He Lost $120,000 to a Recall. Here's What Saved the Company

One dairy trace cost this Canadian plant based brand $120,000, three months of unpaid shipments, and a public recall.

PlantUp founder Aamir Malkani on getting into Sobeys, UNFI, and 1,200 retail stores across Canada.

Aamir came to Canada from a textile manufacturing family in India, knew nothing about food, and cold messaged plant based protein suppliers on LinkedIn until one took a bet on him.

Three years later PlantUp is in the frozen aisle and the snack aisle at Sobeys, Metro, Longo's, Fortinos, Whole Foods, Save On Foods and IGA.

This conversation is the unglamorous version of CPG distribution.

How he booked a trade show booth directly opposite UNFI, served dumplings like a food fest, and turned a lukewarm distributor conversation into a national buyer referral in one afternoon.

Why he and his co-founder personally walked into 54 Sobeys and Foodland stores in five days and converted 42 of them before a single category review.

Why he thinks a Toronto brand chasing national listings in year one is making a mistake, and the 7 million person math behind that.

He also breaks down what a broker actually does versus a distributor, why trade spend is the line item most founders underestimate, and why he switched from pea and chickpea protein to Canadian grown fava beans for the snack line.

Then the hard part.

A dairy trace in the biggest butter chicken bite run of the year, a national recall, chargebacks that kept arriving seven months later, and what he did on a 20,000 member Facebook group instead of going quiet.

If you are trying to get a food or beverage brand onto Canadian grocery shelves, this is the playbook. GUEST Aamir Malkani — PlantUp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aamirmalkani/Website: https://plantup.ca/

SHELF TO SCALE Weekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.

Hosted by Devesh Tilokani