Welcome back to the Duck Pond Podcast, where we dive behind the scenes with founders, creatives, and forward-thinkers to uncover what it really takes to get a product onto store shelves, from branding and packaging to the grit of distribution and everything in between.

Today we’re featuring Keith Bearden, CEO of Alter Eco, the chocolate and snack brand redefining indulgence by making sustainability, ethics, and delight inseparable. Under Keith’s leadership, Alter Eco champions regenerative agriculture, fair-trade sourcing, and compostable packaging, proving you can enjoy delicious, premium chocolate and snacks and help heal the planet.

We’ll dig into:

• How Alter Eco positions itself in the “ethical indulgence” space, marrying top-tier taste with deep commitment to soil, communities, and ecosystems.
• The leap from legacy supply chains to regenerative sourcing: how Keith and the team support farmers to adopt agro-forestry, traceability and sustainable practices while maintaining chocolate quality.
• The evolution of packaging and product ,  from compostable wrappers to clean-ingredient bars and granola, and how Alter Eco balances impact and shelf-ready scalability.
• Navigating growth, supply-chain turbulence (like rising cacao prices and global import tariffs), and the ongoing commitment to maintain mission-driven standards while expanding reach.

✨ Learn how Alter Eco is redefining what indulgence can taste like, by proving that chocolate can be conscientious, delicious, planet-friendly, and socially responsible.