BABOYOT with Harvest Chocolate: Using Data to Drive Smart Growth in a Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Business

04/28/25 • 52 min

In this Building a Business on Your Own Terms episode, Sarah sits down with Matt Cross, co-founder of Harvest Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate company in Tecumseh, Michigan. Matt shares how he and his wife Elizabeth transformed their culinary expertise into a thriving chocolate business that started in their kitchen during the pandemic and now operates a successful retail location with multiple sales channels.

Matt reveals how Office Hours helped confirm his business was financially healthy and ready for strategic growth. Listeners will discover practical insights about:

Using profit assessment to validate your business model before focusing on growth
The power of creating simple revenue forecasts to set realistic channel-specific goals
Leveraging data tools like Report Pundit to automatically track sales performance against targets

This conversation is packed with actionable advice for food entrepreneurs looking to make data-driven decisions without getting overwhelmed. Matt's approach demonstrates how understanding your numbers leads to smarter growth strategies and ultimately the dream of "making more money while working less."

Join the CFO Office Hours waiting list

Connect with Matt: Website:Harvest ChocolateInstagram: @harvestcraftchocolate LinkedIn: Harvest Chocolate

Get your copy of the latest Book Club selection:, The Mom Test, and RSVP for our Virtual Discussion

Join The Good Food CFO Community:

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Become a Member: BABOYOT

Matt reveals how Office Hours helped confirm his business was financially healthy and ready for strategic growth. Listeners will discover practical insights about:

Using profit assessment to validate your business model before focusing on growth
The power of creating simple revenue forecasts to set realistic channel-specific goals
Leveraging data tools like Report Pundit to automatically track sales performance against targets

Join the CFO Office Hours waiting list

Connect with Matt: Website:Harvest ChocolateInstagram: @harvestcraftchocolate LinkedIn: Harvest Chocolate

Get your copy of the latest Book Club selection:, The Mom Test, and RSVP for our Virtual Discussion

Join The Good Food CFO Community:

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Become a Member: BABOYOT

Previous Episode

The Resilient Food Brand: Financial Strategies to Weather Economic Storms

Despite rising costs and economic uncertainty, Sarah brings her characteristic straight talk to food business finances in this timely episode: "All is not lost."

Drawing from both historical patterns and current market insights, she explains why specialty food brands can still thrive during economic downturns as consumers continue treating themselves to small luxuries like artisan chocolate and premium coffee. "This is not a shelter-in-place moment," Sarah emphasizes, but rather a time to be strategic about where you invest your resources.

The episode unpacks three critical focus areas for food founders:

Tracking sales data by channel to spot shifting customer behaviors
Responding strategically to rising costs that may shrink profit margins
Managing cash as the ultimate protection during uncertain times

Sarah shares a revealing case study of a client who's pivoting away from distribution-heavy growth toward higher-margin channels, and offers affordable tools from The Good Food CFO designed to help founders make confident financial decisions no matter what economic challenges arise.

Tools and Resources mentioned in this episode: Perfect Pricing Calculator Cash Flow Projector The Profit Assessment Share your stories and send your questions to [email protected]

Join The Good Food CFO Community:

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Become a Member: BABOYOT

Next Episode

Cash First, P&L Later: How Successful Food Brands Actually Track Their Finances

In this episode of The Good Food CFO Podcast, Sarah reveals the counterintuitive financial tracking system that successful food brands actually use to drive profitability. Responding to a listener's question about which financial reports matter most, Sarah challenges conventional wisdom by presenting a strategic hierarchy that puts cash flow management at the top of the priority list—not the P&L statement many founders obsess over.

Sarah unpacks why most food entrepreneurs look at their financials in the wrong order and introduces a practical framework that helps spot problems before they become crises. Her systematic approach shows founders exactly which financial metrics to prioritize and how often to review them for maximum impact. This practical roadmap helps identify which levers to pull when adjustments are needed.

Food founders will learn how to move beyond the overwhelming complexity of traditional financial statements and focus instead on the metrics that actually drive business decisions. Whether you're struggling with tight margins due to rising ingredient costs or trying to improve your cash position, this episode delivers the financial guidance needed for long-term success.

Join The Good Food CFO Community:

Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan

Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo

Become a Member: BABOYOT