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The Startup CPG Podcast

Ops Spotlight: Todd Hoffman, COO at Brightland

The Startup CPG Podcast

Startup CPG

Startup, Food, Business, Beverage, Cpg, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary


In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Operations and Finance Contributor Hannah Dittman sits down with Todd Hoffman, Chief Operating Officer at Brightland, to discuss the strategic and operational challenges of scaling a modern CPG brand.


Todd shares his unique transition from a decade in investment banking to leading operations at Chloe’s and now Brightland. The conversation explores the evolving role of the COO, key considerations for omnichannel growth, and the tactical realities of expanding from direct-to-consumer into retail. Todd also offers valuable insights on supply chain strategy, co-manufacturer relationships, inventory planning, and when to implement infrastructure such as 3PLs or ERP systems.


Whether you're a founder entering grocery for the first time or an operator looking to build scalable processes, this episode delivers practical guidance and candid reflections from an industry leader.


Listen in as they share about:

  • Overview of Brightland
  • Role of COO & Operations in CPG
  • Operations & Supply Chain Best Practices
  • Retail Strategy & Grocery Channel Expansion
  • Product Development Insights
  • Co-Manufacturing Relationships & Contracts
  • Scaling Strategy & Infrastructure
  • Lessons from Operations

Episode Links:

Website:  https://brightland.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-hoffman-97aa6a4/ 


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 (20K+ members and growing!)
  • Follow @startupcpg
  • Visit host Hannah'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

I think from an operator perspective, what's really important is to build a

0:14.3

ground corners and have an idea of what might be to come, right?

0:19.8

As a CEO, you're not necessarily in the weeds.

0:22.6

You're trying to figure out what's happening next, not what's happening now,

0:25.4

and you're relying on your team to help make sure that what's happening now is happening

0:30.7

and happening well.

0:31.7

And in the role I sit in, it's really more about what's going to happen next, what's

0:35.3

going to happen after the next.

0:36.8

So making sure your team

0:38.4

feels really empowered in their decision making, making sure that we're all in the same ship,

0:42.7

sort of rowing in the same direction. If people on my team think that the only focus is D to C,

0:48.2

but I'm sitting in my room by myself thinking, hey, we need to focus on grocery, we're not

0:52.5

going in the same direction. We might be making very different decisions.

0:56.7

Hey, everybody. I'm Hannah Dittman, Operations and Finance correspondent at startup CPG, and the current

1:02.3

founder of Ready Basics. I'm thrilled to be chatting today with Todd Hoffman, CEO of the fast-growing

1:07.8

olive oil empire Brightland. Running operations at a scaling brand means juggling a

1:12.3

million moving parts, from sourcing and manufacturing to pricing forecasting and retail readiness.

1:17.5

Whether you're launching your first skew or dodging your fifth supply chain fire drill,

1:21.3

this episode breaks it all down. Todd brings a ton of experience and seriously actionable insights

1:26.5

into what ops actually look like behind the scenes of a modern CPG brand,

1:30.5

and how to do it smarter, faster, and more collaboratively.

1:34.7

Stick around to hear his takes on navigating MOQ challenges, managing inventory levels,

...

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