Dealing Yogurt Via Citibikes and Backpacks | Elan Halper, Sourmilk

On this episode, we're joined by Elan Halpern, Co-Founder of Sourmilk - the NYC-based functional greek yogurt brand designed to actually deliver real probiotic benefits, not just the perception of them. Elan is a Stanford CS grad and former tech PM who, alongside co-founder Kiki, started out selling yogurt on bikes out of backpacks across New York City.We dive into the science behind why most yogurts fall into one of three probiotic traps, and how Elan narrowed forty thousand bacteria strains down to the handful that are probiotic, survive in yogurt, and taste good.Elan breaks down organic dairy sourcing realities, demand planning for a perishable product, building a two-thousand-person waitlist before the first production run, and selling the first pallet on city bikes in seven days. We also dig into the forced rebrand from Beny to Sourmilk, launching with one SKU in bright blue packaging to stand out in the yogurt aisle, why Happier Grocery was the right first retail partner, and what Elan's tech background brought to CPG.---------------Episode Highlights:🥛 Why most yogurts fail at being truly probiotic (three traps)🧪 Narrowing 40,000 bacteria strains to find the right probiotic combo🏭 Finding a dairy co-packer the old-fashioned way (cold calls, not Google)🐄 Organic vs conventional dairy supply chain economics📦 Building a 2,000-person waitlist before the first production run🚲 The "drug deal model" - selling yogurt on city bikes in brown bags💻 Custom-coding a Shopify pickup feature (Stanford CS advantage)✏️ Cease and desist to rebrand - from Benny to Sourmilk🎨 Bright blue packaging to stand out in the sea-of-white yogurt aisle🛒 Why Happier Grocery was the right first retail partner🎯 Localized activations - gym pop-ups near retail stores to drive velocity---------------Table of Contents:00:00 – Intro00:43 – Origin story and the gut health problem04:32 – Formulation and the three yogurt traps06:22 – R&D - narrowing 40,000 bacteria strains07:43 – Finding a co-packer in an old-fashioned industry09:48 – Scaling from home kitchen to co-man production11:49 – Organic dairy supply chain and sourcing challenges17:27 – Demand planning with a perishable product18:48 – The drug deal model - selling yogurt on city bikes20:01 – What tech taught him about building in CPG22:28 – The rebrand - from Benny to Sourmilk26:10 – Packaging design and standing out in the yogurt aisle28:46 – Straddling the food vs supplement brand identity30:00 – Pros and cons of the direct-to-consumer pickup model34:41 – Getting into retail and using zip code data35:49 – Why Happier Grocery was the first retail partner36:32 – Advice for brands launching into their first retailer37:51 – Retail expansion strategy - NYC first, then regional38:30 – Brands and trends they're watching40:29 – Where to follow Sourmilk---------------Links:Sourmilk – https://www.sourmilk.com/Follow Elan on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/elan-halpern-99a018193/Follow Sourmilk on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/sourmilk/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.