Shopper Marketing in 2025 | Jenny Thielen, Green Seed North America

On this episode, we’re joined by Jenny Thielen, CMO at Green Seed North America, and a seasoned CPG marketer who’s spent her career helping food and beverage brands find their footing, grow distribution, and scale sustainably. Jenny shares a wealth of insights on what it really takes to win in retail today - from how to de-risk growth and avoid costly pitfalls to how to build true shopper marketing muscle that drives velocity without burning cash. We dive into her playbook for helping international brands successfully launch in the U.S., how to tailor both product and messaging for a new consumer base. Jenny also breaks down how to approach retail media, what brands are still getting wrong about shopper marketing, and the key lessons she’s learned from Green Seed helping Siggi’s, Quorn, and GoGo squeeZ grow from early-stage to household names.—--------------- Episode Highlights: 🌱 How Green Seed helps brands de-risk growth 🇺🇸 The playbook for bringing international brands to the U.S. 🥛 Siggi’s, Quorn, and GoGo squeeZ growth stories 💰 When and why Green Seed takes equity ⚠️ The biggest pitfalls Jenny sees emerging brands make 🛍️ What shopper marketing really looks like today 📈 How to think about retail media networks 🔥 Trends and brands Jenny is watching right now—---------------Table of Contents:00:00:00 - Intro & Overview00:47:23 - Green Seed origin story04:19:08 - Siggi’s growth story08:01:03 - Quorn growth story09:55:27 - GoGo Squeez growth story11:09:28 - When and why Green Seed decides to take equity13:53:22 - De-risking growth for brands16:01:25 - One of most common pitfalls Jenny sees brands make17:14:03 - The playbook for bringing international brands to the U.S.20:29:21 - Tailoring messaging and recipes for the U.S. consumer28:54:10 - Expanding beyond the ethnic aisle30:50:13 - Shopper marketing34:40:11 - How brands can get shopper marketing wrong today36:19:13 - Shopper marketing for brands selling $5–10M/yr39:11:22 - Retail media networks41:33:00 - Trends and brands Jenny is watching—---------------Links:Green Seed North America – https://greenseedna.comFollow Jenny on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferthielen/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.