Just how difficult is it to scale a better-for-you snack company? Rebecca Brady, founder and CEO of Top Seedz, shares how she turned a homegrown idea into a rapidly scaling snack brand and breaks down the strategy behind her growth, from bootstrapping production to landing national retail partnerships. 

More about Rebecca Brady: 
Rebecca grew up in New Zealand, where she spent her childhood playing sports and enjoying the outdoors. She studied Marketing and Management at Victoria University before spending ten years working across various companies in Singapore, including six years at Hewlett-Packard. She then moved to Japan, where she lived for another decade while raising her children. In 2015, Rebecca and her family relocated to Buffalo, NY. After facing challenges re-entering the workforce due to a career gap, she started her own business, Top Seedz, creating healthy, seed-based snacks. Rebecca serves on the board of the Darwin Martin House and enjoys playing squash, pickleball, and golf in her free time. 

More about Top Seedz: 
Based in Buffalo, NY, Top Seedz has been making hand-made seed crackers and roasted seeds since 2017.  All products are organic, gluten free, vegan and Kosher.  Top Seedz products are insanely delicious and are made from a range of seeds including pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, flax, chia and hemp seeds.  Rebecca Brady, a New Zealander, had always baked them as snacks to have on-hand for her family to enjoy.  Together with her family, she moved to the U.S. in 2015, unable to find a job, in 2017 she started selling her products at a farmers market.  From there she grew the business and Top Seedz can now be found in over 3,000 stores across the U.S. The crackers can be served with your favorite cheese, hummus or spread and the roasted seeds are perfect atop yogurt, salad or by the handful.  Their products are filled with wholesome ingredients and have a slew of good-for-you benefits, created on the belief that good food equals good performance. 

Learn more at: https://topseedz.com/  

Winning in Better-for-You Food: The Top Seedz Playbook

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we discuss how, more than ever, consumers value "emotionally rewarding" grocery purchases. 

FI Fast Break News - July 30, 2025

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we examine Novo Nordisk's latest plan for weight-loss drugs. 

FI Fast Break News - Aug. 5, 2025

This Episode is Sponsored by: CBIZ 

How will the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) impact your food business? Unraveling the implications of new legislation is never easy, but Patrick O'Reilly and Jeff Pera of CBIZ explain how provisions of the bill related to no tax on tips, depreciation and expensing of capital purchases, and research and development will impact the industry.

Check out CBIZ's Big Beautiful Bill information page here: https://www.cbiz.com/insights/big-beautiful-bill

More about CBIZ:
As of November 2024, Marcum LLP is now a part of CBIZ. Our Food & Beverage Services group has the perfect recipe of knowledge and service capabilities to help you stay flexible. Our professionals provide the accounting, tax, and consulting services so that you can concentrate on the growth of your business.    

Just as our service capabilities are diverse, so, too, are the types of food and beverage clients we serve, including distributors and manufacturers, importers, restaurant chains, processors and packaging, agribusinesses, and retailers.   

CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ) is a leading professional services advisor to middle market businesses and organizations nationwide. With unmatched industry knowledge and expertise in accounting, tax, advisory, benefits, insurance and technology, CBIZ delivers forward-thinking insights and actionable solutions to help you anticipate next steps and accelerate growth. 

Learn more: https://www.cbiz.com/accounting-tax/industries/retail/food-beverage  

More about Patrick O'Reilly:
Patrick O’Reilly is a managing director with CBIZ. He primarily serves as an outsourced CFO for clients, providing senior level management and oversight of accounting and finance operations. Patrick has an emphasis on improving internal controls and operational efficiency. He has a depth of experience and knowledge of the food and beverage industry, including restaurant operations, among others. Patrick is knowledgeable in taxation, business plan formulation and implementation, human resource management, payroll, benefits administration, insurance, retirement plans, and all manners of financial accounting software applications. While Patrick is most frequently engaged as an ongoing outsourced resource, he also provides interim situations as needed.


