Justin Benfaida’s Post

As you scale your brand, really think about your channel strategy. Think about where your core customer is shopping and how you are going to get the product to the retailer. Both of these pieces need to be considered as you scale your business. Every category will need a unique strategy on where to go and how to get there. I have sold into health and wellness for five years. Grocery and frozen for at least a decade. Maybe more. Even regenerative grains into retail, bulk, and foodservice and this was before regenerative was on trend... I guess that means I am a fire starter. All of these categories will find success by partnering with different distributors or in some cases direct. I have been gifted the opportunity to work with some amazing retail partners like Kroger, Target, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Whole Foods Market, Wegmans Food Markets, Thrivemarket Ltd, INFRA and National Co+op Grocers. Every retailer listed will require a different strategy to gain lift off shelf. There is no cookie cutter formula to growing. I challenge you to dive deep and partner as best you can as you grow. Get support along the way so that you can get oriented to the natural products system and begin to make decisions based on profitable growth. #strategy #sales #Ihavenevergrownabrandthesamewaytwice

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 “The executive has the reins” I’ve noticed a lot of chatter lately about product offtake and why certain brands aren’t performing as expected on the shelves. It usually comes from leadership who think it’s simply about “pushing harder” on distribution. Here’s what they’re missing: In 2024, if a product isn’t moving, it often reflects issues with the product’s appeal, price, or promotion, not just distribution. Products don’t stay on the shelves if they’re priced right, have strong consumer demand, and are marketed well. Consumers always look for the best value. Brands should feel obligated to deliver the same. If you’re not investing in consumer insight and market relevance, they’ll choose a competitor who does.#FMCG “The power factor and where the wind blows” It all boils down to marketing & Solution given to the Consumers which is not the case. Companies needs to explore opportunities with in all function. Everything can not be the Sales function.

Why Simplifying Your Brand Strategy is Key to Long-Term Success At Five Star Beverage, we’ve seen one thing consistently: the most successful brands are those that make it easy for their distribution partners to execute. Distributors excel when they can focus on driving results without being weighed down by complex brand plans or overloaded calendars. Constantly launching limited releases or new SKUs creates friction, making it harder for distributors to prioritize your brand effectively. A streamlined strategy that aligns with scalability and growth is crucial for turning your distribution into a competitive advantage. Take Stone Brewing’s recent shift as an example. Despite the past success of its Enjoy By series and other special releases, Stone is pulling back nationally to focus on core, flagship brands. Why? Because fewer, stronger offerings allow distributors to allocate resources more efficiently, driving better results and long-term growth. By simplifying their brand calendar, Stone ensures that their distributors are aligned with a clear, executable strategy built for success. In today’s market, where retailers and consumers are overwhelmed with choice, less can be more. Brands that focus on delivering a well-defined strategy—one that makes it easy for distributors to execute—turn their distribution network into a powerful growth engine. At Five Star, we help brands build systems that simplify execution, drive distributor engagement, and maximize their potential for scalability. Want to learn how you can turn your distribution into a competitive edge? Let’s talk. #DistributionStrategy #BeverageGrowth #BrandStrategy #BeverageConsulting #FiveStarBeverage #LongTermGrowth #ScalableSuccess

🗺️ The Road Map to Foodservice Distribution is different for every single brand. Understanding company dynamics, competition, freight challenges, technology barriers, timing, warehouse constraints, marketing support and beyond all go into what your road map look like. Patience is a key ingredient into thriving within distribution. Everyone would love to have overnight success in anything we do but the reality is that your success is the sum of small actions day in and day out. Distributors have thousands of products and internal initiatives that they are working on. Finding ways to create relevancy with your distribution partners in other ways outside of ride alongs is important because it’s not realistic to think you can be in the car with their sales team every week. After 15 years selling, storytelling and walking into kitchens alone or leading sales teams, I’ve learned what is important to chefs, brands and distributor partners. Now I get to deploy those strategies into place to help connect all our partners. Everyday is different and I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 I’ve noticed a lot of chatter lately about product offtake and why certain brands aren’t performing as expected on the shelves. It usually comes from leadership who think it’s simply about “pushing harder” on distribution. Here’s what they’re missing: In 2024, if a product isn’t moving, it often reflects issues with the product’s appeal, price, or promotion, not just distribution. Products don’t stay on the shelves if they’re priced right, have strong consumer demand, and are marketed well. Consumers always look for the best value. Brands should feel obligated to deliver the same. If you’re not investing in consumer insight and market relevance, they’ll choose a competitor who does.#FMCG #ProductMarketing #Retail #SalesStrategy Amar - Sales and Growth Mentor ProReach Sales Academy

