Community First: Sarah Kaminski on Leveraging Local Partnerships for Retail Success

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In this conversation, Sarah Kaminski shares her journey of building Best Ever Granola from a home-based operation to a growing brand with retail partnerships. She discusses the challenges of scaling production, the importance of marketing and social media engagement, and the strategies she employed to connect with consumers and retailers. Sarah emphasizes the value of building relationships and providing genuine connections through her brand, while also offering advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to navigate the early stages of business development.

Major Takeaways:

• Brand awareness was her focus the first year
• Sarah don't work with a co-packer; everything is small batch
• Building relationships with retailers takes time and effort
• Social media should provide value, not just sales pitches
• Sampling at events is different from grocery store demos
• Start small, get feedback, and grow organically

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Early Challenges
03:16 The Journey to Launch a Brand 
05:50 Sourcing Quality Ingredients
08:50 Consumer Feedback and Brand Identity
11:50 Building Retail Relationships
14:36 Scaling Production and Manufacturing
17:52 Entering Larger Retail Markets
20:50 Marketing Strategies & Consumer Engagement
25:00 Future Growth & Expansion


Links to follow Best Ever Granola & Sarah's story:

Best Ever Granola Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bestevergranola/
Best Ever Granola Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bestevergranola
Best Ever Granola Website: https://www.bestevergranola.com/

Faire Wholesale Platform: https://www.faire.com/

Check out Best Ever Granola website to see all the stores and locations.

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Purchase the book Shelf Talk: A step by step guide to launching your product in Retail Stores by Roberta Townes Buy Book