Founder Feature: Bone Broth Tomato Sauce and a New Twist on a Family Recipe- Liana Krasnow, Noodo

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Liana Krasnow, founder of Noodo — a tomato sauce made with grass fed bone broth that's redefining what a premium Italian sauce can be. Growing up watching her grandparents harvest tomatoes from their Connecticut garden and make traditional sauce every summer, Liana took that family recipe, removed the wine, added bone broth, and created something entirely new in a saturated category.

Liana spent years in pharmaceutical advertising before making the leap to founder life — and she brought that operational rigor with her. From tasting 80 sauces during R&D in her family's commercial kitchen, to navigating label bubbling issues from 205-degree fill temperatures, to landing four retail accounts from a last-minute corner booth at Expo West, Noodo's early story is full of founder lessons worth hearing.

Caitlin and Liana dig into the white space hiding in plain sight on the pasta sauce shelf, why Liana walked away from a DTC strategy after 89% of surveyed consumers said they buy sauce on their grocery run, and the unique dual-aisle placement strategy some retailers are already pitching for Noodo.

Listen in as they discuss:

• Why Liana replaced wine with grass fed bone broth — and how her grandmother's Sunday sauce was the real inspiration
• Tasting 80 sauces during R&D in a family restaurant commercial kitchen and why keeping it in-house mattered
• The smooth vs. chunky positioning strategy and why "chunky" has been surprisingly off-putting to consumers
• The tomato-shaped window on Noodo's label — and the label bubbling challenge that came with it
• Why 89% of surveyed consumers said they buy sauce in store, and how that dictated Noodo's entire go-to-market
• Getting double facings suggested by retailers — and why positioning next to bone broth has outperformed expectations
• Landing four accounts from a last-minute corner booth at Expo West with a team of three
• The hidden costs of retail and why working with a go-to-market strategist was a game changer

Episode Links:
Liana Krasnow – Founder, Noodo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lianakrasnow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatnoodo 
Website: eatnudo.com

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Show Links:

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• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
• Episode music by Super Fantastics