Women founders often face challenges their male counterparts don’t – like difficulty securing funds or being asked more difficult questions at pitch slams – but that isn’t stopping them, as illustrated by the success of women-owned brands across the food and beverage industry.
According to Wells Fargo, women-owned businesses grew 17.1% between 2019 and 2024, with revenue increasing 53.8%, contributing an estimated $3.3 trillion annually in the US.
Despite these gains, their economic impact lags behind male-owned businesses, according to Wells Fargo, which estimates that while women-owned business represent 39.2% of all businesses in the US, they account for only 9.6% of employment and 6.2% of revenues.
“Several factors contribute to the challenges women face in scaling their businesses,” notes Wells Fargo. “Limited access to capital often steers them toward low-profit sectors, while the need for flexibility to provide caregiving can lead to part-time ventures with restricted growth.”
Likewise, it adds, “gender bias and discrimination can limit access to crucial networks and opportunities, while networking challenges and work-life balance demands can further hinder growth. Self-imposed limitations rooted in systemic underestimation of their potential can further prevent women from setting aspirational business goals.”
And yet, women across the packaged food and beverage industry persist and their businesses – and impact – are growing.
So, how do they do it?
The same way as men: by preparing, networking and finding work-life balance by knowing when to step up and when to step back – regardless of whether they are told to smile more, smile less or behave differently to be taken seriously.
Overprepare to overcome bias
Pitching – whether in a boardroom to VCs or on stage at a trade show – is often the lifeblood of a startup, and while it can be high-stress for any founder, research shows that women-founded and led businesses are often perceived as “riskier,” making it more difficult for them to win.
Former Village Capital CEO Allie Burns explained in an episode of FoodNavigator-USA’s Soup-To-Nuts podcast that at pitch competitions men are often asked questions about the opportunities they are pursuing and women often receive questions “from a place of pessimism,” such as how they will address risk – a difference in tone that can place women at a disadvantage.
Some women founders counter this bias by preparing for anything so they are always ready.
For example, Sugar Bliss CEO Teresa Ging ensures she can deliver a concise, compelling pitch in any situation, from a quick hallway introduction to a full investor presentation.
Given that opportunities can crop up at unexpected moments and places, Ging advises entrepreneur to have a flexible and easily-tailored pitch ready at all times. She said she always has a 60-second, 90-second, three minute and five minute pitch that she can give with zero, three, five or ten slides.
Find alternative platforms
Other women founders counter bias that is baked into pitching by asking a male employee to join them at presentations, but this is at best a band-aid and at worst enabling, according to some stakeholders.
Julianne Ponne, the owner and CEO of the superfood bread company Creative Nature, told FoodNavigator-USA she was often advised to take a white male with her to pitches even though she had a business plan, proven traction in the market and revenue figures that demonstrated profit. Frustrated by this advice, she said, she eventually opted to bootstrap and crowdfund her business where she experienced a more level playing field and was better able to tell her story.
Ponne’s experience highlights that overcoming bias sometimes requires finding alternative paths.
Pivoting down a different fundraising path isn’t necessarily easier. Lisa Curtis, the founder of the moringa company Kuli Kuli, funded her business with venture capital but also other smaller sources that she said can add up.
Like Ponne, Curtis leveraged crowdfunding but she also secured loans, working lines of credit and grants, which she adds are useful not just for the money but also the publicity that often comes with them.
Connect through women-focused networks
Just as women are finding alternative funding, they are creating new opportunities that sidestep traditional male-dominated networks. Through female-focused events and groups, they open doors for one another and reshape the industry on their own terms.
For example, at Natural Products Expo West earlier this month, the leadership and networking platform Females in Food brought together women across the food and beverage industry to explore innovation, AI and consumer trends and build relationships that can turn into real business opportunities. The event included a panel with women CEOs who offed practical advice for navigating growth.
The nonprofit Women on Boards Project is another example of women coming together to encourage greater gender diversity on boards so that they better reflect the consumers they serve and create more opportunities for women entrepreneurs to lift each other up or discover a path forward.
Striking the right balance requires saying yes, no and not now
Even with funding, preparation and powerful networks, women entrepreneurs often contend with societal caregiving pressures that make success harder to achieve.
The negative impact of pre-existing gender inequalities in society that place a heavier burden of domestic work and unpaid care on women was particularly noticeable during the pandemic, in which women left the workforce in droves.
During the first three months of the pandemic, 11.5 million women in the US lost their jobs compared to 9 million men, in part because their jobs were more highly concentrated in industries hit hardest by social distancing measures but also because of social pressure to care for children once schools closed.
The exodus prompted some companies to rethink their expectations of employees, which has created more opportunities for women. For example, companies managing staff working at home during the pandemic saw how flexible hours and hybrid-working can empower employees with different needs and skillsets to contribute. This inspired more long-term family-friendly policies at some organizations that give women more options and power.
Women who leave the workforce temporarily for childcare or other family obligations, may feel compelled to say yes to what they are offered when they re-enter. But saying no or not now can be a powerful play that allows women to make up lost ground after being out of the office without sacrificing work-life balance or potentially overcommitting and underperforming, advises the founder of Tamarind Heads.
Takeaways
As illustrated, by preparing, pursuing alternative funding, building supportive networks, and balancing work-life demands, women founders are not only growing thriving businesses but also reshaping the food and beverage industry for the next generation of leaders.
