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Success Stems from Trial and Error | Caroline Cotto | Renewal Mill
Episode 244

Success Stems from Trial and Error | Caroline Cotto | Renewal Mill

On this episode of Honest Ecommerce, we have Caroline Cotto. Caroline Cotto is the Co-Founder & COO of Renewal Mill, a company that helps fight food waste by upcycling byproducts into nutritious flours and delicious plant-based products. We talk about upcycled food for eco-conscious millennials, challenges of being new to the B2C business, workarounds when introducing an unfamiliar product, and so much more!

Honest Ecommerce · Chase Clymer with Caroline Cotto

September 25, 202320m 43s

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Show Notes

Caroline Cotto is the Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Renewal Mill, a venture-backed startup creating a new circular economy of food by upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into ingredients. 

A food marketing and nutrition specialist, Caroline has experience at the UN World Food Programme in Cambodia, the White House (for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative), Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator, and HubSpot, where she ran the women’s diversity program globally. 

Caroline grew up in food, working for her family’s ice cream business in the town of Sandwich, MA. 

Caroline serves as the Board President of the Upcycled Food Association, and formerly served as a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

  1. [00:00] Intro
  2. [01:00] What is Renewal Mill?
  3. [01:41] Validating the idea for Renewal Mill
  4. [03:06] Renewal Mill’s first product
  5. [04:32] Workarounds of introducing a new product
  6. [05:04] Renewal Mill’s ideation process and timeline
  7. [05:43] How Renewal Mill entered the Ecommerce space
  8. [06:15] Driving awareness for upcycled food
  9. [06:58] Renewal Mill’s B2B go-to market strategy
  10. [07:50] Considering B2C to generate short-term revenue
  11. [12:59] Challenges of being a new B2C business
  12. [13:40] Two ways Renewal Mill overcame the challenges
  13. [14:17] Driving traffic to their website through partnerships
  14. [14:59] Partnerships are both a win and a challenge
  15. [15:38] Finding ways to stand out from other brands
  16. [16:00] Brand advocacies vs what consumers actually care about
  17. [16:28] Tailor brand messages to appeal to customers
  18. [16:57] Leveraging upcycling as their Unique Selling Point
  19. [17:31] The power of interviewing your customers
  20. [18:12] Know where customers live online and offline
  21. [18:45] Staying in traditional retail for impulse buyers
  22. [19:21] Limited offers to reel in loyal customers
  23. [20:00] Where to support Renewal Mill

Resources:

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Topics

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