Scaling Impactful Food Brands With Aubrea Alford

Aubrea Alford is the Founder of Starflower Marketing, a boutique consultancy helping purpose-driven food and lifestyle brands grow through strategic storytelling and brand development. With over a decade in CPG marketing, Aubrea has led brand and innovation initiatives that helped scale Hope Hummus into the top organic hummus in the natural channel and supported companies like Traditional Medicinals on sustainability efforts. Her work blends data, creativity, and impact to build authentic, lasting brands.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[02:13] Aubrea Alford’s career path from violinist to top CPG marketing leader
[09:07] How high-pressure processing unlocked national scale for fresh food brands
[11:53] Ways startups can break into conventional retail channels
[15:37] Why Aubrea says sustainability must start with operations, not marketing
[18:01] The real cost-benefit tradeoffs behind plastic neutrality initiatives
[21:16] Insider tips on thriving as a fractional marketing leader
[26:15] Purpose-driven food brands making an impact — and why they stand out

In this episode…

Great brands don’t just scale on distribution or clever marketing; they scale on meaning. But in a world full of surface-level storytelling and “purpose-washing,” what actually makes a food brand’s impact feel real?

For Aubrea Alford, a seasoned CPG marketer shaped by years inside fast-growing, mission-driven brands, the key lies in building purpose from the inside out. Aubrea explains that sustainability and social impact shouldn’t start in marketing but in operations, where decisions about ingredients, packaging, and processes are made. When purpose is embedded at that level, it stops being a campaign and becomes something consumers can genuinely feel and trust.

In this episode of The Missing Ingredient, CJ Bruce is joined by Aubrea Alford, Founder of Starflower Marketing, to discuss how food brands can scale with both purpose and performance. Aubrea breaks down lessons from scaling a national hummus brand, the role of innovation like HPP in growth, and how to balance profit with sustainability. She also shares advice on blending data and creativity through the art and science of marketing.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“Marketing cannot be the leader of sustainability; it has to be the expression of sustainability.”
“It really was taking it to the foundation of the business operationally and looking at what we can improve.”
“Anything brands can do that is, again, at the DNA level of their brand is what is going to last.”
“There is an intersection of both of those, and I believe both of those are important.”
“Anything small can be meaningful and impactful.”

Action Steps:

Build purpose into your operations, not just the marketing: Embedding impact at the operational level ensures authenticity and long-term credibility with consumers.
Balance innovation with product integrity: Finding solutions like HPP allows brands to scale without compromising quality or core values.
Align sustainability efforts with business realities: Evaluating cost versus impact helps secure stakeholder buy-in and makes initiatives sustainable.
Integrate both data and creativity in marketing: Combining analytical insights with storytelling leads to more effective and resonant brand strategies.
Focus on small, meaningful actions: Even incremental improvements can build trust and contribute to a brand’s overall impact over time.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is sponsored by The Missing Ingredient, a food and beverage marketing agency that believes a better future starts with food. They partner with purpose-driven brands to drive growth through smart, results-focused marketing — without the “set it and forget it” approach.

From brand awareness and paid media to content, influencer partnerships, and loyalty programs, they act as true strategic partners invested in your long-term success.

To learn more about how they help food and beverage brands grow with impact, visit themissingingredient.com today.

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Full Transcript

Podcast Introduction and Show Overview

Intro: 00:01

Welcome to The Missing Ingredient podcast with CJ Bruce, where food and beverage founders, operators, and experts share the real strategies behind building successful brands. Let’s jump into today’s show.

CJ Bruce: 00:15

Hey, I’m CJ Bruce and welcome to the show. This is the podcast for founders and leaders of high impact food and beverage brands who are serious about scaling. Each episode, I sit down with the people who power the food and beverage industry brand operators, agencies, vendors, creators, and retailers to uncomplicate the strategies that take brands from early traction to serious scale. This episode is sponsored by The Missing Ingredient, a food and beverage marketing agency with over a decade in the industry. We take a different approach, starting with your business goals, looking at the full picture, and building a marketing strategy that actually ties back to growth from content and performance marketing to influencer partnerships and AI powered workflows.

