From Grandma's Kitchen to a National Rollout | Amy Collins, Roro's

On this episode, we’re joined by Amy Collins, the Co-Founder and CEO of RoRo’s Baking Company, a Dallas-based brand bringing her grandmother’s beloved cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls to freezers across the country. What started as a family recipe baked by hand in a shared kitchen has grown into a nationally distributed brand carried in Whole Foods, H-E-B, Harris Teeter, and more.Amy shares her journey from ICU nurse to food entrepreneur, how she scaled from self-manufacturing to partnering with a copacker, and what she’s learned about preserving authenticity while building a frozen brand at scale.We get into the decision behind frozen vs. refrigerated vs. ready-to-eat and some of the learning lessons that Amy has gathered during the journey thus far.—---------------Episode Highlights:🥣 The family legacy behind RoRo’s Baking Company🍞 Pre-baked & frozen vs. refrigerated vs. ready-to-eat formats📦 Packaging & brand identity lessons learned the hard way🏭 From shared kitchen to building a commercial facility⚙️ Transitioning from self-manufacturing to a copacker🧊 Competing and winning in the frozen category🛒 The role of demos in driving retail velocity💻 DTC and national shipping via Goldbelly🎯 Managing expectations and staying scrappy🌟 Trends and brands Amy’s keeping an eye on—---------------Table of Contents:00:00 - Intro & RoRo’s Overview00:41 - Origin Story03:53 - Pre-baked & Frozen vs. Refrigerated vs. Ready-to-Eat05:24 - Brand Identity & Packaging Design09:12 - Kickstarter & Building Out a Commercial Space12:32 - Commercial Kitchen vs. Copacker18:38 - Searching for & Choosing a Copacker22:56 - The Frozen Category26:36 - Demos27:48 - DTC & Goldbelly31:16 - Learning Lessons & Expectations32:41 - Trade Shows34:18 - Trends & Brands Amy’s Watching—---------------Links:RoRo’s Baking Company - https://rorosbakingcompany.comFollow Amy Collins on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-collins-4a200216/ Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out https://www.kitprint.co/  Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.