6TH ANNUAL PITCH SLAM

COMPETITION & CELEBRATION

May 9, 2024
Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, San Francisco, CA 

Naturally Bay Area’s annual Pitch Slam is the premier event of the year to celebrate the Bay Area’s up-and-coming brands with a community celebration and pitch competition. Whether it’s to showcase your talents or to keep your finger on the pulse of the hottest industry trends, Pitch Slam is the place you want to be!

We’ll hear from industry leaders, local retailers, and the Pitch Slam finalists! This select group of local, emerging companies will pitch to our community of investors and industry peers for a chance to win prizes worth $50K+, including $5,000 cash, a booth at Newtopia Now, and the opportunity to take the national stage!

 

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Finalists

 

Greatfill, Mika Peterman, Co-Founder & CEO

Greatfill offers eco-friendly, refillable home products without any single-use plastic waste. Our mission is to eliminate single-use plastic by making refilling convenient, affordable and fun. We’re the only company in the US that offers a completely zero waste solution for consumers, businesses and institutions.

Moon Fruit, Stephanie Robbins, Co-Founder

Moon Fruit is a fruit based, freeze-dried snack for kids. It’s a new twist on smoothies, making favorite smoothie flavors – strawberry banana, mixed berry, etc. – into crunchy bite-size snacks that are delicious! Super sweet and crunchy, this is good for you snacking! No added sugar, no juices or concentrates, whole fruits only.

Narra, Miggy Reyes, Co-Founder

Narra brews oat milk lattes powered with tea that are plant-based but far from basic. Every batch is crafted with authentic Asian flavors like roasted oolong, black tea, strawberry matcha and more. Each sip has no added sugar and zero artificial ingredients. All to shake up your afternoon pick-me-up with the perfect boost of caffeine for smooth & focused energy that’s never jittery.

Oyna Natural Foods, Aisan Hoss, Co-Founder

Oyna Natural Foods produces Kuku Persian Frittata and Dips that are dairy, soy and gluten-free! We believe in serving you fresh, healthy, flavorsome food. All our products are produced in small batches using high-quality ingredients. We use traditional Persian recipes and handcraft each of our products with love, from our family to yours.

Philosopher Foods, Tim Richards, Founder & CEO

Philosopher Foods nourishes people and planet with our craft nut butters and fermented nuts! Our products are made in small batches in California. Using stone grinding, a food preparation technique older than civilization, we are re-defining nut butter with our unique flavors and textures. Our mission is to create delicious, nutritious, ethical, and ecological food that nourishes all Life through its cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and consumption. Our vision is to use business to promote the flourishing of all organisms and ecosystems!

Sobo Foods, Eric Ji Sun Wu, Co-Founder & CEO

Sobo is inspired by nostalgia, but crafted for the future. Our recipes are born from a deep love for the first-gen comfort foods that we grew up with, as well as a shared conviction that every meal is an opportunity to make a healthy, climate-positive choice. Our vision is to reimagine the flavors of our childhoods using 100% plant-based, veggie-packed recipes that our families would be proud of. Up first? The dumpling!

 

 

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Judges

Alli Ball, Founder & CEO, Food Biz Wiz & Retail Ready

Alli Ball is the founder & CEO of Food Biz Wiz and the creator of Retail Ready®, an online program providing strategic support, curated curriculum, and values-aligned community for producers of packaged products in the food industry. As a former grocery buyer-turned-wholesale consultant, Alli has helped thousands of emerging brands understand what it takes to get on the shelf and have high sales once you’re there. Find her on her website here or weekly on Food Biz Wiz® her award-winning weekly podcast about wholesale strategy.

Neil Blomquist, Founder and President, Sustainable Solutions

Neil Blomquist has over 48 years of hands-on success building brands and companies in the natural products industry, and supporting non-profits as a board trustee. Neil has practical experience in retailing, distribution, brand marketing, product sourcing, product development, entrepreneur mentoring, and organizational management.

Neil is the former President and CEO of Spectrum Organic Products and has served on boards for the California Olive Oil Council, Nutiva, Numi Tea, Lotus Foods, and many others.

Julia Collins, Founder and CEO, Planet FWD

Julia Collins is the founder and CEO of Planet FWD, the leading climate management platform for consumer companies. Empowering the next generation of sustainable brands through its proprietary data and software, Planet FWD reduces the cost and complexity of creating sustainable products. The platform provides consumer companies with the tools to understand and reduce their carbon footprint to align with The Paris Agreement. 

The platform is inspired by Planet FWD’s own snack brand, Moonshot, which launched in 2020 as the first climate-friendly snack brand. Moonshot was recently acquired by Patagonia Provisions, a first for Patagonia in more than 20 years. 

A serial entrepreneur, Julia previously co-founded Zume Pizza where she became the first Black woman “unicorn” when she created a venture-backed tech company valued at over a billion dollars. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, she served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Harlem Jazz Enterprises, which holds The Cecil, an Afro-Asian Brasserie, and Minton’s, a historic jazz supper club. While there, The Cecil won Best New Restaurant of the Year.

