Founder Feature: Suzannah Raff of Cleo+Coco
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Show Notes
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Editor Caitlin Bricker sits down with Suzannah Raff, the founder of Cleo+Coco, a clean personal care brand that's thinking about what it means to be truly "natural."
Suzannah shares her journey from frustrated deodorant shopper to launching a brand that prioritizes ingredient efficacy, transparency, and eliminating synthetic fragrances—often overlooked but potentially harmful components in personal care products.
Suzannah opens up about the early days of building Cleo+Coco, her unique background in business strategy, and how she created a super-effective formula that leverages ingredients like charcoal, magnesium, and pre/probiotics to balance the skin microbiome. She also details how joining the Startup CPG community and showcasing at Expo West helped lead to a major national rollout in Whole Foods Market with nine SKUs.
Plus, hear how Cleo+Coco’s innovative magnesium spray is filling a white space in wellness, and why Suzannah believes we're on the cusp of a consumer awakening
around synthetic fragrances.
Want to learn how to build a purpose-driven CPG brand and land national retail distribution the clean way? Tune in now!
Listen in as they share about:
- Cleo+Coco Overview
- Brand Philosophy & Vision
- Product Innovation & Formulation
- Retail & Growth Journey
- Marketing & Branding
- Industry Challenges
- Startup Lessons & Founder Advice
Episode Links:
Website: https://cleoandcoco.com/
Instagram: @cleoandcoconatural
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 (20K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Caitlin's Linkedin
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [email protected]
- Episode music by Super Fantastics