How a side hustle became an industry leader (with Chomps co-founders) | Masters of Scale
About Pete
- Co-founded Chomps, reaching ~$1B in retail sales in 2025.
- Pioneered a D2C-first snack brand adopted by Trader Joe's as rare branded item.
- Scaled Chomps profitably with minimal outside capital until PE partnership in 2021.
- Built and led a high-growth CPG team through major pivots and market challenges.
- Guided Chomps' successful national expansion and major brand repositioning.
About Rashid
- Co-founded and serves as CEO of Chomps, a leading protein snack brand
- Scaled Chomps to nearly $1B in retail sales in 2025
- Led distribution expansion into 30,000+ retailers nationwide
- Achieved rare branded product status at Trader Joe's
- Built Chomps with minimal outside capital, prioritizing profitability
| 35:12
Chomps co-founders Rashid Ali and Pete Maldonado had an unusual side hustle: selling meat sticks online. The co-founders join host Jeff Berman to reveal the phone call from Trader Joe’s that changed everything, how they used lessons from failed start-ups, and how they built Chomps into a snack empire.
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