Founder Feature: Greg Cahn of Tamar Date Coffee
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 12 September 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Turn every BFCM QR code scan into sales—get the free report now: www.uniqode.com/bfcmcpg
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Caitlin Bricker speaks with Greg Cahn, co-founder of Tamar Date Coffee, a brand bringing innovation to the coffee category through a unique blend of coffee and dates. Greg shares the inspiration behind Tamar, including his personal experience managing acid reflux and the role his family played in the product's development.
The conversation covers Tamar’s clean-label approach, the health benefits of upcycled date seeds, the thoughtful minimalist branding, and the company’s strategic growth through Farmers Markets, Expo West, and retail partnerships.
Gain valuable insights into the intersection of sustainability, product innovation, and brand storytelling in the consumer packaged goods space.
Listen now!
Listen in as they share about:
- Product Overview & Ingredients
- Founding Story & Personal Motivation
- Branding & Design
- Sustainability and Upcycling
- Market Strategy and Expansion
- Marketing Channels & Availability
Episode Links:
Website: https://drinktamar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gcahn/
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 | I've always wondered about QR codes. Who's scanning them? How impactful are they? |
| 0:06.0 | But now there's actually a really cool new research report from our partners at Unicode. |
| 0:10.0 | You know what's wild? In this report, you can see 74% of shoppers say they'll scan a QR code during Black Friday Cyber Monday, |
| 0:18.0 | but only 37% of marketers think that those campaigns actually worked. |
| 0:22.3 | That's a big gap. And they also found that most brands focus on where to place the QR codes |
| 0:28.1 | just to get the scan, but then they forget to optimize what happens after the scan. |
| 0:32.9 | Marketers, fellow data nerds, you won't be disappointed. There's so much to learn in this report. |
| 0:38.3 | Like, shoppers want value, fast. 56% of shoppers said they expect discounts when they scan, |
| 0:43.6 | like automatically applied discounts with a quick checkout or instant reviews. And you can check |
| 0:48.5 | out who scans those QR codes, demographic insights, purchase likelihood, and learn how |
| 0:53.9 | effectively they've been used in campaigns. So, when you use QR codes, demographic insights, purchase likelihood, and learn how effectively they've been used in campaigns. |
| 0:56.4 | So, when you use QR codes during Black Friday Cyber Monday campaigns, make sure they are working as hard as your offers. |
| 1:03.2 | Check out all the insights in the full free report. It's in the show notes, but it's www.unuchode.com slash BFCM-C-C-G. |
| 1:11.7 | That's www. |
| 1:12.6 | un-I-Q-O-D-E dot com slash B-F-C-M-C-G. I think for us right now, trying to be really thoughtful and really surgical about our growth, really strategic. |
| 1:40.6 | You know, the focus right now on the retail side is independent, natural grocery, California |
| 1:46.0 | focus where we can really demo, really be there on site. |
| 1:49.8 | You know, that's what's so good about the farmers market is I get to really educate because |
| 1:53.2 | we're first to market here. |
| 1:54.8 | If you Google date coffee, we'll be on page one. |
| 1:57.9 | We're on page one there, but it's not a big search volume, right? |
| 2:00.9 | Because it's a totally new category. |
... |
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