5 • 145 Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
In this episode, I sit down with Jonathan Cornish, the spirited co-founder and “Head Bandit” behind The Froot Thief—a fruit snack brand that’s turning heads and winning lunchboxes.
Jonathan’s story is one of grit, gratitude, and big flavor. We discuss how a family-run business gave him and his brother their first break over 25 years ago, and how that act of faith continues to shape their approach today. That foundation—combined with deep experience in retail and manufacturing—set the stage for a snack brand that’s anything but ordinary.
We dive into how The Froot Thief went from a bold idea during lockdown to landing on Costco shelves nationwide. What I love about this episode is how honest Jonathan is about the risks, the emotional journey, and the fulfillment that comes from building something you truly believe in.
From production lines in South Africa to school lunches in the U.S., this is a story about purpose, play, and the power of trusting your instincts.
Here are a few highlights from our conversation:
* How a simple act of belief launched a 25-year entrepreneurial journey
* The Costco call that changed everything: “I’ll take every strand you can make”
* Creating a clean-label fruit snack that’s as fun as it is nutritious
* Navigating tariffs, manufacturing, and the realities of scaling internationally
* Why “fruit spaghetti” and 100 inches of fun are stealing the snack spotlight
Join me, Ramon Vela, as I listen to the episode and discover why this snack brand is not only worth trying but also worth supporting. If you’ve got kids, love fruit, or just want a great founder story, you won’t want to miss this one.
For more on The Froot Thief, visit: https://www.frootthief.com/
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Today’s Sponsors:
Augmentum Media - Influencer Marketing for Consumer Brands: https://www.augmentum-media.com/story
What secret do fast-growing Health and Wellness brands like Xtendlife, Nourished, and Hunter & Gather share? They all outsource their influencer marketing to the experts at Augmentum. Augmentum is offering "The Story of a Brand Show" listeners a 30-minute consulting session AND a personalized influencer strategy plan built by their experts for you to implement either with them or in-house. Visit the link above to learn more.
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0:00.0 | If you look at the fruit snack category today, which is dominated by a lot of the big brands, |
0:04.5 | they claim to be a fruit snack. |
0:06.7 | But the first ingredients on the product is sugar or organic cane sugar or half fructose corn syrup. |
0:13.0 | There's nothing that's really healthy for you. |
0:16.0 | So Haley and I were passionate about health. |
0:19.4 | We're passionate about our kids. And we wanted to put something on the table that one delivers |
0:24.5 | on taste and flavor and other thing that just delivers on health. |
0:28.2 | So for us it was a pretty easy sell and on top of that it was something fun and different. |
0:35.8 | And as you said in the beginning, you've never seen something |
0:37.8 | like this before. And I think that's what buyers are looking for. |
0:48.2 | Hey, everyone. This is Ramon Vela. And this is another episode of the story of a brand. |
0:56.8 | Like always, we have an amazing brand and founder that we're going to feature on today's show. |
1:01.3 | But before we do, what is the secret shared by fast-growing health and wellness brands like Extend Life, |
1:07.4 | nourished, and Hunter and Gather? |
1:09.2 | They all outsource their influencer marketing |
1:11.6 | to the experts at Augmentum. |
1:14.6 | Augmentum Media profitably scales influencer programs for the fastest growing health brands worldwide. |
1:20.6 | Their team of specialists runs every part of your influencer program for you, while ensuring |
1:25.6 | you don't have to pay six figures to influencers to see |
1:29.6 | the returns. Are you curious about how Augmentum can help your brand grow? Augmentum is offering the story |
1:37.0 | of a brand show listeners a 30-minute consultation session and a personalized influencer strategy plan built by their experts. Now, this is for you to |
1:47.3 | implement either with them or in-house. Simply visit augmentum-dashmedia.com forward-slash story |
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