CuriousFutures Scaling & Commercialization Process
If you’re ready to take an existing brand to the next level, congratulations! All your hard work developing and establishing a product in the market has paid off. Now, imagine walking into big retailers and seeing your product on the shelves.
Scaling a product line is exciting, but it also brings a whole new set of challenges. It’s totally understandable if you feel some apprehension. There’s a lot at stake, considering how much time, effort, and money you’ve already put into the brand. When it comes to moving into the big leagues, you want to make calculated moves and consider all the angles.
Having a team of experts in your corner who know the commercialization process will be significant to your success. That way, you can ensure you’ve explored every possible option, gone over every pro and con, and have a detailed action plan.
Why Choose CuriousFutures?
We are a consortium of product manufacturers, compliance agents, and business strategists. We’ve guided many different types of brands through the scaling process countless times.
What sets us apart from other consultants is our hands-on experience and approach, our network, and our values.
Experience
Our collective team are professionals in agriculture, food science and technology, product development, and business strategy. We have a deep understanding of the marketplace in several industries, including food and beverage and cannabinoid-infused products.
After guiding a variety of products from concept to shelf for both startups and commercial operators, we’ve gained a comprehensive understanding of the entire process. When you work with us, you will feel confident you’ve considered all angles, from manufacturing technicalities to compliance, branding, and partnerships.
Network
No problem is too big when you know who to ask. We have spent the past 20 years cultivating relationships across various industries, including manufacturing, compliance, funding, technology marketing, and public relations. By deploying our expansive network, we ensure no problem is left unsolved. We can also advise one of our trusted partners to complete your journey once our work together is complete.
Approach
We’ve been called a “one-stop problem solving shop.” What sets us apart from other consultants is our hands-on approach. We know what it takes to do what you’re doing, and we have the resources to accomplish it. When you work with us, you can feel confident and supported knowing we didn’t leave any details or questions unexplored – including the questions you didn’t know you had.
Values
As female founders, we love supporting women-owned brands. We strive to make businesses and products that are good for people and the planet. We are here to develop the next generation of personalized products. It’s not enough to do it well. Instead, our approach is always to go above and beyond.
How We Work
Our work follows a seven-stage process. Each step represents a specific phase of work. We want you to build your project at your own pace, so we support you and your internal team as much or as little as needed at each step.
Here is what you can expect:
Step 1: Alignment
All new relationships start with an alignment meeting. On this call, we take a deep dive into your project to identify the vision, scope, and resources, including:
Ideas
Goals
Budget
Team
Progress
Product Technicalities
Competitors
Brand Attributes
After the call, we send over a recap that outlines our roadmap, including any pre-work needed to kick off the next phase.
Step 2: Exploration
Depending on your project’s needs, we guide you through various exercises to refine your market position. Together, we will identify which products are your closest competitors and how you can differentiate yourself, the flavor profile of each SKU, and how they fit together as a product line.
Step 3: Bench Top
In phase three, we start work with your production team or approved co-packer to produce a small run for taste testing and recipe verification. Once this stage is complete, we will have a validated product formulation and data for labels.
Step 4: Packaging
Every product needs a good presentation. This step is all about validating the functionality of your base packaging, including product quantities, label net weights, and freshness at 30, 60, 90, and 120 days. At the end of this stage, you will have packaging ready for customizable prints.
Step 5: Supply Chain
It’s critical for any manufactured good to have a trustworthy and reliable sourcing network. This stage is especially important for multi-state operators to ensure consistent products state to state. Here, as needed, we will conduct site visits and risk assessments of your supply chain partners. The outcome of this step is a site visit report, review, and close-out of corrective actions.
Step 6: Manufacturing
For the sixth step, we train your production team as needed. Our objectives are to prepare your team to execute Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), perform and process quality testing, and accurately report results. As a result, you will have a confident and knowledgeable team to help you with the heavy lifting.
Step 7: Quality Audit
Finally, to ensure compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and your brand-specific criteria, we will perform a site visit and inspection. We’ll review your operational and testing records and conduct a mock recall and traceability test. Our final audit report will include a review of the inspection and close-out of corrective actions so you can proceed with confidence.
Take it to the Next Level
By the end of our time together, you will have all the tools, resources, and knowledge to expand your product line. You will also have a team of experts, both ourselves and our expansive network, at your disposal for future questions and support.
Are you ready to get started? Schedule your alignment call today.