How O'ts Cookies Built a Retail Brand by Finding a White Space in the Cookie Aisle
Launching a food product into retail takes more than a great recipe. It requires identifying an opportunity, building a differentiated brand, understanding the retail landscape, and being willing to adapt quickly when challenges arise. On this episode of Shelf Talks, O'ts Cookies founders Nina Lombardo and Anna Kotler share how they combined decades of experience in consumer packaged goods, branding, and marketing to create a cookie brand that is bringing globally inspired flavors to retail shelves. Their journey proves that successful retail brands are built through preparation, consumer insights, and relentless execution.
From Corporate Careers to Consumer Brand Founders
Long before O'ts Cookies appeared on retail shelves, both founders were building careers inside the consumer packaged goods industry.
Nina Lombardo spent years as a creative director specializing in package design for major retail and CPG companies. Her work gave her an inside look at everything involved in bringing products to market, from private label development to manufacturing and shelf presentation. While building brands for other companies, she always dreamed of creating one of her own.
Anna Kotler built her career in brand management at some of the largest food companies in the world, including Campbell's Soup, Entenmann's, ConAgra, and Hebrew National. After years of consulting for food companies, she hoped to find a founder with the right product and vision to build something together.
That opportunity came when the two met at a food industry networking event.
Their backgrounds complemented each other perfectly. Nina brought product development, creative direction, and packaging expertise. Anna brought strategic marketing, branding, and retail commercialization experience. Together they formed the leadership team that would become O'ts Cookies.
The Cookie That Started It All
O'ts Cookies didn't begin as a national retail brand.
Nina originally started baking as a creative outlet, selling homemade granola and cookies through local farmers markets, cafes, and food co-ops. While several products performed well, one cookie consistently stood above the rest.
Her thin, crispy Sweet & Salty Oatmeal Cookie generated enthusiastic customer feedback and repeat purchases.
That repeated consumer demand became the signal that this product had real retail potential.
Rather than launching an entire bakery line, the founders focused on the one product consumers already loved.
It's a lesson many emerging founders overlook. The market often tells you which product deserves your attention before you realize it yourself.
Finding White Space in the Cookie Category
Once the partnership was formed, the founders began evaluating the cookie aisle.
Instead of asking how they could compete with existing brands, they asked a better question.
What is missing?
Their research revealed that oatmeal cookies were surprisingly underdeveloped as a category. Most brands offered only traditional oatmeal raisin varieties despite consumers becoming increasingly adventurous with global flavors.
They saw oatmeal as the perfect canvas for introducing flavors inspired by travel and international cuisine.
Today, flavors inspired by experiences like churros in Mexico City help the brand stand apart while still offering consumers something familiar enough to try.
Rather than copying competitors, O'ts Cookies created its own position within the category.
Building the Brand Before Building Distribution
One of the biggest insights from the episode is the difference between having products and having a brand.
Before Anna joined the company, Nina had products people loved.
After joining forces, they focused on building everything surrounding the product:
• Brand positioning
• Consumer research
• Packaging
• Product naming
• Flavor testing
• Surveying potential customers
• Competitive shopping
• Retail category analysis
They didn't assume they knew what consumers wanted.
They tested nearly every major decision before launch.
That research-first approach helped reduce risk while giving retailers confidence in the final product.
Why They Chose Retail Before Direct-to-Consumer
Many emerging food brands begin online.
O'ts Cookies intentionally did the opposite.
Because both founders had extensive retail experience, they chose to focus almost entirely on brick-and-mortar distribution first.
Being bootstrapped meant resources were limited.
Rather than trying to build two businesses at once, they concentrated on one channel where they already had experience.
This allowed them to invest their time into retail relationships, in-store merchandising, and consumer sampling instead of splitting their attention across multiple channels.
The Distributor Strategy Every Founder Should Understand
One of the most valuable parts of the conversation centers around distributors.
Many founders assume they simply find a distributor and start selling.
The reality is more complicated.
