Brand Growth Heroes

In this episode, Fiona Fitz chats with Richard Peake, Managing Director of Merchant Gourmet and one of the rare non-founder guests to grace our show. When Richard entered the role, Merchant Gourmet was a £15 million business. Fast forward four years, and the company has doubled its revenue to £30 million. 
Bold innovations, a revamped product range, and strategic market expansion have powered this incredible growth. Our conversation delves into the power of innovation and the importance of staying ahead of consumer trends. Richard shares invaluable lessons in new product development (NPD). One particularly fascinating theme we covered was servant leadership—how Richard and his team drive Merchant Gourmet’s growth by empowering their people and focusing on purpose.
Additionally, we explore how export markets present an exciting new frontier for brands looking to scale. It was also refreshing to hear Richard admit that even seasoned professionals can find brand positioning a challenge. So, if you’ve ever struggled with getting it just right, you’re in good company!
Enjoy the episode, and as always, let us know your thoughts!

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 Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor - Joelson, the commercial law firm
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If you're a founder, you already know how much of your energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with your consumers. 
But don’t forget that scaling a CPG business also comes with a maze of legal complexities that can make or break your business journey. From contracts, term sheets and regulatory compliance to protecting your brand's intellectual property as you expand, it's essential to get it right.
And that starts with the right legal partner. 
So we're thrilled to introduce Joelson, a leading commercial law firm that specialises in guiding the founders of scaling CPG brands, as Brand Growth Heroes' sponsor.
With long term relationships with clients like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze and Pulsin, Joelson is also famous for advising the innocent founders in their landmark sale to Coca-Cola! As a female team, we are especially impressed by Joelson's commitment to championing female founders in CPG.
Not many law firms are also BCorps, nor do they specialise in helping founders navigate the legal challenges of scaling without stifling the creativity and momentum that got you here in the first place...so thanks Joelson - we’re delighted to have you on board.

If you'd like to get in touch to find out more, why don't you drop them a line on hello@joelsonlaw.com!
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If this episode inspires you to think about new ways to drive business growth, don't forget to click FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE on your favourite podcast app and leave a review

You won’t want to miss the next episode, in which Fiona Fitz talks with another successful founder of a challenger brand who shares more valuable insights into driving growth. Plus, your small gesture will be truly appreciated.
Please don't hesitate to join our Brand Growth Heroes community to stay updated with captivating stories and learnings from your beloved brands on their path to success!
Follow us on our Brand Growth Heroes socials: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Thanks to our Sound Engineer, Gyp Buggane, Ballagroove.com and podcast producer/content creator, Kathryn Watts, Social kews
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How should founders value an early-stage consumer brand, negotiate with investors and raise capital without giving away more of the company than they intended? 
In this second part of my conversation with Phil Hails-Smith, Managing Partner at Joelson, we move from founder equity into investment, valuation and the legal foundations required to scale a CPG brand.
Phil explains why private-company valuation is an art rather than a science, how SEIS and EIS can support early fundraising, and why an ambitious valuation can create painful dilution if the business later misses its plan. We also discuss responsible AI policies, investor due diligence, change-of-control clauses and why owning every element of your intellectual property can determine whether an eventual sale completes.
What You’ll Learn
How SEIS and EIS can help early-stage founders attract investment.
What investors consider when valuing a pre-revenue or early-revenue consumer brand.
Why raising at too high a valuation can cost founders more equity later.
What a scaling company should include in its AI policy.
How contracts and intellectual-property ownership affect an eventual exit.
Key Topics Discussed
Moving from founder equity into external investment
SEIS and EIS tax incentives
Raising an initial seed round
Valuing pre-revenue and early-revenue consumer businesses
Revenue multiples and future growth potential
Why valuation is an art rather than a science
Balancing company valuation against founder dilution
The dangers of raising at an unsustainable valuation
Down rounds and the effect on founder ownership
Changes in investor appetite for consumer and CPG brands
Why defensible physical products may appeal to investors
Responsible company use of AI
Protecting confidential and personal information
Controlling which AI tools employees can use
Preparing for private equity or strategic acquisition
Reviewing customer and supplier contracts
Change-of-control provisions
Making sure the company owns its brand assets
The Innocent logo dispute and the importance of intellectual property
Why unresolved legal issues can delay or jeopardise a sale
Useful links
https://joelsonlaw.com/

