The Brands Bringing Wellness To The Aisle

Wellness is expanding across everyday food and beverage products, from salad dressings to functional drinks, beyond a single aisle or category. At KeHE, that shift is showing up in real time as brands move from visibility to relationships and order writing — but what does that momentum actually look like on the show floor?

Across the show floor, the conversations point to a larger shift in food and beverage. Real Green is rethinking salad dressings with organic microgreens, seed-oil-free formulations, clean ingredients, and flavors designed to make healthier eating easier and more enjoyable. Millie’s Sipping Broth offers a savory alternative to coffee, sugary drinks, and snack cravings with a plant-based broth in a tea bag that fits into wellness routines like keto, fasting, and low-calorie living. And Root2Sales highlights the importance of strong foundations, helping brands grow by connecting with retailers, building relationships, and showing up consistently in the market. Together, these stories reflect a broader movement toward wellness-driven products that are practical, flavorful, and built for real life.

On this episode of the Firebelly Social Show, Duncan Alney is at the KeHE Holiday Show for a special series of conversations with Gian-Mikel Facenda of Root2Sales, Jud Horner of Real Green, and Llance Kezner of Millie’s Sipping Broth. From retail strategy and order-writing momentum to clean-label dressings and savory sipping broth, this episode explores how brands are bringing wellness, connection, and purpose to the holiday aisle.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [1:42] Gian-Mikel Facenda shares the story behind Root2Sales
• [4:05] Jud Horner talks about the healthiest microgreen-based salad dressings
• [5:15] How real farmers apply their agricultural roots to food brands
• [7:33] Llance Kezner on the value of repeated trade show exposure and staying top-of-mind
• [8:29] The benefits of keto-friendly, plant-based, low-calorie sipping broth

About Gian-Mikel Facenda, Jud Horner and Llance Kezner:

Gian-Mikel Facenda is the Founder of Root2Sales, a company that helps emerging food and beverage brands scale their sales and retail presence. With deep experience in CPG, he works closely with brands to navigate distribution, broker relationships, and go-to-market strategy. Prior to founding Root2Sales, Gian-Mikel served as Director of CPG Business Intelligence at North Highland and Director of Business Intelligence & Strategic Insights at Sano Sano Growth & Innovation Partners. He specializes in helping companies build strong retail foundations and grow profitably in a changing marketplace.

Jud Horner is the President and Co-founder of Real Green Foods, Inc., a food company creating microgreen-powered salad dressings with clean, better-for-you ingredients. Real Green Foods makes fresh, vegan dressings enriched with organic microgreens and designed as a healthier alternative to traditional salad dressings. Jud is an experienced executive with a background in marketing, business development, and entrepreneurship. He brings a farmer’s mindset to the brand, emphasizing simplicity, hard work, product quality, and real nutrition.

Llance Kezner is the Co-founder of Millie’s Sipping Broth, a purpose-driven beverage brand making plant-based broths to support people’s daily diet and wellness rituals. He is a food product innovator and multiple award winner of the Specialty Food Association’s sofi™ “Silver Outstanding Product,” “Gold Outstanding Product of the Year,” and “Gold Outstanding Hot Beverage of the Year” at the Fancy Food Show in New York. Llance is also the Co-founder and Owner of Keep Life Tasty, a brand that reimagines food and beverages to help people deal with stress and anxiety.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Duncan Alney on LinkedIn
• Firebelly Marketing
• KeHE Holiday Show
• Gian-Mikel Facenda on LinkedIn
• Root2Sales
• Jud Horner on LinkedIn
• Real Green Foods, Inc.
• Llance Kezner on LinkedIn
• Millie’s Sipping Broth
• Eric Martindale on LinkedIn
• Richard Madigan on LinkedIn
• John Lamppa on LinkedIn

Quotable Moments:

• “Having conversations with people — that really makes the connection real versus just a phone call or a team’s video call.”
• “When you think about it, people eat salads in order to be healthy. And yet most of the dressings they put on salads are unhealthy.”
• “We are all farmers, and we approach this like farmers in terms of just rolling up our sleeves and getting the job done.”
• “If you want something that’s savory as an in-between snack, that’s what you drink.”
• “If you’re doing what’s called a dirty fast, which is 50 calories, this is even better.”

Action Steps:

1. Show up consistently at key industry events: Repeatedly attending shows helps brands build recognition, strengthen relationships, and turn past conversations into new opportunities.
2. Build strong foundations before pursuing growth: A clear brand foundation helps companies grow with purpose, connect with retailers, and create more meaningful sales conversations.
3. Create products that solve real everyday needs: Products like healthy dressings and savory sipping broth stand out when they make wellness easier, practical, and enjoyable.
4. Use in-person conversations to deepen retailer relationships: Meeting buyers face-to-face can make connections feel more real than calls, emails, or virtual meetings.
5. Lead with clean ingredients and clear benefits: Communicating health-focused attributes like seed-oil-free, plant-based, low-calorie, and clean ingredients helps shoppers and buyers quickly understand product value.

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