Their first distributor partnership happened because one retail customer already wanted the product. That retailer became the anchor account, giving the distributor confidence to add O'ts Cookies to its portfolio.
Once onboard, the distributor introduced the cookies to many additional retail accounts.
This highlights an important lesson.
Sometimes retailers open the door to distributors instead of distributors opening the door to retailers.
Understanding how those relationships work can significantly speed up retail expansion.
Why Sampling Became Their Best Marketing Strategy
Getting onto shelves is only the beginning.
The real challenge is convincing shoppers to pick up the product for the first time.
For O'ts Cookies, the answer was simple.
Sampling.
The founders invested heavily in in-store demos because they knew that once consumers tasted the cookies, purchase rates increased dramatically.
Those demos also provided another unexpected benefit.
They allowed the founders to monitor shelf inventory in real time.
If products were running low or inventory wasn't being replenished properly, they discovered it immediately rather than waiting for sales reports.
Sampling became both a marketing strategy and a retail intelligence tool.
Learning to Adapt Quickly
One of the biggest advantages the founders brought from their corporate backgrounds was the willingness to pivot.
Their original packaging wasn't working.
The larger cookies experienced breakage during transportation, and the clear container didn't provide enough space to communicate the brand story.
Instead of forcing the original concept to work, they redesigned both the packaging and product format.
That flexibility helped improve product protection while giving the brand much stronger shelf presence.
Many founders become emotionally attached to early decisions.
The O'ts Cookies team viewed every decision as something that could evolve if consumers or retailers demanded it.
Monitoring Shelf Performance Matters
The founders also discovered another important retail lesson.
Not every SKU performs equally.
While distributors initially ordered equal quantities of every flavor, consumer demand quickly revealed clear best sellers.
Once their Sweet & Salty and Churro flavors consistently sold faster than the others, inventory needed to be adjusted accordingly.
Otherwise, stores appeared fully stocked even though the products consumers wanted most were already gone.
By closely monitoring sales and communicating with their distributor, the founders were able to improve replenishment and strengthen overall shelf performance.
It's a reminder that founders should never assume someone else is managing their business for them.
Retail success requires continuous involvement.
Growing Slowly on Purpose
Many founders dream of immediate national distribution.
O'ts Cookies is taking a different approach.
Their strategy is to build depth before chasing width.
Instead of expanding everywhere at once, they're strengthening distribution within their existing region, improving operations, learning from each retailer, and preparing for larger expansion opportunities in the future.
This measured approach allows them to scale sustainably while protecting product quality and retail relationships.
Retail Takeaways for Product Founders
The journey of O'ts Cookies offers valuable lessons for every emerging consumer brand:
• Let customer demand guide your hero product.
• Find genuine white space instead of copying competitors.
• Build a brand, not just a product.
• Test ideas with real consumers before launching.
• Understand how distributors actually choose new brands.
• Sampling remains one of the most powerful retail marketing tools.
• Monitor shelf performance constantly.
• Stay flexible and improve quickly.
• Grow intentionally instead of expanding too fast.
Retail success isn't created by one big opportunity.
It's built through hundreds of smart decisions made consistently over time.
For Nina Lombardo and Anna Kotler, combining complementary skill sets, listening to consumers, and staying focused on long-term growth has positioned O'ts Cookies for continued success. Their story is a reminder that sometimes the biggest retail opportunities begin with one great product, a willingness to learn, and the courage to evolve as the business grows.
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform.
Apple Podcasts: Watch Here
Spotify: Watch Here
You Tube: Watch Here
What was your biggest takeaway from this episode?
Are you currently building a product for retail, working on your retail pitch, or trying to grow your brand in stores? We'd love to hear your experience.
Leave a comment below and let us know:
- What's the biggest challenge you're facing right now?
- Which retail lesson from this episode stood out to you most?
- What topic would you like us to cover on a future episode of Shelf Talks?
Your questions and insights help shape future podcast episodes, blogs, and resources for the Shelf Talks community. We read every comment and love hearing from founders at every stage of their retail journey.
0 comments