Tom Tailor’s Post

I’d say our first time exhibiting at Expo West was a success! 🥂🍾 We spent $30k+ to exhibit and here are the results… We met with both old and new partners from: 1) Albertsons 2) CVS 3) Harris Teeter 4) HEB 5) I-Herb 6) Meijer 7) Sprouts 8) Vitamin Shoppe 9) Walmart 10) Wegmans 11) Whole Foods + a few others. And I know from the grape vine that there were a few merchant teams that were lurking and saw us but we didn’t see them! The ol’ incognito merchants. 👀 (Which I totally understand given the craziness of this show!!) We know a few of our retailers that didn’t send merchants, but we had the opportunity to speak with them recently before the event virtually so they didn’t miss out. We also met with: -Our main co-manufacture -Our new 3rd party testers -A new rebate / receipt scanning marketing service to drive in-store sales & bundles -Our partners from the industry association, Council for Responsible Nutrition -Our FDA, regulation, & marketing lawyers -And our primary FDMC brokers, Market Performance Group The unexpected value: I was surprised that there were SO MANY investors and investment bankers here. We’re not actively raising or selling, but we passively had a dozen conversations with interested parties that have been watching our success over the past year. My favorite part: Getting to meet with other founders and management teams. It’s hard to quantify this value… but a massive amount of tips, tricks, and connections are shared brand to brand at events like this. I have always believed I’m 3 phone calls away from any person I want to meet with in the world. Events like this make me realize I’m probably only 1-2 phone calls away! In fact, as I was typing this post, an entrepreneur I met on the floor just email introduced me to a hero of mine (another founder) that I’ve always wanted to talk to. The way I see it is that a good trade show compresses 12 months of meetings into 3 days. Both in terms of scheduled meetings and chance encounters. Its a massive accelerator for any brand in terms of distribution, awareness, and connections. So do I think the $30k we spent on Expo West was worth it? ABSOLUTELY!! 💯

Are you a name-brand grocery buyer or do you take a chance on lesser-known/store brands? Regardless of your preference, many buyers are clearly moving towards the latter. In fact, the private-label Food & Beverage Market is projected to increase by $43.9 billion at a CAGR of 6.43% by 2028. This is in part due to a global cost of living crisis, along with the fact that private-label options have substantially improved in quality in recent years. While in the past, it was hard to find quality products without the recognizable label, more and more store brands are emerging with comparable levels of quality. With hundreds of suppliers offering an extensive range of food and beverage products, White Label World Expo New York is tipped to provide opportunities to help your business expand its delicious range of products as well as being a pivotal location for developing relationships to conquer new markets. Here’s just some of our food & drink exhibitors setting up at this year's show: Lone Oak Coffee Co. New Haven Tea Yo Mama's Foods ® 🎟 Register for your tickets now! https://shorturl.at/irBT5 #WhiteLabelWorld #WhiteLabelExpoNY #PrivateLabel #foodanddrink #USBusiness #ecommerce #Retail #entrepreneur

💡 "The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." - Michael Porter. Had a fantastic time at the Food4Thought event on "The Power of Vision and a Business Plan” with keynote speaker Markus Koch, Growth Strategist, Board Chair, and Director of ASX listed companies. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 🎯 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀: Be specific, measurable, and aspirational. Strategy is the pathway to achieve them. 🛤️ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: Differentiation is key! Have a clear point of differentiation. 🛒 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Inspired by ALDI SÜD's "good different" strategy. Special buys and cost efficiency set them apart. Shoutout to Sean Sacher, Group Managing Director at ALDI - from our law grad days at Allens, who knew I'd be writing about ALDI now? 🔍 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 is crucial. During Markus' tenure as Chair and CEO of Daniels Health, they uncovered valuable consumer insights. For example, consumers purchased syringe disposal bins for aesthetics, not just safety. I've seen this firsthand while interior decorating my husband's dental practice! Great to catch up with Yak Yong Quek, Founder and CEO of Prime Value Asset Management, and John Sikkema, Chair of Prime Value, at Prime Value's offices sponsoring the event. Kudos to Markus Koch and Stephanie Woollard OAM, National Director of Engagement for F4T, for organising such an enlightening event! #Strategy #Vision #BusinessPlan #Differentiation #Innovation

