Latest news with #healthinfluencers
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Entrepreneur
Cottage Cheese Makers Can't Keep Up With Demand
Health influencers made cottage cheese so popular that companies are struggling to produce it fast enough. Once thought of as a kitschy diet food, lumpy bumpy cottage cheese is seeing an unprecedented rise in demand thanks to health influencers on TikTok. CNN reports that "young, protein-hungry consumers have whipped up new recipes and posted them online," creating a buzz that brands and manufacturers are struggling to satisfy. Related: Dubai Chocolate TikTok Popularity Causes Pistachio Shortage John Crawford, SVP of client insights for dairy at the market research firm Circana, told the news outlet that for decades, cottage cheese was considered "your grandparents' food," but "TikTok changed all that." Cottage cheese sales in the U.S. jumped 20% year over year, according to data from Circana. That follows an approximate 17% increase in 2024 and 2023. Cottage cheese is high in protein, low in sugar, and "appropriate for a GLP-1 diet," reports CNN. And has led to a slew of recipe videos that have gone viral on TikTok, like this one for "strawberry cheesecake ice cream." "Organic Valley Cottage Cheese is selling faster than we can make it," Andrew Westrich, marketing manager at Organic Valley, told CNN. Sales increased more than 30% in the first half of 2025, he says. Good Culture went so far as to post an apology to consumers who are having a hard time finding their products on grocery store shelves. "[D]emand has been WILD," they wrote, promising that they "are working around the clock to get us back in stock." Is this just another chapter in the fad diet life of cottage cheese? Crawford doesn't think so. "It is not a fad when you are seeing double-digit growth in both dollars and in volume, quarter over quarter over quarter, for two years," he told CNN.
Entrepreneur
7 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
The Playbook I Used to Launch a Thriving 8-Figure Business — and How You Can Too
You don't need a big budget or breakthrough idea to launch a successful business. This article lays out a proven, step-by-step playbook to build a direct-to-consumer company from scratch — based on real results. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. When I decided to launch a cold plunge company in Italy, I didn't have much to work with — no team, no warehouse and nowhere in my home to shoot product content. But I believed in the product and knew wellness was a booming category. I'd built companies before, including an e-bike brand that hit eight figures in sales. This time, I relied on a lean repeatable system — and it worked. Here's the approach I used to get traction quickly without a massive ad budget or complicated launch strategy. Pick a product people are already curious about You don't need to invent something new. In fact, it's often better if you don't. I saw cold plunges picking up steam with athletes, biohackers and wellness creators, but the category hadn't gone fully mainstream yet. That meant there was room to stand out. I looked at search trends, scrolled through niche subreddits, followed what health influencers were posting and paid attention to what products were crossing demographic lines — things like collagen for men or hormone tracking for women. The goal is to find something visual, results-driven and culturally relevant that solves a real problem. Source simply, improve later Finding a supplier doesn't need to be a bottleneck. I started with a Chinese manufacturer. The quality was solid but slow communication and long shipping times made me rethink things. Eventually, I moved production to Italy to improve logistics and offer better customer service. In the early stages, don't obsess over perfecting every feature. Focus on sourcing a product that's reliable and good enough to start selling. Keep order quantities low and build systems that let you test, learn and iterate. Use real people to build trust Instead of burning cash on ads right away, I turned to influencers. I sent cold plunge units to athletes and fitness creators I respected. Some posted quickly; others waited until they had personal results. That authenticity worked in our favor. Start with creators who already talk about your niche. It's not about follower count — it's about fit. Give them something worth sharing and let them speak in their own voice. One well-timed video or post can outperform a five-figure ad campaign. Related: Your Follower Count Is Irrelevant When It Comes to True Influence — These Are the Criteria That Really Matter Add credibility by aligning with experts In wellness, consumers are skeptical — and rightly so. That's why I built an expert panel featuring doctors, physiotherapists and sports scientists who believe in the power of cold therapy. They contributed content and lent their names to the brand. You can replicate this by reaching out to professionals who already talk about the benefits of your product type. Offer to feature them, link to their work and collaborate on educational content. It's a win-win: they get exposure and your brand earns instant trust and SEO value. Launch fast with a simple store When it came time to sell, I built a clean Shopify store with clear product descriptions, a few solid photos and no overthinking. The goal was to start taking orders and gather real feedback — not chase perfection. Over time, I added customer reviews, expert endorsements and better visuals. But I didn't wait to launch. Starting fast, let me test pricing, messaging and demand in real-time. Final thoughts Launching a wellness brand doesn't have to be complicated. You don't need a groundbreaking product, a huge team or an investor-backed ad budget. What you do need is a product people care about, a smart sourcing plan, trust-building partnerships and a store that gets the job done. This playbook helped me grow one business to eight figures — and it's now fueling the early success of another. Different product. Same system. Still works. Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.