We’re an extension of your team, not just another vendor. Learn more at themissingingredient.com. Now, before introducing today’s guest, I want to give a shout out to Alex Jessup and Cameron Walt at JESSUP PR, who introduced us. You can check them out at jessuppr.com. They specialize in media relations.

Now for today’s guest. Aubrea Alford is a professional violinist, which I just learned in the pre-show research turned to fractional marketing leader and founder of Starflower Marketing, where she helps purpose driven and food and lifestyle brands grow with heart. With more than 12 years of experience in CPG. She has led brand strategy, innovation, and cross-functional growth initiatives for mission driven companies. Aubrea believes the most powerful brands are built at the intersection of art and science, where storytelling systems and social impact work together to drive meaningful growth. Welcome to the show, Aubrea.

Aubrea Alford: 01:43

Thank you CJ. Thanks for having me.

CJ Bruce: 01:45

Yeah, excited to have you here. So I got to start with the violin piece because that was new news to me. We’ve spoken a few times. So curious just that you know, that that transition point, right? Going from classical violin background.

And then, you know, I think story about you kind of you encountered hope. Hope foods or hope hummus. And you talk a little bit about that. Like what, what? What made you make that transition and what was that spark like for you?

From Professional Musician to Food Startup Operator

Aubrea Alford: 02:13

Absolutely. So I still am playing professionally, but but for the first 20 or so years of my life, was dedicated musician and went on tour with a few bands. So I was doing the, the rock star lifestyle, shall we say, and would come home from tour and do random side jobs. So at the same time, a group of friends of mine were starting a hummus company and it was just supposed to be fun, just organic ingredients, fun flavors, and suddenly they were selling at the farmer’s market. Then Whole Foods wanted them.

And so their business hope hummus became an actual business. And so they were like, oh my gosh, we’re growing. We gotta we gotta do this thing. So in the meantime, one of my side jobs home from tour was doing demos for a company. And at the time, Pope back in that day and still now demos were the marketing arm of the company.

So I had demo experience and they reached out to me. I mean, they were my friends, so, you know, just a text away and asked if I would be interested in in joining their demo program as, as managing the East Coast. And at first, well, the timing was right because after about ten years of the music lifestyle, it, you know, it just kind of wears on you. I was feeling a little burnt out and I thought, sure, let’s give this a try. So transitioning to the 9 to 5 demo lifestyle, but really falling in love with that dude and seeing the quality ingredients, seeing all the manufacturing processes.

We manufacture it in-house. So it was really we’re really connected to the ingredients. We were really connected to the manufacturing process using HTTP. Taking people on tours and really seeing the drive and the commitment of the company and the passion. And everyone was just learning.

It was true startup nature. So there was an excitement, there was a vibrancy, and there was such a commitment of, of, let’s do this. Well, let’s, let’s really do what we can to do this well. And it was really exciting to become the number one organic hummus in, in the nation. So we succeeded in that in that regard.

And then how, how it came to be with with a cause and social impact is we were really, you know, this was back in maybe 2010, so 15 or so years ago. And it was very big for to go to trade shows or to go to distributor shows and for people to ask, what’s your mission? What what what caused you support? And you know, your name is Hope. What is what is your mission?

And so we really struggled with that because we felt the pressure of, oh, you have to have a mission. Oh, you have to have some a nonprofit you’re supporting. Oh, you have to do like all of these things. And we took a few years, honestly, to, to really dig deep and find we wanted it to be truly real for us and not just, let’s put our name on a nonprofit or let’s just tell everyone that we’re supporting this cause we wanted it to be true, authentic, and shall we say, organic since we were organic food. And, and then a few years into that, our VP of operations lost his uncle to suicide.

And that really impacted so many people in our company. And we realized, oh my gosh, this cause, this impacts so many people all across the world. It doesn’t matter your age, it doesn’t matter where you live. It doesn’t matter your socioeconomic status. What matters is like people’s lives are being impacted.

