About
Entrepreneur at heart. Some wins, some lessons and always having fun, committed, learning…
Activity
3K followers
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisIt’s a good read and accurate. It reinforces something I’ve believed for a while. Large companies are looking outside their walls for growth by partnering with or acquiring innovative brands and ingredients. Yet their size and processes can make it difficult to move at the speed consumer trends demand. In other words, they’re slow. That’s where startups have an advantage. We can test, iterate, and define new categories. But here’s the key: great brands may be born in startups, yet it often (not always) takes the vision of a large corporation willing to embrace disruption and scale innovation to turn them into global success stories. It takes two to tango.Santiago Stacey shared thisFrom Nestlé to Ferrero: Big Food’s consolidation boom As growth slows and margins tighten, the biggest names in #food are reshaping the competitive landscape through acquisitions, divestments and portfolio streamlining. Read more 👇 https://lnkd.in/equdxATa Nandini Roy Choudhury Future Market Insights, Inc.From Nestlé to Ferrero: Big Food’s consolidation boomFrom Nestlé to Ferrero: Big Food’s consolidation boom
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisBig milestone for LiveKuna this month 🚀 We hit our highest monthly sales record ever on Amazon.com, surpassed our monthly goal before month-end, and crossed 1,000 reviews with a 4.4 rating! This is a strong reminder that the opportunity in functional, gluten-free baking is only getting bigger. 1 in 3 Americans bake weekly, more consumers are looking for better-for-you pantry staples, and an estimated 80–100 million Americans are actively reducing or avoiding gluten. Plantain and green banana flour sit right at that intersection: gluten-free, nutrient-dense, and naturally rich in resistant starch that supports gut health. For founders building in gluten-free, gut health, and functional foods: this is the moment to double down. Consumer behavior is already telling us where the market is going. LiveKuna 🌱
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisEvery business is, at its core, a people business. Our recent visit to New York reaffirmed that belief. Together with my partner Carlos, we took time to dive deep into current opportunities, explore new ones, and strengthen relationships with existing and future partners. Beyond the meetings, we made it a point to walk the city visiting countless bodegas, markets, and grocery stores to check what’s happening across the shelves of the most diverse CPG market in the world. Every visit offered new insights and inspiration for what’s next. Grateful to everyone who opened their doors and shared their time, especially our friends at Goya Foods, Waku, SOSV, @Rainforest Distribution, among others, who helped make this short trip incredibly productive. I can’t emphasize enough the value of getting out there and meeting clients, or potential ones, face-to-face, especially in a world where Zoom meetings have become the norm. Until next time, New York!🗽🚀
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisSharing a sexy picture, at least to me 😛 2025 has tested us in every way possible. Challenges, tough calls, and countless fires to put out. And yet… this chart says it all. 📈 A channel we’ve been building with focus and persistence is showing continuous growth! It’s a reminder that progress doesn’t always come in leaps, sometimes it’s built one step, one improvement at a time. This steady momentum is what fuels us. It’s proof that even in tough years, resilience and consistency pay off. Here’s to growth that lasts, to believing in the process and to trust your team! 🚀 LFG! LiveKuna What keeps you motivated during tough times?
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisSantiago Stacey shared this🚨 Big News! 🚨 We’re excited to announce our new partnership with Airgoods! Starting this month, our LiveKuna gluten-free flours – including plantain, banana, orange sweet potato, and quinoa flour – are now available for wholesale buyers across the US. If you’re a retailer, café, or food brand looking for premium, clean-label ingredients for baking, this is your chance to stock up! ✨ Now offering 15% off for a limited time. 👉 Visit us https://lnkd.in/gadhBaUQ #LiveKuna #Airgoods #GlutenFree #Wholesale #BetterForYou #CPG #RetailInnovation #FoodIngredients
-
