Business
Matt Weiss is the Founder and CEO of RIND Snacks, a better-for-you snack company focused on whole fruit nutrition. After a nearly two-decade career in finance, Matt launched RIND Snacks in 2017 and returned to his family's health food roots. His passion for whole foods snacking was inspired by lessons he learned from his great-grandmother, Helen Seitner, a health food pioneer who operated a well-known natural food store in Michigan in the 1920s. RIND Snacks’ dried fruit snacks maximize nutrition while minimizing waste by focusing on the power of the peel. Today, Matt’s company sits right at the intersection of two of the most powerful trends in CPG: functional nutrition and sustainable snacking. Through the company, Matt continues his great-grandmother's legacy of sustainable snacking with a modern twist by encouraging his consumers to keep it real and eat the peel. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: Matt Weiss explains how RIND Snacks came about and talks about the benefits of eating fruit peels How Matt became a food entrepreneur, how his great grandmother influenced him, why he chose to work with dried fruits, and how he started making his snacks at home How Matt found the capital he needed to start his dried fruit business Matt’s experience selling his products on the Amazon marketplace and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted his business The challenge of food waste and how RIND Snacks helps cut waste and promote sustainability The disadvantages of adding sugar to fruits and the types of fruit Matt uses to make RIND Snacks The new products RIND Snacks has been creating and how Matt positions and sells his snacks in retail stores Matt talks about a big challenge he faced growing his business and how he handled it In this episode… The greatest concentration of fiber, vitamin C, and other important nutrients humans need are usually found in the part of a fruit that’s usually thrown away: the rind. Although there are many dried fruit snacks on the market, most of them have the peels removed and often contain added sugar. An experience walking through a farmer’s market in California inspired Matt Weiss to start making dried fruit snacks from the peels of different fruits. He started by buying equipment from Amazon to dehydrate the fruits at home and decided to use fruits that were difficult to find in local stores. This wasn’t without its challenges: he later learned that he couldn't dehydrate some fruits with a home dehydrator and at one point ended up blowing out the power in his apartment. But, eventually, he found a winning strategy that just might work for you, too. Matt Weiss, the Founder and CEO of RIND Snacks, is Steve Cleere's guest in this week's episode of the NexxtLevel Podcast, where he talks about building his dried fruits CPG business. Matt also talks about the benefits of eating fruit rinds, his grandmother’s influence on him, and how his company helps prevent food waste and promotes sustainability. Subscribe and Listen on: iTunes Spotify Stitcher Google Play Deezer iHeartRadio TuneIn Radio Public Amazon Music Resources Mentioned in this episode Kitchen2Shelf NexxtLevel Marketing RIND Snacks RIND Snacks on Amazon Matt Weiss on LinkedIn Expo West Winter Fancy Food Show Sponsor for this episode... Our podcast today is sponsored by Kitchen2Shelf, the educational arm of NexxtLevel Brands. Kitchen-2-Shelf provides online and in-person courses and workshops for CPG entrepreneurs at any stage of growth. Whether you're an early-stage startup, a local growing business, or if you want to just expand your distribution to a national level, Kitchen-2-Shelf can help you learn what you need to know to grow. Visit their website to get access to some free tools that can help you understand where your business stands. Contact them today to find out how they can help you grow your brand and expand your business to reach its full potential.