Founder Feature: Houston Buehrle of Little Zing
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Caitlin Bricker welcomes Houston Buehrle, founder of Little Zing, a premium mustard brand rooted in a century-old Danish family recipe. Houston shares how he transformed his great-grandmother’s handcrafted condiment into a fast-emerging brand in the CPG space, known for its clean ingredients, distinctive flavor, and standout branding.
Throughout the conversation, Houston discusses his commitment to ingredient integrity, his approach to product innovation, and the importance of authentic storytelling in building consumer trust. He also reflects on lessons learned from his previous venture, Bindle Bottle, and how resilience and creativity guided him toward launching Little Zing.
Listeners will gain insights into grassroots brand building, the value of community-driven growth through farmers markets, and how platforms like TikTok Live are reshaping direct-to-consumer engagement. Houston also offers a preview of Little Zing’s upcoming garlic miso flavor, designed to expand the brand’s reach while staying true to its original ethos.
Tune in to learn how Houston Buehrle turned a family legacy into a modern, purpose-driven brand.
Listen in as they share about:
- The Origin of Little Zing
- Product Development
- Branding, Packaging & Differentiation
- Retail Strategy & Market Growth
- The CPG and Condiment Landscape
- Sampling & Collaborations
- Marketing & TikTok Live Strategy
- Collaborations & Future Vision
Episode Links:
Website: https://littlezing.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/houston-max-buehrle-40043a36/Â
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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 | I think my strategy, one is just focused on the flavor and make sure that the bottle and the packaging does stand out. |
| 0:17.7 | So when people are looking at that wall of yellow, then they look at ours and |
| 0:22.0 | they're like, oh, that looks interesting. I'll try that. |
| 0:25.4 | Hey, everybody. This is Caitlin Bricker, editor at startup CPG. We are back with another founder |
| 0:31.1 | feature. Today we're talking with Houston Bueller, founder of Little Zing, a Danish mustard |
| 0:36.1 | sauce that's been in Houston's family for over a century. |
| 0:39.4 | After Houston's water bottle company went through a recall in bankruptcy following features on |
| 0:44.3 | Oprah's favorite things in Good Morning America, Houston found himself at farmer's markets. |
| 0:49.4 | He was selling his great-grandmother's recipe that his late father used to give his holiday gifts. |
| 0:55.0 | From landing in over 120 stores in just eight months to hosting TikTok lives multiple times a week, |
| 1:01.3 | he's building a brand that stands out in an aisle full of yellow. |
| 1:04.9 | As someone who believes mustard is the superior condiment, |
| 1:08.4 | Little Zing has earned prime real estate on my fridge door. Enjoy. |
| 1:17.2 | Hey everybody, welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin and today I'm here with |
| 1:22.6 | Houston Bueller, founder of Little Zing. Houston, welcome to the show. Thanks, Caitlin. So happy to be here. I am so happy |
| 1:29.2 | to have you here. I have to shout out my colleague, Melissa. She's the one that turned me on to Little |
| 1:34.1 | Zing. She knows I'm a huge mustard fan and when I got to try Little Zing, I was like, wow, this is a good |
| 1:41.5 | product. Thank you, Melissa, and thank you for being here. And for anybody who's not familiar with Little Zing, can you just give us a quick little snippet of what Little Zing is? |
| 1:53.0 | Yeah, so Little Zing, it's my great grandma's recipe from Denmark. She grew up in Copenhagen. And it's been passed down through our family for literally |
| 2:01.9 | 100 years. My dad was the last one to make it. Make big batches in our kitchen during the holidays |
| 2:07.7 | and hand them out to friends, family, and clients. It's a really unique mustard. The original |
| 2:13.9 | flavor, it's sweet, and then it has a little bit of a horseradishy kick, but it's also a lot |
... |
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