Founder Feature: Katie Lefkowitz of Harken Sweets
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2024
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG podcast, Grace Kennedy speaks with Katie Lefkowitz, founder of Harken Sweets, about her journey from concept to creating a successful better-for-you candy brand. Katie shares how her personal health journey inspired the development of candy bars infused with superfoods like dates and oats, offering healthier alternatives to traditional sweets.
Katie covers Harken’s rapid expansion from a local launch in New York City to distribution in over 4,000 stores nationwide, including Walmart and Safeway, within just one year. Katie explains the challenges of product development, scaling manufacturing, and managing cash flow as a bootstrapped business. She also provides actionable advice for founders on navigating retail relationships, trade shows, and building an engaged community through social media.
Katie also highlights her strategic approach to operations, the importance of persistence, and how her team is preparing for further innovation and growth in 2025. This episode provides valuable insights for entrepreneurs in the CPG space looking to scale effectively while maintaining brand focus. Listen now!
Listen in as they share about:
- Katie’s Journey to Founding Harken Sweets
- Product Development Challenges
- Early Launch Strategy
- Marketing and Growth
- Operations and Cash Flow
- Personal and Team Dynamics
- Future Plans and Advice for Entrepreneurs
Episode Links:
Website: https://harkensweets.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katielefkowitz/
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Show Links:
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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 pennic.com 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. |
| 1:06.4 | Mm-hmm. People don't really want to engage with a brand, right? |
| 1:13.1 | They want to engage with human beings, and the brand is the human beings that run the brand. And so I try to show that side of us. I'm hoping to actually do more and more of that because I find that that's how |
| 1:17.9 | people are really resonating with the product, with the brand and with the story and continuing |
| 1:22.5 | to just kind of get that out there and get people excited about it. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. |
| 1:31.4 | This is Grace and today I'm talking to Katie Lefkowitz, the founder of Harkin Sweets. |
| 1:37.5 | Harkin Sweets transforms some of our favorite childhood treats into nutrient-dense candy bars |
| 1:43.0 | that use date fruit to infuse their products |
| 1:45.9 | with natural sweetness. They're also only 150 calories per bar, and they are so, so delicious. |
| 1:54.7 | Before launching Harkin, Katie was actually the C-O-O of Collie Power, So she has tons of experience and some great advice for her |
| 2:02.6 | fellow founders in this episode. I hope you enjoy listening. And as always, let me know what you |
... |
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