I met with a small CPG food start-up recently and the discussion focused on the company's growth strategy. Only 6 months old, the start-up is generating online sales and is looking to retail distribution, which is the primary reason why I was there. It is entering a crowded and competitive CPG category for its product [...]
I work predominantly with small consumer companies, especially startups and a commonality I see among them is that their COGS is really high, and how COGS impacts a CPG company selling to retail is significant. COGS includes raw materials, manufacturing, assembly and freight. This "Landed Cost" is the total cost of making the product [...]
This post presents a small established CPG food brand that I recently worked on. What follows are some general facts about the company, its current state and my recommendations. Background Company This company is a family run operation started by the current owners and is more than 10 years old. Product Innovation The company has [...]
In my last post I wrote about some characteristics I thought CPG natural food start-ups must have to succeed in that category. As context for that article and this article, I visited with about 20 start-up companies in the natural food category that showcased their products at a recent event. I want to continue from [...]
I had the opportunity to see about 20 start-up companies in the CPG natural food startup category that showcased their products at a recent event. All were small CPG natural food startups no more than 4 years old - half were probably less than 1-year-old. I went around to each one, tried products and asked [...]
To sell to Walmart can be boiled down to the following: Cash and Inventory Retail takes cash. You will have to invest in product inventory that won't realize cash very soon. Expect to pay upfront shelf fees to get your product on shelf. It could be a combination of cash, free product to stock stores [...]
This post is a basic guide to get your product and company ready for retail CPG. Finance Retail takes cash. You will have to invest in product inventory that won't realize cash very soon. Expect to pay upfront shelf fees to get your product on shelf. It could be a combination of cash, free product [...]