So then, then that took a few years of how do you connect hummus with mental health? So that was also a few, a few years of process. And we started partnering with an organization out of Chicago. And but people would still ask, well, how does, how does hummus and mental health work together? So in that meantime, we had a new VP of marketing on the team, Nicole Pavlica, who is brilliant.

I she’s been my, my marketing idol and my mentor, and she had an integrative health coaching degree that she brought to the team. And so we made this connection of, well, most of your serotonin is made in your gut. Therefore, truly what you eat does impact your mental health. So we were able to connect directly hummus to mental health support. So through that, we did a whole bunch of initiatives and ranging from digital, ranging from outreach.

And it was really, it was really impactful for me to see, again, the organic growth and how this came to be truly in our DNA, and not just a sticker to stick on. As a cause, as a social impact, but it really became the DNA of our, of our brand. And to see that through the leadership as well. So that was incredibly inspiring for me to grow up into and through and see, see the different waves and, and impacts of, of just that, those initiatives.

Early Growth Challenges and Scaling a Food Brand

CJ Bruce: 07:43

Yeah. That’s great. That’s great. That’s a super interesting how that came about and just the development of that and like taking the time to do it right. And you said, have it be connected, authentic, and, you know, coming out authentically.

And then how does that connect to the product? It’s really interesting. And we’ll dig more into the, the impact piece too, of, you know, what you do and what you’re doing now. I want to dig in a little bit into the, you know, the kind of growth, marketing growth and operational growth side of the business that you were, you were in there, like you said, they were your friends and kind of from the beginning. And so that you know that and feel free to take this in any direction you’d like.

But I’m curious, you know, what worked in that period from, you know, founder led intuition and you’re kind of selling in a small way to scale. And I’m sure there were many challenges over that period and, you know, kind of operating in that messy middle piece from like, we’ve got product market fit and now it’s growing and you talk about that a little bit and.

Aubrea Alford: 08:41

Absolutely.

CJ Bruce: 08:41

Lessons learned from that.

Aubrea Alford: 08:43

Absolutely. So yes, absolutely. Yes. I’m trying to think of which one to start with. But essentially even, you know, starting from we were Colorado based and so growing very it was easy to ship refrigerated hummus across the state, right.

All of whole foods, Rocky Mountain and even even into the neighboring states. And then once California picked us up, we realized our hummus was growing mold because we didn’t have any preservatives. It was growing mold. It was having some issues. It had a very short shelf life.

So but we didn’t want to put we didn’t want to compromise the integrity of the product. So we found high pressure processing, which at that time was primarily used for meat. And essentially we started high pressure processing our hummus. So it’s this big tank of water that exerts, I can’t remember, it’s like 8000 psi. It’s more intense than the the ocean and the pressure of the water onto the product bursts, the molecules that create the bacteria.

It’s wild. So and the product is still in its packaging. But we had to have a special. You have to have packaging that’s strong enough to withhold that pressure. But essentially it created this really it enabled us to have this fresh product that would last for a few months and not just a few days.

And then additionally, we were able to maintain because you’re not heat treating the product, you’re not losing ingredients don’t get get melted or mixed or cooked funny. So we could do an avocado hummus, for example, and you would still see the green of the avocado, the green of the jalapeno, because they weren’t getting cooked, treated, or heated to kind of mess up the, the true quality of the ingredients. So. So it also created this really beautiful product where you could see all of the ingredients very fresh, maintain that freshness. And to this day, other hummus companies are now HP.

So, so it’s, it’s extended beyond meat and also juice. Juice companies will do it as well. So so that you’re not messing up your product via heat and pasteurization, but you’re still maintaining that fresh quality. But through that, we saw the power of, again, innovation and just we don’t want to just follow the traditional path and do what everyone else is doing. And with that, we were able to grow nationally through using Hhp.

And then we really through our just through our, I guess, gumption. I don’t know if that’s the word that’s coming to me. The gumption and the, the excitement and the passion for our product and seeing everyone’s. I mean, it was so fun to demo the product and see consumers taste and, and their face light up because at this time it was basically your Sabra and your Cedar’s you. There wasn’t.

