Anyone with experience in the food industry, or any small business, will relate to this powerful fictional series on Hulu, released last June. It’s intense. Scene: ‘The Original Beef’, a family-owned, Italian beef sandwich shop in gritty downtown Chicago, present day (post Covid). Back-Story: Owner Michael commits suicide before the story begins, leaving his family […]
Food & Beverage
What is the Difference between a Food Broker and a Wholesaler?
What does a Food Broker Do? A Food Broker (often also called a ‘Sales and Marketing Agency’, or SMA) is an outsourced sales agency that will help introduce your product to retail buyers at brick-and-mortar retailers or foodservice operators. Foodservice operators includes places like Restaurants, Universities, Hospitals or other venues that serve food – read […]
Should You Hire a Food Broker?
Your product is awesome and you want to get on store shelves quickly. Maybe you’re already selling direct-to-consumers online, but want to get your product in front of the vast majority of shoppers who usually shop in physical stores, rather than online. Note: an omnichannel strategy where you use both – e-commerce plus in-store, often […]
New Food Product Launch Strategy? Start Online
Many small start-up food and beverage and consumer products companies contact us looking for ways to get their products into the hands of consumers. Some hope to see their new food product stocked on shelves of grocery stores; others are seeking ways into the non-commercial foodservice sector, selling in high-traffic, niche channels like airport kiosks […]
Foxes, Hen-Houses, and other ECommerce Fables
Over 20% of Grocery Retail is likely to move online by 2026 according to a recent Supermarket News article. That’s big news, but equally big is that the vast majority of online grocery shoppers prefer click-and-collect over home delivery. Seventy-six percent of respondents said they favor in-store (44%) and curbside (31%) pickup, compared with 24% preferring delivery. Consumers don’t like to pay for home delivery, […]
The 5 Stages of Growing a Food and Beverage Business
The new caramel-pecan brownies are winning raves with their crunchy, moist deliciousness. That chipotle-lime salsa touches taste buds you didn’t even know existed. Congratulations! You have a product that needs, no, demands, a place in every food shopper’s heart and pantry. Read on to learn how to make that happen. Whether you are an established […]
4 Great Omnichannel Retail Service Providers
At the recent NGA (National Grocer’s Association) conference, I spoke with a group of parallel but different companies that help independent grocery retailers get their e-commerce up-and- running. Shop Hero, Rosie, Local Express and EGrowcery, while different, all provide tech, web design and product images, inventory tie-ins, and linkages to delivery services. Together, these service bundles jump-start retailers to a high-level of e-commerce; for both delivery and click-and-collect. With these services […]
Kroger to Roll Out More Ocado Automated Customer Fulfillment Warehouses
Grocery giant Kroger is opening an Ocado automated fulfillment warehouse (customer fulfillment center or CFC) for home delivery in the Northeast soon. They have no stores in the Northeast, so this is an e-commerce only move for Kroger. They already operate a CFC in central Florida, with more planned in Florida, California and the South. These operations can deliver to a 90-mile radius and can […]
How Businesses Can Help Colleges and Universities Respond to COVID-19
This is changing daily, but as I write this, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 53% of colleges are planning on re-opening this fall with on campus classes. While 32% will offer a hybrid of online and in-person classes and 11% will offer on-line only. The rest are still deciding. How Some Colleges are […]
A Quick-Guide to the Healthcare Foodservice Industry
So, you’ve thought about selling your food or beverage product to the healthcare industry. Driving past your local mega-hospital, maybe you’ve thought ‘Hey, those are big buildings with lots of people in them. I wonder if they would buy my new food product?’ Or, ‘What do all the doctors, nurses, and medical technicians, not to mention […]
