Bay Food Brokerage has launched a formal Retail Division, expanding its longtime in-store sales and execution capabilities with enhanced leadership, technology and resources, the company says.
The Tampa, Florida-based company’s new division includes 28 full-time retail representatives serving stores in eight Southeastern states, and the company has increased the number of stores its retail team visits by approximately 30 percent as the program grows.
The division helps food manufacturers bridge the gap between gaining retail distribution and executing at store level, Bay Food Brokerage said in its Sept. 1 announcement. Services include secondary display execution, inventory management, couponing and imaging, price and promotional verification, point-of-sale installation, planogram integrity, associate training and special projects.
“Getting a product authorized by a retailer is only part of the equation – what happens once that product reaches the store can ultimately determine its success,” said Chris Chatterton, CEO of Bay Food Brokerage. “We’ve invested in our retail capabilities for years, because we know how important strong in-store execution is to our clients. Formalizing the Retail Division allows us to put even greater effort behind that work and offer manufacturers a more comprehensive solution for overall success.”
The Retail Division is available to Bay Food’s full-service brokerage clients and as a standalone service for manufacturers with their own corporate sales teams or that work with another broker at the retailer headquarters level.
New leadership, technology
Bay Food hired Gary Schneider as senior retail sales manager to lead the division’s development. Schneider brings more than 40 years of consumer packaged goods experience spanning retail sales, distribution and food brands. He oversees the retail team and the systems supporting its in-store execution.
The company also launched Beacon, a proprietary online portal giving manufacturer clients real-time visibility into the division’s work, allowing them to see where representatives have been and what they have accomplished in stores.
“Our goal is to provide manufacturers with a best-in-class retail team that functions as an extension of their own organization,” Schneider said. “Our representatives are in stores consistently, building relationships, identifying issues and opportunities, and making sure the strategy developed at the corporate level is being executed on shelf.”
The launch continues a run of growth moves for the brokerage, which completed a planned leadership transition in January — with Chris Chatterton succeeding his mother, founder Cammie Chatterton, as CEO and sole owner — and moved into a new, larger Tampa headquarters last year.
Founded in 1993, Bay Food Brokerage serves as the sales and marketing partner for hundreds of food manufacturers, working with the largest grocers in the Southeast.