Growing a new product business is hard to do alone
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Growing a new product business is hard to do alone

Emerge is a learning and resource network for growing CPG brands. Access the industry expertise, business solutions and trusted guidance you need to grow sustainably and expand your distribution, operations, financing and sales. Increase revenue, velocity, and secure more shelf space with an annual membership.

Read more about Emerge, the education, resources and business solutions you’ll gain access to with an annual membership!

How Emerge is helping brands like yours!

A Community for Emerging Brands, Retailers, Investors and Industry Experts

Regardless of which part of the CPG, food and grocery retail industry you’re a part of, we have a home for you in the Emerge community. Connect with leading industry experts, build and nurture healthy trading partner relationships to strengthen the food and grocery retail industry, together. Emerge provides valuable educational content, mentoring and investment networking opportunities.

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Education

Education

Exclusive access to courses, lessons, and resources from leading industry experts

Community

Community

Connect with mentors and like-minded founders to share experience, resources, and valuable insights

Exposure

Exposure

Be discovered by investors, explore financial options to help your brand succeed. Partner with distributors, suppliers, manufacturers, CPG retailers and industry leaders who are looking for products like yours.

Network

Network

Develop relationships with mentors, industry experts, and peers to draw on their years of experience to help support your growth.

Mentoring for All Emerging Brands

Mentoring for All Emerging Brands

From beverages to baby care, spices to snacks, plant-based products to alternative sweeteners, you’ll find a community of experts wanting to help and guide you in growing intentionally and strategically. Emerge mentors have the whole community covered with a full range of experiences. Mentors with origins in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies, specialty foods, beverages and more. The Emerge mentor network has a wide knowledge of distribution models – direct sales, large and small distributors, wholesalers and brokers. Connect with angel investors, private equity and venture capitalists and strategic investors from larger brands. Whatever business guidance you’re seeking, we’ve got you covered! Are you an industry leader wanting to join the Emerge mentor network? Let’s talk!

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Featured Mentors

Matt Cotton

Foodservice broker

Strategic foodservice broker partner to emerging brands

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Matt Cotton
Foodservice broker
Strategic foodservice broker partner to emerging brands

Betsy Gillette

Sales Management Expert

A 20-year industry veteran in conventional and natural retail, Betsy helps emerging and mid-sized Natural & Organic brands gain distribution at retail, develop promotional and trade strategies, solidify channel strategies, and manage broker relationships.

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Betsy Gillette
Co-Founder / CEO
Synergy is the sales force for brands that don't have their own. Betsy and her team assist brands with pricing and promotional strategy, broker management, the category review process, and data & analytics. Synergy assigns a lead person to help with overall strategy and to be the core communicator within the team. And we have a team of seasoned CPG sales professionals to manage natural and organic retailers in their assigned territory. Betsy is a 20-year industry veteran having experience in both conventional and natural retail with Jewel Food Stores in Chicago and Wild Oats in Boulder. Additionally she has held positions on the manufacturing side, with White Wave Foods and in distribution at UNFI. For the past 4 years Betsy held key roles at IGNITE Sales Management, most recently as SVP of Sales, where she helped emerging and mid-sized Natural and Organic brands gain distribution at retail, develop promotional and trade strategies, solidify channel strategies, and manage broker relationships. Additionally she managed the IGNITE portfolio of brands at Whole Foods Market, representing over $100MM in retail sales.

Victor Mithouard

Online Marketplace Expert

Advises on brand building and go-to-market strategies both offline and online, with an expertise on online marketplaces

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Victor Mithouard
CEO - The Good Trends
The Good Trends is a BtoB Gourmet Food marketplace, connecting local and healthier food brands with neighborhood stores. Our purpose is to increase access and affordability to the US consumers to healthier, more local food products by reinventing food wholesale and making it more transparent and streamlined. Our BtoB wholesale platform works from a simple premise. On one side, the number of local and healthier food brands is exploding, yet they struggle to get discovered by consumers through wholesale channels. On the other side, neighborhood stores are looking for new sources of revenues and have in general a huge amount of underused shelf space. This opportunity to connect the right brands, with the right retail at the right time is the win-win model we are building. And by doing so we will help consumers eat better, entrepreneurs grow their brands, retail owners grow their business.

Ashley Sutterfield

Strategic Co-Packer Expert

Guides packaged food entrepreneurs in preparing for the right co-packer in order to increase their capacity and grow their business.

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Ashley Sutterfield
Business Consultant: Strategic Co-Packer Partnerships
Guides packaged food entrepreneurs in identifying a co-packer and preparing for the transition to scale their business strategically.
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Is Your Brand Ready for the Next Level?

Is Your Brand Ready for the Next Level?

Take the 5-minute Emerge Company Sales Assessment. You’ll gain an initial review of how your company is doing, and identify areas of opportunity to help your brand reach grocery retail distribution. Once you’re finished, download the “10 Critical Steps to Food Retail Distribution Success”

Take Assessment

Get started today! An annual membership starts at $999.