Food Business Marketing Podcast | Brand Strategy, Sales, & Growth for Food & Farm Brands

Katie Mleziva & Clint Matthews | Food Brand Strategy, Sales & Growth
  • 4.9 (58)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Biweekly

The Food Business Marketing Podcast helps food business owners and farmers build stronger brands, make better decisions, and grow businesses that are easier to choose. Hosted by Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva and co-hosted by food entrepreneur and sales leader Clint Matthews, each episode explores the real-world decisions that shape successful food and farm businesses. Whether you're launching a new product, refining your brand positioning, rebranding your business, prioritizing growth opportunities, improving your marketing, or developing a sales strategy, you'll find practical insights you can put to work right away. Topics include: Food brand strategy Brand positioning and messaging Food marketing Consumer insights Product portfolio decisions Food business growth Farm marketing Food sales strategy Leadership and decision-making Building a business aligned with your values If you're asking questions like: What do I want my brand to be known for? How do I stand out in a crowded market? Which opportunities should I pursue—and which should I decline? How can I make my business easier to choose? How do I align my marketing, sales, and operations around a clear strategy? How can I train my team on my strategy? This podcast is for you, and you'll find new episodes every Wednesday, so be sure to follow. Let's go shake up shopping carts! Brought to you by Real Food Brands (www.RealFoodBrands.com). Join Katie and other food business owners to continue the conversation by joining the free Real Food Brands Marketing Round Table group on Facebook!

  1. 194. Your Brand Is the Bridge...How Brand Strategy Can Align Your Whole Business

    5d ago

    194. Your Brand Is the Bridge...How Brand Strategy Can Align Your Whole Business

    When sales, marketing, and operations don't seem to be on the same page, it's tempting to look for a tactical fix. But more often than not, the real opportunity isn't better tactics—it's better alignment. In this episode, Katie and Clint explore why your brand is the bridge that connects your entire business. A clear brand strategy doesn't just shape your marketing. It helps align leadership, sales, operations, customer service, and even external partners around a shared vision so your customers experience one consistent brand. That's why they say brand building is a team sport! Whether you're a solo business owner working with contractors or leading a growing team, this conversation will help you think about brand strategy as a practical tool for making better decisions, improving communication, and creating a stronger customer experience. In this episode, you'll learn: Why sales and marketing challenges are often signs of a bigger alignment opportunity. How brand strategy serves as the bridge between your vision and day-to-day decisions. Why customers need to experience one brand—not separate departments. Practical ways to communicate your brand strategy across your team. How involving your team creates better ideas and stronger buy-in. Why documenting your strategy helps turn hallway conversations into consistent action. Why brand building is a team sport How your brand values can guide hiring, onboarding, training, and leadership. Why celebrating wins helps reinforce your culture and brand over time. Key Takeaway A strong brand isn't built by one department. It's built when everyone understands what your business stands for, how they contribute to it, and how they work together to create a consistent customer experience. Your brand becomes the bridge that helps your entire business move in the same direction. Resources & Next Steps If you're ready to create more clarity and alignment in your food business, we'd love to help. Visit RealFoodBrands.com to learn more about working together or connect with me on Instagram to continue the conversation. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a review, and share it with another food business owner who's working to build a stronger, more aligned brand. Resources Mentioned Join the newsletter here RealFoodBrands.com or Katie's Instagram Until next week, let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie Mleziva – Host & Food Brand Strategist Clint Matthews - Host, Co-Founder at Start Right Foods, & Food Business Strategist PS--Enjoying the podcast? If you're finding these conversations helpful, please follow the podcast, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with another food business owner. Every share helps us reach more brands that are working to make real food easier to choose.

    16 min
  2. 193. How the Right Dietitian Can Help More of the Right People Choose Your Food Brand