We were really unique at the time. So there wasn’t these unique flavors and, and flavor profiles. So it was very energizing to see the consumer response. So we grew, grew, grew in the natural channel, became the number one in the natural channel. And then we reached kind of our ceiling that we that we were able to reach on our own.

So then we decided we need some, we need some outside help. We need some industry help. We need some, some veterans in the business to help us get into the conventional science. Because conventional grocery is so much different than natural. You have slotting fees, you have companies, you have big companies that are led by Pepsi who can pay so much money into getting their product on the shelf.

And as a little person, as a little company, there’s you just don’t have all that money. So that was definitely one of our first well, not one of our first growing pains, but that was definitely a growing pain to, to learn how to allow veterans in the industry to come in and say, actually, this is how I recommend we do it. And there was a little bit of pushback of especially because there was a lot of younger, you know, 30s, 30s people in their 30s. And but we’ve done it ourselves. We’ve done it ourselves.

But so learning to, to do things a little bit differently, to strategize a bit differently to, to use marketing money and a little bit differently to start shopper marketing, for example, to learn that the, the conventional retailers expected something different. And it really also encouraged us to up our game when it came to even our, our quality standards. So that was, that was definitely a process and one of, probably one of the, the most fun days at Hope was Publix called us the big grocery chain in the southeast and one of their hummus companies, I guess, I don’t know, they had to, they had to take them off the shelves. They called us and they said, hey, can you guys ship to us like in the next two weeks? And we were it was a party at the office.

We were like, oh my gosh, Publix. What? So we, we had a party and then we got to work and we made it happen. And it was just so exciting. Just every it was a celebration anytime we got into a conventional account.

And so to, to continue to grow and grow and grow. And then, then we were acquired. And that was a whole other, a whole other learning process as well. So there’s, there’s a lot with a, with a startup through those phases. But I feel really grateful now, especially to have had experienced all of those different steps from we’re making this in a conventional kitchen to we are selling nationally.

Navigating Profit Versus Purpose in Sustainability

CJ Bruce: 14:38

That’s really cool. Shows a lot more. We could, we could dig into that too, but I want to resist the urge to double click on some of those. And when I get back to the, you know, sustainability and impact pieces and I know, you know, there’s, I mean, you touched on the cause, you know, like the suicide prevention cause side. And then I know there are a lot of sustainability initiatives as well around, you know, the B Corp and plastic neutral certifications.

So I’m curious, you know, I think there’s often tension between, you know, growth and business logistics and costs. And obviously, like you said, there’s a lot of challenges in growth and you have to prioritize different things. So how do you navigate or how did you navigate that tension between profit and purpose? Or how did that show up for you in that work?

Aubrea Alford: 15:27

Absolutely. This is the question. Don’t you feel.

CJ Bruce: 15:33

It’s always there? It’s always.

Aubrea Alford: 15:35

The question.

CJ Bruce: 15:35

Yeah, I want to hear from you.

Aubrea Alford: 15:37

But yes. So through this process, what we learned is that marketing cannot be the leader of sustainability. It has to be the expression of sustainability. And so there’s only so much you can do in the marketing world to to be sustainable. And it really took a lot of learning to, to sell, I don’t want to say sell sustainability, but to really show the impact of sustainability across the entire business.

So it’s kind of starting about it from operations, letting marketing be the, the end expression of, of cause and social work and letting operations being the beginning. So really, really looking at, it’s not just a acute Instagram post or a social campaign or a one off, we’re going to donate March sales to blah, blah, blah. But it really was taking it to the foundation of the business operationally and looking at. Let’s look at sustainability through all the key pillars of the business. And that’s when we started to look at our packaging, for example.

And with our high pressure processing, we had to use plastic. There is no way around that. And we really struggled with that. But we really believed, again, in that process and able to keep our food fresh and not use. So you’re balancing, right?

Like we want to maintain our organic ingredients, we want to maintain our high quality and our fresh, our fresh flavor. But that means plastic. What are we going to do about it? So that’s where we found we could do plastic neutral certification. And you know, the thing is we also learned, don’t let good be the perfect be the enemy of good.