If at product level the effective coverage is maintained and secondary sales is declining then there is an issue with offtake. To fix offtake issues, deep dive to be done into marketing and trade marketing aspects

Ever wonder what drives the mind behind the magic? Our CEO, Randy Carr, recently sat down with Retail Brew to spill the beans on what makes our gears turn. From groundbreaking ideas to the future of manufacturing, get ready to dive deep into the conversation that’s setting the industry abuzz. 🚀 Ready for some enlightenment? Tap the link in our bio for exclusive insights. 💡 #LeadershipInsights

𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 I'm sharing some CEO experiences in a few short stories, hoping you'll find a worthwhile nugget or two. Here are some thoughts on product proliferation. Have you ever stood frozen in front of a store display, unable to decide what to buy because there were too many choices? That’s me. When faced with too much choice I might just walk away. 𝐈 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞. As an incoming CEO, I almost always cut the number of products and services we offer. I focus on simplifying our selection, curating only the best options. I have increased sales by reducing the number of SKUs in a pet food company, reducing the number of courses in a test prep company, and reducing treatment options in a med spa. This might seem counterintuitive at first, but it has proven to be incredibly effective no matter what business it is. Columbia University researchers demonstrated this effect when they set up a tasting booth for jam: 30% of tasters bought something when offered six varieties, but only 3% bought when offered 24 varieties. The abundance of choice resulted in fewer sales, not more. By reducing choice, businesses can simplify the process for customers, leading to higher sales and better satisfaction. It has the additional benefit of boosting profitability by reducing complexity and making operations more efficient and cost-effective. The takeaway? Streamline your offerings and focus on quality over quantity. Focus on your core customer’s needs. By curating a selection of your best products and services, you can make the purchasing process easier, improve satisfaction, and boost your bottom line. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

If you have a CPG brand that has healthy margins and a non-premium product, big retail might be a good way to get quick reach and exposure. I did work for one of the largest snack manufacturers and found that among its 4 marketing Ps, distribution accounted for the vast majority of its sales. But this only works if you have high margins to spare and efficient manufacturing at scale. If you're smaller, you would probably be better off building a combination of DTC and online retail distribution first, enhanced by smaller retail distribution to drive trial in select markets that align to your distribution nodes.

I believe that launching your CPG brand in a single region with key regional grocers is the smartest strategic and financial move you can make. Here’s why I stand by this approach: 1. Distribution – Partnering with UNFI or KeHE in a focused region unlocks all the retailers there. Expanding across multiple DCs at once is expensive. Concentrating on one region lets you maximize your marketing ROI, show strong velocities in the distributor's DC, and build momentum. Launching in Gelson’s (SoCal), Central Market (Texas), and Wegman’s (NY) at the same time means juggling two distributors, three DCs, and marketing in three distinct regions—each with its own customer base. Instead, focus on three retailers using just one UNFI DC for the best results. 2. Diversification – Getting discontinued happens. By securing multiple points of distribution within a single region, you protect yourself from the risk of losing your distributor entirely if one retailer drops your product. 3. Funding – You can launch in one region with a few hundred thousand dollars. But every time you add another region, you're stacking on similar costs. 4. Product-Market Fit – Some chains will perform well with your product, and others won’t. But if they’re all in the same region, you’re dealing with a more similar customer base. 5. Supply Chain – Managing ingredients, materials, and logistics for one region is far simpler than trying to scale across multiple areas, even if the store count is the same. #CPGStrategy #ProductLaunch #RegionalGrowth #DistributionSuccess #UNFI #KeHE #RetailExpansion #SupplyChainEfficiency #BrandBuilding #ProductMarketFit #CPGMarketing #Entrepreneurship #GrocerLaunch #FoodAndBeverage #StartupGrowth #cpg