CPG Vibes

This episode we're continuing our Category Review series!

We have rising star in the retail industry, John Lane, from Raley's and Matt Williams, CEO and Founder of The CPG Collective. J

John has led and leads several new product innovation strategies for Raley's and now oversees Frozen as Sr. Category Manager & Product Innovation. We'll get insight into how he and buyers look at category reviews - what they want to see from brokers and brands and what not to do.

Matt has extensive knowledge in the CPG industry working his way up as a sales rep to being in high level c-suite positions with Odwalla, Dean Foods, Beecher's Handmade Cheese and Tattooed Chef before starting his hybrid CPG brokerage that focuses on California.

The knowledge we will gain from this conversation will be priceless!

This week we continue our series on Category Reviews - prying knowledge out of industry veterans from all angles.

Last week we touched on how soon a broker/brand should reach out, what buyers like to see and what they do or do not want to hear + much more!

If you missed that episode - it's worthy of a Spotify or Apple Podcasts listen!

This week we will capitalize on buying experience from Darren Viscount who has nearly 30 years of retail buying under his belt in various roles from Category Manager to Director of Purchasing of Center Store/Vitamins. Darren has been very involved in all aspects of CPG the last 6+ years on LinkedIn and we look foward to hearing his perspective!

We will also get the sales POV from Kate Cash. Kate has nearly 20 years in the CPG space starting her roots in a natural foods co-op, working as a broker and various sales roles - working her way up from a sales rep to a VP of Sales and now runs her own sales agency helping brands scale and providing them with customized sales leadership.

This week on CPG Vibes, Wade and Gavin chat all things retail category reviews.

We host a discussion with Kenny Hausmann of Fresh Thyme Market to get the buyer's perspective and Shawn Berg of SMB Marketing to hear the broker's side.

Kenny brings nearly 20 years of retail buying experience and Shawn matches that with retail selling and analysis.

We talk about what data buyers want to see, what level of communication is needed, how long your pitch should be, what can make you stand out and so much more!

We are back LIVE this week with Shannon Peffley of CPG X! Shannon has brilliantly created multiple models helping emerging brands efficiently spend at tradeshows. But that is not everything Shannon does to help emerging brands. He'll be at Fancy Food this weekend in NYC and he has done several other events like the ECRM's, Sweets and Snacks, Expo West and more!

Gavin and Wade are back this week talking all things CPG! Brokers, Retail, Category Reviews, Challenges, ETC!

Gavin and Wade are back to talk all things CPG this week. No guests, no specific topics, just an old school style episode.

Join us as we celebrate our community with CPG Vibes 200th episode!

We will be bringing on listeners over the last few years chatting all things life and CPG!

We're pumped to welcome back Steve Black for this week's episode.

Steve has a storied history in the retail business with over 50 years experience (WOW) across multiple chains and channels including Sprouts Farmers Market, Lucky's Market, and Rouses Markets among others.

These days Steve is focused on his Business/Leadership Coaching Firm:

https://abrighterday.life/

If you missed the first episode with Steve, you can check that out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube... but we HIGHLY encourage you to tune in this week as we focus on Leadership.

Regardless of your profession or personal situation, we're confident this week's show will bring you value while still being fun.

This week, we chat anything and everything CPG.

There is a lot of positives in the industry for companies looking to sell as two major cpg companies sold for over a billion dollars collectively!

Lots of talk about innovation, whitespace, brand awareness and the right "fit".

We are 3 weeks post expo and the big trade show season is about to start.

This week we chat with Kenny Hausmann from Fresh Thyme Market! Kenny oversees the Healthy Living Department and we will be chatting all things emergings brands, Expo West and Retail Leadership!