Takeaways: The Savory Protein Bar the World Needed | Ash Baxter

She spent six years evaluating CPG founders from the other side of the table, sitting in boardrooms at TRUFF and Erewhon-backing growth firms while secretly thinking she would never be the one to jump. And then she ate one too many chocolate flavored protein bars at midnight in a finance office and finally said enough.Ash Baxter is the founder of Takeaways, a savory puffed protein snack bar that she spent two and a half years developing, launched for pre-order on June 10th, started shipping June 24th, and has already sold 45,000 bars in its first month. She is a former investor at Stripes and Sky Partners, a Stanford D1 rower who had to make weight as a coxswain and learned the protein to calorie ratio at age 13 from her mom's nutrition plan, and the person who genuinely cannot carry on without a tin of Maldon salt in her bag.The concept behind Takeaways is elegant: Cheese is the savory chocolate. The flavors are indulgent, the macros are table stakes, and the brand is built around joy rather than nutrition—12 grams of protein, 120 calories, three grams of fiber, and characters called Slice Slice Baby, You Cheddar Believe It, and Pepper Jacked who all live in Takeaways Town.In this episode, host Sarah Perkins sits down with Ash for a genuinely fun and insightful conversation about what it looks like when a CPG investor becomes a CPG founder, including the concept study that showed 85% of protein bar consumers would buy Takeaways, the food scientist who told her "cheese is the savory chocolate," her fiancé's mom who turned out to be the real product development genius, and the private equity firm in Chicago that has placed three orders in one month without knowing they are Takeaways' best customer so far.In this episode, we cover:Growing up in San Francisco in a food and wine obsessed family whose road trips were planned entirely around eatingA first job bio that listed an Acme sourdough baguette and an oaky chardonnay as favorite foodsBecoming a coxswain at age 12 for Marin Rowing after a chance encounter with her sister's boyfriendLearning the protein to calorie ratio at age 13 from her mom's nutrition plan and carrying that philosophy ever sinceThe protein bar addiction that started at boarding school in New Hampshire when she lost her "nutritionist" momStanford, D1 rowing, and a Stanford Women in Business club that introduced her to StripesSix years as a CPG investor at Stripes and Sky Partners: fashion, beauty, food, and beverageBeing on the board of TRUFF and learning the most important lesson in CPG: amazing product first, alwaysHow TRUFF's founders built an Instagram following before they built a productMeeting mentor Mark Ramadan, founder of Sir Kensington's and former CEO of Hu Chocolate, through the TRUFF boardWorking crazy finance hours and eating five chocolate protein bars a day until she could not take it anymoreThe aha moment: TRUFF in cottage cheese was getting out of hand so she started tinkering in the kitchenHer fiancé's mother, an incredible chef and baker, iterating on recipes from Washington state while Ash was in BostonWhy she brought in food scientist Barb Stuckey and gave her life savings to the food science teamThe moment Barb told her "cheese is the savory chocolate" and everything clickedA concept study showing 85% of protein bar consumers would buy Takeaways and 70% would not change their sweet bar behaviorWhy Takeaways says "puffed snack bar" not "protein bar" on the packagingLaunching nut-free and why that matters for schools, offices, and familiesCharacters: Slice Slice Baby, You Cheddar Believe It, and Pepper Jacked, all residents of Takeaways Town45,000 bars sold in the first month, number one in bars and jerky at Pop Up Grocer since July 10thGoing into Foxtrot locations and Oakville Grocery in the Bay AreaA private equity firm in Chicago placing three orders in one month as their best customerInvestors: BFG (Boulder Food Group) and Rocana Venture PartnersFirst hire Mackenzie Lukas, formerly of Hormble, joining as a game changerWhy she raised before going to market: To debate the thesis rather than prove the numbersAdvice for founders: Be obsessed with your own product and be your biggest evangelistFind Ash and Takeaways:Website: eattakeaways.comInstagram, TikTok, and social: @eattakeawaysAvailable to purchase online and at select retailers including Pop Up Grocer and FoxtrotSubscribe to The Perfect Bite podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube!You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and sign up for our newsletter!