    Jul 1

    193. How the Right Dietitian Can Help More of the Right People Choose Your Food Brand

    People are inundated with complicated and sometimes conflicting nutrition messages. Food brands have an opportunity to replace confusion and food fear with a boost of clarity and confidence. When you think about advisors for your food brand, a dietitian might not be the first person who comes to mind....or is it? Beyond nutrition, dietitians can bring a unique perspective that helps you better understand your customers, communicate your product's benefits more clearly, uncover new market opportunities, and reinforce key support messages.  In this episode, Katie and Clint are joined by registered dietitian and diabetes educator Whitney Stuart of Whitness Nutrition to explore how nutrition expertise can strengthen what you want your brand to be known for -- from product development and messaging to consumer trust and long-term brand growth...and more!  This conversation offers a fresh perspective on the value of choosing advisors who align with your vision but will also challenge your thinking to make your team stronger and create better connections. As Whitney shares, helping consumers move from food fear to food confidence isn't just good nutrition—it's good brand building. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why the right dietitians can be valuable strategic advisors—not just nutrition experts • How RDNs can help uncover new customer segments, product development, ingredient decisions, and growth opportunities • How to communicate nutrition benefits in a way that's credible, clear, and easy for consumers to understand...making your brand easier to choose rather than adding to the noise • Why choosing advisors whose perspectives align with your brand matters • How some dietitians can help promote your brand to the right audiences • How curating the right team can help strengthen what your brand becomes known for And one final takeaway from the episode: ....BE KIND. READ LABELS. We can use a little more of both, right? :)   Resources Mentioned Whitney's Website Whitney talking "easy swaps" on one of her TV appearances Join the newsletter here RealFoodBrands.com or Katie's Instagram And until next time, let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie Mleziva – Host & Food Brand Strategist Clint Matthews - Host, Co-Founder at Start Right Foods, & Food Business Strategist   PS--Enjoying the podcast? If you're finding these conversations helpful, please follow the podcast, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with another food business owner. Every share helps us reach more brands that are working to make real food easier to choose.

    24 min
  3. 192. Stewarding the Land and Building a Brand - Scaling Regenerative Agriculture with StarWalker Organic Farms

    Jun 24

    192. Stewarding the Land and Building a Brand - Scaling Regenerative Agriculture with StarWalker Organic Farms

    Some people are skeptical that regenerative agriculture can be scalable, but our guests are proving it can be done while they build a strong brand as well. For Jason and Christina Walker of StarWalker Organic Farms, success started with a series of everyday decisions—and a few pivotal fork-in-the-road moments that shaped everything. StarWalker Organic Farms introduced the first Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) pork and beef in the United States and is working to help more farmers transition to regenerative agriculture through a scalable, farmer-focused model. In this episode, we explore the choices, values, risks, and long-term thinking that shaped their journey from a multi-generational family farm to a growing regenerative agriculture brand with a vision that extends far beyond their own acreage. Along the way, we discuss what it means to steward the land, build a business, create a brand, and leave something better for the next generation. In this episode, you'll hear about: The family decision that led StarWalker Organic Farms down the path of organic farming decades before it became more mainstream The pivotal choices that shaped the farm's growth, from launching a direct-to-consumer business to purchasing their own USDA processing facility What it means to produce the first Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) pork and beef in the US How regenerative agriculture, soil health, and nutrient density are connected The challenges and opportunities of building a vertically integrated food business How our life experiences that seem unrelated today may actually be preparing you for what's next How the business is helping other farmers transition to regenerative agriculture without having to build a brand. Their vision to create regional networks of regenerative farms and make high-quality food more accessible locally across the country What the brand will be known for...their answer wasn't about the products they sell. Listen to hear more! Whether you're a farmer, food business owner, entrepreneur, or someone who cares about where your food comes from, this conversation is a reminder to keep grounded in our purpose every single day. Resources Mentioned StarWalker Organic Farms Join the newsletter here RealFoodBrands.com And until next week, let's go shake up shopping carts! Katie Mleziva – Host & Food Brand Strategist Clint Matthews - Host, Co-Founder at Start Right Foods, & Food Business Strategist If you are interested in clarifying what you want your brand to be known for and making your brand easier to choose, please email me at katie@realfoodbrands.com. We'd love to hear what you are working on and see if we might be a good fit to work together...or at least share a few resources with you!

