In this episode, we interview Steve Silva, VP of Commercialization at Grass Fed Foods, to explore the realities of building and scaling premium protein brands in today’s CPG landscape. Steve shares insights from his 20+ year career across companies like Frito-Lay, WhiteWave, Walmart, and now Grass Fed Foods, highlighting the strategic differences between large corporations and lean growth platforms. The conversation covers category growth in grass-fed beef, retail strategy, brand integration, and career advice for MBA students interested in CPG.

During this episode, Lewis explains how his role has evolved from account manager to U.S. sales director, walking through how he structures his weeks in four-week cycles, collaborates internally with the VP of Digital Commerce, and balances long-term brand strategy with short-term commercial pressures in a privately held company. Lewis dives into how he uses data and forecasting to make decisions, mainly prioritizing availability as the top growth lever, and how he uses market share and retailer “sales out” to guide choices. He shares a key story of defending price increases during the cocoa supply crisis and removing a top-selling SKU when the long-term metrics support it. Throughout the conversation, he shares leadership and career lessons for emerging professionals, emphasizing the importance of being comfortable with discomfort and rejection, relying on team and data over ego, and always starting from the consumer and working backward in negotiations and sales strategy.

In this episode, we sit down with Alden Zeff, Global Connected Commerce Associate Manager at Champion Petfoods, to explore how premium pet brands develop and display their identity in an increasingly digital and marketplace-driven world. We discuss the challenges of maintaining brand consistency across ecommerce, retail media, and brick-and-mortar channels, while balancing personalization, performance marketing, and long-term brand equity. The conversation highlights how pet humanization, sustainability, and data-driven commerce are shaping how premium pet brands show up for today’s pet parents.