Earlier in her career, she built industry-leading food companies in New York City. Serving as a leader, she grew brands such as Union Square Hospitality Group, Mexicue and Murray’s Cheese.

In addition to leading Planet FWD, Julia sits on the Climate Collaborative board, the Food for Climate League board and the advisory council for Launch with GS. She is also an active angel investor focused on funding female entrepreneurs and BIPOC founders. Julia is also an Ambassador for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Julia holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford. She resides in San Francisco with her 2 sons and partner. Follow Julia on Instagram: @JuliaECollins  | Twitter: @JuliaCollins | LinkedIn

Ahmed Rahim, CVO & Co-Founder, Numi Tea

Ahmed is an artist, serial entrepreneur, and an advisor to entrepreneurs running sustainable businesses with innovative products in the CPG marketplace. He is in service to those caring for their community and creating positive change for the planet. He has helped dozens of sustainable CPG companies launch and scale in the marketplace.

Ahmed co-founded Numi, one of the largest premium, organic, fair trade tea companies in North America. He creates all of the unique Numi blends and travels the far corners of the world building partnerships with farmers.

Ahmed chairs Numi Foundation, serving Numi’s communities around the world with gardening & art education, clean water and programs to nurture and empower communities to thrive.

Ahmed co-founded OSC, One Step Closer, a community of sustainable natural products business leaders, working together in collaborative and innovative ways toward positive change for our food industry, planet and people.

Ahmed lives deep in nature amongst the giant redwoods, and created a retreat center, hosting gatherings that helps foster a regenerative future for all living systems.

Nicole Wilson, Director of Center Store, Safeway

Nicole Wilson is the Director of Center Store for Albertsons/Safeway’s Northern California Division, a region that includes 289 stores under the Safeway, Vons, Pak n Save and Andronico’s banners in Northern California, Northern Nevada, and Hawaii. Overseeing Grocery, Dairy, Frozen and GMHBC, her team oversees strategically driving sales by managing assortment, pricing, promotion, and merchandising plans for the division. This requires a network of partnerships – among others, with Operations, CPG companies, and various arms of the Albertsons organization.

Nicole received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from CSU East Bay, is a 2022 Top Women in Grocery winner, and received the honor of Safeway Northern California’s Support Leader of the Year in 2023. In her spare time, she is learning Spanish, is an avid wine enthusiast, and loves to travel.

 

Keynote Speaker

Paul Lightfoot, General Manager, Patagonia Provisions

Paul Lightfoot is the General Manager of Patagonia Provisions, the food and beverage division of Patagonia. Founded by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Provisions brings to market foods to fight the environmental crisis.

Paul is the chair of the board of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, which administers the Regenerative Organic Certified® standard, a revolutionary new label for food, fiber, and botanical ingredients and products. Regenerative Organic Certified® is based on three pillars that require farmers to use practices that ensure healthy soil, pasture-based animal welfare, and fairness for farmers and workers.

Prior to joining Patagonia, Paul was the founder & CEO of BrightFarms, which builds and operates high-tech greenhouse farms to eliminate time, distance and costs from the produce supply chain. Before BrightFarms, Paul was a technology entrepreneur and transactional attorney.

Fireside Chat

Elliot Begoun, Naturally Bay Area Board Member, and Founder, Brand Champion of TIG Brands

Elliot Begoun is a 30-year industry veteran, author, podcast host, founder of TIG Brands, and a champion of Tardigrades. TIG Brands supports a community of entrepreneurs interested in building nimble, capital-efficient, resilient brands that become Tardigrades, not Unicorns. Learn more about TIG Brands’ programs here and catch Elliot at FoodBytes, the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute, and the Natural Products Business School. Tune into the TIG Talks podcast and find Elliot’s articles in publications such as The Huffington Post, SmartBrief, and New Hope.

Sadie Scheffer, Co-Founder and CEO, Bread SRSLY

After dropping out of MIT, Sadie Scheffer learned the art of gluten-free baking to impress her college crush. Today she is the CEO of Bread SRSLY, makers of delicious gluten-free sourdough bread in Oakland, CA. Sadie is also the founder of Hire Like A Badass, a program that teaches busy founders how to take the fear out of hiring so they can build their dream team. Outside of her two companies, Sadie is also a volunteer curling instructor!

Tarush Agarwal, Co-Founder & President, Sāch Foods

Mentors

Each Pitch Slam finalist is paired with a mentor to help them prepare to take the stage on May 9. Our mentors are industry veterans from a variety of backgrounds who have volunteered to help the finalists put their best pitch forward. BIG THANK YOU to our mentors for contributing to our program!

