Bullpen FoodFrom time to time, almost every speciality food & beverage producer finds themselves with excess inventory going to discount retail channels. Protecting your brand and existing customer relationships are paramount. Therefore your goal should be to get your product on and off the shelves as quickly as possible. There are several techniques to ensure this.
Price It Aggressively
It goes without saying that sharp-priced deals will fly off the shelves.
Spread It Across Many Stores
10,000 cases sold in 50 stores may take months. Put the same inventory in 500 stores and it’ll be gone before you know it.
Place It Regionally
If you tend to do business regionally, find outlets outside of your region to place your product. While that doesn’t make inventory move faster, it does keep it out of the sight of your traditional customers.
Other variables such as seasonality and brand strength also come into play.
The more protective you are of your brand, the more time you’ll want to put into this. In some cases, the best answer is to keep your pricing up and place the product with multiple retailers while in other cases a lower price point is required to do the trick. And don’t forget about shipping costs which can add a surprising amount of cost as well.