Is that the saying? Yeah, because there is. So, you know, it’s we started this plastic neutral. We were so excited to feel like we were doing something where we are. We’re giving money for each amount of plastic that we sold in our container.

So it’s very detailed as far as you weigh the plastic, the plastic cover and the plastic lid and the plastic. We looked at our, our, even our overwrap that we did for our pallets, like every amount of plastic in our building, we weighed. And then we accounted for and then paid credits for to work with plastic removal in India. And even then people are like, well, how do you know it’s not going, you know, how do you know it’s really doing anything? And, and it’s just like, this is greenwashing.

And so any, anything you do, someone will be like, well, that’s not good enough, you know?

CJ Bruce: 18:25

Yeah, yeah.

Aubrea Alford: 18:26

And, and so, but it was, it was something we felt, again, genuine to our business that we could do. And when we looked at the, the ability of profit versus Purpose. And we’re able to really dial that in and show that to the C-suite and show that to the board and show this is this is the impact that we can make. We’re the first hummus company that is doing this with the first dips and spreads company that’s doing this. You know, people are really and also, we care about the fact that we are contributing to the plastic in the ocean.

So this is something we can do. And it’s not that crazy amount of a cost. It’s not millions of dollars that we are doing. So when we really broke it down and showed the the stakeholders what the actual cost was versus benefit, and it was able, we were able to, to move forward with that project. And I’m so glad that we did so.

So that was, that was one of the aspects of looking at ourselves operationally and starting from that basis of what can we improve? We already have really high ingredients, high quality ingredients. We’re already using organic chickpeas, so we’re not using roundup on our products. What are what are other things operationally that we can do? And then at the end of that is the marketing.

At the end of that is the, the sharing with consumers what we’re doing. And I think the thing is that there’s and then figuring out on package, you know, the, the amount of space you have on a package is usually pretty small. So what do you, what do you prioritize? You know, especially when you have all organic ingredients, all gluten free, certified, non-GMO, plastic neutral, recycled, all of the things. So that was another thing.

But I think I’m getting off topic a little bit, but.

Transitioning to Fractional Marketing and Starflower Marketing

CJ Bruce: 20:21

No, no, it’s okay. Yeah, I think it’s, I mean, there’s a few things that, you know, pick up on what you said there. I think like the, the piece around the, you know, the quality of the ingredients and it’s like to, to have that and to have it be available in all these places, which also just availability of products like that to a broader group of people requires the plastic because of the HP. And then because of that, it’s just I think people often, like you said, it’s like it’s, it’s never good enough. But you getting behind the scenes, knowing there’s always trade offs and you’re trying to balance those things, you know, not just on the profit side, but also, like you said, like the quality of ingredients and the sustainability side.

It’s really interesting. So I wanted to talk a lot about Hope foods. I wanted to shift a little bit and just learn a little bit more, you know, about what you’re doing today. Starflower. And you know, what was that, that transition from hope to Starflower.

And yeah, talk a little bit about that.

Aubrea Alford: 21:16

Absolutely. So I kind of found myself in a consulting role, shall we say, in a, in a fractional role. And it’s something I’d always kind of dreamed about but never thought I could do, to be honest. And one of those, oh, that sounds great. Other people, Other people can be fractional.

But. But not me. But that’s not true. If. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

And I found that I have I’ve been doing fractional work for about a year and a half. Yes, about a year and a half. And what I am loving is there are so many beautiful brands out there. There are so many brands that are doing their best and really wanting to make an impact and making incredible products. And it’s really fun to learn from different teams, and then also to bring a different perspective from my past as well.

And I love that, that collaboration, I love the sense of, of just seeing what people are doing and joining them. And I really, I think just the purpose driven space is. Yes, it can be a kind of a, maybe a carnival of sorts in some ways. And also there’s, real there’s real heart behind it. People care.

And so that’s why, that’s why I love to kind of take off my, after my experience, the judgmental hat of like, well, that’s not good enough. But a lot of people really care and they’re trying. And so what I love to do is my kind of tag or key phrase is bringing the art and science of marketing. And that came back from my music days of being a musician of you have to have the science per se, of technique, of practice, of skill. And then the art of expression and, and presence in, in performing.

