Thomas Odermatt - Scaling Butcher's Into the Leading Fresh Bone Broth Brand

On this episode, we're joined by Thomas Odermatt, Founder & CEO of Butcher's Bone Broth, the leading fresh, organic bone broth brand sold refrigerated at Costco, Whole Foods, Publix, and more. Thomas is a third-generation Swiss butcher who built Roli Roti, America's first gourmet rotisserie food truck, before spinning Butcher's out as a standalone brand. After deboning chicken for Bay Area tech giants, Thomas found himself staring at 10,000 pounds of leftover bones a week and, as a butcher's son, refused to throw them away. That became Butcher's Bone Broth, launched into retail around 2015 as a fresh, refrigerated product in an aisle dominated by shelf-stable aseptic cartons. Thomas walks through landing his first account at Berkeley Bowl, why he's raised the price only once in nearly 12 years, and why he still makes every bottle in-house with no co-packers and no venture capital. We get into winning the club channel at Costco without cheapening the product, pushing velocity instead of chasing margin in the expensive fresh aisle, and adding 800+ new Albertsons doors. We also cover the recent decision to spin Butcher's out as a standalone brand, the packaging thinking behind earning a female shopper's trust, and Thomas's people-first take on management. --------------- Episode Highlights: 🚚 The farmers market loophole behind the food truck 🥼 The white chef's coat that killed the "roach coach" label 🍗 Deboning chicken for Bay Area tech giants 🦴 10,000 pounds of leftover bones a week 🛒 Landing the first account at Berkeley Bowl 💰 Raising the price just once in 12 years 🏭 No co-packers, no VC, every bottle made in-house 🚂 The "Union Pacific" slow-and-reliable growth model 🧊 Winning the fresh aisle on velocity, not margin 🎨 Spinning Butcher's out as a standalone brand 📦 Packaging a butcher's brand that women trust 🏬 800+ new Albertsons doors and product-market fit 🐂 "Grab the bull by the horn" as a management value --------------- Table of Contents: 00:00 – Intro 00:49 – From a Swiss butcher shop to a Berkeley business plan 02:51 – The farmers market loophole behind the food truck 03:59 – The white chef's coat that beat the "roach coach" label 06:27 – "Five products, five fingers" (and catering Paris Hilton) 07:25 – The leap from food truck to retail CPG 10:57 – 10,000 pounds of leftover bones, and why bone broth 14:29 – Landing the first account at Berkeley Bowl 16:35 – Raising the price just once in 12 years 19:29 – No co-packers: every bottle made in-house 20:57 – Self-funded, and the "Union Pacific" growth model 22:46 – Winning the fresh aisle on velocity, not margin 24:55 – Spinning Butcher's out as a standalone brand 27:22 – Packaging a butcher's brand women trust 29:04 – Winning the club channel without getting greedy 31:34 – 800+ Albertsons doors and product-market fit 33:31 – Listening, culture, and the bull by the horn 37:09 – Where to follow Thomas --------------- Links: Butcher's Bone Broth – https://www.butchers.co/ Follow Thomas on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-odermatt-656a1449/ 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. 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.