Podcast
Dear Citrus Diaries
Hosted by Lauren Hodgen · EN
Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring founders + creatives who are making waves in the CPG food and beverage world. From innovative entrepreneurs to trailblazing executives to game changing creatives, we delve into their stories and who they are outside of their title. Get ready to be inspired, empowered, and equipped with the insights you need to succeed in the kitchen and your career.
@citrusdiaries.studio | citrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.com
39episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Teddy Kim of Last Call
Feb 2400:41:33Tap to summarizeTeddy Kim is a writer and founder based in Los Angeles. He is the co-founder of Last Call, an alcohol wellness startup inspired by products in Korea and Japan.He writes an entertainment column for Emily Sundberg’s Feed Me newsletter, focusing on the intersection of entertainment and technology, and also writes his own newsletter, first Derivative.Last Call is an alcohol wellness startup founded in Los Angeles, offering a dietary supplement to aid recovery after drinking. Inspired by Korean wellness practices, its product features dihydromyricetin (DHM), a natural extract from the Japanese raisin tree, alongside theanine, prickly pear, milk thistle, and B vitamins to boost alcohol metabolism, reduce hangover symptoms, and support liver health.IG try_lastcall | trylastcall.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Francesca Salac, Head of Brand Marketing North America of Minor Figures
Feb 1700:45:35Tap to summarizeIntro: Theo Terris, CEO of Uncle ArniesUncle Arnie’s is a California-born beverage company redefining the way people enjoy THC. Launched in 2020 with a mission to make cannabis approachable, affordable, and undeniably fun, Uncle Arnie’s has quickly become one of the best-selling cannabis beverage brands in the U.S. IG unclearnies | unclearnies.comFrancesca Salac, Head of Brand Marketing North America of Minor FiguresMinor Figures is a global brand developing best-in-class plant-based beverages designed to take you on a taste trip. Founded by coffee-loving friends and baristas for a better planet, Minor Figures is creating a future worth saving — crafting tomorrow’s beverage innovations with the biggest impact and smallest environmental footprint. IG minorfigures | us.minorfigures.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Mark & Megan Overbay of Big Spoon Roasters
Feb 1000:38:56Tap to summarizeBig Spoon Roasters was founded by husband-and-wife team Mark and Megan Overbay. The duo shared a love for nut butter: Mark, having spent time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zimbabwe, originally learned how to hand-make his favorite food, peanut butter, while living abroad, and Megan's experience as an endurance athlete led her to craft her own nutrient-dense nut butter bars that both tasted good and fueled her training.Big Spoon Roasters is a small-batch food company handcrafting innovative, wholesome nut butters and bars with thoughtfully sourced ingredients in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Operating since 2011, Big Spoon Roasters is proudly independently owned and operated.IG bigspoonroasters | bigspoonroasters.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Jane Coxwell of OKO
Feb 300:28:43Tap to summarizeJane Coxwell is a globally trained chef and the founder of OKO, with a career that spans cooking in the South of France and Southeast Asia to more than a decade as Diane von Furstenberg’s private chef and head chef aboard the super yacht Eos. Known for her elegant, vibrant approach to real food, Jane began creating fresh vegetable blends to help a close friend nourish herself through health challenges. Those recipes became the foundation of OKO. Today, Jane brings her deep culinary expertise to crafting organic, chef-developed vegetable blends that make eating more vegetables effortless, flavorful, and deeply satisfying.OKO is a chef-founded food company dedicated to making healthy, plant-based eating effortless and delicious. Its fresh, organic vegetable blends are crafted to be vibrantly flavorful and endlessly versatile—ready to scoop, sauce, dip, or stir into meals with no prep required.IG okofoodco | okofood.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Haylee Jordan of FABRIC + Alex Whitmore of Taza Chocolate
Jan 2700:46:54Tap to summarizeIntro: Importance of fair sourcing + ethical pay in the coca industry as we ramp up for Valentine's DayTaza co-founder and CEO Alex Whitmore took his first bite of stone ground chocolate while traveling in Oaxaca, Mexico. Inspired by its rustic intensity, he learned to hand-carve granite millstones and built the Taza Chocolate factory back home in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife, co-founder Kathleen Fulton in 2005.IG tazachocolate | tazachocolate.comHaylee Jordan of FABRICFABRIC is a premium, THC-infused Aussie Hop Fizz. We’re here to spark creativity, bring people together, and create meaningful social impact where we can. We like to say we’re on a mission to unf*ck tomorrow, because the world’s on fire. We give 2% to mental health initiatives and work to marry profit and purpose.Haylee brings over a decade of brand strategy and identity design to her newest venture: co-founding a CPG brand with two fellow founders that marries profit and purpose.IG drinkfabric | drinkfabric.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Jessica Hamel of PlantChi
