Are you a food and beverage brand looking to get your CPG products into stores? Or a store manager seeking out the very best items for your shelves? Either way, you’d benefit from the help of a CPG broker.
In this article, we take a deep dive into exactly what a CPG broker does, the benefits of working with one, and how to choose the right CPG brokerage for your biz.
What we’ll cover…
- What is a CPG broker?
- What should a CPG broker offer?
- What are the benefits of working with a CPG broker?
- How to choose a CPG broker
- Best CPG brokers
What is a CPG broker?
CPG brokers are like talent scouts for the grocery industry.
A newbie food or beverage brand would find it hard to build networks and make contact with grocery stores and other retailers. Likewise, retailers would find it hard to locate the best CPG products for their stores when there’s such a huge amount of choice available.
Enter the CPG broker.
These guys connect CPG brands with retailers. They act as a vital touchpoint, making life easier for both parties involved. A CPG broker already has strong retailer relationships in place, which means they’re well-placed to pitch new products and negotiate placement deals.
What should a CPG broker offer?
To be a successful and valuable partner, a CPG broker needs to have the right knowledge and the right skills.
Any CPG broker you consider working with should be able to offer all of the following.
They should have industry expertise
A food or beverage brand knows their own product inside out. But a CPG broker knows the grocery market inside out.
This means they understand how a CPG product fits within the current landscape. And know which retailers would want to stock it.
They should have industry connections
Understanding the industry is nothing without the right connections. A great CPG broker should be able to demonstrate long-standing relationships with big CPG retail players.
They should be expert negotiators
CPG brokers are excellent negotiators. They know how to get a good deal (for both suppliers and buyers) and the right shelf space for CPG brands.
They should be expert marketers
CPG brokers also need sharp marketing skills. They should understand what marketing techniques will work best for your product/store, and then know how to put them into action.
What are the benefits of working with a CPG broker?
There are lots of great benefits to working with a CPG broker. Let’s take a look at a few of them here.
You don’t have to spin all of the plates
Running a business is pretty time-consuming, right? So it makes sense to outsource tasks to experts in the field whenever your budget allows.
A CPG broker takes over sales responsibilities for your brand, and that means you get to focus on developing and creating the best possible products without diverting too much of your attention to sales.
It’s cost-effective
Hiring a sales team is expensive for a business. You have to pay their salaries and their travel costs, which can quickly mount up if your team is traveling to visit retailers across the country.
Working with a CPG broker is a more affordable alternative.
You get access to their address book
You may have crafted an amazing food and beverage product with huge sales potential. But in this industry, it’s all about who you know.
Without the right connections, you’re not going to get your products in front of retailers, and therefore, in front of their customers. Some big grocery stores actually refuse to meet with CPG brands directly; they’ll only go through a trusted CPG broker.
So a good CPG broker has lots of great connections within the CPG industry.
You save time (and make fewer mistakes)
Because a CPG broker has been there, done it, and got the t-shirt, you completely avoid the CPG product sales learning curve.
CPG brokers have contacts. And they already know what each retailer is looking for — their product mix, their price points, their negotiation style, and so on. This is the sort of intel it would take you years to develop for yourself, but when working with a CPG broker, you avoid lots of mistakes and save lots of time and effort.
You get a business advisor
A CPG broker isn’t just someone who tries to sell your products. Find the right person and they’ll act as a business advisor for your brand.
They’ll help to grow your business, providing advice and insight on the topics that you might not have much experience of yourself.
The right CPG broker will take responsibility for:
Marketing
CPG brokers tend to have knowledge of marketing, working with stores to promote your products through printed advertising, in-store events, and promotional sales.
This helps customers to get to know your brand, which means they’re much more likely to pick your products up and make a purchase. It also gives retailers a sales boost, which means they’re much more likely to keep your products front and center.
Negotiation
CPG brokers have the negotiation skills to get your food and beverage products onto retail shelves. But their work doesn’t end there.
They can help to ensure that your products retain their prime shelf spot.
When retailers are looking to make changes to their store line-up, your CPG broker can get in there to negotiate the promotions and deals that will keep your product in-store.
