Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford
Imagine a consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry where both small and large players coexist on a level playing field, consumers have choice, there’s integrity in what they’re buying and they experience innovative, sustainable products.
In this weekly podcast, hosted by founder, award-winning coach, consultant & small business advocate, Chelsea Ford, you'll hear interviews with incredible founders and hard-to-reach industry specialists as well as practical and actionable content that directly supports your CPG business to grow, become more profitable and thrive.
Learn more at www.chelseaford.com .
Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford
#147 Sales Is the Lifeblood: Bootstrapping a Beverage Brand
How do you build a beverage brand when the margins are slim and you have no outside funding and growth depends on you?
You make sales your North Star. Every single day.
In this episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford, I chat with Ollie Puddick, founder of Innerbloom, a functional beverage brand that's gone from farmers' markets to over 300 retail doors across Australia and New Zealand in just a few years.
Ollie quit his job as a professional firefighter at the end of last year to go all-in on Innerbloom. No safety net. No investors. Just relentless focus on the one thing that keeps the lights on: sales.
And he's brutally honest about the mistakes he made along the way.
You'll hear:
💰 The one word Ollie writes at the top of his weekly plan every Monday (and why it changes everything)
📈 Why Ollie believes he can hit $1 million in online revenue in 12 months - and how online sales solved a cashflow crisis that retail created
🍫 The difficult decision he's making about SKUs right now (hint: less is more)
🏪 How Ollie lost retail stockists without even knowing it - and what he learned about chasing doors vs. servicing accounts
🛒 The meeting filter that keeps him focused on what actually drives sales
📦 How he's built a team without hiring full-time staff (and why this works for a lean beverage business)
🎯 What a $10K trip taught him about being laser-focused on the right goals
Ollie is proof that you don't need a big team, outside funding, or perfect timing to build a successful food or beverage brand. If you're bootstrapping, wearing all the hats, and trying to figure out where to focus your limited time and money - this conversation will give you clarity.
Season 15 is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Festival - a year's worth of sales and promotion opportunities under one roof.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
- Inner Bloom Coffee
- Inner Bloom Coffee on Instagram
- Your Free Pitch Plan
- Become A Foodpreneurs Festival Insider
- Chelsea Ford Co. website
Season 15
Season 15, out now, is 'Marketing Season' and is being presented by Foodpreneurs Festival.
The highly anticipated 2026 BiteBack Awards & Foodpreneurs Festival are both must-attend events dedicated to bringing consumer packaged goods food, drink (alc and non-alc), pet and supplements brand owners, buyers, media, industry specialists and distributors together under one roof.
You can't miss these events. Here’s why:
- Thousands of stockists looking for new products for their shelves.
- A chance to pitch for funding + mentorship to scale your brand.
- Workshops tailored to where you’re at - whether you’re just starting or scaling big (THIS IS NEW!)
- A NEW Marketing Clinic for hands-on brand strategy - you'll leave with five key messages ready to use.
- Opportunities to get recognised and get your brand in front of industry experts, media, buyers, distributors and fellow brand owners.
- If you’re an Industry Specialist, tap into a highly engaged, niche audience.
- And much, much more.
The full program drops early 2026. For now, block out May 21-22 and click this link to see how you can be part of it.
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