Consumer Packaged Goods

 
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About ten years ago people started calling me “Jimmy Chickpea.” It became so commonplace in my business dealings that I adjusted my email format so that sent messages came from “Jimmy Chickpea” instead of “Jimmy Edgerton” so partners and customers replied to my emails faster.

What’s with the chickpeas you may be asking? My previous last name was the result of a nearly decade-long journey of ups and downs to build a healthy snack foods business called Watusee Foods (formerly 2Armadillos) whose primary ingredient was - you guessed it - chickpeas.

When my partner and I started, we had a dream, but limited industry experience. There was so much we learned the hard way that I wish someone could have helped us navigate based on their previous experiences.

Don’t get me wrong, not everything was an ordeal at Watusee Foods. We even received a partnership offer from Marcus Lemonis NBC’s “the Profit” after winning a start up competition on the Today Show. That partnership was not the right fit because we made the strategic decision that our path to success was finding an acquirer as the business evolved.

As I think back to some of our key accomplishments (that might relate to a small-midsized CPG company’s current goals), a few stick out:

  • Company acquired by a substantially larger organization, which is an industry leader in a complementary category

  • Product placement in over 3,000 stores including leading retailers such as Whole Foods, Kroger, Wegmans, HEB, Amazon, Thrive.com, Wal-mart, Rite-Aid, and hundreds of independent retailers and foodservice locations.

  • Analyzed category and industry trends to lead product development of multiple items in Snacks and Baking

  • Implemented multiple ERP and CRM systems internally, and after acquisition organized integration transition to an existing, custom Oracle Netsuites 

I’m passionate about business optimization in the consumer package good space. There’s no system process flow too complex or Excel inventory tracker too disorganized that I don’t nerd out trying to simplify and find an “elegant solution”.

My favorite is helping seven figure companies plan for growing into eight-figure companies. I have advised hundreds of fast-growing consumer goods companies to help them achieve similar goals. If any of these highlights are goals you’re striving for, then our conversation would be productive and exciting!