SHELFSPACE

Corwin Hiebert

The shelf is never full—there is always room for innovation. SHELFSPACE is the podcast that explores the vast universe of grocery. Join host Corwin Hiebert on a galactic adventure—going where no foodie has gone before—for a behind-the-scenes look at the entire food value chain. We’re diving deep into how food and beverage leaders navigate the high-stakes challenges and astronomical opportunities of the retail world. Great ideas usually start with a hunch and a conversation with someone you trust. In an industry where leaders wear a dozen different hats—bouncing between suppliers, vendors, departments, markets, and grocery chains—SHELFSPACE is your home for discovery. Featuring insights from insiders, manufactures, marketers, investors, retailers, and consumers, we’re charting the future of food. 

  1. Aug 13 ·  Bonus

    Spencer Watts / Aisle Moonwalk

    This is a live, on location recording in a local grocery store with a chef who is also a CPG co-founder. It's the second installment of The Aisle Moonwalk. This time it's Spencer Watts of Chef's Day Off — a new line of flavour-packed dressings and sauces rooted in kitchen culture. Spencer chats through his take on product development, branding, recipe formulation, consumer demand, and his own personal health transformation. Learn more about these remarkable dressings and where to buy them at https://chefsdayoff.com/. And follow their journey on Instagram here. This bonus episode is proudly sponsored by Benchmark Sixty. A data-driven, operations-focused consulting group that specialize in helping restaurants boost productivity, get labor costs back on track, and increase profit margins. Their approach focuses on improving employee retention and operational efficiency—all without compromising the brand experience. I'm thrilled to have Jim Taylor and the Benchmark Sixty group as part of the SHELFSPACE family, their support and influence is playing a vital role in expanding our programming beyond consumer goods and grocery and I encourage you to check them out, and pick up Jim’s book, at https://www.benchmarksixty.com/. And to the rest of our show sponsors, I'm so grateful for their partnership: Rhema, TD Business Banking, Pacific Coast Distribution, Fasken, and Picnic Creative. To learn more about Corwin Hiebert go here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corwinhiebert/ and learn more about SHELFSPACE here: https://www.shelfspacepodcast.com/.

    Spencer Watts / Aisle Moonwalk
  2. Aug 3

    Rachel Mansfield / cadootz! & More, Please! Cookbook

    In this episode, Corwin Hiebert (host) chats with Rachel Mansfield — a content creator with 1.5M followers, CPG investor, and now founder of cadootz!, the clean-label, protein-packed snack brand redefining what kids actually crave. They dig into her D2C launch, her exclusive nationwide deal with Target, and her new quick-meal cookbook, More, Please! — which has just landed in bookstores and on digital bookshelves everywhere. You can read about (and buy) the new cookbook on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. It's a fantastic countertop resource filled with family-approved, kid-friendly meals, freezable options, and dietary flexibility to help you make the recipes gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar free, and more. More, Please! is the time-saving kitchen companion every busy parent needs. You can learn about how cadootz! is reimagining kids' snack time with organic, whole-food snacks that are exciting and actually fuel little bodies here: https://cadootz.com/. Each 30g serving delivers 5g of protein from organic cheddar and milk protein concentrate, with no seed oils — just 100% organic extra virgin olive oil. the whole grains are intentionally sourced too: organic oat flour that's certified purity protocol gluten-free and glyphosate-free, with no enriched wheat flour anywhere. But before we jump in, a galactic shoutout to the partners who make it possible to bring SHELFSPACE to your pod-box for free: TD Business Banking, Fasken Law, Pacific Coast Distribution, Rhema, Benchmark Sixty, and Picnic Creative. To subscribe to the SHELFSPACE go to LinkedIn—where you can also connect with Corwin Hiebert. Learn more about this show at https://www.shelfspacepodcast.com/

    Rachel Mansfield / cadootz! & More, Please! Cookbook
  3. Jul 14

    Benjamin Lorr / The Secret Life of Groceries

    What really happens between the farm, the factory, and the fluorescent aisle? Benjamin Lorr — author of The Secret Life of Groceries and a practitioner of deep, immersive journalism — pulls back the curtain on an industry most of us walk through several times a week without ever really seeing. From the hidden costs baked into low prices to the surprising resistance to innovation in a $800B business, this conversation reframes the grocery store as one of the most revealing artifacts of modern life. In this episodeBenjamin traces his unlikely path from writing about competitive yoga to embedding himself in the grocery supply chain — riding with long-haul truckers, working the fish counter at Whole Foods, and following shrimp back to labor abuses at sea. He unpacks why certification schemes often fall short of what shoppers assume they promise, why grocery stores are structurally allergic to change, and how food has quietly become one of our most potent tools for signaling identity and status. He also shares where he's heading next: a deep look at the American elder care industry. Key topicsThe dark realities of the modern grocery supply chain and the human cost of cheap foodWhy certifications and audits often fail to deliver what consumers think they're buyingThe paradox of a massive industry that resists innovation at nearly every turnFood waste, sustainability, and the systemic forces that keep both entrenchedSeafood as a case study in opacity, ethics, and consumer choiceFood as a Veblen good — how what we eat has become a signifier of status and self-expressionChapters00:00 — Innovations in grocery shopping02:45 — From yoga to groceries: a journey of discovery06:58 — The dark side of the grocery industry14:30 — The role of certifications in food safety17:38 — Future chapters: what's next for groceries22:21 — Reflections on seafood and consumer choices26:22 — Surprising feedback and industry insights30:20 — Memorable grocery experiencesAbout the guestBenjamin Lorr is an author and immersive journalist known for embedding himself deeply in the worlds he writes about. His book The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket is a landmark examination of how our food system actually works — and who pays the price for its efficiency. Show SponsorsThank you to the corporate partners that make SHELFSPACE possible: TD Business Banking https://www.td.com/ca/en/commercial-banking Fasken https://www.fasken.com/en/services/industries/agribusiness Rhema https://rhemamade.com/ Pacific Coast Distribution https://www.pacificcoast.ca/ Picnic Creative https://picniccreates.com/ Benchmark Sixty https://www.benchmarksixty.com/

    Benjamin Lorr / The Secret Life of Groceries

Trailer

About

The shelf is never full—there is always room for innovation. SHELFSPACE is the podcast that explores the vast universe of grocery. Join host Corwin Hiebert on a galactic adventure—going where no foodie has gone before—for a behind-the-scenes look at the entire food value chain. We’re diving deep into how food and beverage leaders navigate the high-stakes challenges and astronomical opportunities of the retail world. Great ideas usually start with a hunch and a conversation with someone you trust. In an industry where leaders wear a dozen different hats—bouncing between suppliers, vendors, departments, markets, and grocery chains—SHELFSPACE is your home for discovery. Featuring insights from insiders, manufactures, marketers, investors, retailers, and consumers, we’re charting the future of food.