Fred Schroeder’s Post

An emerging CPG brand with a Sales Contribution % of less than 25% is likely facing tough stay-in-business and scaling challenges. It's time to rethink Emerging CPG Brand profitability. A one-size fits-all pricing and margin approach does not work. It never did. 2024 and 2025 are going to be challenging years. If you want to create a singular and unifying driving force with marketing, sales, operations and finance, elevate the tracking and management of Sales Contribution. Move beyond Gross Profit and Gross Margin percentages, which are often miscalculated and hide true costs. The harsh reality is that managing overall profitability is about managing a portfolio of route-to-market sales contribution dollar flows. What is important, here, is to maximize the overall flow of Sales Contribution dollars by making the hard trade-offs when setting pricing and trade/shopper marketing support within those channels and with each retailer. Focus on Sales Contribution $ per case guardrails and overall Sales Contribution Dollars. A good place to start is to gain a realistic route-to-market view of the profitability impact that pricing, velocity, distribution, promos, COGS, and direct selling selling expenses for each channel and retailer. It's not the CFOs accountability alone. If you are the brand custodian, whether you are in marketing and sales, it is your accountability. #emergingbrands #foodandbeverage #fmcg #CPG #profitability #channels #retailers #grossprofit #cpgcategory #channelpricing

📣 What's the most important question in CPG? The ONE question that will determine a brand's retail success. A lot of people in CPG might say it's asking the customer: ❓ “Would you buy this product?” But in my opinion, the most important question in CPG is actually: ❓ “Would you *repurchase* this product? And even more importantly: ❓ "Would you *seek out* this product to repurchase it?” Product trial is only one half of the equation. In fact, it might be even less than half. It is the rare brand that can command a market who seeks them out to repurchase. And those are the brands who have brand blocks on shelf at retail. Either they've paid for it, negotiated it, or grown into it due to repurchase rate. (GOODLES, I'm looking at you.) How can you test your repurchase rate before getting on shelf? - Start with your DTC repurchase rate - Get honest feedback from samplers about your product - Check yourself: are you gaining natural, word of mouth traction? This will be an indicator. - Start with small independent retailers. If you can't gain traction there, I personally, would say: check your product.

🌟Breaking the Myth in Retail: Embracing Competition Boosts Sales! Ever wondered if launching your product in a competitor's store could harm your existing retailer sales? 📊 The Case Study Unveiled: It has become somewhat common place for major retailers to request exclusivity from high growth brands for at least 12-months. We often face the question: Will our sales decline in the original retailer if/when we enter a competing retailer? 📈 The Results Are In: The graph below shows a bundle of products from a high growth brand that went into a rival retailer while already thriving in the other major retail chain. Surprisingly (to some), the brand experienced: ✨ +13% uplift in sales rate in the original retailer after launching into the competitor. 🚀 +40% increase in total product volume by being available in the second retailer. 💡 Key Takeaway: Contrary to the fear of sales decline, embracing competition can lead to a win-win situation! This brand not only maintained but increased its performance in the original store while expanding its market reach. 🌐 Lesson Learned and Limitations: Diversifying your retail presence doesn't mean sacrificing your current success. It can catapult your brand to new heights thanks to brand awareness! 💪✨ This case study has been conducted on an impulsive shopper mission so may not replicate every brand’s experience. Additionally, Exclusivity comes with its own set of advantages, such as strategic partnerships with retailers, that should be weighed based on your unique brand and product dynamics. Whatever strategy you take, we recommend making decisions based on commercial facts and not on emotion. Always have a clear strategy and execute well. What are your thoughts? #RetailInsights #MarketExpansion #BusinessSuccess #RetailStrategy

Amid slow growth and intense competition in the grocery market, retailers need innovative strategies to maintain and expand their market share. Private brands are projected to continue impressive growth over the next 5 years, with an anticipated CAGR of +4.7% vs. +0.4% for all other sales. This private brand growth provides grocers with a chance to stand out, capture market share, and increase profit. In an industry where every advantage counts, a robust private brand program is not just an option but a strategic imperative for thriving in today’s grocery market. Read our latest insights "Accelerate Your Private Brand Journey To Win With Customers And Shareholders" to learn more about how grocers can follow a structured approach to building a strong private brand program. For additional information, reach out to our authors and experts Marco Valentini and John Clear. #grocery #privatebrands #AMCRG #CRGTeam https://lnkd.in/eH7zrSpj

Product innovation key for CPG sales growth. Here is an excerpt from a recent article : If you’re a big food company chief executive, here is what your chief sales officer may hear from retail buyers at the next category review: “I read online that your CEO is planning to cut back on promotions next year. That’s a tough decision, but I understand. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. We’re cutting back on your SKUs for the next reset. We’ll probably use some of the space to expand private labels. I’ve also met with a start-up. They have an amazing trend-forward product range to grow the category, and they’re offering 40% margins. How about you? Do you have any new products ready to replace the items you lost?” Without a robust innovation pipeline, any food & beverage chief executive who has promised analysts that they’re cutting price promotions next year has a big problem. Should companies accept more category declines and share losses? 

