Can you build a profitable, sustainable brand in CPG and still deliver what today’s shoppers demand?
In this episode, Marco sits down with Annalea Krebs, founder and CEO of Social Nature, to explore the brutally complex challenge of operating at the intersection of CPG, consumer expectations, and sustainability-driven innovation.
With over 1 million shoppers and 3 million product reviews powering her platform, Annalea has a rare front-row seat to what real consumers want — and how to help conscious brands deliver it.
“Consumers want it all. They want price. They want convenience. They want it to taste good.”
— Annalea Krebs
From reinventing traditional product sampling to helping over 600 brands go to market, Annalea breaks down:
- Why better-for-you brands struggle with pricing — and how the market is shifting
- The true cost of consumer acquisition in a high-stakes, low-margin industry
- How Social Nature turns shoppers into everyday influencers to drive trial and feedback
- Why brands are rethinking “free” samples and turning to discount-led trials
- What clean-label trends, consumer surveys, and ingredient scrutiny are revealing in 2025
And she’s brutally honest about the trade-offs founders must face:
“It is hard. It is really hard. There’s no two ways about it.”
— Annalea Krebs
Instead of playing by legacy industry rules, Annalea’s approach bends them — helping values-led brands make smart, data-backed decisions from trial to scale.
“We’re finding that brands come to us for sampling and new customer acquisition first, but they’re staying for the data and insights.”
— Annalea Krebs
If you’re a founder, marketer, or investor working in climate-conscious consumer goods, this conversation offers tactical lessons, strategic clarity — and a rare look inside the data engine shaping what’s next in sustainable retail.
Play Episode 77: Annalea Krebs, Social Nature