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.
The foods that we choose to eat represent our single biggest environmental impact. This is the belief of today’s guest, activist entrepreneur Seth Goldman, who wants to inform and empower consumers to make choices that align with their concerns around climate change and wellbeing.
Seth is the co-founder and Chief Change Agent of Eat the Change, a snack company on a mission to create chef-crafted, nutrient-dense snacks that are kind to the planet and delicious to eat! He is also the Cofounder of PLNT Burger and Honest Tea, Chair of the Board at Beyond Meat, and the author of Mission in a Bottle: The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently—and Succeeding.
Today, we speak to Seth about his original mission when founding Honest Tea in 1998 and how that vision evolved as he developed the family of brands under the Eat the Change umbrella (including Just Iced Tea). He also shares his drive to make a real impact rather than simply being a passenger on our planet. Whether you want to launch a product in the natural foods category or just lighten your carbon footprint, you’ll gain inspiration from this conversation about why what we eat matters. Plus, you’ll learn something about persevering as a purpose-driven brand leader in the big food ecosystem along the way!
Key Points From This Episode:
- A deeper understanding of why what we eat matters.
- Persevering as a mission-driven entrepreneur in the big food space.
- The importance of being an actor rather than a passenger on our planet.
- The story behind how Seth because a purpose-driven entrepreneur.
- A snapshot of the food and beverage industry in 1998, when Seth launched Honest Tea.
- The honesty, sustainability, and taste at the heart of Honest Tea’s mission statement.
- Why Seth refers to what Eat the Change is doing as a “joyful experience.”
- The significant impact that Honest Tea/Honest Kids has had for consumers and Coca-Cola.
- Seth’s vision for the growing family of Eat the Change brands.
- What Seth loves about innovating in the planet-friendly snack category.
- Key advice for differentiating yourself as a mission-driven entrepreneur.
- Why Eat the Change gives every employee a stake in the company’s future.
- Why Seth says you can’t be a “desk chair entrepreneur” in the natural foods business.
- Consumer insights you can gain just from visiting the stores you’re stocked in.
- What the future of food looks like from Seth’s perspective.
- Encouraging trends in the plant-based foods category.