“Gosh, I hope people like this” : Lessons from my first food launch for 16,000+ stores

It started with a single thought:
“Gosh, I hope people like this.”

That was my first reaction as we prepared to launch a new vegetarian breakfast sandwich across 16,000+ stores nationwide—my first food project, and one that taught me more than I ever expected about collaboration, communication, and courage.

The Challenge: A New Category, a Massive Scale

I had just joined the food team. While I’d launched thousands of products over the years, food was new territory. With wide eyes, endless questions, and my usual figure-it-out attitude, I dove in.

What I quickly learned is that getting a delicious, safe, high-quality sandwich into tens of thousands of stores at the same time is an extraordinary feat of coordination. Every ingredient, temperature, and timing decision matters.

The Vision: Delicious, Flavor-Forward, and Vegetarian

The team had spent years ideating, testing, and tasting to create a flavor-forward vegetarian breakfast sandwich—a fresh take on what morning could taste like.

By the time I joined, the product was ready to go; it was my job to help the team bring it to market successfully. My personal goal? Ensure the process felt as good as the product tasted.

The Process: Cross-Functional Collaboration at Scale

Months of cross-functional work followed—navigating supply challenges, shifting leadership perspectives, marketing plans, and inventory balance.

It wasn’t just about getting the sandwich made. It was about keeping people aligned, motivated, and excited in a sea of details and last-minute changes.

When unexpected leadership asks threatened to derail the launch, I focused on what mattered most:

• Stay calm.

• Overcommunicate.

• Provide a clear and thoughtful path forward.

Those moments tested my leadership, but they also reinforced one of my favorite lessons: clarity builds confidence.

The Impact: A Small Sandwich with Big Meaning

Launch day arrived—and the response exceeded expectations. Marketing cut through. Customers responded. Sales validated all the effort.

Even my 10-year-old gave it a thumbs up, saying she “didn’t mind there wasn’t bacon on it.” That was victory enough.

But more than that, the launch signaled something bigger: a brand listening to its customers—creating vegetarian options that didn’t compromise on flavor.

What I Learned: Stay Curious, Stay Connected

This project taught me that even when the scale feels overwhelming, success always comes down to the same things: teamwork, communication, and care.

And every time I order that sandwich (still my go-to when I need a change from my beloved egg bites), I’m reminded of that nervous thought that started it all—
“Gosh, I hope people like this.”
They did. And that’s the best kind of feedback there is.