Ross MacKayinnovative co-founder of the plant-based chicken company Daring and founder of the performance drink brand cadences, recently held a live chat with Entrepreneur readers, sharing his expertise and experience in product placement in over 40,000 stores nationwide. Ross' pioneering vision for Daring led him to raise $125 million from major and celebrity investors such as D1 Capital, Peter Thiel and Drake, and with cadenceshe aims to merge his personal passion for fitness with a scientifically engineered drink to help athletes and business leaders thrive.
During this 30-minute session, he addressed several key questions that many startup founders share, including:
- What are the best strategies to get your brand into multiple mass retail locations?
- Should a new brand pursue retail partnerships, or focus on building an audience first?
- How can a brand choose the right retail partners to approach?
- What are effective ways for a brand to generate awareness and demand without relying heavily on external funding?
- How crucial is the direct-to-consumer model in 2024?
Watch the video above to hear Ross' advice, and check out some of the highlights below, which have been edited for length and clarity.
His CEO story
“I'm originally from Scotland in the UK, now living in LA. My original business, Daring, started in 2018 where I returned home working on our plant-based chicken for a few years. We were lucky enough to come to the US in the back half of 2019, when I was able to make my first meeting with an investor, He believed in the business and the brand, and over the last four years, we have expanded and found distribution throughout the country thanks to the relationship with Starbucks , Walmart, Whole Foods – we're there and doing very well over the past three months, I've stepped away from being the day-to-day CEO of that company Daring Chairman and I recently launched my new performance hydration company Cadence with my co-founder George Heaton.”
Find where your customer is shopping
“Should you go e-comm or be in physical stores? It's a big question. For me, when it came to my plant-based chicken product, I was always competing with the chicken market. He was my biggest competitor. And if you look at chicken consumption, DTC is rarely bought. I don't know about you, but I don't buy much of my protein or even food directly from a website. I buy it through grocery stores: Walmart, Target, even Instacart, which comes from a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer. So I think the first question is: Where are your customers shopping today? And realizing that if they traditionally shop online, then maybe a DTC strategy makes more sense. But if it's something like milk or almond milk or food products or beverage products, retail channels may be the decision to make.”
The numbers that really matter
“Success in retail is not measured by the number of stores. It's not measured by total distribution points. It's measured by units per store per week. And you're going to get the buyer to compare your product to other products in that category. So , what is important to understand is how it sells against its closest competitors, if it sells a little more, you will be in the lower percentage retailers will rate one or two times per year and will ask, 'Do we want to keep this product or do we want to replace it with something else that is potentially a higher velocity item?' It's better to sell five units a week in 500 stores than to sell one unit a week in 2,500 stores.”
Getting in the door with buyers
“I used LinkedIn to connect Jack Sinclair of Sprouts. I texted him and just said, 'Hey, I'm a fellow Scot, there's only a few million of us! I have a product that will change your retailer.' And he said that sounds good, we met and the rest is history. Jack gave me my first opportunity to come down to America and was my first retailer, so I will always be grateful. I think LinkedIn is a great platform. You'll be surprised how many people will respond if you have a good message and are trying to offer them a great opportunity. Their job is to find the best products in the world, so you're not making something they don't want to see. Put yourself there.”
Selling your brand to buyers
“Having a strong brand identity and a strong value proposition is really important. You have to understand the white space you fill within a category because that's the number one question I get from buyers: 'We already have this product and this product, what makes you different?' It's your prize Are you partnering with a celebrity that your brand messaging is really clear, consistent and resonates with that store's audience.”
Packaging is vital
“You have to optimize your packaging for retail. A lot of brands will be really successful selling online with minimal packaging. But that doesn't always translate to retail. Buyers are met with this shelf of 50, 100 — sometimes 200 brands. You only have three to five seconds to get that customer to pick up your product, so you need packaging that stands out on the shelves.
Entrepreneurship is a marathon
“Being an entrepreneur is a stressful experience. You always are. There are years and years where you just feel like you're just burning that candle. One of the reasons I launched Cadence was personal health. I spend a lot of time taking care of my physical condition and mentally it's an amazing soundless marathon, but there's a lot of uncertainty and then there's that concept of work-life balance that I'm still trying to figure out now at my second company I applaud anyone who's on their journey.”
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The role of influencers
“At Daring, we were lucky enough to interest some celebrities. We raised some capital from Drake, Cam Newton and Naomi Osaka, as well as many musicians, actors, athletes and personalities. We also did some campaigns like the Kardashians and so on. someone is going to spend 12 hours a day at your company, 80 hours a week doing the hard work. It comes from you.”