John McGuckin - Scaling Clio Snacks to $100M+ and 60,000 Doors

On this episode, we're joined by John McGuckin, CEO of Clio Snacks - the first and only refrigerated Greek yogurt bar - a chocolate-dipped, cheesecake-textured snack. John took the seat as Clio's CEO in 2021 after a long track record of C-suite roles at brands like Sabra, Tribe Mediterranean Foods, and Maya Kaimal. John breaks down why he took the job, how he read the post-COVID shift toward high-protein, permissibly indulgent snacking, and what operators should stress-test before stepping into a founder-led company. John walks through the bet that changed everything: retiring the $1.19 single bar and moving retailers to four-packs and minis at $5.99, which fixed cash flow and unlocked a capital raise. We dig into going multi-channel across colleges, C-stores, and airports, building a dedicated refrigerated snacking set at retail, running cold chain at a 98% service level through a disciplined S&OP process, and Clios' 86,000 sqft plant. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🇺🇦 The garage origin story behind Clio (yes, a real syrok) 🪑 Taking the CEO seat as the first non-founder leader 🤝 What to stress-test before running a founder-led brand 📊 Reading the consumer shift that made yogurt bars work 💵 The singles-to-multipacks bet that fixed cash flow 🚀 Going multi-channel: 450+ colleges, 20,000+ C-stores, 65+ airports 🛒 Building a refrigerated snacking set at retail 🎃 Why seasonal flavors and end caps drive trial ❄️ Running cold chain at a 98% service level 🏭 Owning an 86,000 sq ft plant instead of co-packing 🎯 The single biggest velocity driver (hint: shelf position) 🚚 Getting distributors and brokers to actually work for you 👶 The kids' yogurt gap he's chasing next --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:58 – Clio's origin story (Ukraine, a garage, a syrok) 03:26 – Where the Clio name came from 04:45 – Why John took the CEO seat 07:33 – Advice for stepping into a founder-led brand 10:18 – Betting on a new category: the Sabra parallel 13:00 – From $23M to a projected $120M: the multipack bet 15:42 – Going multi-channel: food service, colleges, airports 18:39 – The new-product and innovation process 19:24 – Building a refrigerated snacking set at retail 21:08 – Seasonal flavors and end-cap wins 23:14 – Cold chain and the S&OP discipline 26:33 – Where the brand sits in-store (and GLP-1) 29:38 – Owning manufacturing and self-funding growth 32:28 – Scaling from 1,000 to 60,000 doors 34:59 – The biggest velocity driver: shelf position 35:49 – Working with distributors and brokers 38:15 – The kids' category he's chasing next --------------- Links: Clio Snacks - https://cliosnacks.com/ Follow John on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfmcguckin/ Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out kitprint.co Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes. Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.