Bulletproof Your CPG Brand

331. Most growing brands are being sold some version of an easy button.

Hire another person. Add a dashboard. Plug in AI. Automate the report, and the business will finally become easier to run.

Those tools can help. The problem begins when the business expects them to replace the commercial decision capability it never built.

Dan Lohman explains why the same recurring decisions keep returning to the founder even after the company ...

330.  Your Dashboard Can Be Accurate—and Still Mislead You

More dashboards.

More reports.

More spreadsheets.

More software.

So why do so many CPG leadership teams still struggle to make confident decisions?

In this episode, Daniel Lohman explains why more reporting doesn't automatically create more clarity.

You'll learn:

• Why accurate reports can still mislead

• The $100,000 reporting lesson that changed how Daniel thin...

329. Growth feels harder right now.

That does not necessarily mean your brand, product, mission, or founder instincts are broken. The environment around the business changed, and the margin for error got smaller.

Sales may be growing while cash still feels tight. Promotions may move volume while compressing margin. Shoppers may still love the brand but buy it less often, wait for a promotion, or make different choices at the kitche...

328.  Your sales report may be one of the last places you learn that the shopper changed.

By the time velocity slows, repeat purchase weakens, or a retailer starts asking harder questions, the shopper may have already made a different decision.

This episode uses trade shows as a practical example, but the bigger lesson is not really about trade shows. It is about turning shopper conversations, demos, email replies, community e...

327. What if your biggest growth opportunity isn't another retailer?

What if it's the customers you already have?

In this episode, Chrissy Hammer, co-founder and CEO of Sunshine Buns, shares her journey from family recipe to national retail expansion.

She shares the story behind Sunshine Buns, the lessons she's learned scaling a founder-led brand, and why the future belongs to brands that build authentic communities, create meaning...

326. Most founders believe growth solves problems.

More distribution.

More retailers.

More sales.

More opportunities.

But what if growth isn't the thing that's putting pressure on your business?

What if the real problem is complexity?

In this episode, I sit down with Mike Fata, founder of Manitoba Harvest and author of Grow, to discuss one of the most overlooked challenges facing entrepreneurial brands today.

Scaling.

Not the excit...

325. Retailers don't reward the biggest mission. They reward the clearest value.

What happens when one of the most influential founders in natural products decides to start over?

In this episode, I sit down with Seth Goldman, founder of Honest Tea and co-founder of Just Ice Tea, to discuss what it takes to build a mission-driven brand in today's retail environment.

We explore:

• Why Honest Tea's discontinuation created an unexpecte...

324. Sales are up.

Distribution is expanding.

Retailers are saying yes.

The team is working harder than ever.

So why does cash still feel tight?

In this episode, Dan Lohman explores one of the biggest blind spots facing entrepreneurial CPG brands today:

Growth is not the same as health.

The market has changed.

The shopper has changed.

And many of the assumptions founders relied on for years no longer work the same way they once did...

323. The brands that win long term are rarely the brands chasing short-term trends.

They are the brands that understand:

• changing shopper behavior

• emerging category shifts

• evolving health priorities

• and how to position products before the market fully catches up

In this episode, I sit down with Suzie Yorke to discuss:

• functional foods

• healthier chocolate

• category evolution

• founder-led innovation

• brand positioning

...

322. Most CPG founders are feeling pressure from every direction right now.

Costs are rising.
Retailers expect more.
Promotions are harder to predict.
Shoppers are becoming more cautious.
And margins are getting compressed everywhere.

The dangerous part?

Many founders react before they fully understand where the pressure is actually coming from.

And that confusion gets expensive.

In this episode, I break down the re...

321. But very few spend enough time thinking about what happens AFTER manufacturing.

And that blind spot quietly creates:

• operational friction

• retailer problems

• deduction exposure

• execution failures

• damaged customer experiences

• and hidden profit leaks

In this episode, I sit down with Caitlin to discuss why operational clarity, fulfillment, packaging, communication, and execution discipline matter far more than most foun...

320. Margins are tighter. Costs are rising. Retailers still expect performance. And most founders are working harder just to maintain momentum.

But here's the uncomfortable truth:

Most brands do not have a spend problem.

They have a clarity problem.

In this episode, I break down why so many CPG brands are quietly leaking:

• cash
• margin
• execution
• retailer trust
• visibility
• and decision quality

We discuss:

• why dashboards...

319. Everything feels harder right now—costs are rising, demand is slowing, and margins are getting squeezed.

If you're doing everything right but still not seeing predictable growth… you're not alone.

Here's the problem: most brands are making decisions based on data—but not understanding what's actually driving performance.

In this episode, I break down:

• Why data alone is not enough
• The difference between ...

318. Your biggest retail mistake (it's not what you think)

Your product isn't failing because it's bad—it's failing because shoppers don't understand it fast enough.

That gap is costing you sales, shelf space, and runway.

In this episode, I sit down with a founder whose product creates an instant "wow" reaction—but only when people experience it. That's where most brands get stuck.

We break down:

• Why product market fi...

317. From Checkpoint to Growth Engine: Reimagining In-Store Sampling

Most brands treat demos like a checkbox. Hand out samples, move on, hope sales follow. That approach fails—and it matters because you're wasting money while missing one of the most powerful growth levers in retail.

In this episode, I sit down with Andrew from Samplers to break down how in-store demos should actually work. You'll learn why demos are not event...

315. You don't need to work more hours to grow your brand. You need more clarity, more discipline, and better focus. Most CPG founders are burned out, overwhelmed, and stuck reacting—because they've stopped prioritizing the one thing that drives everything: their health.

In this episode, I sit down with Mark Samuel, founder of Mark's, to break down how discipline, routines, and personal accountability create a massive competi...

314. You're looking at your trade spend, your promotions, your deductions—and it feels like you're spending too much. But here's the truth: most CPG brands don't have a spend problem. They have a visibility problem. And that matters because the money you can't see leaking is the money shortening your runway.

In this episode, I break down the three places your trade spend is quietly bleeding cash: ineffective promotions, poor ...

313. Building a CPG brand can feel isolating. You're making decisions alone, solving problems from scratch, and trying to figure out retail, marketing, and operations without a roadmap. That's expensive—and it slows your growth.

In this episode, I sit down with Kristine Carey, Executive Director of Naturally Colorado, to break down why community is one of the most overlooked competitive advantages in CPG. You'll learn how the...

312. You've invested in better dashboards, better reporting, and better trade marketing software. You're tracking everything—promotions, lift, ROI, deductions—and yet your margins still feel unpredictable and your growth still feels inconsistent. If that sounds familiar, here's the truth: what you think is giving you control is actually holding you back.

In this episode, I break down why trade marketing software isn't t...