#MASSIVE, EP 01: Karen Cardona on why you fix the product before the brand

Karen Cardona is the CEO of True Leaves Consulting. She worked at Nestlé and Kraft Heinz before helping early-stage food and beverage founders get from a kitchen recipe to a factory floor. Gascoyne Clarke asks her what founders get wrong, what to budget, where AI helps and where it can't, and what's coming next on shelf. Chapters 0:00 Intro 3:25 From the kitchen to commercial scale 6:03 What the big players teach you 8:24 Why the pilot stage matters 11:21 The cost of co-packing mistakes 15:02 AI-confident founders 17:20 Why founders undercapitalise 19:59 What to budget 21:45 Wild claims on shelf 23:04 The idea she had to say no to 24:39 Overclaiming and label mistakes 28:02 Stay flexible 31:14 When to call a food scientist 33:14 Branding before product 37:06 What's next on shelf: sugar, fermentation, simplicity 42:06 Sweeteners 44:08 Where to find Karen True Leaves Consulting: https://www.trueleavesconsulting.com Butcherbird partners: https://butcherbird.global/partners #MASSIVE, episode 1. A Butcherbird podcast with Gascoyne Clarke. #MASSIVE #BuiltAtButcherbird #CPG