#227 - Operations Ask-Me-Anything with Jamie Valenti-Jordan
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff speaks with Jamie Valenti-Jordan, CEO of Catapult Commercialization Services, a leader in food and beverage product development, scale-up, and manufacturing strategy. Jamie brings decades of experience guiding brands from concept to commercialization, and a mission-driven focus on helping innovators build sustainable food systems for a rapidly growing population.
Throughout the conversation, Jamie breaks down the realities of bringing products to market—from choosing the right product developer to navigating the complexities of frozen logistics, ingredient sourcing, and co-manufacturing partnerships. He offers clear, pragmatic frameworks for evaluating partners, managing risk, and building cost-effective operations, while emphasizing the importance of communication, collaboration, and long-term relationship building.
Daniel and Jamie also explore the structural challenges early-stage brands face when entering manufacturing environments not optimized for small batches, and why founders must understand the economics and constraints of their partners to negotiate effectively and scale responsibly.
Listen in as they discuss:
- How to identify and evaluate independent product developers
- Challenges and cost drivers in frozen DTC logistics
- Where and how emerging brands can source core ingredients
- Sampling strategies and pilot runs for early-stage commercialization
- The operational realities behind low minimum order quantities
- How co-manufacturers structure their costs and capacity planning
- Best practices for visiting facilities and developing working relationships
- Key considerations when reviewing co-packer contracts
- The role of transparency, expectations, and shared accountability
Episode Links
Website: https://www.catapultserv.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fvmh97c/
Product Developer Database Submissions: https://bit.ly/productdevelopers
epg contact: janele@enterprisepurchasing.com, mention Startup CPG
Join the Startup CPG Slack: startupcpg.com
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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- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A few years back when I ran a beverage company, we had to launch using those plastic sleeves to put our designs on the cans. |
| 0:08.0 | But they looked bad, the sleeves get stretched out, they don't cover the full can, and overall they just look and feel low quality. |
| 0:14.0 | Lucky for you, digital can printing technology has come so far over the last few years that now you can launch your beverage brand or new skews with a fully |
| 0:21.7 | printed look and it's at similar pricing to those plastic sleeves. |
| 0:25.3 | Our friends at CanWorks, which is the largest U.S.-based digital can printer, are happy to work with |
| 0:30.1 | our community at very low minimums, even one palette. |
| 0:32.9 | They've got locations in the East Coast, the West Coast, Texas. |
| 0:36.0 | Get in touch with them through our contact form. |
| 0:38.2 | It's at canworksprinting.com slash startup CPG. |
| 0:42.7 | Thank you. larger basket orders will allow you to buy that dry ice at a cost-effective way. |
| 1:04.9 | Likewise, your larger styrofoam container is more cost effective when your purchase size is larger. |
| 1:12.9 | So without getting into the thermodynamics of why, it's going to be a continuous issue with |
| 1:18.3 | direct-to-consumer frozen. This is why we try to work frozen through the retail channel, |
| 1:23.8 | and we've got really good supply chains to support that. |
| 1:27.9 | Hey, ops people, if you got a problem, yo, we'll solve it. |
| 1:31.4 | Today I got Jamie Valenti Jordan on the pod, one of the deepest ops heads out there. |
| 1:36.4 | I've worked with him personally so much. |
| 1:38.4 | Love featuring him over and over on the podcast because he just has all of the knowledge. |
| 1:42.7 | You cannot stump this guy. |
| 1:43.7 | So I've picked five of the most common questions from our huge Slack channel lately and |
| 1:49.0 | teed them up for him. |
| 1:50.4 | I can't wait for you to hear all about it. |
... |
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