Fractional CMO · Food & beverage · Canada
Fractional CMO & Fractional Marketing for Food & Beverage Brands
A fractional CMO for a food and beverage brand is a senior marketing executive who runs your marketing part time, usually 10–20 hours a week. They own the plan, the retail story, the agencies, and the numbers. At Birds, the seat is $5–12k CAD a month, month to month, led by Mathieu Gamache, who spent 21 years in food and beverage marketing at Kraft Canada, McDonald’s, and Hershey Canada. One-off question? The one-hour advisory is $350 CAD.
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What a fractional CMO is
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who leads your marketing function part time, for a monthly fee instead of a full-time salary. You get the judgment of someone who has run big brands, sized to the hours a growing company can actually use.
Fractional marketing is not a pile of projects. At Birds, the seat owns the function: the plan, the priorities, the partners, and the numbers. We sit in the business, make decisions with the founder, brief the agencies, and answer for what happens on shelf.
Why food and beverage needs its own kind of CMO
Grocery is its own sport. Retail buyers, trade spend, listing packs, claims, and production windows that ignore your campaign calendar all shape what marketing can do. A generalist marketer learns that on your dime. Someone who has already sat in those meetings does not.
Canadian retail adds its own layer. Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Costco and the regional independents do not buy the same way a US chain does, and bilingual packaging and claims carry real cost. The work has to survive a buyer meeting, not just a brand review.
Who leads the work
Mathieu Gamache (MBA) has spent 21 years in food and beverage marketing. At Kraft Canada he led brands including Kraft Dinner and Kraft Singles and ran dairy innovation, including a new kids’ snacking brand. At McDonald’s he led the breakfast team on a $700M+ Canadian business, the All Day Breakfast launch, and McDelivery with Uber Eats. At Hershey Canada he headed core chocolate brands including Reese and OH Henry; the OH Henry 425 campaign took Gold at the London International Awards.
Melanie Courtois is a brand strategist and founder with more than 25 years helping brands grow. She knows both the board-level story and the Tuesday-morning reality of a company still finding its rhythm.
Signs you are ready for a fractional CMO
- A first retail listing is coming and you need a sell-in story, a launch plan, and a trade budget that holds up.
- Existing distribution is stalling and velocity, not more doors, is the problem.
- A new product launch needs positioning, claims, pack, and a plan someone actually owns.
- The brand needs a reset because the messaging has drifted across pack, site, and ads.
- You are building the marketing team and need someone senior to define the roles and manage them.
- The founder is still the de facto CMO, and it is costing time the business does not have.
Fractional CMO vs full-time CMO vs agency
| Fractional CMO | Full-time CMO | Agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $5–12k CAD/month, month to month | $180–250k CAD/year plus benefits | Project or retainer fees |
| Owns strategy | Yes | Yes | Usually not |
| Time to start | This month | Months of search | After a brief and scope |
| Executes campaigns | Directs the people who do | Builds a team to do it | Yes |
| Best for | Growing brands with a product in market | Companies ready to fund the seat | Defined projects with a clear brief |
Most of our clients keep their agencies. The difference is that someone senior now decides what the agency should make and whether it worked. When you are ready for a full-time CMO, we help you write the role and hire them. More detail in fractional versus full-time CMO.
How an engagement runs
- Free 30-minute intro call. We talk about the next 90 days, not a capabilities tour. If we are the wrong fit, we say so.
- Week one. We get inside the numbers, the shelf, and the team, and leave you with a plan you can run.
- Every week after. 10–20 hours inside the business making decisions, running partners, and reporting on what moved.
- The handoff. We stay until the function can stand without us, or until you hire the full-time CMO we helped you specify.
What it costs
Fractional CMO seat: $5–12k CAD a month, month to month, 10–20 hours a week. You pay for the time the company can actually use, not a $200k CAD hire.
One-hour advisory: $350 CAD. A focused working session on the stuck thing: a listing, a launch, a claim, a pack, a team. You leave with a point of view and the next three moves.
What it looks like in practice
We helped a Canadian food brand move from mixed messaging to one market position. Touchpoints were mapped, the claim was simplified, and the site and ads were aligned. Organic traffic rose, lead quality rose, and conversion followed.
When we are not the right fit
We would rather decline the wrong brief. We are not a fit if you are still searching for a concept, you want a media-buying shop, or you need a full-time CMO seated this quarter.
Fractional CMO questions, answered
- What is a fractional CMO?
- A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who leads your marketing function part time, usually 10–20 hours a week, for a monthly fee instead of a full-time salary.
- How much does a fractional CMO cost in Canada?
- Our fractional CMO seat is $5–12k CAD a month, month to month, depending on scope and hours. A full-time CMO in Canada runs $180–250k CAD a year plus benefits. If you need one decision rather than a retainer, a one-hour advisory session is $350 CAD.
- What is the difference between fractional marketing and an agency?
- An agency executes projects you brief. A fractional CMO owns the plan, sets the priorities, briefs and manages the agencies, and answers for the numbers. Many brands use both: the fractional CMO decides what the agency should make.
- How many hours a week does a fractional CMO work?
- Our seat runs 10–20 hours a week inside the business, scaled to what the company can actually use.
- Is there a long-term contract?
- No. The fractional CMO engagement is month to month.
- When should a food or beverage brand hire a fractional CMO?
- Common moments are a first retail listing, scaling existing distribution, a new product launch, a brand reset, or building the marketing team. If the product is in market and marketing has no senior owner, it is usually time.
- Do you only work with Toronto brands?
- We are based in Toronto and work with food and beverage brands across Canada, and with companies entering the Canadian market.
- What happens in the first week?
- The first week produces a plan you can run. Every week after that produces decisions, not more workshops.
- Will you help us hire a full-time CMO later?
- Yes. We stay until the function can stand without us, or until you hire the full-time CMO we helped you specify.
Related reading
Tell us where the brand is stuck.
Start with a free 30-minute intro call, or book the $350 CAD hour. We will tell you the right next move.