How Bumpin Blends’ founder turned a flight delay into a Barbie collab

Initially launched as a direct-to-consumer brand in LA, Bumpin Blends expanded its range of cubes — which allow consumers to make a quick smoothie by blending the cube and a liquid — nationwide with the help of recent retail distribution in Walmart as of September and Sprouts Farmers Market.

Currently, Walmart stocks Bumpin Blends’ Watermelon Prickly Pear, Cinnamon Toast, Peanut Butter Cup and Bumpin x Barbie Strawberry Dream. Other flavors like Açai Banana, Banana Nut, Bangin Banana Split, Berry Awake as well as Pumpkin Pie, Apple Crisp, Cinnamon Chai and Ginger Snaps limited-time offerings are available on the brand's website.

“I got this idea for Bumpin Blends because I personally always had smoothies for breakfast, and I always recommended smoothies to my clients when I was working with them as a dietitian. But smoothies were a huge pain. You are making a massive mess. You are buying all the ingredients. It takes forever. It never tastes quite right. ... There were so many elements to it that were really inhibitive,” Mastela said.

Turning travel woes to opportunities: How a chance encounter led to a collaboration

Bumpin Blends released its Barbie collaboration in June after the two brands were brought together by happenstance, Mastela explained.

While traveling for Walmart onboarding, Mastela’s flight from Los Angeles to Bentonville, Ark. — where Walmart is headquartered — was delayed, prompting her to take advantage of the downtime to connect with fellow travelers.

“The flight from LAX to Bentonville is a great networking opportunity because anybody going there is going there for Walmart. And so we were at the gate, and the flight was delayed for three hours. So, I [said to myself,] ‘Okay, I can be productive on my laptop like everyone else here, or [ I can] ... see the networking opportunities here,” Mastela elaborated.

By chance, Mattel representatives were on the same flight, and Mastela struck up a conversation with the company’s VP of global brand partnerships. The conversation quickly turned to business, and the two brands started planning a collaboration, Mastela noted.  

“By the time the plane landed in Ark., we already had a meeting set up for the next steps, and I believe by the time I got back to LA, we already had the product prototypes and everything. That was in February of this year, and the product launched in June, which anyone in food and beverage can tell you is kind of unheard of for an entirely new product to go from concept ... to having a finished packaging product on shelves,” she said.  

‘It is important that you are the person putting yourself out there’

This approach of finding opportunities and putting her brand out there was how Mastela learned about the food and beverage industry, having spent the majority of her career as a dietitian.

“I do not come from this background, so I do not really know the norm of how you are supposed to do things, which I have learned over the years is you get a broker, you pay them a retainer, and then you let that broker go pitch you to all these retailers that they have relationships with,” Mastela said.

She added, “I have never gone that route. I do not like that route as much. I think as a small, emerging brand, it is important that you are the person putting yourself out there and putting your brand out there because you are the one who is so passionate about it, and that is what I think a lot of buyers like to connect with — that story [and] that person.”

Similarly, CPG startup founders and CEOs “should understand every single piece of the business,” including working with retailers and business logistics, before hiring additional personnel, Mastela said.

After growing to over 3,000 stores, Mastela was advised to hire a director of logistics, which would require the company to pay an annual salary of around $250,000. Instead of rushing out to hire a director of logistics, Mastela learned about logistics by running it herself, which informed her about the importance of the role for CPG companies.

“Ultimately, the buck stops with you — you have to know how to do everyone's job if anything horrible happens,” Mastela noted.