Like this episode?
PLEASE share the love by sharing this episode with another founder building a challenger brand, a colleague or a mate who loves brilliant non-alcoholic drinks, or anyone trying to work out how to build a sharper, more focused growth model.
Don't forget to FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to Brand Growth Heroes on your favourite podcast app, and even LEAVE A REVIEW - both of these actions make a MASSIVE difference to our mission to help more founders just like you.
Join our community
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/brandgrowthheroes)
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-growth-heroes/?viewAsMember=true)
Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@brandgrowthheroes)
Find out more about the programmes and courses Fiona runs here (https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/mini-mba-2026)
Join the NextGen CPG WhatsApp group for founders leaning in to the value that a leadership approach to engaging with AI can unlock for businesses like yours.

*** Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor — Joelson, the commercial law firm ***
If you're a founder, you already know how much energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with consumers.
But scaling a CPG business also brings legal complexities that can make or break your growth journey - from contracts and regulatory compliance to protecting your intellectual property.
That’s why we’re proud to partner with Joelson, the leading commercial law firm specialising in helping founders of scaling consumer brands.
Joelson works with brands like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze and Pulsin, and advised the innocent founders on their landmark sale to Coca-Cola - and still work with them at JamJar Investments today!
Joelson is offering a FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION to all BGH listeners (https://joelsonlaw.com/contact/) - we highly recommend you take them up on it!
Credits
Thanks to our Sound Engineer Gyp Buggane at Ballagroove.com and the entire Brand Growth Heroes team.

How should co-founders divide equity - and what happens to those shares if one person leaves?
In Part 1 of my conversation with Phil Hails-Smith, Managing Partner at Joelson,  we unpack the ownership decisions that founders building consumer and CPG brands need to make long before an investment round or exit. (This conversation was soo jam-packed with value that we had to split it in to two!)
Joelson B Corp is the leading commercial law firm specialising in helping founders of scaling consumer brands. The're the law firm that advised the innocent founders on their landmark sale to Coca-Cola (and still work with them at JamJar Investments today, which tells you something...). They also work with brands like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze and Pulsin, and are always present at every industry event, chatting to everyone, with smiling faces and ready to help.
In this episode, Phil shares practical benchmarks rather than vague principles: why a 50:50 co-founder split is relatively unusual, when 60:40 or 70:30 may be more appropriate, how vesting can prevent dead equity, and why both founders may need to be subject to the same provisions.

We also explore all the questions you might have around advisor equity, employee option pools, EMI options and the hidden dilution founders can absorb when investors negotiate on a fully diluted basis.
What You’ll Learn
How to decide between a 50:50, 60:40 or 70:30 co-founder split.
Why founder shares may need to vest over three or four years.
What “dead equity” means and why future investors dislike it.
How much equity an advisor or instrumental early employee might receive.
How employee option pools can dilute the founding team during a fundraise.
Key Topics Discussed
Assessing each founder’s original idea, commitment and financial risk
Why equal equity is not always the fairest structure
Planning for illness, parental leave or a founder leaving the company
Good-leaver and bad-leaver provisions
Founder vesting schedules
Preventing dead equity
Why vesting should generally be balanced between co-founders
Using AI to create co-founder agreements
Why AI cannot identify questions founders do not know to ask
The risk of US legal assumptions appearing in UK agreements
Typical advisor equity of approximately 1% to 2.5%
Why 5% or 7.5% may be excessive for an advisor
Founder control at 75%, 50% and 30% ownership
Creating a 15% to 20% employee option pool
Understanding fully diluted valuations
Who absorbs option-pool dilution during an investment round
EMI options and tax-efficient employee incentives
Giving meaningful equity to instrumental early employees
Useful links
https://joelsonlaw.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/joelson-law/
Like this episode?
PLEASE share the love by sharing it with another founder building a challenger brand, a colleague or a mate who loves brilliant non-alcoholic drinks, or anyone trying to work out how to build a sharper, more focused growth model.
Don't forget to FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to Brand Growth Heroes on your favourite podcast app, and even LEAVE A REVIEW - both of these actions make a MASSIVE difference to our mission to help more founders just like you.
Join our community
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/brandgrowthheroes)
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-growth-heroes/?viewAsMember=true)
Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/brandgrowthheroes)
Find out more about the programmes and courses Fiona runs here (https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/mini-mba-2026)
Join the NextGen CPG WhatsApp group for founders leaning in to the value that a leadership approach to engaging with AI can unlock for businesses like yours.

*** Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor  - Joelson, the commercial law firm ***
Scaling CPG business also brings legal complexities that can make or break your growth journey - from contracts and regulatory compliance to protecting your intellectual property - that's why we’re proud to partner with Joelson, the leading commercial law firm specialising in helping founders of scaling consumer brands.
Joelson is offering a FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION to all BGH listeners (mailto:hello@joelsonlaw.com) - we highly recommend you take them up on it!
Credits
Thanks to our Sound Engineer Gyp Buggane at Ballagroove.com and the entire BGH team

Tampons in an Ice Cream Tub

In this episode of Brand Growth Heroes, I’m joined by Tara Chandra and Susan Allen, co-founders of Here We Flo, the organic, sustainable period care brand turning one of the most shame-coded categories in consumer brands into something loud, funny, feminist and brilliantly visible on shelf. We talk about how two friends from LSE spotted a gap in women’s intimate products, started with a period care idea in a Hackney flatshare, and built a challenger brand now stocked across major retailers including Boots, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Superdrug and Holland & Barrett.
Here We Flo shows us the power of brand strategy to create value when the category ITSELF is broken. Tara and Susan didn’t just create organic cotton tampons, pads and liners; they questioned why period care was hidden, clinical and functional when other parts of consumer life had already moved towards better materials, better design and better conversations. We cover packaging as a growth lever, why their ice cream tub became a “trolley magnet”, how they think about rate of sale rather than just chasing distribution, and why their mission now stretches across cycle care, bladder care and sexual wellness.
What You’ll Learn
 Why Here We Flo used packaging as their first “billboard” before they could afford media. 
 How starting in independent Hackney stores helped them build product market fit. 
 Why brand tone of voice matters so much in categories shaped by shame and stigma. 
 How they think about growing rate of sale with existing retail partners. 
 Why product reliability is non-negotiable in period care and bladder care. 
Key Topics Discussed
 Building a feminist challenger brand 
 Organic and sustainable period care 
 Packaging as a shelf strategy 
 Launching in independent retailers 
 Breaking into WHSmith Travel, Boots and Tesco 
 Making taboo categories emotionally accessible 
 Period care, bladder care and sexual wellness 
 Growing through rate of sale, not just distribution 
 Education on shelf and in-store communication 
 Sports partnerships, stigma and period confidence 
 Building a team of 31 women 
 Scaling towards 50–100% growth ambitions 

Like this episode?

 PLEASE share the love by sharing this episode with another founder building a challenger brand, a colleague or a mate who loves brilliant non-alcoholic drinks, or anyone trying to work out how to build a sharper, more focused growth model.
Don't forget to FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to Brand Growth Heroes on your favourite podcast app, and even LEAVE A REVIEW - both of these actions make a MASSIVE difference to our mission to help more founders just like you.
Join our community
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/brandgrowthheroes)
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-growth-heroes/?viewAsMember=true)
Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@brandgrowthheroes)
Find out more about the programmes and courses Fiona runs here (https://www.brandgrowthheroes.com/mini-mba-2026)
AND 
Do you want to lean in to unlock value from AI? We have a whatsapp group -the  NextGen CPG WhatsApp group for founders leaning in to the value that a leadership approach to engaging with AI can unlock for businesses like yours. Do you want to join? 
*** A massive thanks thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor -  Joelson, the commercial law firm ***
If you're a founder, you already know how much energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with consumers.
But scaling a CPG business also brings legal complexities that can make or break your growth journey - from contracts and regulatory compliance to protecting your intellectual property.
That’s why we’re proud to partner with Joelson, the leading commercial law firm specialising in helping founders of scaling consumer brands.
Joelson works with brands like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze and Pulsin, and advised the innocent founders on their landmark sale to Coca-Cola - and still work with them at JamJar Investments today!
Joelson is offering a FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION to all BGH listeners (mailto:hello@joelsonlaw.com) - we highly recommend you take them up on it!

