Dream Pops

The future is plant-based. 🍡🌱🍫🍦

[Intro @intro]

Everyone thought he was crazy for quitting his finance job to sell ice cream.
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Today, his novelty brand is available in 5,000+ stores, including Whole Foods, Erewhon, Bristol Farms, and The Fresh Market.
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Here's how to do the same:
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Step 1: Find the big idea
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David's advice: Ask yourself what's missing?
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- Look around at the way you live
- Write down the products you love
- Ask yourself: what would improve my quality of life? How can I make something that is 5-10x better than what exists?
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For David, the missing thing was a way to satisfy his sweet tooth with portion controlled & snackable products like Nestle’s Dibs. As someone who was lactose-intolerant and had issues with dairy, there weren't many options.
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And so, his dream snack, Dream Pops, was born!
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Step 2. Make your prototype
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David's advice: It doesn't have to be perfect.
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In the early days, David was making samples in his mom's kitchen by hand.
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One thing entrepreneurs get wrong? Trying to launch something perfect.

If you're prototyping a food product, follow his advice:
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- Create a delicious and unique product
- Differentiate with your packaging & branding
- Iterate in small format grocery stores and get feedback from your customers before launching into national accounts
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Step 3. Put your product out there
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David's advice: Get your product in as many hands as possible—any way you can.
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Some ideas:
- Host pop-ups with like-minded brands. Some brick and mortar brands were willing to pay $5K-$10K for a tailored “ice cream social”’ event with custom packaging. Revenue + awareness = free marketing.
- Personally do samplings at local grocery stores to get real-time feedback from your customers. What do they love about the product? What do they hate? Those are your golden nuggets.
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Step 4. Scale thoughtfully
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David's advice: Don't get tempted by a big retailer with thousands of stores out the gate.
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Getting into a huge retailer can kill your business if you aren’t ready.
Don't chase revenue and door count.
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Consider profitability, product quality, and overall risk.
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Some retailers require you to pay "slotting" where you spend $50K to $150K+ to be on the shelf for eight months.
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If you don't perform? You're out.
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The risk is massive and can put you out of business before you have the opportunity to flourish.
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Instead, find independent grocery stores and regional grocers with 3-10 locations and scale slowly – laser-focused on profitability and velocity.
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Today, Dream Pops is a multi-million dollar brand sold at Whole Foods, Safeway Albertsons, Acme, Shaws, Erewhon, ShopRite, The Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, GoPuff, CVS, Thrive Market, and many more.
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This is your reminder to tune out all the noise, trust your intuition & keep building.
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Want to get 1:1 advice from a CPG industry expert? You can now book David Greenfeld on Intro.
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Did you enjoy this business breakdown? Follow @useintro to learn how the world's most successful entrepreneurs built $100M+ businesses.

[DG @DaveGreeny]

How many investors do you know that will wrap their own car to promote their portfolio companies?! 🚙🍡🍦

…….😶

Shout out to the die hard investors out there that will do whatever it takes to build up their investments. 🛠️

There is nothing more powerful than having buy-in at this level, especially when your team is building day in & day out. 🧱

Investors: make that introduction, reach out to your portco’s, see how you can help, wrap that vehicle! 😉

Will Roush 🙏🏽🚀 @itsdreampops

#investors #cpg #startups #retail #marketing #angelinvestors #business

[Dylan @therealDBcoop]

Pumped to see a few portcos! Congrats @EatMezcla @itsdreampops

[CPG WIRE @cpgwire]

Mondelez announces its 2023 CoLab accelerator cohort.

Brands participating include @itsdreampops, @NYcoffeecake, and seven others.

https://t.co/nfWOJQB7lg

[MFD AI @mfd_ai]

We launched a podcast at Shoptalk called re:COGs

Our first guest: @DaveGreeny from @itsdreampops

Dream Pops are delicious plant-based desserts that are packed with superfoods and are in 7,000 stores.

@MikeGelb chatted with David about –

[Mike Gelb @MikeGelb]

So great recording an episode with David Greenfeld from @itsdreampops live from Shoptalk

When you don't have room to record an episode, just use the hallway

[DG @DaveGreeny]

This is honestly one of my favorite flavors of @itsdreampops Bites we’ve launched yet 🍌🍦🍡

What flavor would you like to see next?! 🧙🏼‍♂️🛒

#banana #icecream #bites #innovation #startup

[Andrew John Virtue Dobson @dobbernation]

My Spring food column is out for RENAISSANCE and features @HamiltonBeachCA @TheGingerPeople @itsdreampops and @GordonRamsay!

[DG @DaveGreeny]

Throwing it back to an absolute @itsdreampops classic by Natalie Burdick 🍡🍦🥛 #lactoseintolerant

[DG @DaveGreeny]

Fired up for @NatProdExpo swing by Booth #N2139 🍡🎪@itsdreampops

[DG @DaveGreeny]

@itsdreampops now on @DotFoods 🚀

[Dream Pops @itsdreampops]

@alexisohanian @useintro Thanks for the share @alexisohanian 🙏🏽😁

[Alexis Ohanian 🗽 @alexisohanian]

As the Founder of @itsdreampops, here are some of David Greenfeld’s tips on how to launch a successful CPG product. You can book him for a 1:1 video call and get business advice via @useintro.

[Dream Pops @itsdreampops]

@TydoTweets @EleanorHayden_ Love you EH!

[Tydo @TydoTweets]

@EleanorHayden_ on why she adores @itsdreampops 🫶

https://t.co/t14yq94Mrg

[DG @DaveGreeny]

Who’s in Orlando this week? 😁🎪🍡📍 @UNFI @itsdreampops

[DG @DaveGreeny]

Let’s go! @Specialty_Food @itsdreampops 🚀🍡

[Kara Goldin 🍓 @karagoldin]

One great episode with David Greenfeld, Founder & CEO of @itsdreampops so good! ‼️ https://t.co/yOpiLyquco

[DG @DaveGreeny]

@HelloFresh is officially my new favorite meal-kit company 📦😁🍡

@itsdreampops

[Dream Pops @itsdreampops]

New lineup 🤫🍌🚀🍡🍫