Stay Plugged In
I didn’t find this world on my own or set out on a trek to get into the business of consumer package goods, or CPG for short. I was dragged here kicking and screaming. I thought I was going to be making art that you can drink, liquid that was prized and sought after for its ethereal qualities. No, I am making flavored water that often serves a function: it’s an upper or a downer or something that works because you think it does.
But, if I am going to be doing something, I’m going to be good at it. I have learned to craft a liquid worthy of the cheap aluminium container while controlling costs and I’ve gotten good at it. Most of this was just on the job. A Canadian energy drink wants production fast and is going to transfer all their ingredients from their current manufacturing plant, wants to know if our citric acid supplier is kosher certified, need to know the proper die line for their 24 pk cases works on our machine… Five years ago I would not know how to figure any of that out, let alone care. Along the way I picked up most of it, but there were tools and sites and people that helped. Here are the tools that I found most helpful.
Startup CPG
This is just loaded with resources. I’ve attended webinars about contract negotiation and they make appearances at all of the important conferences and expos. It’s a very welcoming community for anyone involved in the industry, whether you’re a brand or a manufacturer. Also, check out their set of databases.
Most of my contacts in the industry either happened on the job or through LinkedIn. I try to keep it up to date and post, but haven’t been able to post a lot of details because I was doing most of my work under an NDA. I don’t have any favorite accounts to follow there per se, but following a few companies that are in your market region or in your beverage genre will give you a great idea of what the market looks like. It also lets you see the people behind the brand, as I think brand owners lower the façade more than they do on other platforms.
Newsletters
I’m subscribed to a lot of industry newsletters, and yes, most of them end up getting archived unopened. However, I never skip a post from Doug Velicky (BeerCrunchers) or Dave Infante (Fingers). Both of them focus on beverage alcohol industry, but will comment on larger trends and culture of drinking. Doug works in marketing for a brewery, so his writing tends to be market focused, leans into statistics, and doesn’t get too critical of trends, politics, or market moves. Dave’s writing is very tongue in cheek and does not pull any punches from his criticism of the beverage industry and gets very serious about his own stance politically. They’re essentially the the angel and devil in my inbox.