CREDITS
Thanks to our Sound Engineer Gyp Buggane at Ballagroove.com and all the rest of the Brand Growth Heroes team.

We don't often hear about Challenger brands that are PROFITABLE...So let's do it!
*** Find out more about the NEW Brand Growth Heroes September Sprint 4 week programme just launched June 2026 - applications are open through June and July***
In this fab interview, I chat with Helena Hills, co-founder of TrueStart Coffee, about how she and co-founder Simon have taken a once-niche healthy coffee idea and turned it into a fast-growing challenger brand now on a £12m revenue run rate, profitably. So for those of you who are wondering if it's possible, here's some BRILLIANT insights, advice and experience!
What I loved about this conversation is Helena's clarity around this decision, her conviction. And that TrueStart didn’t suddenly appear from nowhere. It spent years doing the hard, unglamorous work: testing the proposition, building a community at sports events, learning where the brand had real pull, and being incredibly choosy about what to invest in before stepping into scale-up mode.
We talk about the contradiction at the heart of their growth: this is a coffee brand that didn’t lead with coffee culture, but with energy.
Helena explains why TrueStart tests for quality and purity markers (I honestly didn't know this was important), why caffeine consistency matters (nor this, but it makes complete sense to me now!), how COVID became a light-switch moment for the brand, and why their Series A fundraise with Jam Jar felt like a full-circle moment after first naming them as a dream investor back in 2015. 
For founders building consumer brands, this is a brilliant conversation about patience, timing, culture, focus and what it really means to scale without building on sand. 
What You’ll Learn
 Why TrueStart built its early community through sports and fitness events. 
 How a niche proposition became more mainstream as health, ethics and quality became more important to consumers. 
 Why profitable growth became a deliberate strategic choice. 
 How Helena and Simon divide leadership between outward energy and internal process. 
 Why timing matters in innovation, especially with the launch of Coffee Concentrate. 
Key Topics Discussed
 Series A investment from Jam Jar 
 Building a profitable challenger brand 
 Healthy coffee and caffeine consistency 
 Word-of-mouth growth at events 
 Moving from startup to scale-up 
 Coffee Concentrate and iced coffee at home 
 Founder energy, ADHD and complementary co-founder roles 
 Culture, hiring and decision-making guardrails 
 AI, process and avoiding founder bottlenecks 
Find out more about TrueStart
Follow TrueStart on Instagram
Like this episode?
PLEASE share the love by sharing this episode with another founder building a challenger brand, a colleague or a mate who loves brilliant non-alcoholic drinks, or anyone trying to work out how to build a sharper, more focused growth model.
Don't forget to FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to Brand Growth Heroes on your favourite podcast app, and even LEAVE A REVIEW - both of these actions make a MASSIVE difference to our mission to help more founders just like you.
Join the Brand Growth Heroes tribe
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/brandgrowthheroes)
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-growth-heroes/?viewAsMember=true)
Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@brandgrowthheroes)

Join the NextGen CPG WhatsApp group for founders leaning in to the value that a leadership approach to engaging with AI can unlock for businesses like yours.
*** Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor - Joelson, the commercial law firm ***
If you're a founder, you already know how much energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with consumers.
But scaling a CPG business also brings legal complexities that can make or break your growth journey - from contracts and regulatory compliance to protecting your intellectual property.
That’s why we’re proud to partner with Joelson, the leading commercial law firm specialising in helping founders of scaling consumer brands.
Joelson works with brands like Little Moons, Trip, Eat Natural, Bear Graze and Pulsin, and advised the innocent founders on their landmark sale to Coca-Cola - and still work with them at JamJar Investments today!
Joelson is offering a free legal consultation to all Brand Growth Heroes listeners - just send an email to hello@joelsonlaw.com - we highly recommend you take them up on it, they are honestly brilliant.
CREDITS
Thanks to our Sound Engineer Gyp Buggane at Ballagroove.com and to the entire BGH team.