The Startup CPG Podcast R&D Radio: Rachel Zemser, Founder of A La Carte Connections
In this debut episode of R&D Radio, a series hosted by Adam Yee, Adam sits down with Rachel Zemser, founder of A La Carte Connections. With 30+ years in the field and hundreds of products brought to market, Rachel shares the advice that stops most entrepreneurs in their tracks: before you spend a dime on R&D, find your co packer.
Rachel explains why the manufacturing process represents 60% of what you're actually building, walks through how to use platforms like Keychain and PartnerSlate to start that search, and shares the real story of bringing Island Vibe — musician Pretty Kenny's cocktail mixer — from kitchen concept to award-winning pasteurized beverage. She and Adam also dig into the sweetener landscape: why allulose and erythritol are letting formulators down on functionality, why small amounts of real sugar are quietly making a comeback, and date sugar's surprising FDA classification.
Listen in as they discuss:
- Why co packer conversations should come before any R&D
- How having a food scientist gets you taken seriously by manufacturers
- The Island Vibe cocktail mixer story: concept to production run
- Co packer negotiating dynamics — and why founders need to bend more than they think
- The "cleanish label" trend: small amounts of real sugar returning for functionality
- Why allulose won't crystallize and erythritol won't brown
- Date sugar's status as a non-added sugar under current FDA guidance
Episode Links:
Rachel Zemser - Food Science Industry Consultant, A La Carte Connections
🔗 Website: www.alacartconnections.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/culinologist/
Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.
Show Links:
- Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Adam's Linkedin
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics