In this episode I interview Susan Carskadon, a natural food and products consultant in Denver, Colorado.
For decades, Susan has been identifying innovations and categories ahead of trend while creating demand and effective streams of commerce for numerous companies in the natural and organic industries.
Over the past 35 years Susan has been instrumental in advancing many consumer products and new concepts. This included spearheading consumer acceptance of Tetra Pak in North America in 1985, which resulted in top sales of products packaged in what was a category disruptor at that time.
Susan draws on her unique childhood in the untouched environment of the bayous of Louisiana, as well as living and working in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe and the Middle East to manifest successful, disruptive new concepts and products.
Her focus is to identify and create trends and demand for conscious concepts and products while making them viable and successful in today's marketplace.
In this interview Susan talks about:
• The minimum amount of money a brand needs to get national distribution across the US and do it successfully over a couple of years
• The hidden costs involved in distribution that are little known and can destroy a product manufacturer
• The difference between distributors in the US and distributors in other countries
• The most important thing a retailer looks for when considering taking on a product
• A key person a food product manufacturer needs to hire when scaling up and why
• The risks of creating ‘me too’ type products, particularly if you want to get them into large retailers
• A little-known and potentially lucrative strategy to get your products into retailers without shouldering the stress or financial costs of marketing – and the one thing you need to be able to take advantage of this tactic
• And much more
To work with Susan, contact her via email at Carskadon [at] indra [dotcom] (Use the subject line ‘Katrina Fox’) or phone 303-329-8476.
Brands mentioned in vegan business news roundup:
The Green Lion
Herbivorous Butcher
Monk’s Meats
Mink Shoes
PETA
NotCo
RESOURCES:
My Online PR Course for Vegan Business Owners & Entrepreneurs: Vegans in the Limelight
My book Vegan Ventures: Start and Grow an Ethical Business
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