I love talking to OGs.
Not just the people who raised a bunch of money in the 2020 boom, but the people who were building before CPG was cool.
I sat down with one of them: Jennifer Barney.
Jennifer founded Barney Butter back when the nut butter aisle was a dust-covered graveyard. She’s seen it all:
She grew her brand from her garage alongside the literal birth of Facebook and Amazon's first-ever grocery pilot program.
She built her own manufacturing plant (a massive, capital-intensive move).
She exited her brand.
...and then she did what most founders never do: she went to work inside a "Big Food" corporate giant running innovation.
Now, she's an investor and advisor to some of the fastest-growing brands out there. She’s seen the game from every possible angle.
Here are the most tactical, no-BS lessons from our conversation.
1. Big Food Isn't Watching You. Use That.
I asked Jennifer what she learned working inside a massive, category-leading corporation. Her answer was gold.
"People overestimate how much big CPG is paying attention to their little brand. They're really not. They should be and they're not."
Founders are terrified of the category leader "copycatting" them. The reality? The corporate giants are slow, bureaucratic, and run on predictable 12-month-old playbooks.
You can exploit this.
Jennifer’s advice: "You just have to look at the last 12 months and see what their patterns are and just... be on promo a week before they're going to be on promo, [and] be on promo 50 cents less than they're going to be on promo."
Use their slowness as your weapon.
2. You Need an "Unfair Advantage." Here's How to Get It.
The CPG space is brutally saturated. A great product and a cool brand are just the entry fee. To win, you need an "unfair advantage."
Jennifer’s first investors in Barney Butter? Her almond suppliers.
This is the playbook. Today, she sees the smartest brands getting their co-manufacturer or a key supplier to invest. It gives you a massive, non-replicable edge in your supply chain. (Her one warning: make sure you have "an aligned vision" and the "same exit goals" ).
Don't have that leverage yet? Her advice is even more simple:
Go visit the farm.
Even if you're tiny and buying from a distributor. She says farmers want to connect with small, disruptive brands. They're all looking for the "next Siete" they can grow with.
Building that direct relationship gives you an authentic story that consumers are "really hungry for," which, as she points out, beats a generic "regenerative" seal on your package every single time.
3. The Dumbest Mistake Founders Make
I asked Jennifer about the most common, costly mistake she sees.
"Hiring your friends from other industries."
She sees founders coming from tech or apparel and thinking they can just pull in their old team to have a "really fun project".
But CPG is a specialized beast. Packaging, with its complex FDA rules and regulatory hurdles, is not something you "should be paying somebody to learn" on your dime. It’s a massive waste of time, energy, and money that will hold you back.
4. "Low-Fi" is the New Authenticity
Founder-led content is now standard. But as AI makes it easy for everyone to create polished, perfect-looking content, the new way to build trust is to do the opposite.
Jennifer is seeing the smartest brands embrace "low-fi, behind the scenes" content.
Think unscripted, "shaky camera" videos walking through the back of a production facility. Why does this work? It’s a raw, immediate signal of authenticity. In a world of deepfakes and AI, "low-fi" is the one thing that feels real.
A huge thank you to Jennifer for the masterclass. She drops knowledge like this weekly on her Substack, "The Business of Food," which is a must-read. You can also connect with her directly on LinkedIn.