Feedback
Because they enjoy a close relationship with retailers, CPG brokers can get feedback on your products.
They find out how they’re selling, what customers have been saying, and how retailers themselves view your product offering. All of this feedback is really useful from a business and product development perspective.
With a CPG broker’s eyes and ears on the ground, you’ll discover new ways to improve your products and develop new ones.
How to choose a CPG broker
So you’re sold on the idea of working with a CPG broker., but how do you choose the right one?
Once you’ve drawn up a shortlist, here are the questions you need to ask to find out whether a particular CPG broker really has the goods.
How long has your company been running?
While a less experienced CPG broker may have all of the right skills, they certainly don’t have a proven track record.
Find someone who’s been working in the industry for years, and you can be fairly confident that you’ll be dealing with a reputable firm that knows what they’re doing.
What are your company values?
A clash in company values might not sound like a deal breaker, but it’s always easier to work with partners who are on the same page — so find out if the values of a prospective CPG broker align with yours.
For example, if your brand is big on sustainability but your CPG broker is all about the bottom line, it may not be the ideal match.
Which retailers do you have contacts with?
It’s pointless working with a brokerage that doesn’t have contacts at the retailers you want to go after.
If a CPG broker doesn’t know the stores in your niche or doesn’t work in your region — and they can’t recommend a better place for your products — then you need to find someone else.
Which brands do you currently represent?
As well as asking about the retailers a CPG broker works with, find out what other CPG brands they currently have on their books. A good CPG broker will be able to show you case studies or performance figures to illustrate how great a job they’ve done for other brand partners.
It’s also worth doing a little digging to find out whether a broker is working with any competitor brands. If so, you or they can acknowledge the conflict of interest and move on.
What ongoing support do you provide?
Find out how involved a brokerage is prepared to get with marketing, analysis, and reporting.
Also, ask how often you can expect them to be in touch with both you and the retailers that end up stocking your products. Ideally, a brokerage representative should be visiting retailers in person and on a regular basis to get a first-hand sense of how your product is sitting within the store.
Do you have any testimonials?
Finding out what other CPG brands think about a particular broker is a good way to get an unbiased view of their service. Better than testimonials, ask a brokerage if they’ll put you in touch with some of their past client so you can quiz them on their experience.
Top CPG brokers
Want to save yourself the hard work of finding a CPG broker who can really deliver? Then take a look at this list, featuring five of the best CPG brokers in America.
Good Now Foods
HQ: California
Specialism: Organic, non-GMO, and clean foods
In operation for nearly two decades, Good Now Foods have a varied selection of retail contacts along the western coast. They count themselves as a collaborative partner, able to advise on packaging, logistics, promotions, and pricing strategy.
Green Spoon Sales
HQ: Colorado
Specialism: Natural food and beverage brokerage.
Green Spoon Sales is a national CPG brokerage with a bespoke feel. Working with a limited number of accounts in order to provide a high level of engagement and connectivity, the team is on a mission to shake up the retail landscape.
Impact Group LLC
HQ: Idaho
Specialism: Fresh, natural, and multicultural CPG brands.
Impact Group LLC is a well-established brokerage, with links to major food retailers as well as small and medium grocery stores. Able to help with logistics, branding, merchandising, and eCommerce, this firm offers an all-round service.
Brangea
HQ: Texas
Specialism: Getting brands into Walmart and Sam’s Club retail environments
With private label expertise, access to a ton of amazingly useful data, and a desire to become an integrated part of your CPG team, Brangea specialize in getting brands onto Walmart and Sam’s Club shelves.
Buffalo Market
HQ: California
Specialism: Healthy, organic, and good-for-the-planet CPG products
Buffalo Market has connections to retailers across the country and, with the help of incredible data and analytics tools, real-time inventory info, and merchandising services, they help brands to build their business and their profile.
Want to start selling your mission-driven products at retailers across the country? Then get in touch with the team at Buffalo Market today. Our brokerage expertise will get your product into the right stores, in the right locations, for the right price.
Support
Sales