From Farm to 7-Figure Exit (and Beyond): Heather Sandford’s CPG Growth Playbook
What does it take to turn a small-batch food brand into a multi-state success—and then parlay that into leading operations at a $1B+ grocery tech portfolio?
Join us for an inspiring fireside chat with Heather Sandford, a Cornell-trained entrepreneur who co-founded The Piggery, a vertically integrated natural foods CPG brand distributed in 26 states. In just 7 years, she grew it to a 7-figure exit, raising $1.5M to scale wholesale operations and building a USDA-inspected processing facility from the ground up.
Post-acquisition, Heather stepped into the tech side of food, becoming VP of Operations for a disruptive grocery startup that was later acquired by Instacart. There, she led a $1B+ GMV grocery portfolio before founding Empire Food Consultants, where she now helps launch new CPG lines, optimize e-commerce grocery operations, and lectures at universities.
In this conversation—hosted by Stephanie Melodia—Heather will share the hard-won insights, tactical frameworks, and unfiltered truths behind building and scaling in the competitive food and CPG world.
In this session, Heather will cover:
• How to take a CPG product from local shelves to multi-state distribution
• Raising capital and scaling wholesale without losing product integrity
• Building operational excellence—from farms to processing plants to tech platforms
• Navigating acquisitions from both sides of the table
• Lessons for founders in CPG, e-commerce, and operations-intensive industries
Whether you’re in food, retail, or just want to sharpen your scaling chops, this is your chance to learn from someone who’s done it all—from pasture to portfolio.
Don’t miss it!