Start a Packaged Food Brand

Store & Buyer Pitch Kit

Companion to "Your First Hundred Customers" and "The Grocery Buyer's Desk."

1. The store-walk script (independent stores, weekday morning, off-peak)

Product and one-pager in hand. Ask for the buyer or manager by role. Then stop talking.

Hi, I'm [name], I make [product] here in [town]. We've been selling it at the [market name] for [n] weeks and people keep asking where to buy it between Saturdays. Can I leave you a jar and a sheet with the wholesale price and our terms? I deliver and stock it myself, invoiced net thirty, and it comes with our liability certificate.

Honest terms for a first account: a case or two, your real wholesale price from the channel table, self-delivery, self-restocking, invoicing on sane terms. Consignment only as advertising at zero-risk stores, time-limited. First month of any account: face labels forward, pull anything near date, note where the product actually moves. Expect one yes out of five.

2. Finding the small door at chains

Ask at the customer service desk who handles local products (the single most useful question available to you)
Local foragers, vendor liaisons, "local and emerging" shelf programs: lighter paperwork, regional stores
Big doors (corporate category reviews) run once or twice a year, decisions landing 30 to 90 days after the meeting; you reach those when a distributor and a velocity story back you

3. The buyer email (short, specific, no attachment-bait)

Subject: [Product], made in [city], velocity data inside Hi [name], I'm [name], founder of [brand]. We make [product], currently in [n] independent stores in [region] averaging [x] units per store per week, with a [n]-month shelf life and full liability coverage. I'd like to be considered for your [category] set. Could you tell me when your next category review lands, and where to send samples? Line sheet attached. Thank you.

Every number in that email is something you have already built: velocity from your market and store weeks, shelf life from your testing, insurance from your legal file, pricing from your channel math.

4. One-page line sheet (fill in before you print)

Product and statement of identity
Brand / responsible party (name and address)
Wholesale price per unit / case pack
Suggested retail (from the channel table)
Shelf life (date stamped only from study results)
Velocity: units per store per week (your real number from comparable stores)
Liability coverage: carrier, limits, certificate available
Lot coding on every case	☐
Contact: name, phone, email

5. Certificate-of-insurance request checklist (what stores ask for)

Certificate of general and product liability insurance naming the store
Lot code on every case delivered
Net-thirty invoicing set up
Standing weekly restock visit scheduled

If asked to guarantee sales (full reclaim: unsold product charged back or returned at your cost), guarantee what your real numbers support, never the number that wins the meeting. Slotting, if demanded, runs about $250 to $1,000 per item per store; smaller regional and natural chains often waive it for local products.