And I believe as a, as someone who is listening to music or at a show, you’re really going to be most impacted as an audience member. If you have both from a musician, you can have someone that really loves what they’re doing, perhaps without the skill. And that’s really beautiful. But your ear might, might twins, twins a little bit with some like out of tune notes or some stumbling. And then similarly, if you have a musician who is playing note by note perfectly, but does it convey presence or love of what they’re doing?

Or that if they’re just playing a show like that also translates? So what occurred to me with marketing and what I loved about the transition into marketing is that marketing is also art and science, where you don’t only want to be data, but you have to have data, but you also don’t want to only be storytelling and emotion and feels and vibes. So there is an intersection of both of those, and I believe both of those are important. And so I love approaching work with brands with both of those parts, art and science. So that can look like working with their brand team, their innovation coming in and doing project work for, For sustainability for B Corp.

I’ve done some B Corp work and sustainability initiatives. And even just for for brand management. It doesn’t have to only be for cause and for social impact. But there’s there’s a lot you can bring even in a data project. So it’s just having that mindset.

So I, I love, I, I get to work with brands in different capacities, whether it’s project work, some retainer work or like 3 to 6 month contract work. When, when people are on maternity leave or when someone needs just an extra extra hand for a short time, doesn’t need a full time brand marketer, but I just love connecting the dots. That’s, that’s just my, my favorite thing. And I think as a, as, as a fractional person and having a different, you know, not being in the weeds of the organization, there’s more freedom to connect dots, there’s more freedom to see things in a different way. Because yeah, because you’re not in the day to day politics and the day to day.

Just, just the grind that you have to get into when you are full time with a company.

Brands Doing Purpose-Driven Work Well

CJ Bruce: 25:41

Yeah, that’s really interesting. I think the conversation yesterday about the kind of the two sides with like the data and the creative, your performance and creative and it’s, I feel, I feel that personally, I think, you know, just sitting in that all the time. Yeah. And that’s, yeah, that’s really interesting. I wanted to shift to, to chat about brands, some specific brands.

So I’m curious, you know, who, who in food and beverage do you think right now is like doing some great work that, you know, maybe isn’t getting the attention they deserve?

Aubrea Alford: 26:15

Yes. Oh so many. My gosh, I, I’m going to shout out a former client of mine, but I just love them so much. And that’s Traditional Medicinals. They are a tea company.

And I mean, that’s something to to love a brand for just being a consumer of the brand, but then to actually work with the brand and see the, see the true heart behind what they’re doing really blew me away. And what I, what I really loved about Traditional Medicinals is that there’s a true care for the herbs and there’s a true care for the consumer well-being. And so seeing all of the, the research, the herbalists on the team are master herbalists. They are very knowledgeable, very passionate about herbs and their combinations. It’s not.

And I didn’t know this before working in tea, but it’s not just, oh well, this tastes good. And this tea. And then we’ll add some peppermint because it’ll add a bit of zest to the tea. But it’s all of the herbs are very intentional. There’s a lot of intentionality.

And as well as with Traditional Medicinals, they also want to share the love of herbalism and the knowledge of herbalism with consumers. So they have something called the Plant Wisdom Collective. You can find on their website and they have just some teaching modules around herbalism. So as well as they’re doing really incredible work in India and in China and with some of their ingredients. And I just the layers and depths of what they are doing blew me away.

And to see the true again, passion and heart and just, and just incredible wisdom on the team was, was really incredible. So Traditional Medicinals shout out. And also really, I as a, as a female, I mean, I, I really strong like support for women, really strong women leadership. And just really, it was a really beautiful experience. So another brand I’m really loving is Laird Superfood.