Turning Trade Promotion from an Expense into an Investment Are your trade promotion dollars working hard enough for you? With trade promotion accounting for well over 20% of your gross revenue, it's essential that they're driving key in-store objectives like distribution, merchandising, and pricing. But how do you ensure that you're getting the most out of your trade spending? The answer lies in having a team that can set the proper processes and provide the required analysis. By continuously analyzing and improving your trade spending, you can turn it from an expense into an investment. At Schroeder CPG, we have the experience and expertise to help you do just that. Trust us to get you there. Learn more about how our trade spending experience can assist your growth by clicking the link below.

Mastering Chain Placements: A Guide to Success Securing placements in chain stores can transform your brand's trajectory, but it’s not always straightforward. If your brand isn’t getting the attention it deserves from chain retailers, it might be time to rethink your strategy. Here’s how to ensure your brand shines in chain stores: 1. Optimize Your Production Schedule: Struggling to engage with chains? Your production schedule might need an overhaul. A well-structured brand calendar with clear and consistent releases built around core products will make your brand more appealing. Ensure your flagship products resonate with consumers and engage them with your brand identity to maintain a steady rate of sale on shelves. 2. Ensure Reliable Product Availability: Has your brand been dropped from chain sets, or do your distributors hesitate to pitch your products? Consistency is key. If you can’t reliably produce and deliver, it affects both your distributor's confidence and your brand’s reputation. Meeting production commitments is essential to maintain and grow chain placements. 3. Communicate Your Brand Value: Not receiving positive feedback from chain buyers? Improve how you communicate your brand’s identity and value proposition. Clearly articulate the unique value your brand brings to retailers and why it stands out from competitors. Highlight what makes your brand a valuable addition to their shelves. If you're struggling to do this, let's work to enhance your brand identity. 4. Demonstrate Market Strength: Patience is crucial. Rushing into chains before your brand is ready can do more harm than good. Focus on building consumer engagement, market penetration, and driving a strong rate of sale. This foundation is essential before targeting chain placements. Chains aren't a training ground for your brand, they are a proving ground. Chain placements are no longer guaranteed. Before attributing a lack of success to your distribution partners, review this checklist to ensure you’re doing everything possible to support your brand’s growth. By following these steps, you’ll strengthen both your brand and your distribution partnerships. Want to see these strategies in action? Our latest newsletter dives deep into these concepts. Sign up now at the link below to receive high-impact industry insights and strategies directly in your inbox each week! https://lnkd.in/eR_8nnj9 #BrandStrategy #BusinessGrowth #DistributionPartners #ChainSuccess #RetailStrategy #MarketPenetration #ProductAvailability

POV: In the FMCG industry, a great product is only half the battle won. The other half? It's getting it into the hands of your consumers through the right distribution channels. No matter how great your product is, if it's not visible, it's virtually non-existent in the consumer's world. Your product needs to be where your consumers are. Here’s how to ace this your distribution game: Strategic Placement: Identify key retail locations and e-commerce platforms where your target audience shops. Partnerships Matter: Collaborate with distributors who understand your market and can navigate the complex FMCG landscape. Increased Sales: Effective distribution directly translates to increased sales. More visibility means more opportunities to buy. Brand Recognition: Consistent presence across multiple channels enhances brand recognition and loyalty. A great product deserves a great distribution strategy. In the FMCG world, one cannot thrive without the other. It's about creating a balance where your product not only exists but excels. Is your distribution strategy aligned with your product's potential? #fmcg #distribution #success #founder

If you’re a CPG brand who wants to scale to $100mm+, you need to be competitively priced. Because true scale for CPG comes from retail. Conventional and mass retail in particular. The Targets, Walmarts and Costcos. The thing all of their customers have in common? Most aren’t willing to pay a large premium for better ingredients. That’s been proven time and time again BEFORE the likes of Ozempic/Wegovy. With the advent of those drugs, even fewer people will be willing to pay that premium is my guess. Over the course of the last 10 years, many brands with premium pricing were able to get to $40-60M. But it’s been a real struggle for most of them to get to $100M+. Because that scale comes from the aforementioned retailers who have price sensitive customers. The brands that have done it figured out a way to offer a value proposition from an ingredient perspective while maintaining competitive pricing. P.S. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are plenty of CPG brands that can run quite profitably at $40-60M. Your expectations just need to be aligned with that reality. Because those expectations effect how you build the business from the jump.

Put simply it’s a systematic, disciplined approach retailers use in collaboration with suppliers to manage a product category as a strategic business unit to deliver turnover and profitability targets whilst bringing benefits to the shoppers of that category. Eight step process: 1. Define Define your understanding of the retailer, their customers and who buys your brand. 2. Role Is it to attract new consumers, generate traffic, meet everyday needs or be a destination for certain products? 3. Assessment Use data to understand sales by category, sub-category, brand, SKU, promotions, market status & consumer trends. 4. Scorecard Combine analysis and strategy including assortment, pricing, in-store presentation & promotion. 5. Strategies Strategy needed to achieve the category’s role using a combination of assortment, price, promotion & merchandising. 6. Tactics Marketing activities, promotions, range changes, communication & planogram changes. (range reviews) 7. Implementation Apply strategies and tactics and implement them effectively. 8. Review Review results regularly and plan necessary changes. #founders #founder #cofounder #ceo #Cofounders