On this episode, we're joined by Steven Kessler, Chief Sales Officer at Beyond Brands, the natural products consulting collective that acts as an outsourced management team for emerging CPG brands. Steven co-founded Steaz, the organic green tea brand behind the first USDA Organic certified soda, and scaled it across the natural channel and into Costco and Target before a 2016 exit to Novamex. We dig into the Steaz journey, from spotting that carbonated soft drinks were sliding and deciding to carbonate green tea, to landing early yes's from UNFI and Whole Foods because nobody had done it before. We walk through the pivot to cans after a Whole Foods buyer told him to get rid of the bubbles, and the freight and sustainability math that made the switch obvious. Steven gets candid about the "top line, baby" years, when he and co-founder Eric Schnell chased quarterly numbers and handed out discounts to push purchase orders until their investors finally cut them off. We talk about the turn toward a path to profitability, why margin and EBITDA decided the exit, and what acquirers like Novamex actually look for: trajectory and profit, not just a great product. On the Beyond Brands side, Steven breaks down the fractional sales model, the channel, geography, and money framework he uses to slow founders down, and how to think like a retailer who treats every inch of shelf as real estate. He also shares the brands and categories he's watching right now. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🍵 Carbonating green tea to build a healthier soda 🏪 Why UNFI and Whole Foods said yes fast 🥫 Ditching glass bottles for cans (freight and sustainability) 📈 The "top line, baby" growth-at-all-costs trap 💸 When investors finally cut off the money 🧮 Turning toward margin, EBITDA, and profitability 🤝 Selling Steaz to Novamex in 2016 🎯 What acquirers really look for (trajectory and profit) 🧑🏫 Coming back to advise their own brand 🧭 The channel, geography, and money framework 🪑 Fractional sales vs hiring a $200K VP 🛒 Retail as a real estate game 👀 The brands and categories Steven is watching --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 01:14 – What Beyond Brands does 03:38 – The Steaz origin story 05:17 – Creating a healthy green tea soda 08:19 – The pivot to cans with Whole Foods 10:27 – Top line obsession and when investors pulled back 14:24 – Turning toward a path to profitability 15:46 – Deciding to sell, and why Novamex 17:58 – Preparing for an exit and what acquirers look for 19:36 – Coming back to advise their own brand 22:55 – The Beyond Brands fractional model 24:59 – Channel, geography, and money 27:32 – Fractional sales vs hiring a broker 30:55 – Questions to ask a fractional partner 32:41 – Being a good distributor partner 34:23 – How retail buyers really decide 37:29 – Cracking an off-cycle category review 39:02 – Brands, trends, and where to follow --------------- Links: Beyond Brands – https://beyondbrands.org/ Follow Steven on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-kessler-aa9b445/ Beyond Brands on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondbrands/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/. Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.
