Interview with Katina Mountanos — CEO of Kosterina

Most conventional wisdom would say not to line-extend too soon and certainly not to extend to other categories without a highly successful product launch. But Katina Mountanos, the CEO of Kosterina,  chose her own path.Katina started with a single sourced, high quality Greek olive oil and quickly added other flavors, a line of balsamic vinegars and truly delicious fruit flavored vinegars (and I tried every one). But that wasn’t enough for her. Her vision, to create a healthy lifestyle brand with olive oil as the star, in the U.S., mirrors her experience in Greece. That vision quickly led her to add skin care products to a relatively new brand. So what made her believe it was going to work?Her inspiration was observing her friends and family in Greece. They stay out late, eat good food, and have a glass of wine every night at dinner and are healthy and happy. In contrast, her American friends resort to extreme diets and intense workouts. She knew there was a real opportunity to bring this lifestyle to the U.S. market.Listen to hear more about her journey and find out how she’s managed through the operation complexities, the naysayers, and the uncharted territories of bringing her vision to life.  you’ll hear about: 

• How she gets consumers to buy multiple products when she hasn’t completely scaled her hero olive oil line. 
• Getting the right distribution with multiple skus.
• The challenge of educating consumers across multiple platforms and categories.  

This is an episode you won’t want to miss!  Use code  “Irresistible Factor” for 15% off through Kosterina’s website.  I’m literally obsessed with their stuff - I know you’ll be too!  Listen to The Irresistible Factor’s Interview with Katina Mountanos, CEO of Kosterina.  Links mentioned in this episode:  Katina Mountanos  Kosterina Kosterina 15% off discount code: Irresistible Factor Whole Foods   Today Show: ‘Discover female-founded businesses: Kosterina and Effie’s Paper'   Kosterina on Home Shopping Network  Interview with Alison Cayne – CEO and Founder of Haven’s Kitchen The Irresistible Factor Podcast  Sawtooth Group