| From frosting to seeds: A CPG founder tries again Entrepreneur Jessica Hamel walked away from the CPG grind nearly a decade ago after her brand FROST'D shuttered. Now she's back—smarter, scrappier and powered by seeds. Read more about her CPG journey. | ||
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| It wasn't supposed to happen again: devoting hours in kitchens to manufacturing; puzzling over profit margins; navigating licensing mazes; hunting down packaging; branding; social media; trade shows and more. Jessica Hamel had said goodbye to that blizzard of headaches and challenges nearly a decade ago, after folding her shelf-stable vegan frosting brand, FROST'D. The brand launched in March of 2015, and shuttered 30 months later. FROST'D enjoyed some success along the way, with distribution at retailers including Whole Foods Market, Erewhon and Uncommon Goods. But over time, Hamel's passion fizzled. As an endurance athlete in Boulder, Colorado, icing never fully resonated—it doesn't exactly scream ultrarunner. And managing a CPG startup, too, tested her formidable grit. "To this day, the smell of chocolate is rough," she says. "When you are putting so much time and effort into building a company, you want it to come from the heart. And icing wasn't coming from the heart." Now, however, she's welcoming the return of many of those same steep hurdles—and potential frustrations. In February, Hamel launched PlantChi, a blend of seeds designed to empower consumers to add their own healthy sources of protein, fiber and nutrients to everything from salads to yogurt to fruit, pasta and more. Continued below… |
