In this debut episode of R&D Radio, a series hosted by Adam Yee, Adam sits down with Rachel Zemser, founder of A La Carte Connections. With 30+ years in the field and hundreds of products brought to market, Rachel shares the advice that stops most entrepreneurs in their tracks: before you spend a dime on R&D, find your co packer.

Rachel explains why the manufacturing process represents 60% of what you're actually building, walks through how to use platforms like Keychain and PartnerSlate to start that search, and shares the real story of bringing Island Vibe — musician Pretty Kenny's cocktail mixer — from kitchen concept to award-winning pasteurized beverage. She and Adam also dig into the sweetener landscape: why allulose and erythritol are letting formulators down on functionality, why small amounts of real sugar are quietly making a comeback, and date sugar's surprising FDA classification.

Listen in as they discuss:

Why co packer conversations should come before any R&D
How having a food scientist gets you taken seriously by manufacturers
The Island Vibe cocktail mixer story: concept to production run
Co packer negotiating dynamics — and why founders need to bend more than they think
The "cleanish label" trend: small amounts of real sugar returning for functionality
Why allulose won't crystallize and erythritol won't brown
Date sugar's status as a non-added sugar under current FDA guidance

Episode Links:

Rachel Zemser - Food Science Industry Consultant, A La Carte Connections
🔗 Website: www.alacartconnections.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/culinologist/

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Show Links:

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Episode music by Super Fantastics