Business
Junea Rocha is the Co-founder and CMO of Brazi Bites, a better-for-you, Latin-inspired food brand. With a deep love for her Brazilian homeland and an entrepreneurial spirit, Junea and her husband, Co-founder Cameron MacMullin, decided to bring pão de queijo to the US market. After appearing on ABC's Shark Tank and making the Inc. 5000 List of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America twice, the entrepreneurial duo grew a cherished household staple that was native to her Brazilian roots into a nationally distributed brand with a cult-like following. Junea has been heavily involved in all areas of the business, leading their sales and marketing and growing Brazi Bites' distribution to over 15,000 stores. She is also a skilled fundraiser with expertise ranging from bootstrapping to loans, angel investments, and more. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: How Junea Rocha and her co-founders started Brazi Bites The role sampling has played in the growth of Brazi Bites The first retailers that sold Brazi Bites in Portland and the distribution challenges they faced at the start Junea talks about the changes they have made on their product and branding since launching, the methods they used to raise capital for the brand, and how pitching on ABC's Shark Tank impacted the business When did Junea realize they were building a profitable brand? Where to find Brazi Bites How Junea and Cameron MacMullin, her husband and Co-founder, built their team Junea talks about similarities between the construction industry and the food industry How the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Brazi Bites and the brand's future product lines Junea's advice to fellow entrepreneurs on dealing with adversity In this episode… Access to capital is critical when starting and building a new business, especially for companies as capital intensive as food brands. Many entrepreneurs start their businesses by bootstrapping and later seek external funding once their products get validated in the market. This is what Junea Rocha and her Co-founder, Cameron MacMullin, at Brazi Bites did to build their brand. Something else that had a major impact on their capital was an appearance at ABC's Shark Tank. They not only got the funding they needed to expand operations but also saw an increased demand for their products. They made more sales, expanded the brand — and no longer needed to invest as much in marketing because of the brand’s skyrocketing popularity. In this episode of the NexxtLevel Brands Podcast, Junea Rocha, the Co-founder of Brazi Bites, joins Steve Cleere to talk about starting her Brazilian roots-inspired food brand. Junea explains how the idea for the brand came about, how she has grown the brand's sales through the years, and her team’s future plans. Subscribe and Listen on: iTunes Spotify Stitcher Google Play Deezer iHeartRadio TuneIn Amazon Music Resources Mentioned in this episode Kitchen2Shelf NexxtLevel Marketing Brazi Bites Brazi Bites on ABC’s Shark Tank Brazi Bites at Whole Foods Brazi Bites' Store Locator Junea Rocha on LinkedIn Cameron MacMullin on LinkedIn Expo West Cool News: The NexxtLevel Brands Podcast has just been named as one of the Top 15 CPG-Themed Podcasts on the web!!! We're at Lucky #7 and you can get more information about Feedspot and how you can watch more of your favorite shows here: Top CPG Podcasts – Thanks to Feedspot, Rise25 and our Production Team! 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.