Caroline Grace’s Post

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Retail Growth Strategist for Emerging CPG Brands | Faire Sales Specialist | Founder & CEO @Product & Prosper, @The Prosper Lab, @The Retail Lab

I just had a eye-opening convo with a distributor about how they *really* analyze CPG brands... and it might change your whole approach: Here's what catches their eye:  👉 Unique differentiators in your pitch. Not just "we're better," but truly standout features.  👉 A website that screams your differentiator. It should be impossible to miss.  👉 A prominent store locator. This shows you're already making moves in retail.  👉 A product that aligns with their retailer account base. The bottom line: Getting on shelf is SO MUCH MORE than just "connections" and "outreach." Before you approach a buyer/distributor, ask yourself: • Is my pitch customized for this unique audience? • Is my brand's USP clearly communicated across every potential touchpoint? (website, packaging, sell sheet, etc) • Is my brand's digital presence set up for wholesale? Too many brands are out there cold calling and DM-ing buyers/distributors without this groundwork—it's like trying to build a house without a blueprint. What else does it take to be "distributor-ready?"

Peter Gialantzis

Pod Foods: We Deliver Innovation

5mo

We’re as democratic and welcoming as possible, but the biggest question that we have to answer on behalf of the retailers is if the brand is ready with reliable inventory and fill rates. With emerging brands it is often that there are gaps in product availability which cause major problems for the retailers that we need to be careful to vet.

Prentice Howe

Growth marketing for scale-up challenger brands. | Principal, Door No. 3

5mo

Absolutely. Well stated. Donald Miller, author of Building a Story Brand, asks: “Does your marketing pass the grunt test?” As in, could a caveman look at your message and discern: 1.   What you offer 2.   How it’ll make life better 3.   Why it’s worth purchasing Could a caveman immediately grunt what you offer? Say you’re selling aspirin. He might grunt: “You sell headache medicine, me feel better fast, me get at Walgreens.” Make sure your unique selling proposition passes the grunt test.

Claire Elaine McDonald

Founding AE -> AE Manager @ Soraban | Reducing Administrative Burden for Tax Firms

5mo

I really, really, really appreciate these posts that are so insightful and get to go "and she's in our corner helping us grow!!!" :D We are super lucky indeed to get to be working with you. For any brands out there considering her program, Caroline's guidance has been worth her weight in gold. Can't even imagine how far we'd be if we had started with her several years ago.

Sara Stender Delaney

Founder/CEO, Beverage Formulator x Sarilla, Winner of BevNet Packaging + SOFI Awards (DrinkSarilla.com), Speaker, Philanthropist, Importer

5mo

I've had some great distributor meetings in the past week and its refreshing to talk openly about pricing and PMF. One shared with me what their min weekly movement expectations were (it's about 10x more than KeHE/UNFI) and was awesome to talk through the path forward with them as we grow.

Jackie Berra

Creative Director | DesignOps Consultant | Freelance Designer | Passionate about People and Innovation

5mo

You need a good story, solid market research, professional sales collateral (well designed and on brand), solid data and a commitment to your product's quality. 😎

Eric Novinson

Freelance Writer at Self Employed

5mo

It sounds like the distributors want unique and lesser-known products that their customers don't have but other stores do have, which makes sense. If you were operating a delivery truck that went to Kroger it would be appealing to fill it up with products that were already on the shelves at Whole Foods.

Kristen Scalise

CPG Branding & Marketing

5mo

Well said! This is why we always start with strong positioning that differentiates the brands we work with at Mudge - this positioning lays the foundation for everything a brand does - far beyond the package design.

Fred Schroeder

Driving Improved Trade Promotion Effectiveness for Small / Emerging CPG Brands through a Cost-Effective, Fractional Approach to Trade Spending Analysis, Process & Partnership.

5mo

Love Peter's insights on inventory availability, fill rates and packaging. That's critical for small er brands. As far as focus on selling, driving consumer demand, and meeting minimums, I would still focus on the retailer. Few distributors have the movement information as readily available as Pod Foods and spending $ at the distributor level is hard to quantify incrementality.

And a pocket full of $'s to cover all the "charges".

Colin T.

Developing custom packaging solutions for brands and co-packers.

5mo

These are great insights for all growing CPG brands. A robust supply chain equipped with redundancy and secondary suppliers is important to become "distributor ready." It's important to pick vendors that are able to scale with them, offer quick turn times, and help to troubleshoot along the way.

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