The best advice usually comes from people who’ve actually lived it. Over the past year, our CPG Unpacked series brought together founders, brokers, fractional leaders, and other industry pros who’ve grown brands, handled tough retailer conversations, and learned from their share of costly mistakes.
Throughout these conversations, they offered practical tips and honest takes on what works, what to avoid, and how to keep moving forward in a retail world that isn’t getting any easier. So we pulled some of the strongest insights they’ve shared and put them in one place.
Scroll to see what they had to say.
“You’re either bringing new consumers or incremental consumption from your current users. That’s what you’re ultimately trying to grow [at retail]. Consumer insight can really help crystallize that and frame it in the right way to the retailer.”
Rachel Moore
Partner, Golidlocks
Tactics to Win & Retain Shelf Space
“There’s no such thing as good enough. If we see an opportunity to make our product better, we will. In all cases, we use the simplest ingredients we can find.”
Adam Deremo
Founder & CEO, AWAKE Chocolate
How Natural Brands Win with Product Certifications
“You grow with the business. But just don’t lose focus of who your customers are, what’s the best fit in terms of retail, and leverage all these relationships that you’ve built over the years.”
Pavel Kolarov
CEO, Trimona Foods
How to Get Discovered by Buyers
“Being first to market is honestly more expensive. Sometimes a well-funded competitor who’s doing something similar, but not exactly the same, can blaze a trail that you can walk a little more easily behind.”
Benji Fitts
Director of Customer Education, SPINS
Tactics to Win & Retain Shelf Space
“Walmart should either be your first or last account. The reality of Walmart is that you don’t know what you don’t know until you’re in it. If you need the money, you need the money. But if you can hold off just until you feel super confident – you have the resource, time, money, and knowledge – that’s when I would say open the floodgates.”
Lauren Larsen
Director of Marketing, Good Good
Scaling Smart from Natural to Conventional Shelves
“Find out what works, double down on what works, and get rid of what doesn’t. And do it over and over and over again.”
Yuval Selik
Founder & CEO, Promomash
Trade Management vs Death by a Thousand Cuts
“Spend that money [for promotions] now to get where you need to be a year from now. Then you can slowly scale down that spend. Trying to be cheap or cutting corners is not the way to do it.”
Brian Polencheck
Partner, Beckett Industries
The Sprouts Success Playbook
“Be able to take that initial selling story and turn it into a retail conversation that then can be leveraged by a broker or brought directly to a retailer to demonstrate that you know what you’re doing in the world of retail. That bet that retailer is taking on you? The risk has been brought way down, because they now feel confident that they’re working with a young brand that understands the landscape they’re about to go into.”
Todd Fletcher
VP, Six60 Partners, powered by JOH
Brokers, Buyers & Bottom Lines: Your Guide to Retail Success
“There is a willingness [from shoppers], even with inflation, to pay a little bit more for stuff that they can trust.”
Sara Dever
Director of Marketing, Wholesome
Leveraging Collaboration to Drive Natural CPG Growth
“We will never have a full market of people who eat perfectly… this is where the craft and food science matters to make it a desirous experience.”
Laura Shenkar
Founder & CEO, PKN
What Plant-Based Shoppers Want and How to Deliver
“Shoppers are super savvy about greenwashing. They’d rather have no claim at all than a claim that isn’t backed up with evidence.”
Hans Eisenbeis
Director of Mission and Messaging, Non-GMO Project
How Natural Brands Win with Product Certifications
“Budgets are lean, retailers are expensive. So make sure you’re as efficient as possible with every dollar. And sometimes it’s the not-sexy grunt work that moves the needle.”
Sabrina Kautz
Fractional CMO, SKK Consulting
Scaling Smart from Natural to Conventional Shelves
“Sometimes it’s a better fit for a brand to work with [an influencer] who has 10,000 followers and their community really matches your brand, your messaging, and the type of products that you have.”
Justin Zotos
Head of Marketing, Mother-in-Law’s
The Sprouts Success Playbook
“Brands who are nimble, who can adjust and make decisions quickly, are better equipped to be prepared for what’s coming around the corner.“
Ted Ning
Founder, Forum for Naturals
Leveraging Collaboration to Drive Natural CPG Growth
“As you’re starting up, any feedback you get early on is going to be magnified. Be willing to change and make little tweaks.”
Kevin Liebrock
Product Director, Beacon Discovery
How to Get Discovered by Buyers
“The biggest priorities for winning with consumers for plant-based foods are to educate on the category, offer promotions and variety, and make it easier to find your products.”
Maddie Segal
Director of Membership, Plant Based Foods Association
What Plant-Based Shoppers Want and How to Deliver
“If brands start thinking about certifications while they’re doing product formulation, that’s the best place to start – right at the beginning.”
Sam McKee
Business Development Specialist, Non-GMO Project
How Natural Brands Win with Product Certifications
