Conor Begley

#2CentsTuesday **Cannabis Edibles: A Case Study in Turning Regulation into a Competitive Advantage** Problem: Highly regulated categories (like cannabis) face consumer trust gaps, complex compliance, and fragmented retail/marketing channels. Many brands treat regulation as a barrier instead of a strategy driver. Fact: Cannabis edibles are one of the fastest-growing segments in regulated consumer goods, driven by product innovation, precise dosing, and a focus on safety, consistency, and clear labeling—key expectations in any CPG category, not just cannabis. Benefit: Brands that build around trust, transparency, and rigor in operations are better positioned to scale, command premium pricing, and win at retail—especially as regulations tighten and larger players enter. For Indie CPG founders, a few takeaways: - Treat compliance like a brand pillar, not a checkbox. Clear standards and documentation are marketable assets. - Invest in product consistency and education; the more complex the category, the more customers reward clarity. - Use constraints (regulations, dosing, packaging rules) as creative prompts for differentiation, not excuses for stagnation. Indie founders: - Where are you under-leveraging “trust” as part of your value proposition? - If your category suddenly became as regulated as cannabis, what would break in your current operations or packaging? - How can you proactively tighten your standards now to be “scale-ready” later? Article link: https://lnkd.in/eZQ_Y9W9 #CPG #IndieCPG #ConsumerGoods #BrandStrategy #RegulatedMarkets #CannabisEdibles #FoodAndBeverage #StartupLessons #My2Cents

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The wine industry spends a lot of time debating the wrong problems. - Non-alc. - THC beverages. - Whether Gen Z is “drinking less.” But sitting in a panel today, a retailer said something much more important. Phil Markert, Director of Alcohol at Albertson's Companies, and my new BFF target, made a point that should have stopped the room: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿. In Southern California alone, his biggest group of shoppers are multicultural consumers — particularly Asian and Hispanic. And yet… Wine as a category is still overwhelmingly built for the consumer who built it decades ago. In his mostly Boomer neighborhoods, wine does 70% of his alcohol business. In his (more common) multi-cultural/general pop stores, wine does 18% of alcohol business. We've lost the plot! Because this generation of drinkers looks completely different than most people that run and work at wineries, most buyers, most distributors. This IS the new "general pop." The days of entertaining the shift only on the sidelines are long over. According to U.S. Census projections, nearly 90% of new legal-age drinkers over the next decade will come from OUTSIDE OF Non-Hispanic Whites. A major retailer is openly saying this for an HOUR today on stage. Meanwhile, people in the audience are still raising their hands asking how to drive velocity on shelf with their dry red wines. That disconnect is the real problem. Wine hasn’t just lost consumers. In many cases, wine never showed up in their world to begin with. The imagery that used to be aspirational but does not resonate now. The language that calls for an MBA to understand it. The cultural signals that scream "this is not for you!" When I posted this plea last year, most of what I heard was "we don't have time to worry about that right now, can't you see the house is on fire?" It's non-sensical. I want to do something about it. Companies that I'm partnering with on innovation and retail success are going to see a lot of this reality in the work. I also partnered with two people I deeply respect in this space: sergio alcocer — founder of Rest of the World and one of the most awardedmulticultural creative strategists in the country (and refreshingly not wine centric) Mike Lakusta — founder of EthniFacts LLC and one of the pioneers of multicultural consumer segmentation and forecasting. Together we launched NextGenDrinkers, an initiative focused on helping wine brands understand and connect with the next [actually current] generation of drinkers. Not through stereotypes. Not through trend chasing. Through deep cultural insight and commercially grounded brand strategy. Because the brands that figure this out early will have a massive advantage. And the brands that don’t will wake up one day and realize they’ve been marketing to a shrinking audience. Just ask your AVP buyer.

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A BILLION dollars. That’s the valuation Reuters-reported Built explored in 2025 And the wild part? Built didn’t win the protein bar category by “adding more protein.” They won by innovating where the category is most broken: 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 + 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 Here’s the dirty secret of protein bars: Most people don’t enjoy them. They tolerate them. Chalky. Dense. Weird aftertaste. A functional brick you eat because you “should.” Built made a different bet: If we can make a protein bar eat like a treat… we can steal occasions from candy, snacks, and dessert. So they engineered the experience. The Puff: a marshmallow-like center + indulgent positioning. Not “pretty good for a protein bar.” More like: “Wait… this is a protein bar?!” That’s genius product-market fit. That’s taste + texture as the strategy. Now look at the traction signals (Built is private, so use public proxies): →132,000 sq. ft. new manufacturing + distribution expansion in Utah →Up to 500 jobs tied to that expansion →Retail footprint including Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, Publix →Named a top-ten fastest-growing brand of 2025 (Numerator) →And again: the reported >$1B sale exploration In crowded categories, claims don’t win. Consumption wins. →Better taste + texture → higher repeat →Higher repeat → higher velocity →Higher velocity → retailers lean in (doors, facings, scale) Built didn’t just sell protein. They sold relief: “You can hit your macros without suffering.” 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐚𝐬 “𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥”… …𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭. Because the fastest way to differentiate isn’t just "better macros" It’s a new tasty sensation. 💬 What category is still waiting for its “taste + texture” breakthrough?

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Excited to be heading to the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix this April with the Oscar AI team (April 19–22)! I've been working closely with Oscar AI as they help restaurant operators do something that's genuinely hard to pull off: reduce costs and grow revenue at the same time. They use AI to surface the right insights at the right moment - so operators can act fast without drowning in data. Locations are seeing an average annual savings of $10,000. If you're going to be at RLC, I’d love to catch-up! Grab a time that works for you in the link below, or comment and we can plan to meet up. See you at RLC! #RLC #RestaurantLeadershipConference #RLC2026 #RLC25 #RestaurantTech

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December sales surprised a lot of people. On the first grow mode of the year, Jason and Dan break down what actually sold, why many dispensaries feel identical to customers, and what that means for margins in 2026. This conversation is based on opinions, industry observations, and publicly available data. Always do your own research before making decisions.

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