsea Ford Co. website
Season 16
Season 16, out now, is 'Planning Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival - a must-attend event dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors together under one roof.
Here’s why you should be there:
Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Brand Story Studio’ - 1:1 help with your messaging strategy - you'll leave with your founder story dialled in (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Distributor Lunch & Learn’ opportunity to speak directly with distributors about how they work and what they need you to do to work successfully with them.
Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors.
If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
And much, much more.
Schedule May 21-22 in your diary and click this link to see how you can be part of it.

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Your product is great. People love it. But you're still struggling to sell it.
Sound familiar?
In episode 148 of the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast, I chat with Jayne Gallagher, CEO and co-founder of Honey & Fox, a marketing consultancy that helps good food brands turn provenance into sales.
Jayne and her business partner Helen work specifically with food and drink businesses to cut through the marketing overwhelm and create systems that actually drive revenue - without needing a four-year marketing degree to do it.
Tune in to hear Jayne share her provenance-powered marketing system: 
📖 The five elements that create compelling brand stories
🤝 Why over 60% of consumers don't trust what they see, hear, or read
🦀 A case study about a Queensland crab fishing business that saved tens of thousands in packaging costs by getting their brand strategy right before pressing go
🎯 Why most food brands start in the wrong place with social media
💰 How to set a realistic marketing budget
✅ The three things every buyer wants
Jayne breaks down why marketing isn't just social media, why proof is now one of your most precious commodities, and how to avoid the overwhelm of 50-100 conflicting pieces of marketing advice by following a simple system designed specifically for food and drink.
This episode is part of Season 15 - marketing season and is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Festival - a year's worth of sales and promotion opportunities under one roof.  Honey & Fox will be hosting a 'Brand Story Studio' at the Festival in May, 2026.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Honey & Fox website
Provenance Powered Marketing
Food Marketing Academy
Fraser Isle Spanner Crab
[email protected]
[email protected]
'Brand Story Studio' at Foodpreneurs Festival
Edelman Trust Barometer
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A
Season 16
Season 16, out now, is 'Planning Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival - a must-attend event dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors together under one roof.
Here’s why you should be there:
Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Brand Story Studio’ - 1:1 help with your messaging strategy - you'll leave with your founder story dialled in (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Distributor Lunch & Learn’ opportunity to speak directly with distributors about how they work and what they need you to do to work successfully with them.
Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors.
If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
And much, much more.
Schedule May 21-22 in your diary and click this link to see how you can be part of it.

Send us a text
How do you build a beverage brand when the margins are slim and you have no outside funding and growth depends on you?
You make sales your North Star. Every single day.
In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford, I chat with Ollie Puddick, founder of Innerbloom, a functional beverage brand that's gone from farmers' markets to over 300 retail doors across Australia and New Zealand in just a few years.
Ollie quit his job as a professional firefighter at the end of last year to go all-in on Innerbloom. No safety net. No investors. Just relentless focus on the one thing that keeps the lights on: sales.
And he's brutally honest about the mistakes he made along the way.
You'll hear:
💰 The one word Ollie writes at the top of his weekly plan every Monday (and why it changes everything)
📈 Why Ollie believes he can hit $1 million in online revenue in 12 months - and how online sales solved a cashflow crisis that retail created
🍫 The difficult decision he's making about SKUs right now (hint: less is more)
🏪 How Ollie lost retail stockists without even knowing it - and what he learned about chasing doors vs. servicing accounts
🛒 The meeting filter that keeps him focused on what actually drives sales
📦 How he's built a team without hiring full-time staff (and why this works for a lean beverage business)
🎯 What a $10K trip taught him about being laser-focused on the right goals
Ollie is proof that you don't need a big team, outside funding, or perfect timing to build a successful food or beverage brand. If you're bootstrapping, wearing all the hats, and trying to figure out where to focus your limited time and money - this conversation will give you clarity.
Season 15 is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Festival - a year's worth of sales and promotion opportunities under one roof.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Inner Bloom Coffee
Inner Bloom Coffee on Instagram
Your Free Pitch Plan
Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
Chelsea Ford Co. website
Season 16
Season 16, out now, is 'Planning Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival - a must-attend event dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors together under one roof.
Here’s why you should be there:
Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Brand Story Studio’ - 1:1 help with your messaging strategy - you'll leave with your founder story dialled in (THIS IS NEW!)
‘Distributor Lunch & Learn’ opportunity to speak directly with distributors about how they work and what they need you to do to work successfully with them.
Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists, distributors and investors.
If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
And much, much more.
Schedule May 21-22 in your diary and click this link to see how you can be part of it.