Founder Feature: Brian Bethke of BEAR Maple Farms
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of The Startup CPG Podcast, Grace Kennedy sits down with Brian Bethke, founder of BEAR Maple Farms and winner of the 2024 Shelfie Award in the drink category. Brian shares his inspiring journey from building amplifiers for rock legends like Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz to creating a one-of-a-kind functional beverage featuring ginseng and maple water.
Discover how BEAR Maple Farms combines the natural sweetness of maple water with the adaptogenic power of sustainably grown ginseng to deliver a refreshing, caffeine-free energy boost. Brian opens up about the challenges and triumphs of launching a CPG brand, the pivotal moments that shaped his entrepreneurial journey, and how critical feedback led to a transformative rebrand.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or simply a fan of innovative beverages, this episode is packed with insights on building a team, navigating the CPG industry, and creating a product that’s good for the mind, body, and planet.
Tune in to hear Brian’s story and learn how BEAR Maple is expanding nationally in 2025!
Listen in as they share about:
- BEAR Maple Farms Origin Story
- Product Development
- Branding and Marketing
- Sales and Distribution Strategy
- Mentorship and Networking
- Community and Support
- Advice to Entrepreneurs
- Plans for 2025
Episode Links:
Website: https://drinkbearmaple.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bethke/
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey folks, are you ready to boost your e-commerce sales and profitability? |
| 0:05.9 | When I ran a brand, the hardest bill to swallow was money wasted on a bad performance marketing strategy. |
| 0:11.6 | Meet the team from Pennock Digital Marketing. |
| 0:13.9 | They're strategists, media planners, and SEO experts who can't stand seeing emerging brands struggle with inefficient marketing spend. |
| 0:20.2 | They create tailored solutions for brands who generate over $25,000 in monthly e-commerce revenue |
| 0:25.6 | to help them achieve profitable growth. |
| 0:28.4 | But wait, there's more. |
| 0:29.9 | Pennock is offering qualifying startup CPG brands a special deal, |
| 0:33.5 | either $15,000 in ad spend or a full quarter of SEO services. |
| 0:38.7 | To see if you qualify, head over to Pennock.co.co slash startup CPG. |
| 0:43.5 | That's P-E-N-N-O-C-K.com slash startup CPG. |
| 0:48.7 | It's in the show notes. |
| 0:53.6 | The Up to now, you couldn't grow ginseng sustainably, because if you go and for forge it from the forest, that's not really |
| 1:13.0 | scalable. If you grow it in a field, you have to use pesticides and that's not it. Those build up |
| 1:18.8 | in the root and that's not really healthy or desirable. So we were able to partner with a company |
| 1:25.1 | and make a product that is truly unique and something |
| 1:30.0 | that you don't see out there on the shelf yet. |
| 1:32.2 | There's no other beverage out there that focuses on ginseng as the hero ingredient. |
| 1:36.5 | There's zero caffeine, but it gives you that boost of energy without the caffeine crash. |
| 1:41.9 | And it's the perfect 2.30 in the afternoon drink because it's not going to |
| 1:44.9 | keep you up at night and it's just amazing stuff. |
| 1:50.2 | Hello everyone. This is Grace and I'm here with another founder feature. Today I'm talking to |
... |
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