R&D Radio: Travis Zissu from Scale Food Lab

In this episode of R&D Radio, hosted by Adam Yee, Adam sits down with Travis Zissu, founder of Scale Food Labs — an FDA-registered pilot food manufacturing facility in Golden, Colorado helping emerging brands turn benchtop formulas into scalable, production-ready products. With over a decade of food industry experience spanning culinary school at the CIA, GNT Natural Colors, and Chew Innovation, Travis has made it his mission to democratize the product development knowledge he's accumulated and make scalability a first principle, not an afterthought.Travis walks through his end-to-end process — from ingredient sourcing and prototype development to consumer testing, pilot runs, and full production — and explains why discovering problems before you hit a manufacturer is worth far more than any single formula tweak. He also shares why 90% acceptance is the real launch threshold, and what founders get dangerously wrong when they fall in love with their home kitchen recipe.He also dives into two standout client stories: a founder who came to Expo West with four vague ideas and left with a launched, distributor-ready hot-filled acidified product — and a farmer's market entrepreneur who went from buying spice jars at Whole Foods to opening a $12 million facility.Listen in as they discuss:Why sourcing from scalable suppliers must happen before you ever touch the benchThe danger of switching ingredient suppliers at scale — and the real cost of finding out too lateWhy you'll never launch exactly what you made at home, and why that's okayHow Scale Food Labs stress tests pilots: turning up heat, skipping stirs, and pouring off at multiple intervalsProtein trends: the rise of animal-based protein, BLG (beta-lactoglobulin) whey, and a supply chain already running dry through 2027Fiber as a parallel trend — and why GI distress is the thing that kills fiber-forward productsCell-based meats: what it's actually like to taste cultured chicken, and why Travis is rooting hard for the categoryEpisode Links: Travis Zissu – Founder, Scale Food Labs🌐 Website: www.scalefoodlabs.com 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zissuDon'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 (35K+ members and growing!)Follow @startupcpgVisit host Adam's Linkedin Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [email protected] music by Super Fantastics If you’re interested in learning more about the science behind Cognizin,Head to www.cognizin.com to learn more.