CPG strategy consulting, from inside the industry
Nearly eight years at Kraft Heinz across brand, innovation and strategy, the last two leading Global Strategy. Now independent, working with brand, strategy and corporate development teams in consumer packaged goods who need an outside answer they can take to a planning review, an innovation gate or a board.
Send the question in writingBackground and track recordWhere I help consumer goods teams
Whether a category is worth entering, growing in or leaving. Sized, tested and argued, with every source named.
What has to be true for a new product or a new category to work, and the evidence for and against it, before the gate meeting rather than after.
Which brands and adjacencies fit the portfolio, and which targets deserve a closer look. Built on two years in M&A and partnerships at Kraft Heinz.
The growth plan, the portfolio choice or the risk view written as a recommendation a leadership team or a board can decide on.
Why the inside view matters
Before going independent I carried this work from the inside, through brand plans, innovation gates and board pre-reads. That ran from brand management through innovation at Primal Kitchen to Global Strategy, where the work was what went to the board across growth, governance and risk, M&A and new categories.
So the work is built for the room it is going into. Sources are named, the assumptions are written down, and the strongest counter-case is argued honestly, because someone in that room will make it.
Common questions
What does a CPG strategy consultant actually do?
Takes a question a consumer goods team cannot answer from the inside, usually because of time, data or politics, and turns it into a recommendation with the evidence behind it. Typical questions are whether to enter or exit a category, where growth will come from, and which brands or targets fit the portfolio.
Do you work remotely?
Yes. I am based in Minneapolis and work remotely with teams anywhere in the United States. Most of the work runs in writing, so it fits around your team's calendar.
How is the work priced?
A fixed fee for a defined scope, agreed in writing before anything starts. Nothing is billed by the hour, and the fee only moves if the scope does.
How do we start?
Send the question in writing. Scoping questions come back, usually within one business day, and where the work fits, a one-page proposal follows. No call is needed to get started.
Send the question in writing
A few lines is enough: the decision, the deadline, and who has to be convinced.