Ramona Hazan built the UK's #1 hummus brand (Ramona's) from a one-bedroom flat full of chickpeas to the chillers in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Waitrose. In this episode, she reveals the exact supermarket listings strategy and retail negotiations that got her there - plus the brand pivot no one saw coming. If you're a founder chasing major retail, this is the playbook you need.

In this conversation, Ramona talks about what that journey actually looked like: from a one-bedroom flat full of chickpeas to mainstream retail, via a brand name she had to abandon for a reason no one could have foreseen.

We get into investment and why she's sceptical of large seed rounds before revenue, and what building a resilient business actually means in practice. She talks about quality as the only true non-negotiable and shares the factory-floor story that proved her approach had worked. How she defines a successful week might quietly change how you think about your own.

If you're building a food business, this is essential listening:

• Why 21 years without a ‘hockey-stick moment’ is actually good business
• The most dangerous thing a founder can do when it comes to investment
• How Ramona branded her way through the "wall of beige" in the chilled aisle
• Why getting into Tesco doesn't mean your sales will take off - yet
• How and why she measures the "love" coming from customers

Links

Find out more about the Ramona’s range: https://ramonaskitchen.coma

Connect with Ramona on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramona-hazan/

Chapters

01:52 - How a brand breaks through in an own-label category

03:07 - When a global movement destroys your brand name

04:14 - 17 years of no - and the break that finally came

05:52 - From falafel balls to a 9kg blender: the operational journey

07:52 - Why the packaging is that bright

08:41 - Investment, the cockroach principle, and why millions can be a trap

13:28 - What gets Ramona out of bed now

15:13 - Stretching the brand

18:49 - Is being in love with your business dangerous?

20:51 - Redefining a good week

24:29 - The one thing she repeats until they want to kill her

25:29 - Putting extra love in

26:31 - The email address on every pot

29:01 - Work-life balance and why she's stopped worrying about it

31:46 - Eat the frog

34:17 - Quick-fire questions

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