"What Will and I had was an audience that was curated to give something a go... our job was to make that thing good enough that they'd be willing to have it twice."

Will and James built an audience online long before they built a coffee brand. When they launched Rodd's, a plant-based ready-to-drink coffee, they forecast 22,500 bottles for the launch. They sold 100,000 in two weeks and then found out the hard way what FMCG lead times actually mean when you've got nothing left on shelf and a five-week wait for more stock.

In this episode, Will and James talk through what it's really like building an FMCG brand from a content-creation background: the audience trust that got people to try the product once, the NPD process that runs on gut feel and internal taste panels rather than boardroom data decks, and the moment "rat ...