Opportunity Knocks: Get Direct Access to Top Retailers

The Startup CPG Podcast

Startup CPG

Startup, Food, Business, Beverage, Cpg, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2026

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff and Caitlin Bricker — a former retail buyer and managing editor at Startup CPG — pull back the curtain on the biggest thing Startup CPG has ever built: Opportunity Knocks. This is a brand new platform designed to give emerging CPG brands a direct line to some of the most exciting retailers, distributors, and industry stakeholders in the game — no broker required.

Opportunity Knocks drops exclusively in the Startup CPG newsletter every other Friday, starting May 1st. Each opportunity opens a two-week submission window for brands to apply directly. Featured retailers include names like Raley's, The Fresh Market, Hungryroot, and Whole Foods UK — with more on the way. Many opportunities will also include a virtual fireside chat with the retailer or stakeholder, giving brands a chance to hear exactly what they're looking for before submitting.

Daniel and Caitlin walk through everything brands need to know to make the most of this new platform — from what gets an application noticed to what quietly kills it. Caitlin brings her buyer lens to break down the basics that too many brands overlook, and Daniel shares the incrementality story that actually moves buyers and the mindset shift that separates brands who get picked up from the ones who keep getting passed over.

Listen in as they cover:

Why Opportunity Knocks exists — and how it evolved from the retail tracker and review calendar
How the submission process works: two-week windows, fireside chats, and what happens after you apply
Which retailers and stakeholders are already involved — and what kinds of brands they're looking for
Why your ingredient list, product packaging, and founder story all need to be on your website before you submit
How to tell an incrementality story that actually gives a buyer confidence Why knowing the retailer's set — and speaking their language — can 10x your chances
What consistent rejection is really telling you — and when it's time to take a hard look The ingredient and formulation trends brands should be paying attention to right now
How to reach out if you're a retailer, distributor, or investor interested in participating

Retailers and other industry stakeholders interested in becoming part of this campaign initiative can reach out to OK@startupcpg.com.

If you’re a brand looking to submit your products to individual campaigns, sign up for our newsletter and Slack via startupcpg.com. Make sure you do it before 5/1 so you don't miss out on the first opportunity!

Interested in sponsoring Startup CPG, Opportunity Knocks, and other initiatives? Reach out to partnerships@startupcpg.com.

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:

Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)
Follow @startupcpg
Visit host Daniel's Linkedin
Visit host Caitlin's Linkedin
Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
Episode music by Super Fantastics

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. Today, we are sharing something extra special with you. We've been cooking up something huge behind the scenes. I know you probably hear this from us
0:21.8	often, but this is bigger and better than anything we've ever done before if we do say so
0:27.4	ourselves. You are the first ones that get a chance to hear what we've been working on. So Daniel,
0:33.8	let us know. Let everybody know. What have we been cooking up? That was such a good buildup.
0:39.6	This is like me, my job is basically hype man, but I think maybe you have gotten even better than I have with all of the eight years of practice from doing startup CBG. That was very, very appropriate hype up for the excitement that I feel in my bones of this new opportunity that we are bringing
0:55.2	to everyone. So before I tell you what it is, I've been doing this for a long time. I started
1:00.3	startup CPG in 2018. And the idea was always, it's too tough to be a brand. And we just want to
1:05.9	help with things for free because we enjoy it. And we really feel like early stage brands can use the help.
1:13.4	We as an organization have evolved in such enjoyable, fantastic ways where in those early stages,
1:18.9	it was really fun and meaningful just to do an event and get a lot of people together and create
1:22.8	community. But we always raise the bar. And after a few years, when we're doing events, we're like,
1:28.9	if there aren't even buyers or investors here, what are we even doing? We want action. We want
1:33.4	stuff to come out of what we're doing. We want high impact. So because of that, we've been able to
1:38.8	really improve everything that we do. It's designed to actually get deals done. And you can see that evolution
1:45.8	in the grocery run series that we do, for example, that is focused around bringing buyers and
1:51.3	brands together in the markets in the most accessible way for brands. We also have been doing
1:57.0	these one-on-one meetings around all of the trade shows that result in so much for the brands. I mean, we did, I think, 600 one-on-one meetings around all of the trade shows that result in so much for the brands.
2:02.3	I mean, we did, I think, 600 one-on-one meetings at one of the shows. It's amazing.
2:07.3	And there are dozens, if not hundreds of deals that will actually happen.
2:11.1	That's the stuff that really gets us going that makes us absolutely fight to sandwich in that last retailer meeting request that we get.
2:19.1	And we've seen all of that success. And also at the same time, we're so lucky to get to
2:24.9	partner with all of these incredible retailers around the country. And they actually come to
	...

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