Many companies have experienced turbulence throughout the global pandemic, with food and beverage consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands no exception.
While some CPGs suffered from the unprecedented market shifts, others managed to bounce back and claim their share of the 19% growth of US consumer spending on household CPG items in 2020.
With this influx of revenue, trends have accelerated quicker than ever before. CPGs will need to figure out how to keep on top of it all and grow alongside the market.
Why should I expand my distribution into other regions?
By distributing your CPG products into more regions, you’ll be able to break into new micro-markets, which in turn will lead to increased sales and stronger brand awareness among consumers.
If, instead, you decide to stand still, you'd risk your numbers plateauing — or even declining. Asserting your brand in new markets reduces risks to your business. That’s because if you encounter any problems in one specific region, you’d still be up and running smoothly elsewhere.
So, now that you understand why you need to expand your geographic distribution, let’s discuss how.
How do you expand geographic coverage for distribution?
Research your customer demographics
Naturally, before you do anything, you’ll need to get your research cap on.
While you’ve undoubtedly conducted plenty of research into your customers — who they are, what they look like, where they hang out etc. — you’ll need to revisit this. But this time, you’ll be applying your new learnings, such as the latest trends in the markets, changing price points, as well as any other updates.
To sell to your customers, you really need to get to know them!
Then, it’s essential to locate the demand. Which physical locations are filled with your potential customers just waiting for you to land your CPG products in their local towns?
It’s arguably even more important to forecast demand. Is the demand going up or down in these areas? Is it worth entering this new geographic market if the demand is dwindling?
Data is king. So when you’re doing your research, don’t forget to make use of valuable data analytical tools that can assist you.
Consumer sentiment, social listening, search trends, and category-specific data can all help you get a clearer picture of what consumers want and where they want it.
Establish what grocery stores are like in that area
Once you’ve found the areas well-positioned to welcome your innovative CPG into their market, you’ll need to dig a little deeper into getting to know the area itself.
For instance, you’ll want to ensure that there are plenty of retailers that would be a good fit to sell your food or beverage products.
In order to establish strong, long-lasting partnerships with retailers, you should first do your due diligence. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do they share your values?
- Are their goals aligned with your own?
- Could they benefit from working with a distributor that would deliver and merchandise your products?
- Would they be open to collaboration on, for instance, discounting or even price increases?
When it comes to stores and supermarkets, bigger doesn’t always mean better. If you were to find smaller niche stores to stock your product alongside similar CPGs, you’d be more likely to be positioned in front of your target demographic.
Find brand representatives in the area
Never underestimate the benefits that can come from having a local representative for your brand in your potential new regions.
Buffalo Market works with many reliable brand reps in various geographical locations. As part of our services, we connect CPG brands with these professional representatives to regularly visit stores that stock their products. They’ll optimize the shelving displays and ensure that everything is running smoothly for your brand.
It saves companies from having to make the journey to several locations themselves so that they can better spend their time working on the brand itself as well as the inner workings of their CPG business.
Build a strategy to expand your geographic range
As you’re pulling together your expansion strategies, you’ll start to realize that while it’s most definitely a good business decision, it is a lot of work and can pose some risks - especially to smaller businesses that may not have gone down this path before.
There are plenty of organizations out there that can help you to pull it off without a hitch. Expert distributors are knowledgeable and experienced in successfully expanding the geographic range of a CPG brand.
It can save you a lot of time to partner with a distributor, especially if they specialize in the food and beverage CPG sector or, even better, in your product niche. Not only will they have a thorough understanding of your product and be familiar with the regions that it will perform well in, but they’ll also have built up a database of relevant contacts to get you started.
Your partner distributor will save you from having to research new retailers and the struggle of getting in touch with the right people. They’ll be able to pick out the ideal stores for your niche to get your CPG products stocked in front of your perfect customer. 
How Buffalo Market can help
Buffalo Market is a leading food and beverage CPG distributor that specifically supports mission-driven brands.
Our values align with CPGs that do good for people and good for the planet. We offer ultra-efficient, environmentally-conscious logistics and distribution services, as well as expert merchandising on behalf of brands.
If you’d like to get in touch with Buffalo Market to discuss how we can help your brand expand into new territories, send us a message today!
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