ECRM

Last year, Sugar Bliss was accepted into the Compass Group accelerator program from a RangeMe submission, and A LOT has happened since then! In this video interview with Joseph Tarnowski at ECRM's Foodservice Session in Chicago, Sugar Bliss Founder & CEO Teresa Ging shared an update on how it's going, including: - An intro to Compass Group's Levy Restaurants, which got Sugar Bliss cookies, cake puffs, brownies and Rice Krispy treats into Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. - Entry into grab and go and convenience locations through Compass Group's Food Works Group and Canteen North America (her 2 ounce cookies and 5 ounce bags of cookies). All from one RangeMe submission! She was also accepted into the new Convenience Store News collection on RangeMe for Diverse-owned and emerging brands. Hear more in the video below, and read the original blog post at the link in the comments! #ecrmrangeme #foodservice #snacks Vir S. Wayne Bennett Jerry Su Kurt R. Marisa W. Greg F.

She may only be 12, but Eliyah Garden already understands the value that ECRM delivers to brands like Tal's, which makes delicious, clean-ingredient Mediterranean foods. Her she is with her mom, Tal Garden, explaining how ECRM enables her to have distraction-free conversations with buyers that build relationships and grow businesses (and categories)! Tal's is here at ECRM's Private Label Food & Beverage Session, but you can also find them on RangeMe, where they are a Premium & Verified subscriber! #retail #food #ecrmrangeme Sarah Davidson Tyler B. Amanda Tomsik Wayne Bennett Ashley Muniak Greg F. Kurt R. Joseph Tarnowski

Is Gen Z too busy for fresh food? The 12- to 27-year-old demo is a TREMENDOUS opportunity at retail, but the group does pose considerable challenges when it comes to fresh departments like deli, dairy, bakery and the perimeter of the grocery store. ➡️ They are digital natives with a very busy lifestyle, and prefer convenient, ready-to-eat foods. ➡️ They also heavily skew toward impulse purchases, and don't typically plan out what they are going to eat, nor do they make shopping lists. They key to getting them to shop these departments, according to NielsenIQ's Colleen McGinnis, who presented at ECRM's Deli, Dairy & Bakery Session in Chicago, is two-fold: ✔️ Bridge the digital and in-store gap y leveraging social media to get them in the store and other digital options (in-store text/QR codes) to engage them while they are inside ✔️ Provide more interactive in-store experiences like juice bars, olive bars etc. to create more of a destination In the video interview below, Colleen and ECRM's Joseph Tarnowski explore this topic, and in upcoming videos will dive deeper into some of the ways retailers and brands can get more of these shoppers into the fresh departments and buying more while they are in them! Stay tuned! Tyler B. Sarah Davidson Alessandra Andrade Balerini Marc S Santos RangeMe #ecrmrangeme #supermarket

NielsenIQ's Patrick Dougherty reviews the overall performance of private brands across the Food & Beverage and Health & Beauty Care categories and highlights some opportunities this presents for retailers and brands in this video interview with Joseph Tarnowski at ECRM's Private Label Sessions in Chicago. Some of these opportunities for driving growth can be found in those areas of innovation outside of price, such as focusing on wellness, flavors, and packaging. These areas are commonly addressed by national brands, and those store brands that follow suit by focusing on these areas of value and supporting them with marketing and messaging will be the standouts. Hear more in the video below! Sarah Davidson Tyler B. Marc S Santos Alessandra Andrade Balerini

ECRM is also where I connected with Whole Foods! Would it be helpful if I shared my behind-the-scenes journey? Like how I prepared, to how I made the pitch, to what it really takes to stand out as a young founder — I’m thinking about sharing a full video breakdown. As a youth entrepreneur ECRM has changed the game for Team Genius Squad! Like or comment “YES” if you think it would be helpful! I really want to help more entrepreneurs and product stars get retail ready! #ECRM #RetailPitching #WholeFoodsMarket #YoungEntrepreneur #STEMPrincess #TeamGeniusSquad #RetailReady #FounderLife #BehindTheScenes #ProductPitch #GirlBossMoves

Store brands are an area where retailers can differentiate, drive loyalty and profitability, and create buzz around new product launches (just look at all the recent news about Kroger upcoming store brands launch as an example). There are some key categories, however, that present opportunities for growth, according to PDG Insights' Diana Leza Sheehan, who spoke this afternoon at ECRM's Private Label Sessions in Chicago. Among them are food and beverages, center store and particularly alcoholic beverages. And while general merchandise is well established in store brands, the pet category has opportunities for exploring healthier and fresh food segments. See Joseph Tarnowski's interview with Diana below for more insights on the topic! #privatelabel #storebrands #cpg #food #beverage #grocery #beauty #ecrmrangeme