Santiago Stacey reposted thisSantiago Stacey reposted thisBrand Spotlight: Kunana Meet Kunana, the innovative food brand on a mission to transform food waste into delicious, plant-based products. Their creation? A creamy, nutrient-rich banana milk, made by upcycling bananas that would otherwise go to waste. It's better for you — and the planet! Behind Kunana is a powerhouse team of industry veterans: Santiago Stacey – With 10+ years of experience bringing superfood products from concept to shelf, Santiago leads product innovation from Toronto. Carlos Gutierrez – Based in Ecuador, Carlos brings a decade of expertise in running superfood operations, ensuring sustainability is embedded in every step. Sofia Maldonado – A formulation expert with 7+ years developing plant-based products that are as functional as they are flavorful. Kunana is more than a banana milk — it’s a movement toward a more circular, conscious food system. https://www.gokunana.com/ #CPG #UpcycledFood #PlantBased #FoodInnovation #Sustainability #Kunana #BananaMilk
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisIn the past decade we’ve launched innovative products across several categories, from seeds to snacks to flours. What’s stopping us in entering the toy category? 😂 #HavingFunWithAI #DontGetFoolTodaySantiago Stacey shared this📣 Introducing our boldest innovation yet! THE ULTIMATE BAKING KIT – TOY EDITION Because who wouldn’t want a mini version of our flours and a baker action figure? Made for play, not for baking (yet). #AprilFools #LiveKunaToys #BananaFlourButMakeItFun #FutureBakersClub #NotRealButShouldBe
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisCarlos’ post on banana sugar blew up 💣💥 (with a little help from AI 😉), and it’s not surprising. Sugar is everywhere, and the industry is massive—we’re talking 182 million tons consumed every year. That’s why the idea of a low-glycemic, prebiotic-rich sugar is so exciting. Instead of just reducing or replacing sugar, what if we made it better? Innovation isn’t always about reinventing the wheel. Sometimes, it’s about taking what we already love and making it work harder for us—more functional, more nutritious. It might sound like a wild idea at first, but at LiveKuna we’re already working on this challenge. And if we get it right, it could be a game changer. 🚀 What other everyday ingredients do you think are overdue for an upgrade?Santiago Stacey shared thisThe Future of Sweetness is Here: The First Prebiotic Sugar with a Low Glycemic Index! 🍌�� We’re redefining what it means to enjoy sweetness—naturally, healthily, and with benefits beyond taste. Introducing Banana Sugar, a revolutionary sweetener that not only tastes amazing but also: ✅ Supports Gut Health with prebiotic power ✅ Balances Blood Sugar—no spikes, just steady energy ✅ 100% Natural & Clean-Label ✅ Diabetic & Keto-Friendly As consumers move away from artificial sweeteners and high-glycemic sugars, functional ingredients like this are the future. 🌱 💡 What do you think? Would you use this in your products, your kitchen, or your business? Appreciate comments 🌎 #FoodInnovation #HealthySweeteners #BananaSugar #PrebioticPower #LowGlycemic #NaturalSweetener #GutHealth #DiabetesFriendly
-
Santiago Stacey shared thisSometimes all it takes is a fortune cookie from your Chinese takeout to find inspiration 😛 “Are you failing, Santiago?” Yes, thanks for asking. I fail multiple times a week, in fact. But each day, I find a way to turn things around and keep moving forward. The more you fail, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better you become at recognizing failure and finding solutions faster. Start worrying when there’s nothing left to solve 👊 #ChineseFoodIsMagical
Santiago Stacey commented on a post
3w
👏💪
-
Santiago Stacey reacted on thisSantiago Stacey reacted on thisAbout last week…: Every week in my work can be busy - but last week was something else! Food summit hosted by the City of Brampton brought out regional leaders from across the spectrum, and only bolstered that food and beverage is growing and thriving in the #GTA Great to see Mark Juhasz Brenda Seto Tom Lui Brandon Yardy, and Bruce Singer CPA, CA, and special thanks to Martin Bohl for the hard work putting this all together Then - was privileged to support Toronto Business Development Centre and their Sprint - meeting with emerging food and ag tech brands from across the globe. Then- spent time at Nrth ( formerly elevate) to see what’s cooking in Torontos Tech ecosystem Great to connect with ElevenLabs, Dell Technologies, and watch Clare Barnett speak about our Indigenous entrepreneurship hub Then - YSpace, York University hosted a fantastic showcase of products and brands that have just completed their food accelerator. Congrats Judy (Chang) Wong Bookie Adekanye and David Kwok for another great group, Thanks to Futurpreneur for hosting, and great to see Shannon Armishaw Tim D. and more! The weekend brought Canadian Health Food Association #CHFANOW to City of Toronto , and it was as electric as usual! Amazing to see Daniel Schreiber Jannine Rane Irene Chiu Julia Kirouac, CNP Sean Cheah Danielle Ellis Mary Legakis Engel Daniel Carson BrandSeed Marketing Inc. Cheryl Appleton Peter Neal Santiago Stacey Yazeed Yasin Tamara Al Dip Sheri Evans Tara Tomulka and so many many more! Phew! On to the next one!! City of Toronto- Business and Economy Susana Vaz John Preece
-