And, and I, I really love the intentionality behind their products and using coconut, really using the functional mushrooms and really, really providing some, some clean options, you know, for coffee and for tea in their matcha drink. And I love their hot chocolate. And, and I think too, coming from, from Gabby and Laird and seeing I, I subscribe to their podcasts and listen to them. And so there’s, there’s a sense again of how they’re, they’re living their lives too, and wanting to provide a service to others and wanting to provide options for, for people and just their, there’s a sense of genuine accountability for them that I sense through their brand and that they’re, they’re both, they’re both involved in the brand. So it’s not just they’re slapping their name on it and go do whatever, but I really, it’s a, it’s a brand that I, that I buy and appreciate.

CJ Bruce: 29:23

Oh that’s great. Yeah. I like both of those brands. Oh.

Aubrea Alford: 29:28

Can I share another?

CJ Bruce: 29:29

Yeah. Of course.

CJ Bruce: 29:29

Yeah, yeah.

Emerging Innovation: Sustainable Food Concepts

Aubrea Alford: 29:31

Have you heard of The Spare Food Co.?

CJ Bruce: 29:34

I have not heard of that one.

Aubrea Alford: 29:35

They are based out of New York and it’s two brothers. One is a chef and one he did some. He had a marketing branding agency that we worked with at Hope, Jeremy K. But what they do is I think is so cool. So what they’re doing is they’re creating essentially beef patties and they’re still using about, I think it’s 10 to 20% beef, sustainable beef.

But then the rest of the patty, the ingredients is made from vegetables. So they’re not trying to be a plant substitute for beef, but they’re trying to they’re trying to still create a product using they use vegetables that kind of like a misfits market or vegetables that might be thrown away just because of the way that they look. So they’re, there they are, creating this product that has both beef and vegetables in it and that it tastes still like beef. So for those consumers who maybe don’t want the full beef experience, but then also don’t want maybe a veggie patty or a garden burger, it gives them both at the same time. So and they, I believe they’re referring into into.

To like college campuses, food service type of work. But yeah.

CJ Bruce: 30:59

Interesting. Yeah, I haven’t heard of that one. That’s, that’s been an interesting development too, even just within the, you know, kind of plant based, full plant based, obviously, like the kind of imitation meats and then the return to real food and combinations too, that you’re seeing out there. It’s really interesting.

Aubrea Alford: 31:17

Right?

The Role of AI in Modern Marketing

CJ Bruce: 31:19

Okay. I, the next question I was going to ask you is, which is, you know, I’m very, you could say obsessed with AI and then learning and nerding out about it and using it anyways. Personally and professionally. And so obviously, it’s a huge thing that’s happening across every aspect of, you know, life and work. And so I’m curious in your perspective, you know, how, how is the rise of AI impacted the work that you do and what you do for brands, how you think about it?

Aubrea Alford: 31:48

Ooh. CJ, such a good question. This, this topic I also feel is one obviously that’s very could be controversial and where the, the benefits of AI can also be seen as well. That’s not. That’s not helpful for our.

Well, everyone that’s listening knows knows what I’m about to say. So, but I will say what it’s what I appreciate about AI in the work that I do is it helps me a lot when I’m using databases, you know, working with different companies. Everyone uses different databases, different website programs. There’s a lot of different different data programs, data management, online virtual programs. And I really appreciate that.

AI helps me to learn those much more quickly. Instead of having to start over and learn the Shopify platform versus the square platform versus. So that really helps cut my time. I really, I’ve so there’s, there’s a lot of potential. And I think the excitement around it is really interesting.

One of the groups that I’m in the forum for Naturals, which is I don’t know if you’ve heard of. Have I told you about the Naturals? I’ll have to. We’ll have to talk about that. But it’s this group of fractional marketers led by Ted Ning and sustainability marketers.

It’s fabulous. And there’s a big AI sector of how some AI experts that lead different meetings and different reports and different workshops. So I think it’s something I’ve dipped my toes into for sure, and know that there’s so much more to explore with it. And also, at the end of the day, I feel like I can spot an AI. Spot an AI social social media post like that.

You know, the all of the ChatGPT phrases are now just oh gosh, so obvious. So but I think there’s, I think it’s, I think it’s a very nuanced conversation and I think it’s here and let’s use it for good.