    47 min
  4. 191. What a Viral Post Revealed About Content Creation

    Jun 17

    191. What a Viral Post Revealed About Content Creation

    This week, my simple Instagram post about Swedish Fish unexpectedly reached more than 160,000 people...and counting! Now, that might be a normal day for some people on Instagram, but it certainly wasn't for me. While it was fun to watch the views climb, not all the comments were as fun to read. Not that I took it personally, but I don't understand the need to be so negative. With that in mind, what I found most interesting were the lessons that came from the experience—not just about social media, but about our ideal audience and how we choose to show up when we get unexpected attention. In this episode, Clint interviews me about what happened, what surprised me, and what business owners can learn from finding themselves in a similar situation. In the episode, you'll hear: Why attention doesn't always equal growth The difference between reach and relevance How to respond when the internet wants you to react Why not every audience is your audience How to use the algorithm without losing your personal programming (ie values) How to find the sweet spot between your strengths and your audience's interests What a viral post can teach you about your brand, your audience, and yourself Resources Mentioned 📌 View the Instagram post here 📬 Join the Real Food Brands newsletter here And until next time, let's go shake up shopping carts. Katie Mleziva – Host & Food Brand Strategist Clint Matthews - Host, Co-Founder at Start Right Foods, & Food Business Strategist

    16 min
  5. 190. Building What's Next

    Jun 10

    190. Building What's Next

    As we approach episode 200, we're inviting you to help shape what's next for the Food Business Marketing Podcast. We've been working to make strategy more actionable, more valuable, and...more fun. As we think about what's next for the podcast, we'd love to hear directly from you. 👉 Take the short survey here We've got some exciting ideas in the works, but before we make plans for the next chapter in the coming weeks, we want to make sure we're building something that's truly valuable for you. Thank you for being part of this community, for spending your time with us each week, and for helping us build what's next as we help YOU build what's next! - Katie & Clint PS--Make sure you're on my newsletter email list. Most weeks I'm helping you turn your ideas into action, but this week I'm asking you for your ideas to help US take action - and we appreciate every single reply. Access the survey here or sign up for the newsletter and get it in your inbox on Friday: Weekly Email Newsletter or at www.realfoodbrands.com.

    3 min
  6. 189. Your Brand Strategy Is the Starting Line

    Jun 3

    189. Your Brand Strategy Is the Starting Line

    Have you ever finished strategy work, felt excited… and then thought, "Okay, but now what?" Your brand strategy being done isn't the finish line. It's the starting line. In this episode, Katie Mleziva (Real Food Brands) and Clint Matthews (Start Right Foods) talk about what happens after the strategy work is done and how to activate your brand so it becomes part of your everyday decisions—not just a PDF sitting on your computer. Building on recent conversations around defining your strategy, aligning your team, and creating clarity, this conversation focuses on activation: what happens next, how to avoid overwhelm, and how to keep moving forward to build momentum as you build a strong brand and business. From prioritizing what comes first to testing and learning in the market, this episode will help you think differently about what it means to bring your strategy to life. ➡️ In this episode, you'll hear: --Why strategy work often feels exciting at first—but overwhelming when it's time to implement --How to prioritize what happens next instead of trying to do everything at once --Ways to think through 30 / 60 / 120 day priorities --Why your strategy should guide agencies, partners, and vendors and not the other way around --How to test and learn without abandoning your strategy too quickly --The difference between evolving intentionally and changing direction because you got nervous or someone asked a question you couldn't answer yet --Why strategy should make decisions easier—not harder ➡️ What this means for your business: Your brand strategy should create clarity—but clarity alone doesn't create momentum. ➡️ When you activate your strategy intentionally, you can: 1) Bring more consistency to how your brand shows up 2) Make decisions with more confidence and less second-guessing 3) Create priorities that help move the business forward 4) Stay aligned while continuing to learn and optimize ➡️ What's next: Strategy isn't the finish line. It's the starting line. Whether you've documented your strategy already or you've been piecing it together as you go, activation is where strategy comes to life—and where momentum starts building. Stay tuned for more podcast episodes to help you bring your vision to life! ➡️ Continue the conversation: If this episode helped you think differently about what happens after strategy work is done, make sure you're on Katie's newsletter email list. She'll share additional thoughts, tools, and resources, including the Brand Activation Worksheet. You can get access to the newsletter and find links to everything else HERE: Weekly Email Newsletter or at www.realfoodbrands.com. ➡️ Let's Connect! Connect with Katie Mleziva on LinkedIn or ➡️ Set up an intro call if you're ready to move from strategy to action and build a brand with more clarity and confidence. 🔗 Connect on Instagram Let's go shake up shopping carts, together! Katie Mleziva – Host & Food Brand Strategist