Santiago Stacey reacted on thisSantiago Stacey reacted on thisIt’s always fun attending food shows that Eric Wood recommends, and today at Canadian Health Food Association (#CHFA) was no exception. I came away thinking about the businesses behind every product. It was great to meet #Toronto food companies and startups, hear how they got started, and learn what it will take for them to grow and scale in our city! Toronto’s #food sector reaches well beyond restaurants and grocery shelves. It includes founders developing new products, manufacturers making them at scale, and the people working in packaging, distribution and retail. The Toronto region has the greatest concentration of food and beverage manufacturers in Canada. Our diversity is one of the sector’s strengths. Founders bring flavours, traditions and ideas from around the world, then build products that can reach customers here and in new markets. That journey is exciting, but it can be difficult: moving from a small batch to steady production, finding space, meeting buyers and managing the costs of getting a product onto shelves. That’s where #economicdevelopment has a role to play: listening to businesses, understanding the barriers they face and helping them make the connections that support growth. FYI - We’re building something for Toronto’s food startups with that in mind, and I’m looking forward to sharing more soon. Stay tuned! As a foodie, for now, I am taking my responsibility for sampling #Toronto food products very seriously. 😄🍴 #TorontoFood #FoodStartups #EconomicDevelopment #CHFA Eric Wood Clare Barnett #AllkiDzNaturals #OrganicTraditions Muaad Mehad #Museo Ogie Ifoga FCC / FAC Tony Ayala #QueenStBakery #Oddcookie #Kunana Santiago Stacey #Barbett NanaShake Tamara Al Dip Yazeed Yasin Yawdi's Veneise George Mokable North America Mizuki Watabe Goldy's®️Daniel Carson Daniel Schreiber City of Toronto City of Toronto- Business and Economy Canadian Health Food Association John Preece
-
Santiago Stacey reacted on thisSantiago Stacey reacted on thisHace una semana dábamos la bienvenida a más de 140 clientes de toda la región a la 15ta edición de la #ConferenciaGMS, esta vez en la Riviera Maya. Más allá del gran trabajo de todas las personas que hicieron posible el evento, fue verdaderamente especial recibir un homenaje no esperado por mi aniversario 25 en GMS Information Security. Compartir ese momento con clientes, proveedores, compañeros, pero sobre todo con mis padres, quienes pusieron los cimientos para todo lo construido, fue inolvidable. Faltaron muchos que a lo largo de estos años pusieron su granito de arena, especialmente mi esposa Ana Maria Thomson. Su apoyo ha sido determinante tanto para mi como para la empresa, por el profundo impacto que tuvo cuando se animó a apoyarnos desde adentro. Tuve la suerte de estar acompañado de Felipe Larco, pero también faltaron Manu y Tommy, cuyas manos engalanan la hermosa placa que me obsequiaron y que resalta el compromiso de honrar el legado que se me ha confiado. Con una mención muy especial para Alejandro Navarro y Fernando Flores Córdoba, ¡gracias a todos quienes han sido parte de este camino!
-
Santiago Stacey reacted on thisSantiago Stacey reacted on thisTIARA wins the Skin Care Anarchy Award for 2026! 🥇 👑💜 This win is about so much more than an award. It is about women’s health. It is about consciously made products. It is about giving families the confidence to ask questions, read labels, and choose what feels right for their homes. I lost my grandmother and my aunt to breast cancer. That pain became purpose, and that purpose became a mission to advocate for better choices for women and families. Every TIARA in a home represents something bigger: peace of mind. If you have a TIARA at home, you are winning. Your health. Your happiness. Your choices. 💜🍃 Thank you, Dr Ekta Yadav MD MBA MS for recognizing our mission once again. A TIARA in Every Home. 👑 Grateful for all the, organizations, retailers and women supporting my courageous mission! Lavina Suthenthiran Jo-Anne Ryan, FEA, MFA-P Fatiha Senhaji (PL.Fin) Tiffany Stull Jamie Doolittle, Aidan Bonner Michael Bonner Sheri Griffiths Anatol von Hahn Lisa Leids Jim DoreySuzanne Appel Stephanie Cartin Courtney Spritzer Kendra Bracken-Ferguson Rah Mahtani Ciara Cristo Greg McBride Greg Carter II Elizabeth Frandle Rick Burian CPSD Darren Viscount Suzie Yorke Mike Fata Marc Duench Monica Walker Janete Teixeira-Parente Susi G. Ann Baiden, MASI/ MAS PLUS Daniela Tixi Daniela Idrovo LUDETO Rosalind Lockyer Anna Sinclair Paula Delgado Lauren Margules 🧞♀️ Adriana Carrillo (she/her/hers), CITP/FIBP Drew Ballingham
-
