From start to sold: Emily Anne Page on how to build a CPG brand

In an era when launching a consumer packaged goods brand can feel both more attainable and more daunting than ever, Emily Anne Page has experienced nearly every version of that journey, from a kitchen-table concept to shelves in national retail stores.

Page is a business growth consultant, brand strategist, and founder of Pearl Resourcing, an international brand and packaging design agency that has helped launch multiple seven-figure CPG brands across retail and e-commerce. She is also the driving force behind START to SOLD, an educational platform designed to help founders think more strategically about pitching, scaling, and ultimately exiting their businesses. Before coaching thousands of entrepreneurs, Page experienced it herself, taking Jocko White Tea from zero to millions in sales before selling the brand.

During a broad discussion with Mass Market Retailers, Page shared her perspective on the modern CPG journey and explained why success today depends just as much on psychology, cash flow management, and authenticity as on product innovation.

Step One: Professionalizing the Idea

For Page, the CPG journey doesn’t start with packaging or sourcing. It starts in the mind.

“The first part starts with making sure there is actually a market for whatever you are coming up with,” she said. “But I would add another step that many founders miss: deciding where your ideal customer is already thinking about buying that product.”

Too often, Page explained, entrepreneurs become enamored with an idea without testing whether it fits into a viable retail or e-commerce model. That gap is why she emphasizes turning ideas into business models early.

“You can have a great idea, but one of the most important parts of starting is making sure it can be sold,” she said. “That is why I call my company START to SOLD.”

Commercialization Is Where Reality Sets In

After ideation comes sourcing — and then the frequently overlooked challenge of commercialization.

“What works in your own kitchen does not automatically work at scale,” Page said. “Ingredients change. Suppliers change. Even something as simple as flour can behave differently depending on the source.”

Commercialization requires founders to rethink recipes, pricing, packaging and production simultaneously. Once those decisions are made, manufacturers must be paid upfront, inventory must be produced, stored, and shipped, all before a single dollar of revenue is generated.

“It is a very real moment when you wire money out of your savings account and wait months for the product to show up,” Page said.

The Cash Flow Trap Unique to Product Businesses

One of the most common mistakes Page notices is that founders underestimating the cash flow needs of inventory-based businesses.

“On average, it can take three months from placing an order to getting the product,” she said. “Then you deliver it to a retailer, and they pay on terms. Now you are six months out without being paid.”

As growth accelerates, the problem compounds. Reorders must be placed before prior shipments have been paid for, which drains working capital and increases risk.

“This is why product businesses look glamorous from the outside,” Page said. “But it takes a lot of expertise to manage cash flow and survive those gaps.”

Authenticity as a Competitive Advantage

In a crowded retail market, Page believes authenticity remains one of the few lasting differentiators, especially as AI-generated content blurs traditional marketing signals.

“Authenticity starts with truly understanding your customer’s pain point on a human level,” she said. “Most founders think they know their customer because they can label them — a mom on Amazon, a Target shopper — but that is surface-level.”

Without an emotional connection, brands compete solely on price and convenience, turning into commodities. Page viewed the challenge through an economic perspective: commodity markets push prices lower, while differentiation generates profit.

“When you create emotional connection, you create loyalty,” she said. “That is what moves you away from being just another product on the shelf.”

Branding, in this sense, extends well beyond logos and color palettes. It encompasses mission, values, and consistency — how a company presents itself under pressure.

“Brand equity is a long-term investment,” Page said. “It is what drives valuation, loyalty and the ability to exit one day.”

Building to Exit Without Losing the Soul

While some founders start businesses solely to sell and others never consider exit at all, Page argues that the healthiest approach lies somewhere in between.

“You should build with an eventual exit in mind, not because profit matters more than people, but because it forces you to make better decisions for the business itself,” she said.

That involves building systems, delegating responsibilities, and making sure the brand can survive without its founder at the center. At the same time, Page warned against chasing exits at the expense of authenticity.

“If you only care about selling fast, you risk compromising the product and the customer,” she said. “That catches up to you.”

New Paths to Market: Micro-Influence and Social Commerce

Compared to five or ten years ago, Page sees the biggest disruption today coming from social commerce and micro-influencers.

“The older generation relied on big ad spend and never interacted with the customer,” she said. “Today, founders can sell live, respond instantly and build trust in real time.”

Micro-influencers, she explained, may have smaller audiences, but those audiences are highly engaged and often consist of influential decision-makers.

“When they recommend something, people listen,” Page said. “That trust is incredibly powerful.”

For founders with an existing audience, even a small one, the chance to convert that trust into a product has never been better. But the basics stay the same.

“You still need to understand your customer, manage cash flow and build a real brand,” Page said. “The tools have changed. The discipline has not.”

Creativity, Variety and the Endless Shelf

When asked whether the market can handle the continuous influx of new products, Page cited human psychology.

“Humans crave novelty, but we also crave comfort,” she said. “That tension is why there will always be room for both established brands and new ideas.”

For Page, that dynamic guarantees there will always be room for founders who are ready to put in the hard work to transform inspiration into sustainable businesses.

“If you respect the process,” she said, “there has never been a better time to build a CPG brand.”