AboutEric Hofer Expertise Over 27 years experience, with 17 in international FMCG in back office operations and in field sales and data collection, including design, development and deployment of Handhelds, Marketing Equipment (Service, Tracking and Return on Investment), reporting and Vending management. Have participated on the launch of operations in new markets, and re-engineered the back office in several countries.
Experience Designed and led the development and deployment internal ERP system for Pepsi used in On-Premise/Vending in 13 markets.
Designed 2 handheld systems, the latest is now deployed in 4 markets internationally.
Re-engineered the back office functions (settlements, despatch, invoicing, credit control, etc) for over 20 snack, confectionary and beverage operators.
Developing software: Progress, VB, Access, C, Sybase, SA
Organizations Innovative-Selling Solutions
Publications BudapestSun
Education/Credentials State University of New York - BA Economics
NYU - Courant - Graduate work - Computing
Past/Present clients PepsiAmericas
PepsiCola International
PepsiCola Company
British Steel
British Telecom
Britvic (Pepsi's bottler in the UK)
AT&T
BellSouth
Mars Overseas Bottling
Pepsi France
Matutano (Frito-Lay Spain)
Frito-Lay
Pepsi Foods International
Chase Manhattan Bank
Kidder Peabody
National Power
SmithKline Beecham
Mars Overseas Bottling (Pepsi Azerbaijan)
A&P Bottling (Pepsi Serbia & Montenegro)
Iberia Bottlers (Pepsi Georgia)
Question I have been a beer home-brewer for over 20 years. My recent recipe has won several national awards. I want to use a "contract brewer" to brew and bottle MY beer. How do I go about finding a great beer distributor to get the "best deal" for national exposure? Just how does a beer distributor "sell" or market a NEW beer?
Answer Robert,
The big question you have is about "capital". Do you have enough to do it yourself, or do you need other people's money (OPM)?
If you don't have the money, then you have the "sell" the idea to people with capital and/or means to get the product out there. That means risk that the recipe gets stolen (so you need to somehow "protect it" - which is something I don't know how to do vis-a-vis beer) before going further.
It's sadly a very slow slog to bring something "tasty" to the "national level of consciousness" - unless your country is say, the St Kitts or Vanuatu. And just because a product wins prizes, doesn't necessarily make it a good product to sell (sadly - and I'm sure you've had plenty of mediocre food, clothes, experiences etc. to confirm).
If you have the capital - and you'll need a lot; then effectively, you identify what you need to buy in; put the resources in place and work the plan.
As to getting the "best deal" - that's a subjective question: you mean in terms of your risk, your reward, how quickly you want to get to market, your exposure?
At these beer competitions, were there no offers to market the winning recipe? That's usually a reason why organizer organize such events. There's scouting for new ideas.
As to "how" a distributor sells or a new beer.... 1st, it's rare that the distributor does this; it's done by the brand owner. The owner (sometimes the local bottler) puts together a marketing plan. Identifies test group; establish marketing materials that hit that target group (e.g. teens, active adults, bowlers, etc.) - in effect gets them to identify with the product and/or wants to try it. One might organize events such as in-store promotions, tie in with larger events (eg. a football game or new restaurant opening), advertises, etc.
Please give me your thoughts as I need some direction:
- How much capital
- What risk are you willing to take
- How much can you commit (time, resources)
- Who else have you "sold" on the idea that would come in with you.
