Sisu Solutions can help you grow your food & beverage business into new channels and segments

Today’s food and beverage manufacturers are looking for successful ways to grow their retail or foodservice business. Typically, we have used two methods:

Grow via innovation or build share via reduced pricing.

OR

Consider a third option that produces profitable growth.

Work with Sisu Solutions and their proven “5 Steps To Growing Alternate Food & Beverage Channel Business” process and discover the success from the “Holy Grail of the White Space”.

Sisu

noun/adverb; pronounced [see-suu]

A Finnish word in origin which describes a person's exemplary fortitude and perseverance through all headwinds to achieve the ultimate goal. Both a state of mind and a presence of actions and achievements, sisu is what drives and guides a person to see beyond limitations to what could be.

This is our mantra and spirit that we instill in working with every client and customer!

let’s talk about WHITE SPACE

Basically, it is identifying channel(s) and segment(s) that your company is currently not selling to and are generally outside of your traditional channel and segments.   

What does this mean for your business?

  • Organic growth that is long term and profitable · a resource to your customers to support them in building a consumer centric business.

  • Excitement which transcends your team and corporation, your customers, and the industry as you further your leadership role · fun!!

  • Foodservice products have a lot of runway in these areas.  Retail Foodservice (Home Meal Replacement, In Store Bakery or Gas & Convenience) or B2B with food manufacturers.  Example: precooked pasta – could be sold to a retailer for their Home Meal Replacement program or to a food manufacturer that manufacturers RTE meals for the retail freezer doors 

  • Your existing retail products can be sold into foodservice segments.  Example: grab and go baked goods, protein drinks, snacks – could be sold to consumer facing foodservice segments like Education Feeding – Universities, High Schools; your products are specified on all cruise line purchasing guides.

Who we are

For 25 years we have worked with food and beverage manufacturers, brokers, distributors, and retailers to help them grow their traditional and white space business top and bottom line. We follow a tried-and-true approach of gathering, analyzing, building, to deliver a results driven plan within Alternate Food & Beverage Channels.  Not only can we assist with developing a results-based plan, we can also assist with sales execution with the appropriate decision makers within the Alternate Food & Beverage Channels accounts.

What We do

 Jo Heron, our founder has 25 years of experience working in “white space”.  Taking existing foodservice (or retail) products and mapping out new channels and segments of growth.  Key areas of growth include Retail Foodservice (Home Meal Replacement, In Store Bakery and Gas & Convenience) and B2B (selling existing products as an ingredient to a manufacturer).

Where We Work

With 25 years of building new channels and long-term customer relationships, we have successfully built business within retailers both in traditional supermarkets as well as specialty health and store formats, such as M&M Markets, Costco Wholesale, food processors, foodservice chains, fundraising companies, and more.

what people are

saying about Sisu Solutions

  • As we tried to understand the evolving world of HMR (Home Meal Replacement) in the retail marketplace, Jo was an asset providing her knowledge and insights to our learnings.  Jo played a big part in developing tools that we required to assist our sales team in understanding and preparing to better engage with retailers to find solutions to their needs in the category.  Jo is always a professional and her knowledge is invaluable to assist us in finding new avenues for our products.

    -Dan Glendinning, Director Foodservice, Hormel Canada

  • Jo did a great job on our Channel Plan. Her insights and experience proved invaluable. I learned a lot from her. The Channel Plan is a key component of both our Business Plan and Strategic Plan.

    -Ken Schneider, CEO, Quejos Ancient Foods Inc.

  • I have had the pleasure of working with Jo several times over the past six or so years on existing concepts and innovative developing in our Home Meal Replacement business.  Jo has a keen consumer-centric focus with strong ethics and devotion in client management and dynamic business development.  Her follow through has never failed and her pleasant demeanour have ensured that I would gladly work with Jo again in the future. 

    -Sandra Power, Sales Manager: Deli, Foodservice and Coffee, Sobey’s

  • Jo has a tremendous depth of knowledge that she is able to turn into actionable strategies to assist food and beverage companies get their products onto grocery store shelves and into the consumers food baskets.  Her expertise in training and coaching Western Canadian new food industry entrepreneurs in the Agri-Value Training Program proved invaluable and was in high demand by the participants.  Thanks, Jo, for helping make the program a success! 

    -Gayle Palas and Mary Ellen Hodgins, Partners, Ground Strategies Incorporated

  • Jo was such an amazing resource for our company and team as she led the development of our business into the Alternate Food Channels (i.e. Gas & Convenience, Retail Foodservice, In Store Bakery and, B2B Processors). She has an incredible passion for this industry and is a wealth of knowledge to draw from.

    -Tricia Wind, Director, Client Management, Canada for CORE Foodservice - an Acosta Group Company

  • We tasked Jo with developing a new Alternate Sales Channel division within our Food Service Sales Agency company. Channel segments such as Gas & Convenience and Retail Foodservice combined with B2B Ingredients businesses need and continually seek insights from the foodservice divisions and manufacturers. Jo built a divisional infrastructure and generated successful results and relationships with the retail category managers, directors of procurement, culinary teams, and merchandising managers within Retail Foodservice (Home Meal Replacement, In Store Bakery and, Gas & Convenience) and B2B manufacturers that continue to this day. Our senior sales team members were trained on how to sell into these Alternate Channels and have grown their white space exponentially.

    -Ian McDonald, Vice President Sales, Canada, CORE Foodservice – an Acosta Group Company

  • When we wanted to expand our business into Alternate Food Channels (Gas & Convenience, Retail Foodservice, B2B Ingredients) which are serviced by a foodservice division. We hired Jo to educate us and help us build the right foundation to be successful. Her knowledge and expertise are unmatched in the industry, and we continue to grow and develop this important and profitable channel of our business.

    -Elizabeth Matthews, Senior Vice President Sales, Canada, CORE Foodservice – an Acosta Group Company

  • I met Jo at a BCFB peer group many years ago and had the pleasure of working with her as she helped us to source some ingredients for new product developments for our retail customers. She was always on the ball and very prepared with supplementary info that we needed and as well, was able to point us in the right direction if it was something she did not have.

    -Emily Tang, Chief Innovation Officer, Fine Choice Foods

  • I have had the pleasure to work with Jo Heron for several years. She is strategic and proactive and leverages business intelligence and insights to deliver results. I wish Jo the best of success.

    -Senior Executive with a leading North American Mexican and Guacamole Manufacturer

  • I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jo on several initiatives over the past 20 years. She has consistently demonstrated her ability to deliver great results, act with integrity and effectively communicate. I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to work along side of her.

    -Frank Geier, Board of Directors Gordon Foodservice

Interested in working with Sisu Solutions?