🎙️ Shelf Help Podcast: Scaling Mozzarella Sticks from Stadiums Into Freeze Aisles - Matt Gallira

On this episode, we're joined by Matt Gallira, Founder & CEO of Big Mozz - the premium mozzarella stick brand that started as a stadium and restaurant food service business before eventually landing in the freezer aisle. We get into how Matt went from handmade pasta sauces to a Brooklyn pop-up tent, the in-store sauce demo where he watched a cheesemaker stretch mozzarella and he asked to work for free. Matt breaks down the original recipe and why fresh garlic one thing he won't let a co-man swap for a dehydrated version. Matt touches on why Big Mozz launched food service first: a COVID pivot, operator-first selling to restaurants and stadiums, pitching Sysco category managers who already carry 10 mozzarella sticks, and why food service now supports the whole business. We also dig into the jump to retail, from Wakefern to Whole Foods nationwide, reformulating for home ovens, how too many TPRs trained shoppers to wait for a yellow tag, the new packaging built to read through a frosty freezer door, and innovating around usage occasions instead of flavors alone. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🍝 From handmade pasta sauce to a Smorgasburg pop-up stand 🚐 A van with 375,000 miles and a 150-person catering operation 🧀 Learning to stretch mozzarella from a North Jersey deli 🧄 Why fresh garlic is the one ingredient Matt won't compromise on 🏭 Getting co-man machines to do things they weren't built for ⏱️ The COVID pivot and the line trial that saved the company 🏟️ Launching food service first through stadium connections 🍽️ Operator-first selling and the Sysco "why do we need another one?" pitch 💰 Food service as the funding engine and top of the retail funnel 🏷️ Why too many yellow tags trained shoppers to wait 📦 Packaging built to read through a frosty freezer door 🍷 Innovating by occasion (one mozz stick and a glass of wine) 👀 Frozen brands Matt is watching (Jesse & Ben's) --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:51 – Origin story: from pasta sauce to Smorgasburg 02:56 – Growing a pop-up into a 150-person catering company 04:52 – The sauce demo that sparked Big Mozz 07:34 – Asking a North Jersey deli to work for free 08:30 – R&D and the original recipe 10:12 – Holding the line on fresh ingredients at scale 12:56 – Getting machines to do what they weren't built for 13:47 – Why Big Mozz launched food service first 14:48 – The COVID pivot and a lucky line trial 16:54 – Operator-first selling and the Sysco pitch 19:06 – Food service as the top of the retail funnel 21:29 – Food service vs. retail margins and the ground game 24:58 – The food service to retail brand flywheel 28:52 – Launching retail and reformulating for home ovens 32:54 – Driving velocity: promos, Instacart and packaging 38:44 – Innovating by occasion: nuggets, Flamin' and ranch 41:38 – Frozen brands Matt is watching --------------- Links: Big Mozz – https://bigmozz.com/ Big Mozz on LinkedIn –   / big-mozz   Follow Matt on LinkedIn –   / matt-gallira-22646529   Follow me on LinkedIn –   / adam-martin-steinberg   For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/ Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees. Looking to dominate the cognitive health space? Upgrade your formula with Cognizin. It’s the branded, clinically backed citicoline trusted by top innovators in supplements, foods, and beverages. Differentiate your brand today at Cognizin.com.