    14 min
  7. 188. How to Build a Brand People Trust

    May 27

    188. How to Build a Brand People Trust

    What makes you trust a brand? It's usually not one big thing. It's the repeated experience of seeing a brand show up consistently over time — through the packaging, product, messaging, the customer experience, the team, and allll the little details in between. In this episode, Katie Mleziva (RealFoodBrands.com) and Clint Matthews (StartRightFoods.com) explore how trust is built through cohesive, consistent brand experiences...and why alignment inside your business matters to what customers see on the outside. As a follow-up to recent episodes related to the "define" part of Katie's Define, Align, & Activate framework, this conversation focuses on what happens next: aligning your team, partners, and day-to-day decisions around what you want your brand to be known for… then activating that strategy consistently across the business. Because strong brands reinforce the key thing they want to be known for over and over again. In this episode, you'll hear: Why consistency builds trust over time The difference between alignment and activation How cohesive brand experiences create recognition Why repeated touchpoints shape brand perception The role team members and partners play in your brand How familiarity influences buying decisions Why strong brands feel intentional The connection between trust and customer experience Key Takeaway People trust brands that feel clear, cohesive, and consistent. And that doesn't happen accidentally! We can be intentional about how that happens when your business is aligned around what you want to be known for and reinforces it through repeated experiences over time. Links & Resources: • 📧 Weekly Email Newsletter • 🔗 Connect on Instagram If this episode gave you a new way to think about building your business, please share it with another food business owner who is working to build a brand that makes a positive impact. Let's go shake up shopping carts, together!

    13 min
  8. 187. What Do You Want Your Brand to Be Known For?

    May 20

    187. What Do You Want Your Brand to Be Known For?

    If your brand is trying to communicate everything, people may remember nothing. In this episode, Katie Mleziva (realfoodbrands.com) and Clint Matthews (startrightfoods.com) talk about the power of focus — and why strong brands know what they want to be known for instead of trying to say everything to everyone. Building on recent episodes about purpose, vision, values, and listening to your consumers and competitors to inform your market success, this conversation explores how focus helps create clarity across your products, messaging, packaging, marketing, customer experience... everything you do! Katie also connects the conversation to positioning and brand pillars, explaining how they help guide decisions, reinforce consistency, and keep brands from getting pulled in too many directions. In this episode, you'll hear: Why clarity is the result of focus How trying to communicate too many things can create confusion Why consistency helps brands become more memorable How positioning and pillars help guide decision-making Why focus is meant to create freedom, not limit creativity Plus, Clint shares how Start Right Foods gained traction after narrowing their focus and aligning around what they wanted to be known for in the market. If you want additional insights and practical ways to turn your ideas into action, make sure you're signed up for Katie's newsletter (see below). Links & Resources: • 📧 Weekly Email Newsletter • 🔗 Connect on Instagram   🎙️Episodes mentioned --> 101. Brand Strategy 101: Positioning Your Brand to Stand Out --> 165. Brand Pillars: The Backbone of Your Brand That Makes a Major Impact   If this episode gave you a new way to think about building your business, please share it with another food business owner who is working to build a brand that makes a positive impact so we can shake up shopping carts, together! Katie Mleziva  Food Brand Strategist

    15 min
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4.9
out of 5
58 Ratings

About

The Food Business Marketing Podcast helps food business owners and farmers build stronger brands, make better decisions, and grow businesses that are easier to choose. Hosted by Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva and co-hosted by food entrepreneur and sales leader Clint Matthews, each episode explores the real-world decisions that shape successful food and farm businesses. Whether you're launching a new product, refining your brand positioning, rebranding your business, prioritizing growth opportunities, improving your marketing, or developing a sales strategy, you'll find practical insights you can put to work right away. Topics include: Food brand strategy Brand positioning and messaging Food marketing Consumer insights Product portfolio decisions Food business growth Farm marketing Food sales strategy Leadership and decision-making Building a business aligned with your values If you're asking questions like: What do I want my brand to be known for? How do I stand out in a crowded market? Which opportunities should I pursue—and which should I decline? How can I make my business easier to choose? How do I align my marketing, sales, and operations around a clear strategy? How can I train my team on my strategy? This podcast is for you, and you'll find new episodes every Wednesday, so be sure to follow. Let's go shake up shopping carts! Brought to you by Real Food Brands (www.RealFoodBrands.com). Join Katie and other food business owners to continue the conversation by joining the free Real Food Brands Marketing Round Table group on Facebook!

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