Transforming Carbone’s Restaurant Lore Into a Premier CPG Brand | Chris Wendling, Carbone Fine Food

On this episode, we’re joined by Chris Wendling, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Carbone Fine Food, the fast-growing brand translating the iconic Carbone restaurant experience into the grocery aisle. Since launching in 2021, Carbone has quickly become one of the top-selling premium pasta sauce brands in America, expanding into club, mass, and specialty retailers.Chris shares how his sales leadership background helped build marketing structure around a rapidly scaling business. We talked about the journey of implementing a formal marketing strategy, refining brand storytelling, and aligning the team around north start metrics. We dive into how Carbone leverages restaurant expertise to inform innovation, the thinking behind its new Italian Simmer Sauces line and the philosophy that guided the recent label refresh.---------------Episode Highlights:🍝 The story behind Carbone Fine Food’s rapid rise📈 Building a scalable marketing structure from scratch🤝 Lessons from leading marketing after years in sales📊 Using restaurant data to guide retail innovation🔥 Launching the new Italian Simmer Sauces🎨 The strategy behind Carbone’s packaging refresh📍 Defining and tracking true north-star metrics👀 Emerging brand and consumer trends Chris is watching---------------Table of Contents:00:00 - Intro00:48 - Carbone Fine Food origin story04:11 - Implement a formal marketing strategy / structure12:16 - Leading marketing after years in sales leadership20:51 - Leveraging restaurant data to drive product strategy24:42 - The Simmer Sauces lines29:33 - Label refresh33:30 - North star metrics37:04 - Brand and trends Chris is watching---------------Links:Carbone Fine Food – https://www.carbonefinefood.com/ Follow Chris on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwendling/ 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 KitPrint.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.