Technology Meets Natural Food with Karen Frame of Makeena

Posted inEvolve CPG

PRINTCast: The PRINT Podcast Studio is a curated collection of cutting-edge podcasts we love about design, creativity, branding, books, and further subjects afield. Here’s the latest episode of Evolve CPG, a podcast about innovative leaders who are evolving the Consumer Packaged Goods industry by building better products and better brands to imagine a better world.


In recent times, we have seen a rapid rise in technology used to enhance in-store experiences and even incentivize better food choices.

Today on the EvolveCPG Podcast, we are joined by Karen Frame, an early innovator of such technology in the natural foods industry. Apart from her experience in accounting, law, real estate, coding, and even education, Karen is also a serial entrepreneur. She started two other companies before founding and becoming the CEO of her latest venture, Makeena, an awesome digital insights company that helps brands in the natural products space better understand their consumers. 

Tuning in, you’ll find out who Makeena was made for, how consumers interact with it, and how the company is geared toward servicing the industry as a whole. Suppose you’re looking to gain critical insight into how the conscious consumer behaves post-COVID and why it’s beneficial to be a conscious business in this day and age. In that case, this episode about Makeena’s translated definitions of “happiness” and “abundance” is the perfect fit. You won’t want to miss it!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • How Makeena works, who it’s for, the brands it features, and examples of it in action.
  • What it looks like when consumers interact with Makeena.
  • Why Makeena is not just for the brand or consumer; it’s for the entire industry.
  • Why it was important for Makeena to be a B Corp and a One Percent for the Planet member.
  • Some data explaining the habits of the conscious consumer post-COVID. 
  • The way companies approach Makeena (and what they ask Karen and her team for). 
  • What conscious investors are looking for in prospective business partners.  
  • Karen’s view on the future of retail and how it will impact better-for-the-world brands. 
  • The benefits of being a conscious business.
  • How Makeena was formed. 
  • How in-store grocery shopping can still be a valuable experience. 
  • Karen’s insatiable inner drive to make the world a better place. 
  • Happiness and abundance: the literal definitions of Makeena. 
  • Where Karen’s passion for law came from and the type of law she practiced.
  • The accelerator that lit the fuse and helped Karen prove the Makeena doubters wrong. 
  • A look at the two businesses Karen started prior to Makeena.