C.A. Fortune’s Post

Learnings from David Lester, Co-founder and President of OLIPOP PBC Yesterday at Bread & Jam Fest 2024 I had the enormous pleasure of interviewing a Brand Growth Heroes HERO in front of a live studio audience. David’s brand Olipop is a market leader in the US functional soda market, and is on track to acheive a revenue goal of around $500M in sales in the coming 12 months. We arranged to meet outside the show to spend a quick bite of time together before getting on stage. I’ll be honest: I expected to meet someone a little bit scary, perhaps incredibly hard-assed, sort of high-powered… all down of course to my preconceptions of the character traits required to scale a CPG brand to $500M in less than 5 years. Instead, we all met someone who spoke to everyone in that room with authenticity and empathy about the difficulties of being a founder; about the roller coaster of failures and highs and lows; about ego, curiosity and vulnerability; and who reminded us that success is what you decide it is, and that can be as simple as “am I learning from this? Am I becoming a better person” or “am I still alive?” Yes we talked about the soda category, about the importance of understanding the category need when positioning your brand to win, about functional benefits, about packaging design. But I think we all came away with something far more valuable than what we imagined we were going to get when we walked into the room. Thank you David Lester for your authenticity, honesty and candid invitation to us all to reevaluate how we FRAME - and REACT TO - the rollercoaster that is being a founder; to the successes and many more failures that this inevitably brings as part of the deal 🙏

🚀 Elevate Your Beverage Brand with Actionable Insights! 🚀 In today’s hyper-competitive beverage industry, staying ahead means having access to the latest strategies and insights that drive real growth. At Five Star Beverage, we’ve curated an Industry Insights page packed with all of our valuable insights and strategies in one place to help you stay ahead of the curve. From mastering Annual Business Plans to building strong distributor relationships, our insights offer real-world strategies you can implement for meaningful impact. 🔥 Here’s some of what you’ll find: - Strategic Growth Tactics: Actionable strategies that help beverage brands grow sustainably in a competitive market. - Distributor Relationships: Learn how to strengthen and optimize partnerships for long-term success. - Brand Identity and Differentiation: Build a brand that stands out and deeply resonates with consumers. - Market Expansion and Innovation: Insights on how to enter new market segments and innovate while staying true to your brand’s core values. ✨ Ready to take your brand to the next level? Explore all of our insights in one easy to find place and start building sustainable success today. 💡 https://lnkd.in/eFfbmyqJ #BeverageIndustry #BusinessGrowth #BrandStrategy #DistributorSuccess #BusinessTips #IndustryInsights #SalesStrategy #BeverageMarketing #BusinessDevelopment

Curious about how I help brands like yours achieve remarkable growth? Check out our latest case studies where I've transformed challenges into success stories. 🚀📈 👉 Discover how a leading hard cider brand achieved over 70,000 case sales in a new market within three years. 👉 See how a craft brewery expanded to over 500 retail locations and sold 22,000 cases in a brand new market just one year! Drawing from my extensive experience in driving growth for beverage brands, we bring proven strategies to help you achieve remarkable success. Ready to transform your brand? Visit our Case Studies page to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEg4HC-3 #BeverageIndustry #BrandStrategy #SuccessStories #BusinessGrowth #CaseStudies

Here's a Quick chocolate day special post! When we talk about chocolates, the first thing that comes to all of our minds is Cadbury Dairy Milk, right? What's the connection between chocolate and lovers? Has anyone thought about positioning here? Yes, Cadbury has positioned in all of our minds that Dairy Milk is for lovers and we should share it as a token act of love. What's your favorite brand positioning? Comment below, explore more stories ! 🍫

