Founder Feature: Erica Groussman of Trubar
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 5 December 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Caitlin Bricker sits down with Erica Groussman, founder of Trubar—a vegan protein bar brand in nearly 25,000 retail locations doing close to $100 million in gross revenue. Erica shares her journey from going door-to-door with laminated signs and brown boxes to building a brand focused on what women actually want: high protein and fiber without sugar alcohols or seed oils, all wrapped in decadent dessert flavors.
The conversation reveals how Erica built Trubar by wearing every hat—from negotiating ingredient contracts with zero background to hand-repacking four-count boxes for hours to fulfill big orders. She discusses her retail strategy (or lack thereof in the early days), the importance of reformulating to remove seed oils and add fiber, and why not taking yourself too seriously while staying in the day-to-day operations has been key to her success. Erica also shares insights on launching Trubar Kids nationwide, partnering with Universal for a Wicked collaboration, and navigating the challenges of being a female founder in a male-dominated industry.
Packed with candid stories about building credibility through transparency with vendors, leveraging LinkedIn to break into Whole Foods, and maintaining levity while scaling to Target and Costco, this conversation is essential for founders learning to balance authenticity with ambition, female entrepreneurs navigating industry dynamics, and anyone building a better-for-you CPG brand.
Listen in as they share about:
- Trubar's origin story: door-to-door sales with brown boxes and laminated signs
- Building a protein bar specifically designed for what women want
- Reformulating to remove seed oils and increase fiber content
- Hand-repacking orders and wearing every operational hat as a founder
- Breaking into Whole Foods through persistent LinkedIn outreach
- Launching Trubar Kids nationwide in Sprouts and Hy-Vee
- The Universal/Wicked collaboration and getting into Target with shippers
- Being strong but feminine: advice for female founders in male-dominated spaces
- Transparency with vendors and why honesty builds long-term credibility
- Not taking yourself too seriously while building something massive
Episode Links:
Website: https://www.trubarinc.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eaweiss121/
Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trubar/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trubar.brands/
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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. You just need to go out there. |
| 1:01.2 | You need to use who you know. |
| 1:03.8 | If there's a retailer that you want to get into and you really, like, who do you know? |
| 1:08.2 | Who knows someone who works there? |
| 1:09.7 | And just try to, to like maneuver because we |
| 1:12.4 | know people for a reason and people really like to help if you reach out to someone who's already |
| 1:17.1 | been there or already done that like they want to help you that's our nature of who we are we were |
| 1:22.2 | all there at one point so I think that reaching out to people who you might be either know of that retailer or someone who just recently got in, I think that's really a quick and easy, helpful way to get yourself in the door. |
| 1:37.6 | Hey, everybody. This is Caitlin Bricker, managing editor at Startup CPG. We are back with another founder feature. Today we're talking with |
| 1:45.4 | Erica Grousman, founder of TrueBar, a vegan protein bar company in almost 25,000 locations |
| 1:51.7 | doing nearly $100 million in gross revenue. After going door to door with laminated signs and brown |
| 1:58.4 | boxes, Erica built a brand by focusing on what women actually |
| 2:02.3 | want. High protein and fiber without sugar alcohols or seed oils that still deliver decadent, |
... |
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