Every so often on Swim Against The Tide I meet a founder who makes “brand + growth” feel incredibly simple. That was my chat with Chris Rennoldson from Pasta Evangelists, who cycled through all the 4 Marketing Ps of Place, Product, Promotion and Price when he explained how he grew the brand with his co-founders.
He went from finance to fresh pasta, turning a challenger brand into a Barilla-backed success story. Here are the big learnings I took away from my time with Chris:
1) Follow the signal, not the swagger
Chris didn’t jump from spreadsheets to spaghetti on a whim. He followed clear signals: a quality gap in the UK for fresh pasta, early D2C traction, and fans who wouldn’t stop talking about the product. That combination, distinctive product and enthusiastic early adopters, was a better growth indicator than any vanity PR. For challenger brands, the loudest thing in your marketing should be the signal from your customers.
2) Product is the best media plan
Pasta Evangelists began as a cook-at-home fresh pasta brand and engineered delight into the unboxing: silky pasta, proper sauces, and a sense of Italianità you could actually taste. The result? Word-of-mouth you can’t buy, and performance marketing that works harder because the product closes the loop. If your CAC feels painful, start at the moment of truth: does your product create a story people want to retell?
3) Listen with a ladle
Customer feedback shaped menus and seasonal drops, not performative listening, but the kind that changes decisions. Treat reviews, DMs and NPS like a rolling focus group and let them steer your roadmap. Great marketing is really great R&D made visible.
4) Choose growth doors, not just growth numbers
Joining forces with Barilla in 2021 wasn’t just capital, it brought capability, supply chain and category credibility. That partnership opened the right doors to scale while keeping the challenger edge intact. Pick partners who compound your distinctiveness, not dilute it.
5) Resilience is a growth strategy
They were once rejected on Dragons’ Den. Instead of sulking, they built. The team laid the groundwork; clear proposition, fast operations, memorable storytelling. So then, when the recipe‑kit boom hit, they were ready. Challenger brands don’t need universal approval, instead, they need enough belief to survive until the market catches up.
The playbook I’m stealing
- Make one thing unarguably great (for them, fresh pasta) and let excellence do your marketing.
- Treat feedback as product design, not a vanity metric; fold it into the next menu, sprint or drop.
- Pick partners that multiply you – Barilla brought capability, supply chain and credibility.
- Tell the origin story often – “finance to fresh pasta” – because it’s your most efficient acquisition channel.
Talking to Chris reminded me that brand, marketing and growth aren’t separate departments, they’re a single, disciplined habit executed daily. If you’re building a challenger brand, obsess over the product, listen like crazy, and choose growth doors that keep your distinctiveness intact. That’s how you go from West London kitchens to a national brand with global ambitions, without losing the sauce that made people fall in love in the first place.