We have had a huge influx of brands coming to us at Jade Street Consulting Inc. for representation, which I am SUPER grateful for. When vetting brands to take on, we have a pretty lengthy process for various reasons. Most importantly, I want to make sure our values align and there is mutual respect both ways. I also like to make sure that our team is extremely interested in the brands we represent- we eat, drink, or use them. After having tons of conversations, there are some things I want to throw out there if you are a broker or offer a service in sales for CPG companies. 💫 Feedback- WHY was your client denied, is important. Tell them. 💫 If your client is discontinued on shelves, PLEASE tell them. 💫 If you truly don't LOVE the product, please don't represent them. 💫 If you cannot sell the brand, PLEASE don't represent them. Educate yourself on the products before you sell them. 💫 Communicate the process of reviews- timelines, reset dates, and everything else they may need. 💫 Be 100% honest with your clients- if this was your brand would you throw them into an account that has 1,300 locations but they will not produce ROI? 💫 Give them suggestions on tools they can use- merchandising companies, demo companies, Aisle, Instacart, etc, and if you don't have the answers, let them know! 💫 PUT IN THEIR PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES. 💫 Send them copies of everything. 💫 Honesty, honesty, and more honesty. Not everyone is going to like this, but everyone needs it. #cpg #cpgindustry #cpgbrands #food #beverage #relationships #partnerships #ceo #founder #sales #brokers #brokering #supplements #launches #nutrition #sportsnutrition #grocery #retail #candy #drinks #contracts #team #culture

Curious about how we help brands like yours achieve remarkable growth? Check out our latest case studies where our founder transformed challenges into success stories. 🚀📈 👉 Discover how a leading hard cider brand achieved over 70,000 case sales in a new market within three years. 👉 See how a craft brewery expanded to over 500 retail locations and sold 22,000 cases in a brand new market just one year! Drawing from our extensive experience in driving growth for beverage brands, we bring proven strategies to help you achieve remarkable success. Ready to transform your brand? Visit our Case Studies page to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEQCvu9Q #BeverageIndustry #BrandStrategy #SuccessStories #BusinessGrowth #CaseStudies

Yesterday was spent visiting the team at Suma Wholefoods to give a presentation and spread the word about D*MN GOOD. Securing a wholesaler is only half the battle. The crucial second half is raising awareness among their customers and ensuring your product is MOVING. Several strategies to achieve this include: 🍪 Establishing relationships with the sales team! Engage them with your brand and instill them with the same excitement you have. 🍪 Organise a day for a visit and a product tasting session. 🍪 Sampling activities by offering X amount of your product for the wholesaler to distribute to their customers. The more hands your product gets into, the better! 🍪 Collaborate with your buyer to create a marketing plan that suits you. Alex and I decided to emphasise more on our brand message, opting for an educational/informative campaign instead of a price promotional campaign. Work with your customers to come at it from both angles 🍪🤩 : this is what a partnership looks like 😎 PS. If you look closely enough, you will notice the famous Alex S. 😎 #workingtogether #sales #awareness #customercollaboration #storevisit

CPG companies should listen to their brokering companies and sales teams because they can provide valuable feedback that can help them improve their products and strategies. Feedback can help CPG companies understand the buyer's needs, preferences, and pain points and adjust their pricing, packaging, promotion, and marketing accordingly. Feedback can also help CPG companies avoid blaming their sales team and brokers when the product does not move and instead focus on finding solutions and opportunities for growth.

Flavor! It’s the No. 1 attribute younger audiences look for when deciding what to drink. In the Business of Drinks survey of 1,300 Millennial and Gen Z consumers, some 75% to 80% of respondents said flavor was extremely or very important in their purchasing decision. Brands like BeatBox have leveraged this insight, creating drinks in crowd-pleasing flavors that tap into a range of experiences — like nostalgia (the fruit punches and blue raspberry popsicles of childhood) and experimentation (on-trend flavors like juicy mango and peach punch). Focusing on flavor has helped the brand grow to an incredible $100 Million in sales annually. For fresh insights from Justin Fenchel, co-founder and CEO of Beatbox, check out the full episode: https://lnkd.in/gqqPKmEP And comment on the flavor innovations you're seeing in bev alc and drinks CPG. We're always looking for new products and companies to profile ⬇ #drinksbusiness #startup #beveragealcohol #insights

When it comes to scaling food brands in retail, simplicity is key. Here are the top three fundamental factors for selling success: - Stay Persistent. - Use Data. - Build Trusting Relationships. Hire the best in the business and have a clear and consistent approach that incorporates all three elements. Without this focus, you may be missing the mark. For those starting new brands, or looking to sell a young brand. Ask yourself, will this brand/product be loved for years to come? #FoodIndustry #RetailSuccess #ScalingTips #OnceUponaFarm #grocery #cpg