Jan 2000:28:49Tap to summarizeJessica Hamel has never played by the rules—whether running ultramarathons, racing sailboats, or shaking up the food world. Now, with PlantChi, she’s ditching the wellness fuss and making nutrition effortless, rebellious, and straight-up good.PlantChi is a middle finger to complicated wellness trends, a love letter to nature, and an open invitation to embrace what’s real. PlantChi is a line of seasonings with benefits. We take nutrient-dense superseeds and pair them with craveable ingredients like nutritional yeast and seaweed to create toppings that let you sprinkle in a little wellness without turning your life upside down.what we chat about:You’ve gone from ultramarathons and sailboat racing to building food brands—what through-line connects all of those chapters, and how did that mindset shape PlantChi?PlantChi leans into “ritual over routine.” What does that distinction mean to you, and how can food rituals help people actually stick with healthier habits?IG plantchi.life | plantchi.lifeFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Ben Jacobsen of Jacobsen Salt
Jan 1300:34:51Tap to summarizeBen Jacobsen is the founder of Jacobsen Salt Co., the Oregon-based artisan salt company he started in 2011 to bring world-class sea salt to American kitchens. After studying and working in Scandinavia, where he first discovered the transformative impact of high-quality finishing salts, Ben returned to Oregon and spent years experimenting with sea water from dozens of Pacific Northwest sites before settling on Netarts Bay for its uniquely bright salinity.Under his leadership, Jacobsen Salt Co. became the first company in the Pacific Northwest to revive traditional salt harvesting, combining meticulous sourcing and small-batch techniques to create salts noted for their delicate crunch and pure briny flavor.IG jacobsensaltco | jacobsensalt.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Amy Guittard, CMO of Guittard Chocolate
Jan 600:32:49Tap to summarizeGuittard Chocolate Company is a historic American chocolate maker founded in 1868 by French immigrant Étienne Guittard during the California Gold Rush. What began as a small San Francisco shop quickly grew into a respected confectionery business, and today Guittard stands as the oldest continuously family-owned and operated chocolate company in the United States, now based in Burlingame, California and led by fourth and fifth-generation family members.what we chat about:As CMO, you oversee both marketing and brand development. How do you balance honoring Guittard’s long history with innovating to stay relevant in today’s chocolate market?Guittard is known for working closely with both professional chefs and home bakers. How does this dual focus influence your marketing strategies and product development?IG guittard.chocolate | guittard.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →Vincent Ricchiuti of Enzo’s Table & Clara Sieg of Loonen
Dec 2300:40:56Tap to summarizeVincent Ricchiuti of Enzo’s TableAs the fourth generation of his Italian-American farming family, Vincent Ricchiuti was naturally drawn to the family business. A native of Fresno, CA, he spent his formative years working alongside his father and grandfather in the family’s diversified agricultural business.For more than a century, the Ricchiuti Family has diligently worked the land in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley with a goal to sustainably grow, produce, and harvest premium fruit, nuts, and more recently, estate grown award-winning ENZO Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil.IG enzos.table | enzostable.comIntro Segment: Loonen’s Launch 💧Meet Loonen. The cleanest, most transparent bottled water on earth. The brand comes from Clara Sieg, a venture investor turned founder who spent years backing category-defining consumer brands and realized water, the most basic product in our lives, was still the least transparent. She built Loonen with operator David Kimmell (ex-Spindrift) to bring accountability and design integrity to the category.Learn more in my chat with Clara!Find Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Transcribe →S5 E28: Sabah Ashraf of House of Kajaana
Feb 25, 202500:43:20Tap to summarizeSabah Ashraf, Founder and CEO of House of Kajaana, transitioned from a career in investment banking and design firm leadership to creating a brand inspired by her Indian roots. Drawing from childhood memories of homemade Indian meals, she launched House of Kajaana to offer convenient, plant-based Indian-inspired frozen meals that balance authenticity, health, and sustainability. IG houseofkajaana | houseofkajaana.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
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