Food and beverage is a crowded field. It takes guts and ambition. Finding your footing can be tenuous at best. Breaking through means finding your edge.
A crowded market doesn’t kill a brand. In fact, it often inspires innovation, a unique profile or a recipe lost to history, uncovering a need that's overlooked by others. Sometimes it’s a clever take on an age-old formula made new all over again.
This room is about food and beverage founders who found a sharper way in. They re-envisioned something familiar yet different, taking a page from the past and making it modern for a market that’s evolving at the speed of a post. They found their niche, uniquely solve a pain point and look at the shelves differently to create something the world needs now.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
- Learn how food and beverage brands break through when the category already feels full.
- Get sharper on go-to-market moves that do not require a giant budget.
- Hear what actually helped founders earn attention, trial, and repeat customers.
- Understand the difference between expensive marketing and smart distribution.
- See how strong brands find a clear angle instead of trying to outspend bigger players.
🙋 Who's Getting In This Room
- Food and beverage founders building in crowded categories.
- Early-stage consumer brands trying to find product pull without wasting money.
- Operators, buyers, and investors looking at what actually helps a brand break through.
- People who want the truth about traction, distribution, and brand strategy. Not polished founder theater.
🎤 Who’s Taking the Stage
Jack Parker - Co-founder of Original Henry Lambert's Beer
Jack has spent his entire career in the beverage alcohol industry. After getting his MBA from NYU Stern, he started developing the idea for a new generation of domestic beer rooted in the changing habits of the modern drinker. He is the co-founder of Lambert's Beer, a beer company dedicated exclusively to the mid-strength beer category.
Eric Gonzalez - Founder and CEO of Tranquila Coffee
Eric loves coffee. So much so, he switched to decaf so he could drink coffee 24/7 without any of the bad stuff from caffeine. The decaf options were limited and lame, so he decided to make decaf cool with Tranquila. Prior to Tranquila, he helped launch and scale multiple consumer startups in ecomm and mobile apps.
Third speaker to be announced. Another founder who has taken a familiar category and found a sharper way in.
Moderator:
Glenn Johnson - Marketing Consultant at Fractional CMO
Glenn Johnson works with small brands, startups, and founders to address their marketing needs. “Everyone needs something different, I craft a plan to help you address what you need, and a strategy to get it done.”
A former VP/Creative Director at a Madison Avenue agency specializing in luxury and bespoke audiences, he brings expertise across multiple verticals. As a category-agnostic brand storyteller, he helps founders define their mission, vision and develop their brand business.
💬 What We Do Not Sugarcoat
- The shelf is crowded, and most food and beverage brands do not get a second look.
- Great taste isn’t enough if the positioning is weak.
- Sampling, and retail expansion can burn cash fast when the angle isn’t clear.
- Slow and steady can beat fast and loose.
- Solving a pain point, conveying your vision and engaging your customer aren’t always easy all at once.
- A product people try once is not the same as a brand people come back for.
- In food and beverage, small mistakes in pricing, packaging, and channel strategy get expensive fast.
🤝 Who's Backing This
The Yard - Private offices & coworking spaces for individuals and teams.
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (featured on Apple News + Google News).
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com
🎥 Get a taste of past Ugly Talk energy:
2025 Year Recap
Ugly Talk: How Smart Brands Win in a Crowded Aisle
Hosts
Wed, May 20, 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM (EDT)
The Yard: Herald Square Coworking Office Space Manhattan(106 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001, USA)
999999 attendees
Food and beverage is a crowded field. It takes guts and ambition. Finding your footing can be tenuous at best. Breaking through means finding your edge.
A crowded market doesn’t kill a brand. In fact, it often inspires innovation, a unique profile or a recipe lost to history, uncovering a need that's overlooked by others. Sometimes it’s a clever take on an age-old formula made new all over again.
This room is about food and beverage founders who found a sharper way in. They re-envisioned something familiar yet different, taking a page from the past and making it modern for a market that’s evolving at the speed of a post. They found their niche, uniquely solve a pain point and look at the shelves differently to create something the world needs now.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
🙋 Who's Getting In This Room
🎤 Who’s Taking the Stage
Jack Parker - Co-founder of Original Henry Lambert's Beer
Jack has spent his entire career in the beverage alcohol industry. After getting his MBA from NYU Stern, he started developing the idea for a new generation of domestic beer rooted in the changing habits of the modern drinker. He is the co-founder of Lambert's Beer, a beer company dedicated exclusively to the mid-strength beer category.
Eric Gonzalez - Founder and CEO of Tranquila Coffee
Eric loves coffee. So much so, he switched to decaf so he could drink coffee 24/7 without any of the bad stuff from caffeine. The decaf options were limited and lame, so he decided to make decaf cool with Tranquila. Prior to Tranquila, he helped launch and scale multiple consumer startups in ecomm and mobile apps.
Third speaker to be announced. Another founder who has taken a familiar category and found a sharper way in.
Moderator:
Glenn Johnson - Marketing Consultant at Fractional CMO
Glenn Johnson works with small brands, startups, and founders to address their marketing needs. “Everyone needs something different, I craft a plan to help you address what you need, and a strategy to get it done.”
A former VP/Creative Director at a Madison Avenue agency specializing in luxury and bespoke audiences, he brings expertise across multiple verticals. As a category-agnostic brand storyteller, he helps founders define their mission, vision and develop their brand business.
💬 What We Do Not Sugarcoat
🤝 Who's Backing This
The Yard - Private offices & coworking spaces for individuals and teams.
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (featured on Apple News + Google News).
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com
🎥 Get a taste of past Ugly Talk energy:
2025 Year Recap