Fresh Scents' Andrew Allen has a superpower when it comes to engaging retailers. It's a skill that has helped him expand distribution from specialty retail into many major mass retail channels over the course of the dozen ECRM Sessions in which he has participated. That superpower is PATIENCE. As he says in his recent interview with Joseph Tarnowski, "It's painful to play the long game... but worth it." This is just how he approaches his buyer meetings. Rather than aggressively pitching his products, he instead fosters open conversations, with no pressure at all on the buyer. They explore options, they start building a relationship. He solicits feedback on his products, packaging, and merchandising. Sometimes he can help the buyer see the from a different perspective how they can work together, or they can make some adjustments that will work for that buyer's stores. And it works. Sometimes the purchase order comes quickly. Sometimes it comes in a few years. The key thing is that, eventually, it comes. In the blog post below Andrew goes into detail into his approach to creating an environment for these open conversations, and the success he has had from them (you'll also find the full video interview in the post). BTW - you can also find Fresh Scents on RangeMe, where they are a Premium and verified subscriber! #sales #meetings #cpg #retail #ecrmrangeme Tony G. Melinda Young Brian McKavic Kurt R. Sarah Davidson Greg F.

"It's painful to play the long game... but worth it." This quote, from Andrew Allen of Fresh Scents, sums up his approach to buyer meetings. Rather than aggressively pitching his products, he instead fosters open conversations, with no pressure at all on the buyer. They explore options. They start building a relationship. He solicits feedback on his products, packaging, and merchandising. Sometimes he can help the buyer see the from a different perspective how they can work together, or they can make some adjustments that will work for that buyer's stores. He shares an example: "At our very first ECRM we made a connection with someone, but we weren't a fit at the time; we didn't have the product, we didn't have the price point. Three and a half years later we got our first PO from them. That wasn't through incessant follow-up or being nagging or being a pest; it was just keeping the conversation going in a way that made sense for both of us." Always play the long game. Don't look to make a deal on the spot; look to develop a relationship with the buyer. The deals will eventually come. I'll be posting the blog post from our conversation on the ECRM LinkedIn page Monday, but for those of you checking out LinkedIn over the weekend can get an early look at it with the link in the comments below! (It has the full video interview, too). BTW - you can also find Fresh Scents on RangeMe, where they are a Premium and verified subscriber! #sales #cpg #ecrmrangeme Tony G. Melinda Young Brian McKavic Grace Management Group

ECRM's Pet Session is a month away! Many pet product brand have landed deals from their buyer meetings at previous Sessions. In the clip below, Michelle Norris shares her success from last year's Session! "We were so impressed when we attended the May show ... the list of attendees was incredibly strong and we saw business come out of the contacts that we made and the ten-minute meetings that we had." To learn more about this year's Session, contact Melinda Young or Tony G., or click the link in the comments below! #pet #petproducts #cpg #retai #ecrmrangeme

ECRM hosted more than 100,000 meetings between brands and buyers last year, and in honor of Global Meetings Industry Day, we'd like to thank all of our customers and industry partners that have helped us to reach that number! We'd like to give a big shout-out to those hospitality organizations that have hosted our Sessions, including Marriott Hotels, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Regency, and Westin Hotels & Resorts. We know how much work you put into makes our Sessions a success, and it's much appreciated! We'd also like to thank all of the ECRM team members who work behind the scenes to make these meetings happen seamlessly: ☑️ ECRM's hospitality team, led by Stephanie Van Brocklin and Lesley Seelye, who help find the locations, and work with the hotels to ensure we have everything we need for the meetings, and coordinate the CSRs at the Sessions. ☑️ Tracey Barrett our travel wiz, who makes sure everyone gets to our Sessions on time. ☑️ ECRM's IT and logistics team, led by Taylor W., to make sure everything is where it needs to be, and that all of the tech is running smoothly. ☑️ ECRM's schedulers, who ensure that everyone's appointments are met. ☑️ ECRM's Customer Success team led by Teresa N., who ensure our buyers and sellers get the most from their meetings. ☑️ ECRM CEO Greg F., EVP Sarah Davidson (who leads our Consumer Goods and Foodservice Sessions), Michael Castillo (who leads our Pharmacy/Medical Markets Sessions), and Wayne Bennett (who heads up the retail team) -- for their leadership. Thank you all for helping us continue on our mission for MAKING CONNECTIONS THAT MATTER! Click the link in the comments to see our Session lineup for 2025 — on the road to another 100K+ meetings! U.S. Travel Association #GMID2025 #travel #meetings #cpg #retail #foodservice #ecrmrangeme