Do I need a CPG specialist?

Yes if you sell into grocery. Trade spend, velocity, and buyer confidence are not things a generalist campaign shop learns on your dime.

What should I ask before hiring?

Have they led brands on a grocery shelf, owned a P&L, sat in operating meetings, and got a first 90 days that produces a plan you can run.

2025-06-03 · 4 min read · Toronto

How to Choose a Food and Beverage Marketing Partner

By Mathieu Gamache · Founder, Birds Marketing Wingmen · ex Kraft, McDonald’s, Hershey’s

Most marketing firms can write a campaign. Far fewer can tell you whether that campaign will still make sense after a slotting fee, a broker cut, and a 12-week production window.

Ask four questions before you hire anyone. Have they built or led brands that sit on a grocery shelf? Can they point to a P&L they owned, not a slide deck they designed? Will they sit in your weekly operating meeting, or disappear after the workshop? Do they have a method for the first 90 days?

Category experience is not a nice-to-have. Grocery is a different sport from most other marketing work — trade spend, velocity, distribution, and buyer confidence decide whether you get a second listing.

Chemistry matters. A fractional leader is in your business. If you would not want them in the room when the numbers are ugly, do not hire them when the numbers are fine.

The cheapest partner is the one who shortens the valley of death — not the one with the lowest day rate. For the mechanics of that stretch, read surviving the CPG valley of death. For what an embedded leader actually does week to week, see what a fractional CMO does for a food brand.

Straight answers

Do I need a CPG specialist?: Yes if you sell into grocery. Trade spend, velocity, and buyer confidence are not things a generalist campaign shop learns on your dime.
What should I ask before hiring?: Have they led brands on a grocery shelf, owned a P&L, sat in operating meetings, and got a first 90 days that produces a plan you can run.