Forktales

About Forktales

A weekly podcast that feeds food and beverage brands with insights, ideas, trends, and anecdotes discussed with restaurant, hospitality, and beverage industry leaders.

Publisher

Vigor

Category

arts · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Mar 2021

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 122 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Tricia Greyshock – President and CEO of NFRA and Champion of Frozen and Refrigerated Food Innovation

2. 

   28 Sept 2026

   Jenn Palmer – Consumer brand financing expert and champion of women-led businesses

   Jenn Palmer is the founder and CEO of JPalmer Collective, bringing 20 years of experience in the financing industry. She specializes in helping growing consumer brands access capital and has developed a particular focus on food, beverage, health and wellness companies and women-led businesses. JPalmer Collective is an asset-based lending company that provides flexible financing to growing businesses. The firm works as a long-term growth partner, helping companies fund inventory, receivables and other needs while providing founders with financial guidance and access to capital without necessarily giving up equity.JPalmer Collective typically works with companies generating between roughly $5 million and $100 million in revenue, although it will make exceptions for companies it strongly believes in. The firm can also assign lending value to established trademarks, providing additional capital based on the value of a healthy, growing brand. Supporting female entrepreneurs is central to JPalmer Collective’s mission. Jenn committed to maintaining a portfolio that is at least 51% female-owned or female-led after helping finance Stasher, a reusable silicone bag company that later sold to SC Johnson. Jenn said the experience demonstrated how having women represented in financing decisions can influence which businesses and ideas receive capital. Jenn believes founders need to distinguish business momentum from financial health. Strong sales, publicity and retail distribution can make a brand appear successful, but margins, cash conversion, operational strength and a clear plan for funding growth provide a much better picture of the underlying business.Rapid growth can create serious financial problems when founders don’t understand how that growth will be funded. Jenn cautions against pursuing every retail opportunity simply for the sake of increasing sales and believes growth needs to make financial sense before a company commits to it.The cash conversion cycle is one of the metrics Jenn wishes more food and beverage founders understood. Inventory represents cash tied up until a retailer pays, so a company’s ability to manage the time between paying for products and receiving payment can determine whether its growth is actually fundable.Jenn places significant importance on the founder and management team when deciding whether to finance a business. She looks for self-aware, coachable leaders who surround themselves with talented people, accept criticism and have colleagues willing to challenge their ideas rather than simply agree with them.Landing a major retailer can create a cash crunch rather than immediately improving a company’s finances. Brands often have to pay for inventory and production long before receiving payment, while simultaneously absorbing expenses such as slotting fees, chargebacks and deductions. Too much demand can sometimes be more dangerous than too little. Rapid demand can strain cash, create stockouts and late shipments, damage retailer relationships and force founders into expensive financing decisions. Jenn believes companies need the discipline to turn down opportunities they aren’t financially or operationally prepared to execute. Jenn pays close attention to consumer trends but believes timing, the product and the management team matter as much as identifying the trend itself. She focused her career on health and wellness beginning in 2008 and now sees fiber as an emerging opportunity, describing it as potentially “the next protein.”Jenn sees debt and equity as tools for different circumstances, describing debt as “dating” and equity as “marriage.” Venture capital can provide valuable growth funding, but it also creates dilution and pressure to generate outsized returns, making it important for founders to choose financing that fits where their business is and where they want it to go. Jenn says the funding gap for female founders remains significant despite years of attention t

3. 

   9 Sept 2026

   Amit Pandhi – Food industry veteran and expert in building, fixing and scaling brands

Inside a recent episode

Ep 64: David Jones / President of The Excellence Advisory & Coach of Winning Restaurants

Published 17 Apr 2023 · Transcript excerpt

[…] But what happens with pals is, you know, they have a strong local following. Obviously they're, they're local here. Yeah. And longevity in market. Yeah. Absolutely. So when someone new moves into the market, they inevitably see a pals and say, what the heck is that? And they go, they ask somebody, right? They ask their neighbor or their coworker. They say, what's the deal with this? And then the gushing comes out and say, oh, you got to go to pal. You haven't tried to pull. Oh, you need to go there. And then they try it. And we got another fan. And they keep coming back and keep coming back. The average pals customer visits three times a week. […]

Who has been a guest on Forktales

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Kenny Morrison
• Stephen Baldi
• Nick McMillan
• Amanda Signorelli
• Anand Gala

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

67

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

68

Contact Forktales

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Forktales