CJ Bruce: 34:09

Yeah, it’s a good, good way to end it on there. Yeah. I think that it’s definitely nuanced. And I think the I mean, just to touch on a few things you said, I think there’s definitely a right and wrong ways to use AI. And, you know, we, we think a lot about, you know, how do we get from how do we incorporate our knowledge and experience and perspective and taste in working with AI to get that balance of, you know, quality on brand, but also the efficiencies that come with it.

So it’s right, it’s new and evolving. And yeah, I’m sure we could, we could talk again in six months and it would be a totally, totally different.

Aubrea Alford: 34:48

Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Exactly. It will be.

CJ Bruce: 34:53

Awesome. Let’s see. One, two. Yeah. Shift into so I11 last question for you.

But before before I get to that, I do want to just, you know, tell people where they could follow up with you and learn more. And so when I put people to your website, which is Starflower Marketing, and if there’s any other place you’d recommend or places for people to connect with you or what you’re doing at Starflower.

Aubrea Alford: 35:19

Yes. I would actually not recommend my website. It’s so funny as I don’t know your experience as marketing, but it’s so hard to market your own self. You know, I feel like marketers, I’ll market anyone else all day long, but for myself. Oh gosh.

And also it’s been thankfully, I’m thankful that I’ve been so busy with client work that the website has not made it to my list yet. However, LinkedIn, I have my my name Aubrea Alford on LinkedIn as well as Starflower Marketing on LinkedIn as well. So LinkedIn is a great place to connect. I’m there and we can chat there. And yeah, that’s, that’s a great place.

Yeah.

CJ Bruce: 36:03

Awesome. Great.

The Future of Sustainability and Authentic Brand Impact

CJ Bruce: 36:05

So the last question I have with you is, you know, looking ahead around really like sustainability impact, like some of these things, like you have, you know, interesting perspective with hope. Like you said, a lot of it, you’re at the beginning, you know, where like these things were new and coming online. And I’m curious, you know, what do you see as the, the kind of next, you know, trends or wave or where you see like this, this going in the near future?

Aubrea Alford: 36:32

I see as, as more brands are, are doing more social initiative cause work. I see consumers really wanting genuine and authenticity from the brands. So I see the need for any, anything that a brand can do. That’s that in their cause and their social, their social initiatives that can be truly genuine from their brand will make more of an impact. I believe.

So even if that is having, for example, at Hope we, we got mental health first responder training. So. So even with within the culture of the office of really. And it’s not something that maybe a consumer would know, but just anything in the heart and DNA of your brand and with with the people that work at the brand that can own any aspect of, of the cause and of sustainability is, I think will make an impact and somehow will come out through to the consumer. So I think there’s just as, as you know, so much greenwashing and so much throwing stuff on a package and throwing stuff in a campaign, but anything brands can do that is, again, at the DNA level of their brand is what is going to last.

CJ Bruce: 37:58

Yeah, that’s really interesting. I think, I think it connects a little bit to the AI piece as well. I think a lot about, you know, what is this going to look like as more and more things are posted and not authentic and AI generated. And you know, what’s defensible from a brand standpoint? And I feel like what you just brought up is a good example where if it’s built into the DNA and it’s training that the humans on the team are doing.

You know, that really shows that it goes a lot deeper than just, you know, a social post or a promise on pack.

Aubrea Alford: 38:26

Exactly, exactly.

CJ Bruce: 38:28

Interesting.

Aubrea Alford: 38:29

And it doesn’t have to be big. You know, it doesn’t have to be a lot of money. It doesn’t have to be a huge, like big expense and big program. It can be small. That’s the thing.

Also, I want to encourage brands of even these. Anything small can be meaningful and impactful.

Closing Remarks and Outro

CJ Bruce: 38:48

Awesome. That’s a great, a great point to end on. So we’ve been talking to Aubrea Alford, founder of Starflower Marketing. Be sure to check her out on LinkedIn, not on her website. Connect and send messages.

And Aubrea, thanks so much for being on the show.

Aubrea Alford: 39:02

Thank you, CJ.

Outro: 39:05

Thanks for listening to The Missing Ingredient podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.