[Gato Dates] Gabriella Labi & Tonya Reznikovich

On today's episode, I sit down with Gabriella Labi and Tonya Reznikovich, the co-founders of ⁠Gato Dates⁠. Gato makes chocolate-covered stuffed Medjool dates using organic ingredients, premium nut butters, and a clean-label approach that makes the product feel more like a boxed chocolate than a conventional snack. What started as something Gabi made at home for friends and family quickly turned into a business with demand across farmers markets, coffee shops, specialty grocery, and gifting. In this conversation, we get into what it actually takes to build that kind of product into a real CPG brand: sourcing expensive ingredients, managing handmade production, improving labor costs through automation, navigating cold-chain shipping, and figuring out how to price a product that works as both an everyday treat and a gift. I learned a lot during my conversation with Gabi and Tonya, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.