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How Ithaca Hummus Scaled to $50M Without Venture Capital? Mike Gelb with Chris Kirby | Consumer VC

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Manage episode 480227710 series 2585347
Content provided by Mike Gelb. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Mike Gelb or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.

This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.

Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands – https://www.highbeam.co/capital?partnerId=consumervc

In this episode of The Consumer VC, Mike Gelb sits down with Chris Kirby, founder of Ithaca Hummus, to uncover how he turned a local farmer’s market stand into a $50M+ premium food brand — without traditional VC funding.

Chris shares:

Why he left fine dining to build a CPG brand

How Ithaca Hummus was born at a student farmer’s market

Selling without brokers & scaling through scrappy growth

Why they said NO to VCs and focused on unit economics & velocity

How packaging and taste-first branding drove national expansion

Strategic partnerships that led to explosive revenue jumps

🔥 If you're a CPG founder, emerging brand, or curious about bootstrapping a premium product, don’t miss this.

🕒 Timestamps

00:00 - Opening Quote: The Magic of Farmer’s Markets

03:24 - From Fine Dining to Culinary Burnout

06:36 - Discovering a Gap in Ithaca’s Food Scene

10:46 - Launching Ithaca Hummus from a Camp Kitchen

13:54 - The Addictive Energy of Farmer’s Markets

19:15 - No Brokers: Selling to Co-ops Door-to-Door

24:33 - Sampling, Promotions & Retailer Education

28:10 - $1M to $3.5M: Strategic Investment from Co-Man

33:50 - Saying No to VCs: Building Without External Pressure

37:17 - What Strategic Actually Means in CPG

41:50 - Branding, Packaging & the Power of “Owning Taste”

45:33 - Creating Viral Flavors (e.g. French Onion Hummus)

47:59 - Graza x Ithaca: Strategic Co-Branded Launch

50:00 - Long-Term Vision: Legacy, Not Liquidity

53:50 - Lightning Round: Books, Beliefs & Brands

#venturecapital #consumervc #vcfunding

📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for startup trends:

https://www.theconsumervc.com/

🎧 Listen on:

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...

Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...

📲Follow Mike:

Twitter / Instagram / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

  continue reading

385 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 480227710 series 2585347
Content provided by Mike Gelb. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Mike Gelb or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.

This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.

Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands – https://www.highbeam.co/capital?partnerId=consumervc

In this episode of The Consumer VC, Mike Gelb sits down with Chris Kirby, founder of Ithaca Hummus, to uncover how he turned a local farmer’s market stand into a $50M+ premium food brand — without traditional VC funding.

Chris shares:

Why he left fine dining to build a CPG brand

How Ithaca Hummus was born at a student farmer’s market

Selling without brokers & scaling through scrappy growth

Why they said NO to VCs and focused on unit economics & velocity

How packaging and taste-first branding drove national expansion

Strategic partnerships that led to explosive revenue jumps

🔥 If you're a CPG founder, emerging brand, or curious about bootstrapping a premium product, don’t miss this.

🕒 Timestamps

00:00 - Opening Quote: The Magic of Farmer’s Markets

03:24 - From Fine Dining to Culinary Burnout

06:36 - Discovering a Gap in Ithaca’s Food Scene

10:46 - Launching Ithaca Hummus from a Camp Kitchen

13:54 - The Addictive Energy of Farmer’s Markets

19:15 - No Brokers: Selling to Co-ops Door-to-Door

24:33 - Sampling, Promotions & Retailer Education

28:10 - $1M to $3.5M: Strategic Investment from Co-Man

33:50 - Saying No to VCs: Building Without External Pressure

37:17 - What Strategic Actually Means in CPG

41:50 - Branding, Packaging & the Power of “Owning Taste”

45:33 - Creating Viral Flavors (e.g. French Onion Hummus)

47:59 - Graza x Ithaca: Strategic Co-Branded Launch

50:00 - Long-Term Vision: Legacy, Not Liquidity

53:50 - Lightning Round: Books, Beliefs & Brands

#venturecapital #consumervc #vcfunding

📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for startup trends:

https://www.theconsumervc.com/

🎧 Listen on:

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...

Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...

📲Follow Mike:

Twitter / Instagram / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

  continue reading

385 episodes

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