Startup CPG just crossed its first thousand subscriber milestone. We reflect on our last few months, who we’re becoming, and what’s next.

You’re in!

That’s the subject line of the email you get when you join Startup CPG. And you aren’t just in, you’re way in. The community welcoming you is made up of small brand founders, industry leaders, investors, media, buyers, and so many others who are a vital part of the CPG ecosystem, and they are eager to meet you. Come find your co-founder at one of our events (like Darko Mandich of MeliBio!), share some often-sought expertise (like our first podcast, Jake Huber on”What the F is a Broker?!” and a recent article on “What Investors Do & Don’t Like” by Aditi Dash of CircleUp), or just have a blast learning about cool new products and the people behind them.
Here are some numbers from that make us proud (all during shelter-in-place):

• 75 attendees at our last zoom mixer (join us! They’re every two weeks). Pro tip – we hear they are even better than IRL because of the 3-4 person random breakout rooms. Zach En’Wezoh from Bissy announced their win of a 50K grant (thanks to everyone who voted!) and spoke about ways for brands to fight racial inequality. We donated proceeds to the Floyd family, The Innocence Project, and NAACP LDF.
• 1,000+ visits for our first-of-a-kind resources: 1) E-commerce marketplaces for food & bev, and 2) Closeout & donation channels for expiring products
• 377 members of our Slack channel, crowdsourcing questions and finding expertise
• 5 Startup CPG Podcast episodes published featuring amazing brands and experts
• $3,000 worth of nutritious snacks donated to foodbanks through Startup CPG Microgrants. We bought products from Yes Bar, UNiTE Food, Rickaroons, Mustache Munchies, and KaKookies
• 14 new Startup CPG team members focusing on product, marketing, communications, community & partnerships (also, a great advisor!)
• 400 startupcpg.com visitors per week, and thousands of impressions on LinkedIn & great engagement on our instagram (and who knew you could make music videos?!)

How on earth did they do that?

That’s what we are going for. We are ambitious, and dreaming of the most amazing resources that we can provide to support small brands who are challenged by a food system stacked against them. Many of you have reached out to ask how you can help, and we’re grateful.

What are they planning next?

Find out by signing up for our newsletter, The Spotlight, but here are a few examples:

• Startup CPG Pitch, a curated box of 15 brands sent quarterly to 45 prominent VCs, buyers, and media, who unbox their goodies during a zoom pitch event. Our first event is this July, and we couldn’t be more excited by the brands and audience members who are participating.
• Expansion of Startup CPG Microgrants. We’ll partner with corporations to buy more product from emerging brands at their wholesale price to donate to our foodbank partners in California, Illinois, and Arizona.

Who do these guys think they are?

We are a team of passionate CPGers for a better food system. If you’re a small brand, we want to feature you. We want to introduce you to your next co-founder or critical hire. We want to share your pitch with buyers, media & investors. If you’re an industry expert, we want to share your knowledge. We want to connect you to the small brands who really need you. If you’re working toward a better food system, our spotlight is for you.

Join us