From the Kitchen to 5,000 stores in 12 months: How Troy Bonde Scaled SAUZ

Discover the entrepreneurial spirit of Troy Bonde, CEO and co-founder of the innovative pasta sauce company SAUZ, as he takes us on a flavorful journey from college dreams to grocery aisle success. Troy, alongside his co-founder Winston, navigated unexpected career twists, pivoting from a hand sanitizer venture to a booming pasta sauce business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn how they infused new life into a traditional market by focusing on fresh ingredients and creative flavors, and hear about the strategic moves that catapulted SAUZ into the competitive arena of Erewhon, gaining them significant visibility and consumer validation. In this engaging conversation, Troy shares the serendipitous events and strategic relationships that shaped their manufacturing path, beginning with an opportune connection made through an academic network. By highlighting the importance of standing out in a crowded space, Troy details the challenges of aligning production processes with market demands, emphasizing the critical role of a standout product. The episode is filled with valuable insights into how Sazh has leveraged packaging, retail placement, and social media to capture the attention of a young, trend-savvy audience and make their mark in the food industry. (0:00:00) - Podcast Intro (0:01:41) - Introduction to Troy (0:02:00) - How Troy and Winston met (8:38) – Was Hot Honey the main differentiator? (0:11:32) – Finding the right manufacturer (0:18:13) – Getting into Erewhon (0:20:39) – Building a brand in different retailers (0:27:28) – How they got secondary placement in retail (0:32:51) – How they launched new SKUs in retail (0:34:53) – What would you prefer to have $100 in COGs or $100 Cash? Sign up for our events: https://manufactured.com/events/ This podcast is brought to by ⁠⁠MFD⁠⁠. MFD is the end to end inventory solution for brands. We can help with inventory financing, and sourcing and manufacturing consumer products. If you’re interested in learning more, check out ⁠https://manufactured.com/