Episode summary
Alison Roman's Plan to Conquer the Tomato Sauce Market | Odd Lots
Odd Lots
· · Hosts: Tracy Alloway, Joe Weisenthal · Guests: Alison Roman
Summary
Alison Roman argues that premium tomato sauce is constrained by the economics of CPG: if a brand tries to use beautifully sourced ingredients, pay well, and stay small, the price can quickly become too high for most shoppers. Her own line, A Very Good Tomato Sauce, sits in that tension between quality and scale, selling a 16oz jar around $12.99 or $12 retail while mass-market competitors like Rao’s and Carbone sit nearby at lower prices and larger jar sizes. She says the goal is to make something distinctive rather than another generic marinara, with flavors like garlicky tomato, spicy fennel, and caramelized shallot anchovy.
Roman walks through how hard it is to scale a recipe from home to a co-packer: ingredients behave differently, batch sizes change sweetness and spice, and even a successful recipe may need multiple rounds of adjustment. She says the business currently uses a small co-packer in Industry City, Brooklyn, and a third-party logistics warehouse for fulfillment, with shipping jars and packaging still a major cost pressure.
The episode also focuses on financing and distribution. Roman says she has self-funded so far, wants only investors who understand her, and is weighing whether to secure a Whole Foods-type deal before expanding capacity. She frames the brand as a long-term, reputation-driven business rather than a quick flip, and says her existing audience gives her a built-in trust advantage.
Key takeaways
- Alison Roman says premium CPG can become a "$38 jar of tomato sauce" if it tries to pay everyone well and source beautifully at small scale.
- Roman says her sauce is differentiated by style and flavor profile, not by trying to imitate Rao’s or Carbone.
- Roman says scaling requires repeated recipe adjustments because ingredients and equipment behave differently in large batches.
- Roman says shipping and packaging are major cost drivers because jars are heavy and can break in transit.
- Roman says she is self-funded so far and wants any future capital to come from people who understand her business, not a generic growth playbook.
Notable quotes
“if you want to make a small mom and pop like locally sourced, like beautifully made, responsibly pay your workers excellent wages and it's going to be like a $38 jar of tomato sauce”
“I think that the more I explore the CPG world, that is the biggest challenge of you can't just send a recipe in and hope for the best”
“I am not a business person. I am a tomato sauce person. I make tomato sauce and I make really good tomato sauce”
“we are just DDC. Got it. Yeah”
How the episode opens
I think it would be my dream to always use the highest quality ingredients. I'd love to use like old ugly shallots that nobody wants and the bad tomatoes and like make something beautiful from waste. And and that's my aspiration.
And and that business model let down a very, very expensive path and I think is achievable at massive scale. But we're just not there yet. Wait.
Say more about that. Basically that is sort of the the issue with CPG in general. And if you want to make a small mom and pop like locally sourced, like beautifully made, responsibly pay your workers excellent wages and it's going to be like a $38 jar of tomato sauce.
And it's going to be a very limited market of people that are willing to pay for that. And, you know, I look at my local grocery store and I the first thing I do is I go to the tomato sauce aisle. I'm just like, got to know what's going on over there.
But you see Rao’s and Carbone on the same eye level and additional, merchandizing behind you. And they are both on sale for $8.99, and that's a 32 ounce jar. Our jars are 16oz.
And you know, $12.99 or $12 retail. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots podcast. I'm Joe Weisenthal.
And I'm Tracy Alloway. So, Tracy, we're recording this on February 4th, and, a lot of tech stocks have been getting clobbered lately. But you know what's doing really well?
What companies that make, consumer staples, all of like, the core staples that you'd see in your pantry, etc., like your Pepsi Cola and all this stuff. Companies that might make, like, jarred sauces and stuff, people are returning to sort of, the old style basics that people buy in the stock market.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- premium food economics
- consumer goods supply chain
- food media vs commerce
- co-packing and logistics
- scaling production
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Bloomberg
Watch the episode
Watch “Alison Roman's Plan to Conquer the Tomato Sauce Market | Odd Lots” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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