The 2 P.M. Snack Brand Taking Over Grocery Shelves
Jake Karls of Mid-Day Squares joins Hospitality Hangout to talk about the chocolate bar built for the 2 p.m. crash and the content strategy that made the brand impossible to ignore. From a condo kitchen to thousands of grocery stores, Jake shares how Mid-Day Squares used storytelling, social media, founder drama, Hershey buzz, food influencers, and loyal fans to turn functional chocolate into a movement.
Jake Karls, co-founder and rainmaker of Mid-Day Squares, joins Hospitality Hangout for The Food Fluencers series to talk about the chocolate bar built for the 2 p.m. crash and the founder-led content strategy that turned a better-for-you snack into one of the most talked-about brands in CPG.
Jake shares how Mid-Day Squares started with Lezlie Karls making a cleaner afternoon chocolate snack for Nick Saltarelli, how the three founders began making bars by hand in a condo kitchen, and how they hand-delivered product while documenting the entire journey online.
Jake also talks about using social media as a competitive weapon, hiring a videographer before most people thought it made sense, turning a Hershey moment into a viral diss-track-style music video, building fans who fix shelves in grocery stores, and why the future belongs to brands that can earn attention and get customers to come back.
From functional chocolate and protein-packed snacks to Target, Whole Foods, Costco, offices, coffee shops, nostalgia flavors, food influencers, and the future of midday snacking, this episode is a look at how Mid-Day Squares turned a chocolate bar into a movement.
Episode Credits:
- Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
- Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
- Producer: Julie Zucker
- Creative Director: Adam Levine
- Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
- Post Production: Three Cheers Creative
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