#160 - Whole Foods 101 with Kristin Sherman, Kelly Landrieu, and George Daines
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2024
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG podcast, Daniel Scharff is joined by Whole Foods Local & Emerging Brands team Kelly Landrieu (Global Coordinator/Director, Local and Emerging Brands) and Kristin Sherman (Principal Local Forager) as well as George Daines, formerly national beverage category manager at Whole Foods and now Director at Cultivate CPG, a retail sales brokerage that’s a sponsor of ours, to discuss the keys to succeeding as a supplier at Whole Foods. They cover everything from the importance of the Whole Foods supplier portal to mastering the new item submission process. They emphasize building strong relationships, maintaining consistent marketing efforts, and the delicate balance of patience and urgency in retail.
Register on the Whole Foods supplier portal, review category, review calendars, and start developing your Whole Foods-specific strategy today!
Cultivate CPG: A national broker and partner of Startup CPGs (the ones who sponsored our retail sales tracker!) If you’re interested to chat with them, email startupcpg@cultivatecpg.com
Whole Foods Supplier Portal: https://supplier.wholefoodsmarket.com/
Retail Sales Tracker Link: https://startupcpg.notion.site/Startup-CPG-Resources-0ecd7c3624c44798ac76e4adf8f13bd8
View the slides for this webinar here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KFLRQyG_RXoap2C8hKNYtg0tKEB7cufw/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112807267628955730478&rtpof=true&sd=true
Get Whole Foods data with 3 free reports from NielsenIQ / Byzzer: https://nielseniq.com/global/en/landing-page/startupcpg/
Listen in as they share about:
- Costs and Requirements for Doing Business with Whole Foods
- Supplier Portal
- Category Review Calendar
- Product Differentiation
- Networking
- LinkedIn and Direct Contact
- Product Placement
- Submission Timing and Process
- Post-Launch Strategy
- Balancing Patience and Urgency
- Partnering with Experienced Sales Teams
- Marketing Vehicles
- Distribution and Margins
Episode Links:
George DainesLinkedIn
Kelly Landrieu LinkedIn
Kristin Sherman LinkedIn
Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.
Show Links:
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- Visit host Daniel's Linkedin
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Is your CPG business taking off? |
| 0:03.0 | You can easily check off the EDI-capable box as you break into retail. |
| 0:08.0 | SPS Commerce is your gateway to retail growth. |
| 0:11.0 | With over 1 million existing trading connections and counting, |
| 0:15.0 | you get instant access to the largest network of up-to-date, mapped EDI connections to retailers, distributors, 3PLs, brokers, and |
| 0:23.8 | other supply chain partners without doing any of the heavy lifting yourself. With over 20 years of |
| 0:29.5 | experience, SPS Commerce is the partner you can trust to get you up and running quickly and be |
| 0:35.1 | there to scale with you as you grow. Plus, their team of experts is available 24-7 for support, |
| 0:41.2 | ensuring you have everything you need. |
| 0:43.7 | Visit SPScommerce.com today to book a demo or learn more. |
| 0:48.0 | Thank you. The most common challenge I see with a lot of brands that come to us, wanting to get on the shelves and who do not get on the shelves, is that their product is exactly the same as something that's already on the shelf, |
| 1:14.2 | and that's already doing really well. |
| 1:16.2 | So we can't exactly swap out a brand. |
| 1:19.0 | It's already performing for something else that's not there. |
| 1:22.1 | So it's very nice and wonderful to get into the Spot Portal and check your ingredients. |
| 1:26.9 | I highly suggest that. |
| 1:28.3 | But before you make your foray into Whole Foods Market, think really long and hard about |
| 1:33.3 | what is your value proposition, who is your customer, all that good foundational stuff that's going to help you articulate why. |
| 1:41.3 | Hello everybody, welcome to startup CBG. I am so excited about today's session. It's a webinar |
| 1:47.2 | we did with two amazing members of the Whole Foods Local and Emerging Brands team and also |
| 1:51.6 | George Daines. He was the former beverage buyer from Whole Foods. He's now with our partner |
| 1:55.3 | Cultivate CPG. They're a national broker and a partner of ours. You might recognize their |
... |
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