2024 Mentors:

(pictured from left to right)

Paul Voge, Co-Founder & CEO, Aura Bora
Paul is the co-founder of Aura Bora, a beverage company in San Francisco. The brand’s sparkling waters are made from herbs, fruits, and flowers for earthly tastes and heavenly feelings. Find Aura Bora at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Thrive Market, and natural retailers in the Bay Area and beyond.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulvoge

Dianna Tremblay, Chief Program and Strategic Initiatives Officer, ICA Fund
Dianna Tremblay is the Chief Program Officer at ICA.  She is responsible for scaling the impact of the ICA’s programs and cultivating the support and capital ecosystem necessary for entrepreneurs to scale their businesses.  With expertise in program design and implementation,  small business support, accessing capital, and ecosystem building, Dianna strives to use these skills to increase equitable access to capital, coaching, and networks for entrepreneurs of color. Leading ICA’s program work, Dianna continues to explore, test, and build programs that ultimately prepare companies to become more resilient and investment-ready.

Prior to joining ICA, Dianna’s professional experience included sales, corporate relationship management, and business development roles in e-commerce and textbook publishing. Dianna received a MBA from the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy at Mills College and a Bachelor’s in English from California State University, East Bay.

Trei Campbell, Head of Food, Good Eggs
Experienced Grocery Retail & Purchasing Leader with a history of working in grocery retail, supermarkets, ecommerce, natural foods, cpg and grocery delivery start up environments.

Merril Gilbert, Co-Founder & CEO, Curious Futures
Merril Gilbert is the Co-founder and CEO of Curious Futures, renowned for mitigating investment risks by ensuring that founders, their business models, and teams are well-equipped to execute and achieve aligned milestones. A thought-provoking leader in the future of food and technology, she consistently stays at the forefront of identifying CPG, health, and climate solutions, connecting culture and strategy with individuals driving change to shape the future. She diligently monitors advancements in scaling manufacturing, research, and the global adoption of innovation.

In 2015, Merril co-founded TraceTrust, pioneering safety standards in the emerging worldwide cannabis industry. She has successfully guided multiple startups from local to nationwide success.

Merril’s extensive knowledge and experience with startups and entrepreneurs have made her a sought-after speaker on entrepreneurship. Her engaging and thought-provoking talks provide actionable insights, equipping audience members with the tools they need to succeed.

Currently serving as a Board Member at Slow Money NorCal, Merril mentors entrepreneurs in investor relations. Additionally, she is the co-founder of the Cannabis Compliance Alliance, a member of the Naturally Network, and part of the MISTA ecosystem.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/merril-gilbert/

Jeff Gustafson, CEO & Partner, Propeller Industries
Jeff has over 30 years of professional experience in finance as an investment banker, company founder, and CFO. He spent over a decade in investment banking raising capital for growth companies, has since led two businesses as an owner/operator through multiple capital raises and M&A events, and has served as CFO or transaction advisor to over 100 Propeller clients. He is the founder of Propeller’s Transaction Advisory practice, bringing a wealth of experience to help companies evaluate strategic alternatives, raise capital for expansion or liquidity, and purchase or sell a company.

Mike Dovbish, Executive Director, Nutrition Capital Network
Mike serves as Executive Director of Nutrition Capital Network, providing strategic guidance and preparing participating companies for NCN Investor Conferences. Since NCN’s inception in 2007, Mike has worked with presenting companies on their business plans, pitch presentations and overall strategy to best position them for growth and investment. He also identifies and introduces potential investors and strategic partners to companies before, during and after the investor meetings. He has worked with entrepreneurs on their business strategy, capital raising, market opportunity assessment, value proposition and partnership development.

Reception

Raise a Glass to the Local Community

Following the Pitch Slam presentation, join us for a reception to celebrate the local community. We’ll have food, beverages, and treats to mark the occasion! 

 

Prizes

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER WILL RECEIVE A PRIZE PACKAGE VALUED AT OVER $50K!

  • $5,000 cash provided by Aspect Consumer Partners
  • Booth at New Hope Network’s Newtopia Now show in Denver
  • Slot to compete on the national stage with other Naturally Network regional Pitch Slam winners
  • Shopper marketing consulting/creative from Parabolic
  • NIQ Trend Analysis
  • SPINS Insight sprint – consultation and presentation-ready reports
  • One hour of consultation plus 20 hours of conference room time at BPM‘s San Francisco office at One California overlooking the San Francisco Bay
  • Three-step branding and/or marketing strategy consultation by Trinity Brand Group
  • One-year membership for the TIG Brands program
  • Three hours of pitch and/or financial consulting from Propeller Industries
  • Supply Chain & Coverage Review by Heffernan Insurance Brokers
  • Consultation and lunch with Baker Tilly outsourced accounting and tax managers, two hours with each specialist
  • Three-hour workshop with lunch at the Mattson Innovation Center

2ND PRIZE WINNER

DON BUDER PEOPLE’s CHOICE AWARD

  • $1,000 cash prize
  • Plus a package of professional services

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