In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Eve Ackerley, founder of Evie's Snacks, and Cody Ponsler from Belmark, one of the most recommended packaging partners in the Startup CPG community, to talk through how packaging evolves as a brand grows. Evie's Snacks makes direct-from-farm pecan snacks with only a third of the sugar of leading brands, sourced from Eve's family farms in South Texas.
Eve started at farmer's markets with a simple craft bag and hand-applied black and white stickers before eventually moving to a fully custom printed pouch with Belmark. Along the way, she landed a DSD deal into 50 stores in the Northeast that forced a faster packaging upgrade than she expected, and got a piece of buyer feedback ("I thought this was laundry detergent") that reshaped how she thinks about packaging as a selling tool.
Daniel, Eve, and Cody dig into the operational and strategic decisions behind pouch design: window versus no window, matte versus gloss, sizing, and why 50% of the brands Cody works with change their packaging art between their first and second production runs.
Listen in as they discuss:
- Why Evie's Snacks only needs a third of the sugar of other brands (hint: it starts with fresh, high-quality pecans)
- The evolution from craft bags with hand-applied stickers to a fully custom printed pouch
- The "three seconds and two questions" packaging rule Eve learned from a mentor in the potato chip industry
- Understanding the pecan category: where it's merchandised and why there's no dominant national player yet
- Why Eve chose photography over a clear window, and the shelf-life tradeoff behind that decision
- How a sudden DSD deal into 50 Northeast stores forced Evie's Snacks to upgrade its packaging faster than planned
- The buyer feedback that stuck with Eve: "I thought this was laundry detergent"
- Why Cody recommends founders put unfinished packaging in front of real buyers before finalizing it
- The overwhelming number of packaging choices founders face, and how Cody narrows them down to fit the brand story
- Why 50% of the brands Cody works with change their packaging art between their first and second production runs
- How distributor shelf-life requirements (often 75% remaining) directly shape packaging decisions
- Evie's Snacks' next chapter: nationwide at Sprouts and exploring new pack sizes
Episode Links:
Belmark has helped hundreds of small- to medium-sized CPG brands like yours solve packaging challenges - and they want to help you too. You can meet directly with one of their packaging experts and talk through whatever you're tackling.
https://www.belmark.com/startup-cpg/
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Show Links:
- Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to "Transcript" at the top)
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Daniel's LinkedIn
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
