Founding Born Simple, Selling to Mizkan, and Leading Innovation Across a $1B+ Portfolio | Rob Johnson, Born Simple & Mizkan

On this episode, we're joined by Rob Johnson, Co-Founder & CEO of Born Simple and Head of Innovation at Mizkan America - the protein-forward shelf-stable complete, prepared meals brand that pivoted from barbecue sauces and broth concentrates into a category that every buyer in the country says is desperate for a makeover. Rob spent years running small natural and organic brands inside Conagra before leaving to build Born Simple, selling it to Mizkan in 2021, and sticking around for nearly five years - one of the longer founder tenures post-acquisition in recent memory.We dig into how Born Simple was literally born in a Whole Foods meeting - the buyer hated the existing brand but loved the products, and Rob walked out with a nationwide launch commitment across two categories before the brand even had a name.Robs gets into what he calls the "NASCAR package" problem in big CPG, the Mizkan acquisition, and what founders should actually pay attention to beyond the check size.We also cover Rob's new role leading innovation across Mizkan America, where he's trying to expand beyond what he calls "innovation behind a computer screen" and replace it with startup-style consumer empathy inside a 225-year-old, $1B+ family-owned company.---------------Episode Highlights:🍖 How Born Simple went from barbecue sauce to protein-forward shelf-stable meals🛒 Landing a nationwide Whole Foods launch before the brand had a name🎨 Brand design inspired by Brandless and Public Goods - simplicity as strategy📦 The "NASCAR package" problem and why big CPG over-communicates on shelf🏷️ Adapting packaging to category - why Tetra Pak pasta sauce didn't work💰 Selling to Mizkan in 2021 and key deal terms for founders (earnouts, key man clauses)🤝 Why post-acquisition integration speed is the #1 thing founders overlook🔄 Pivoting into shelf-stable complete meals - a category in desperate need of a makeover🚀 Leading innovation at Mizkan America and killing "innovation behind a computer screen"🧪 Bringing startup thinking to a 225-year-old, $1B+ family-owned company---------------Table of Contents:00:00 – Intro00:45 – Origin story and the Whole Foods meeting03:18 – The Brandless and Public Goods insight04:52 – Small companies doing unscalable things05:57 – What big CPG experience actually teaches you10:10 – Sitting on both sides of M&A12:01 – Building Born Simple's brand identity and packaging design14:40 – The "NASCAR package" problem15:55 – Adapting packaging to category (Tetra Pak pasta sauce)17:18 – The stand cap pouch and glass recycling21:42 – Selling to Mizkan and reading the funding tea leaves26:10 – Key deal terms and what founders should negotiate28:15 – Post-acquisition integration and why it destroys value32:08 – Pivoting to protein-forward shelf-stable meals36:33 – Head of Innovation at Mizkan America38:00 – "Innovation behind a computer screen"---------------Links:Born Simple – https://www.bornsimple.com/Mizkan – https://www.mizkan.com/Follow Rob on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/robj2/Follow Adam 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.