Without this KEY ingredient, your food concept will FAIL! with Rody Hawkins, President and CEO, Improved Nature E144

How does a beef lover and self-titled ‘meat head’ become the leader of a plant-based protein company? God has a sense of humor! Rody Hawkins, with his Ph.D. in Meat Science, worked for two of the world’s largest food manufacturers as a food scientist, head of R&D, and new product development where he learned firsthand, what new ideas will work, and which ones won't.  Rody is personally responsible for creating and developing hundreds of new food products, including his biggest hit, Lunchables! which is now over a $ 1 billion category.

As the leader of Improved Nature, Rody and his team have an audacious goal to feed the world.  Rody joins me today to share his stories of learning from his uber-successful career as a creator.  You might be surprised to discover the KEY ingredient required to make a new food idea successful.

• Origin Story
• Commercialization concepts
• Rody’s Philosophy ~ without this ingredient, it will fail ~
• Lunchables story
• Marketing
• Sales   
• Manufacturing
• Supply Chain
• Technical regulations

Connect with Rody Hawkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rody-hawkins-3895769/

Improved Nature: https://improvednature.com/

About your Host Tony Moore and the Winning at Work podcast:

• Are you looking for a fun and light-hearted podcast to stay current on the trends shaping the $1.6 trillion food and beverage industry? My totally awesome brands featured here take us deep into the world of sustainability, plant-based, food tech, CBD, and good for you. Want to learn how to grow a brand? Scale a brand? I've got you covered. 
• Join me on my mission to discover what makes these companies different, better, and special.
• Episode 143 is sponsored by: Timpl Search - National Food and Beverage headhunters for sales, marketing, innovation, and operations. https://www.timplsearch.com/
• Contact: Tony Moore. 404-904-9235. Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/differentbetterspecialbrands/

Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/get-the-funk-in License code: SF3WUKBUJQULFHXE