Santiago Stacey reacted on thisSantiago Stacey reacted on thisI could have “quit” 75+ times. Probably more, actually. Many, many, even those close to me, said so, too. For those of you who’ve been following me here for years, you know the last 4 years have been a roller coaster, perhaps the “typical Founder” up-and-down one (so I’m not complaining!). Yet, a little more of a roller coaster than I thought I was cut out for. Background: I left a pretty cushy CMO life in 2022 and decided, once again, to jump into the deep end and become a Founder. And then… well, hang on: 🇪🇨 Started with a Joint Venture in Ecuador ✈️ Traveled back and forth 10x trying to figure out how to make this darn chocolate. Ecuador. Peru. 🇵🇪 Canada. U.S. Mexico. 🔄 Worked with co-mans. Recipes, costings, waiting, delays, new ones, tried again. 🙌 Finally found the right chocolate partner in Vancouver. 🏭 So I bought it (a for-shares deal). “Look, Mom, I bought a chocolate factory!” 🧪 500+ recipes later, we NAILED it. ❤️ Gave life to The Little Cacao Co. Creamy, delicious PURE chocolate. No sugar added. NO sugar alcohols. Nothing artificial. Swapped out the sugar for Prebiotic Fibre instead. 💊 And developed and launched the ONLY Health Canada-approved Chocolate Vitamins. And ohhh… there was a LOT in between. Pivots. Restructuring. Re-raising. Changing plans. Changing them again. Ran out of money, again. No salary of course. Nearly “died on the table” a bunch of times. But somehow, I didn’t quit. And this weekend at CHFA reminded me WHY. GRATEFUL ❤️ Thank you. As EVERY SINGLE RETAILER AND CONSUMER who came by and tasted our new HERO SKUs had elation, excitement, disbelief, and compliments. You know the feeling. You pass the tray, there are 10 people around you, you hold your breath. One after another: the “Wow!” and smiles. “This tastes like real chocolate!” BOOM. It took 500+ recipes and buying my own factory, yet nailed these. Our HERO products have perfect 3P’s. Now we execute distribution and Awareness & Trial => super velocities. This morning, I breathe easy. ❤️ Grateful to my natural products and Start-up EcoSystem: my Broker, the Retailers, Founders, Angels, my VC, my Distributors, my team, and consumers already buying from us. And all of YOU here who have followed along through every twist and turn. And now I’m jumping in the car with my doggies for the 7-hour drive to beautiful Val-David. 🐾❤️ At the end of this week, my mom will pass. Then, I’ll be spending the next few months in Val-David still, to enjoy the beauty here, the river, the mountains, lots of walks with doggies, and a few flights to my factory in Vancouver and Retailer meetings. And to close a chapter we all have to close at one point. 🙏❤️ #TheLittleCacaoCo #FounderLife #CPGFounders #Grateful #BuyCanadian
-
Santiago Stacey reacted on thisProud to have been part of a landmark financing for SoftBank Group — its $11 billion senior notes offering, spanning both U.S. dollars and euros, and the largest single-issuer high-yield bond transaction in history. A truly exceptional execution that brought together an outstanding team across markets, investors, and advisors. Grateful to everyone involved for the trust, collaboration, and hard work that made this transaction possible. A great milestone and an even greater team effort. #HighYield #Bonds #CapitalMarkets #InvestmentBanking #DebtCapitalMarketsSantiago Stacey reacted on thisCongratulations to SoftBank Group Corp. on the successful pricing of its $11bn senior notes, the largest single issuer high yield bond transaction in history. This financing supports SoftBank’s continued investment in OpenAI, including funding the final tranche of its $30bn commitment, entered into in February 2026. Citi is proud to have served as Lead Left Bookrunner on this record-setting transaction. #Citi #Banking #Tech #Leadership
-
Santiago Stacey liked thisSantiago Stacey liked thisWith #CHFANOW here, I wanted to share some exciting news. For the past few months, I’ve been leading Sapsucker, a Canadian sparkling water brand sweetened with maple sap. After building Station Cold Brew and spending the last decade in beverage and CPG, I was brought in to help lead the business into its next chapter. We’ve been busy strengthening the foundation, getting closer to our consumers, and building a clear plan for growth. And with CHFA East happening this weekend, it felt like the perfect time to finally share the news. If you’re at CHFA, come find us in the LeBeau section and say hi (booth 1549). I’d love to see some familiar faces and introduce you to Sapsucker! #CHFANOW #CHFAEast #LeBeauExcel #NaturalProducts #TradeShow
Experience & Education
Languages
-
Spanish
Native or bilingual proficiency
-
English
Native or bilingual proficiency
-
Mandarin
Limited working proficiency
Recommendations received
3 people have recommended Santiago
Join now to viewOther similar profiles
Explore more posts
Explore collaborative articles
We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
Explore MoreOthers named Santiago Stacey
-
Santiago Stacey
-
Santiago Stacey Raza
Gerente general en Joyas de plata Santiago limitada
-
IVAN SANTIAGO VALENCIA STACEY
-
Santiago Rojas Stacey
4 others named Santiago Stacey are on LinkedIn
See others named Santiago Stacey