#195 - What Do Health and Sustainability Really Mean to Consumers? | Dana Kim & Sam Kass

The Startup CPG Podcast

Startup CPG

Startup, Food, Business, Beverage, Cpg, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff chats with Dana Kim & Sam Kass to unpack what “health” and “sustainability” actually mean to today’s consumers.

Sam Kass, former White House Chef and food policy advisor to the Obamas, shares behind-the-scenes stories from the West Wing—including what it's really like cooking for the First Family—and how those experiences led to a deep commitment to reshaping our food systems. He dives into the hard truths about sugar, portion sizes, and policy limits, as well as the ambitious mission behind his new venture, PLEZi, to help shift eating habits for the next generation.

Dana Kim, founder & CEO of product testing platform Highlight, brings the data. From packaging guilt to sweetener preferences, Dana shares real consumer insights from across the U.S.—what shoppers say they care about vs. what they actually buy, and why brands need to tailor their health and sustainability messages to fit different audiences (Erewhon isn't the whole world!).

Together, they explore how brands can build better-for-you products and communicate them effectively—without falling into the greenwashing trap.

👉 Want to learn how to turn data into product gold and create CPG brands that truly resonate with customers? Listen now and get inspired by two people shaping the future of food.

Learn more about Highlight here

Listen in as they share about:

Health and Sustainability in Consumer Perception
Sam Kass’ White House Experience
Nutrition Policy and Cultural Barriers
Consumer Behavior & Product Testing
Sustainability Perception
Trends in Food & Beverage
Differences Between Mass and Tastemaker Consumers
Brand Strategy & Messaging
Advice to Founders and Brands

Episode Links:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/samkassdc/?hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-kass-896752112/

Website: https://www.letshighlight.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-kim-44920135/

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.

Show Links:

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Join the Startup CPG Slack community (20K+ members and growing!)
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Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
Episode music by Super Fantastics

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, do you know about Mini Social?
0:03.7	So it takes seven touch points on average to convert a potential consumer.
0:07.3	You can get started by meeting your consumers where they can see you every day on social.
0:11.9	Our friends at Mini Social work with brands on micro-influencer amplification and UGC creation.
0:18.2	You can get content that's fully licensed for use on your own marketing channels
0:21.6	and watch creators post about your products to their audience.
0:25.6	Mini Social has been around since 2018, partnering with over 1,000 CPG brands like
0:30.3	Bonza, Outstanding Foods, Fly By Jing, Hydrant, Love Wellness, and many more.
0:34.6	You can learn how it works by visiting CPG.binisocial.com and take a look
0:39.5	of their case studies.
0:40.6	Make sure to mention us at Startup CPG for a special
0:43.1	discount.
1:02.8	Thank you. I do think that one of the things that we're learning,
1:05.2	particularly shown on the sustainability side,
1:13.1	is that every category and every product really within certain categories are perceived slightly differently.
1:17.7	So the same person will have different expectations, like say on the sustainability side for milk and dairy products than they would for chips, even if they're hardcore evangelists for
1:22.5	climate change. And then the same, by the way, is true for health.
1:26.2	So there's the data quality is to compromise to say the least.
1:29.7	The effort is really expensive.
1:31.4	It's really slow.
1:32.6	You know, all of that clunkiness of physical product testing is the world I come from.
1:36.5	The key to unlocking product success is consumer insight and hard data to power all the decisions that you're making.
	...

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