For years, Olivier sat in the comfortable chair. As a category manager at Delhaize, he was the one giving suppliers a thumbs up or thumbs down, deciding what made it onto the shelf. Now he's on the other side of the table, sending emails that go unanswered for three weeks, waiting on a single order that his cash flow depends on.

In this episode of Tomorrow's Bites, we sit down with Olivier Laporta, co-founder of Orthonia, to unpack what it actually takes to put a healthier cacao spread on a shelf already owned by one of the most beloved brands in the world.

In this conversation, Olivier reveals what the two sides of the shelf taught him:

The four P framework a category manager uses to decide your fate, and why your margin can kill you before your product ever gets tasted
Why the same power he once held now feels horrible from the supplier's seat
How he and Katharina bought machines, drove a small truck to a factory, and started producing themselves, then spent a 30-degree summer day under a broken machine to save a single order
Why keeping production in-house is a pain that's also their protection against copycats
The uncomfortable Nutri-Score A line they refuse to cross, even when a B would be easier
The rebrand and the investor warning about calling something chocolate when there's no cocoa butter inside
Why organic ingredients here cost three times conventional, not the usual 15%, and the split-range decision that tension is forcing

This is a conversation about power, margins, shelf life, and the unglamorous mechanics of getting a better product into someone's hands.

If you're building a food brand and trying to crack retail, this is the episode to hear before your first buyer meeting.

Share it with a founder about to pitch a category manager.

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😊 The Guest: ⁠Olivier Laporta

🍫What he does: Orthonia

The Secret Retail Tactics This Ex-Category Manager is Using To Sell Healthy Cocoa Spreads in Every Supermarket - with Co-Founder of Orthonia, Olivier Laporta

Tomorrow's Bites with Andrés and Sjacco

The Secret Retail Tactics This Ex-Category Manager is Using To Sell Healthy Cocoa Spreads in Every Supermarket - with Co-Founder of Orthonia, Olivier Laporta