How do you navigate trade shows and stand out as an emerging brand? Just ask our Fall 2023 Pitch Day winners, Wheyward Spirit and Inspiro Tequila, LLC. ✅ Eye-catching displays ✅ Clear value props on all collateral ✅ Pre-show outreach to ensure you have meeting time with the people who matter to your business What else are we missing? #wswa #adultbeverage #beverageindustry

🔊 "What consumers are looking for is not just to be remembered by name or what they purchased last time, but by things that are important and relevant to them," - Elizabeth Buchanan, Rokt CCO For more thought-provoking insights from the Forbes 2023 CMO Summit's "What Matters Most: Relevancy" panel, including how data can empower brands to make real-time, informed decisions that foster meaningful connections with their customers, read our blog → https://lnkd.in/eX-Rm7CZ

5* What did you enjoy? Everything! Tea is amazing, the team were brilliant - super interesting and fun time What can we do better? Nothing. Feedback like that after our event with Meg, Benjamin and the rest of the BREWlliant Bird & Blend Tea Co. event with Fountain Partnership fills my heart with joy! Thank you! 🤗 ☕ 🎉 Our next event for brands is with KETTLE Chips, part of Valeo Foods Group in February. We're selling out fast, with ace brands on the list as guests. We'll be talking about: Communication of quality: Communicating the quality of a product can be challenging. Find effective ways to convey the value proposition to potential customers. Overpromising: Striking the balance between highlighting product features and benefits without making unrealistic claims! Competitive positioning: In highly competitive markets, it can be tough to differentiate a product based on quality alone. Identify and communicate unique selling points that sets the brand apart from competitors. Come and join us! Potato pictured for reference...

We at Mr. B have been named by MR Magazine as one of the top ten men's stores in the country. The article with Tim Sitzmann, our owner, has just been published and I wanted to share it. Thank you to those of you that have helped to make this happen!! We couldn't do it without you!! FROM OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE: TIM SITZMANN, MR. B, IOWA—IN SEARCH OF WHAT'S NEW - MR Magazine (mr-mag.com) Follow this link to the article and scroll down under Features.

If you're not heading to #IIEX next week, you don't have to completely miss out; I'm here once again to give you the inside scoop from a distance! In the second iteration of my LinkedIn video mini series "Waves of Thinking" (previously "On the Floor") I'll be talking to top speakers, thought leaders, and research change-makers on the expo. Last time we had awesome conversations with Fandom, Electrolux Group, Zaxby's Franchising LLC, Molson Coors Beverage Company, and McDonald's, and we have more big brands on the docket for this show. Be sure to follow to tune in and stay up to speed! aytm Greenbook #mrx #marketresearch

Last week I held a keynote about success factors in a team for Mondelez Österreich GmbH in Vienna as part of their 2024 sales conference. Every company wants to be successful and to be able to say "we are a winning team!". But what does it actually take to be successful? What are the main factors of success? Why is it not always the team with the best players that is the most successful one? How should you deal with not being successful at times and how can you make sure to come back stronger? #keynote #kleineshausderkunst #salesconference #success #winningteam

📍 eTail Nordic Update📍 Make sure to stick around beyond just our industry-defining discussions, as on the evening of day one we shall be taking over Denmark's largest casino, the Casino Ballroom. Enjoy cocktails and the dulcet tones of our blues musicians while you catch up and make new connections within the Retail and eCommerce industry! Make sure to view the full brochure to see what eTail Nordic has to offer for you! _________________________________________________________________________________ #etail #retailmarketing #ecommerce #etailnordic