The Scaling Series | Make It on Your Own: Vertical Integration
Is there a point at which it might make sense to make your product yourself? How to be clear-eyed about the implications of that pathway? Most importantly, how do you understand the value of that direction for your business—what’s the trade-off between operations efficiencies (assuming they materialize) and other cost drivers?
We’ll hear insights from four industry leaders all of whom have perspective on production pathways that don’t necessarily include co-manufacturers:
Kara Rubin, Strategic Advisor at JPG Resources
David Pelyhes, Business Partner at JPG Resources
Nicole Centeno, founder of Splendid Spoon, has always produced her delicious and healthy meal solutions in her own production facility. More recently, she’s expanded into co-packing partnerships.
Matt Weiss, founder of Rind Snacks, led their acquisition of granola maker, Small Batch Organics, in 2024. The move has expanded the Rind business in many positive ways, but obviously added layers of complexity that the team had to plan for and work through post-acquisition.
About our partners:
JPG Resources bridges the gap between ideas and market success in the food & beverage industry. Unlike traditional consultants who stop at strategy, we understand that execution is where most brands falter. More than just a consulting firm, we are a diverse team of over 75 food & beverage industry veterans and seasoned founders who know how to get it done for both disruptive startups and the most trusted global CPG brands. With over 1,000 years on-the-job in 12 key business functions, we’ve shown that we can move food forward in just about every category.
Glimpse is the first end-to-end deductions service, fully powered by AI. More than just being a software tool to visualize deductions, our service also handles the investigation and dispute process with our AI. Instead of large retainers or hourly fees, we just have a small monthly fee + % of whatever we successfully recoup for brands. We work with CPG brands distributing through KeHE and UNFI Here is more information.