#101 - Brady Barnstable @ Seven Sundays - Regenerating Cereal Supply Chains Without Marketing Claims

2025-05-02

On this episode, we’re joined by Brady Barnstable, Co-Founder and COO of Seven Sundays. Seven Sundays is a breakfast brand on a mission to restore human and planetary health, one cereal bowl at a time. Brady takes us back to the early days of muesli inspiration in New Zealand, which inspired him and his wife, Hannah, to leave fast-paced careers in NYC and bootstrap a new CPG brand. We get deep into the hard realities of sourcing regenerative and upcycled ingredients, the missing middle of processing infrastructure, an...

On this episode, we’re joined by Brady Barnstable, Co-Founder and COO of Seven Sundays.

Seven Sundays is a breakfast brand on a mission to restore human and planetary health, one cereal bowl at a time.

Brady takes us back to the early days of muesli inspiration in New Zealand, which inspired him and his wife, Hannah, to leave fast-paced careers in NYC and bootstrap a new CPG brand.

We get deep into the hard realities of sourcing regenerative and upcycled ingredients, the missing middle of processing infrastructure, and what it takes to scale a direct trade program at the farm level. Brady also shares how Seven Sundays has resisted the temptation to “certify and shout” — instead focusing on building long-term, meaningful grower relationships and systems-level impact.

You’ll hear why they’re bullish on sunflowers, oats, and sorghum in the Midwest, how they're navigating club and conventional retail, and what their new “Come Afield With Us” campaign is doing to bring consumers along their regenerative journey.

This episode is packed with candid insight, supply chain wisdom, and big-picture optimism.

Episode Highlights:

🥣 Honeymoon to whole grains – how a bowl of muesli sparked a new cereal brand.

🌾 The cereal aisle of 2011 vs. today – and why Seven Sundays had to evolve to survive.

🔄 Why pivoting from product purity to consumer familiarity was key to growth.

🧑‍🌾 Building regenerative supply chains by starting with the processor, not the farmer.

🚛 Truckload volumes = regenerative scalability. Why size matters in supply planning.

🧼 Food safety friction – an underdiscussed barrier to more direct trade, regen sourcing

🌻 The Midwest sunflower model – 2,000+ acres and growing around a regional processor

🥄 Why Seven Sundays avoids certification-led regen claims on-pack (for now)

📦 Channel mix strategy – how club retail like Costco helped unlock profitability

🚜 “Come Afield With Us” – the brand’s new campaign to share their regenerative journey