More about Jeff Pera:
Jeff Pera is a managing director with CBIZ and serves as the Food & Beverage Industry Leader for CBIZ in the West Region. He provides tax, business, and industry advice and insights to clients with an extensive focus in the food and beverage industry. He uses his in-depth industry knowledge as the basis for developing and applying tax and value-added business strategies customized to his clients. Previously, Jeff was a managing partner in the Greater Bay area at a national accounting firm. He also has served as a managing director at a wealth advisory firm and was partner-in-charge of the middle-market practice at a “Big Four” accounting firm.

How Will the Big Beautiful Bill Impact Food & Beverage?

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we examine the FDA's new plans regarding Food Traceability Rule compliance. 

FI Fast Break News - Aug. 13, 2025

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we discuss why some are calling this The Summer of Deep-fried Chicken. 

FI Fast Break News - Aug. 20, 2025

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we examine the rash of recent bankruptcies in the U.S. 

FI Fast Break News - Aug. 27, 2025

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we examine customers' interesting interactions with Taco Bell's voice-AI drive-thrus. 

FI Fast Break News - Sept. 3, 2025

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we examine a labor movement some are calling "The Great Flattening," as a growing number of middle managers are seeing their jobs eliminated. 

FI Fast Break News - Sept. 10, 2025

How can a food industry trade show spark global culinary creativity? Anuga’s JP Hartmann, U.S. Consul General Preeti Shah, and World Food Championships’ Nikki Jackson share their perspectives on how the U.S. presence at Anuga 2025 is helping to bridge culinary experiences together.

More About Jan Phillip Hartmann:
Jan Philipp Hartmann has been the Director of Anuga, the world’s leading trade fair for food and beverages, since April 1, 2023. With his extensive experience in the international trade fair industry and strong sales expertise, he has successfully driven the development of ISM Middle East. Now, he is bringing his innovative mindset to further strengthen and expand Anuga’s position as a global leader. His goal: to distinguish Anuga even more from the competition, enhance its leadership in content, and take the B2B experience to the next level. 

More About Consul General Preeti Shah:
Preeti V. Shah assumed duty as the Consul General for the U.S. Consulate General in Düsseldorf, covering the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in August of 2024.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ms. Shah grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and she is the daughter of Indian immigrants to the United States. She attended Claremont McKenna College in Southern California where she earned a dual bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Relations.
 
Ms. Shah joined the Foreign Service in 2004 and has previously served in Nicaragua, Turkey, Afghanistan, Mexico and Indonesia. In addition, throughout her over twenty years as a Foreign Service Officer, she worked in several offices in Washington, DC, including most recently as the Deputy Director of Public Diplomacy training at the Foreign Service Institute. She also served as a foreign policy advisor for Senator Richard Durbin and worked in the Western Hemisphere Affairs bureau on migration issues as well as Haiti’s recovery after the 2010 earthquake.

More About Nikki Jackson:
Nikki Jackson is a seasoned agriculture and food systems strategist with a career spanning research, policy, and global market development. From leading international water and ag initiatives at the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research, supporting Texas businesses to break into global markets as the International Marketing Director for the Texas Department of Agriculture, to most recently driving global partnerships for the World Food Championships, she has helped secure millions in funding and created programs that connect U.S. agriculture to markets worldwide. Her current collaboration with the USDA focuses on expanding global opportunities for American food and agriculture brands through innovative platforms like Food Sport.

More About Anuga:
Anuga is the central meeting place for the global food and beverage industry and brings together leading players from the retail, catering and industry sectors in one place. This is where the trends of tomorrow are set, new impetus is given to the industry and valuable networks are created that have an impact far beyond the trade fair. Anuga is more than just a trade fair – it is a global network that inspires with ideas, promotes dialogue and actively shapes the future of the food and beverage industry. 

Learn More:
Anuga Website: https://www.anuga.com/
Anuga Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anugacologne/
Anuga LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anugashowcase/
Anuga Newsletter: https://www.anuga.com/newsletter/

Culinary Innovation at Anuga 2025: The Flavor Fusion Culinary Showdown

In this week's food industry news in 2 minutes, we examine KFC's wild foray into the candy world, with its collaboration with Frankford Candy. 

FI Fast Break News - Sept. 17, 2025

The Food Institute Podcast leverages the Food Institute's 90-plus-year history to provide actionable information and insight to food industry professionals.