Episode summary
Better For You Snacking | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 14 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Lauren Berger, Marla Felton
Summary
Lauren Berger and Marla Felton described how Real Cookies is navigating higher fuel, ingredient, and logistics costs while keeping its focus on short ingredient lists and better-for-you snacks. They said the company ships nationally, so transportation gets more expensive when energy prices rise, and they have had to build redundancy into sourcing for ingredients like almonds and maple syrup.
A major theme was the company’s merger with Creations Foods, which they said created a vertically integrated platform with more resources for ingredient supply chain synergies, R&D, and faster product launches. They said the combined portfolio now stretches across sweet and savory snacks, and that future development is being shaped by demand for high-protein, low-sugar, fiber-forward foods as GLP-1 usage changes eating habits.
Berger and Felton also emphasized consumer education and health awareness. They said their Real Food is Fuel program teaches elementary students to read nutrition labels, and they argued that shoppers increasingly want real food even if it costs more. They said tariffs and ingredient shortages can compress margins, but the company aims to maintain roughly 50% margin while continuing to experiment with natural sweeteners and minimal-ingredient products.
Key takeaways
- The founders said shipping nationally makes Real Cookies more exposed to higher fuel costs and broader supply-chain disruptions.
- They said the merger with Creations Foods gives them a vertically integrated platform for sourcing, R&D, and faster product launches.
- The company said it targets about 50% margin, but tariff-driven ingredient costs can push that lower temporarily.
- Berger and Felton said GLP-1 trends are increasing demand for high-protein, low-sugar, fiber-rich snacks.
- They said Real Food is Fuel teaches elementary students to read nutrition labels and think about where ingredients come from.
Notable quotes
“We have a very short list of ingredients. So we always have to have redundancy, right? So we have multiple suppliers”
“this merger has really created a vertically integrated platform for us. So we have greater resources”
“with the increase of GLP-1 usage, the way we snack and the way we eat is changing dramatically”
“we aim for 50% margin. So when something like that happens, it brings it down, but we're still okay”
“I think the most important and Lauren and I are both big researchers. So we read everything”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio.
We spent a lot of time talking about crude oil, sharp war-driven surge that we've seen. Even even after today, it's up significantly from where it was at the beginning of the year. Other commodities, inputs are fertilizer, chemicals, and more.
Soybean oil futures, Carol. Up a whopping 37% so far this year. Yeah, I mean that surge in energy prices over the last few months.
I mean if you think about it, has boosted demand for alternative fuel feedstocks. But this whole thing in terms of the war, the environment, the macro, we have seen a real change in the narrative, especially when it comes to input prices. And it has played its way through the economy, the global economy.
Curious how Lauren Berger and Marla Felton are looking at this. They're the co-founders of Real Cookies. They join us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Studio.
Welcome. It's been 3 years since you were last here. I wasn't even here when they were last here.
Matt Miller was here. He was eating all his cookies.
Was trying to remember because Matt loved them, took them home to his little ones. — He probably only had one little one then. — Yeah, he did only have one. He's now certainly expanded.
Yes, he has. So you guys do not use soybean oil in in the cookies, but other ingredients go in that are affected by the commodity price shocks that we've seen thus far. Just talk to us a little about the last 7 weeks and how you've adjusted to higher energy costs and potential other supply chain disruptions.
Well, since our our business is now national, we have to ship product from one part of the United States to another part of the United States and sending products in trucks becomes more expensive when fuel prices are higher.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- better-for-you snacking
- healthier packaged foods
- plant-based cookies
- nutrition label education
- consumer packaged goods merger
Companies and tickers mentioned
- REAL Cookies
- Creations Foods USA Inc.
- HighKey Snacks
- Moon Cheese
- Aw Yeah Snacks
- Real & Real Cookie Poppers
Watch the episode
Watch “Better For You Snacking | Bloomberg Businessweek” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
-
Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - November 13th, 2026 | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Inside Jensen Huang’s Final Hours as Nvidia CEO | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Jensen Huang's Exit Kicks Off Nvidia Strategy Reset | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Special Episode: Bobby Jain on Why He Chose Millennium Again | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily Podcast: Jensen’s Nvidia Departure -
Take-Two Releasing Long-Awaited Grand Theft Auto VI Next Week | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily, this episode and its artwork belong to Bloomberg. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
