#183 - How AI is Helping CPG Brands with Lentiful and FocusFuel
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 18 February 2025
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG podcast, Daniel Scharff sits down with Daniel Herz, co-founder and CEO of FocusFuel, and Ben Bacon, founder of Lentiful, to dive into how AI is transforming the way brands operate, market, and grow in the CPG space.
Ben shares how AI tools like Claude have revolutionized his email marketing, product development, and even customer insights, helping him craft better messaging, streamline operations, and identify key customer trends. He reveals how AI helped Lentiful optimize its product formulations, enhance email engagement, and even uncover celebrity customers.
Daniel Herz explains how FocusFuel has used AI from day one—starting with name and branding ideation, all the way to email marketing, prospecting, and even investor pitch decks. He highlights how AI acts as a “CMO in your pocket,” optimizing marketing strategies, refining consumer targeting, and speeding up decision-making.
Together, they discuss the power of AI in making small teams more efficient, the importance of human oversight, and where AI is headed in the CPG industry. Whether you're a startup founder or just AI-curious, this episode is packed with actionable insights on how to leverage AI for your brand’s success.
If you'd like to submit how you're using AI or for another call-in episode click the form here https://bit.ly/cpgstories
Listen in as they share about:
- AI for Marketing & Email Copywriting
- AI for Customer Insights & Database Analysis
- AI for Sales Prospecting & Retail Strategy
- AI for Product Development & Formulation
- AI for Operations, Admin, and Legal Tasks
- The Future of AI in Business
Episode Links:
Ben Bacon
Website: https://eatlentiful.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminpbacon/
Daniel Herz
Website: https://thefocusfuel.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-herz/
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You know it can be a big pain? |
| 0:02.0 | Inventory management. |
| 0:04.0 | Keeping tabs on all your ingredients, how much products you have across warehouses and comands, |
| 0:08.0 | your retail and e-com orders and tying all of that together. |
| 0:12.0 | When your Excel spreadsheet breaks, wipe your tears away and call our partners at Syn7Core, |
| 0:17.0 | the most commonly recommended inventory management software from our community. You can track everything in real time in one place. |
| 0:23.6 | Sin 7Core also integrates with all the major tools that we all use like QuickBooks, Shopify, Amazon. |
| 0:29.6 | The most common thing I hear from brands in our community who use them is that they wish they had gotten started sooner. |
| 0:34.6 | So if you're thinking now might be the time, it probably is. |
| 0:38.9 | And we have a special deal where you get 50% off your first three months. |
| 0:42.8 | Check them out at Syn7.com slash startup CPG. |
| 0:46.1 | That's C-I-N, the number seven. |
| 0:49.8 | So that's Syn7.com slash startup CPG. |
| 1:13.6 | So when we're looking at what creators to partner with, we kind of take that analytics and those data that we have on those creators and we'll plug it into ChatGPT or other platforms |
| 1:19.0 | to help us analyze what the right outcome might be or who we should partner with. |
| 1:23.2 | So we've been using it from that, we've been used it for copywriting, but really even if there's |
| 1:27.3 | a question that we don't know how to answer, it's there to be that tool for us. that, we've been used it for copywriting, but really even if there's a question |
| 1:27.7 | that we don't know how to answer, it's there to be that tool for us. So what we've seen is it's become, you know, our CMO, our CLO, our CLO, everything helping run our back office, but most importantly, kind of as partner that we can balance, you know, all these fun, creative, and different ideas off of too. I live in Colorado. I've never stepped foot in Hanford. |
| 1:46.0 | But Claude said, hey, Hanifers is really focused on sustainability. They're trying to get 100% of their stores renewable energy, blah, blah, blah. And so sure enough, at the booth, these two buyers from Hanifords, you know, walk by and they're about to walk away. I said, hey, Haniford, I'd love to tell you about our new fully compostable, |
| 2:02.3 | plastic free cups, because I know you guys are really super focused on sustainability. |
| 2:06.4 | Their eyes lit up, they came back in, we had a conversation, and now that that conversation is going. |
| 2:11.9 | I never would have known this stuff if it wasn't for these AI tools that helped me understand |
... |
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