Confidential — Food & Beverage Manufacturer
A multi-generational Canadian food and beverage company supplying retailers, foodservice operators and private-label partners across North America. Strong brand, strong product, sales team still wired the way it was twenty years ago.
Services
Recruitment
Confidential Search
Psychometric Testing
Organizational Development
Industry
Food & Beverage
Company Size
520 Employees
Timeline
Permanent Placement
How a multi-generational food and beverage company finally broke its revenue ceiling with the right VP of Sales.
The challenge
Ownership wanted a sales leader who understood the food and beverage world, not just someone good at selling. They needed a builder, not a closer.
The company had built its growth on long-standing customer relationships, founder-led selling, and a tenured sales team that knew the buyers but not the new buying behaviors. Retail consolidation, private-label pressure and shifting category dynamics were quietly capping growth. There was no real pipeline discipline, no clear account strategy, no commercial succession plan. They needed a VP of Sales who knew the category cold, could professionalize the function without breaking the relationships that built the business, and stay long enough to set the next generation of commercial leaders up.
The approach
A confidential, category-deep search across food and beverage. We optimized for category expertise, builder mindset and the patience required for a multi-generational business.
We started with ownership and the senior team to map exactly what the next chapter of commercial leadership had to deliver: national account strategy, foodservice expansion, private-label discipline, and a sales team capable of selling on more than legacy relationships. From there we approached senior sales leaders inside complementary food and beverage manufacturers — people who had already taken a category through retail consolidation and lived through margin pressure. Every finalist met ownership multiple times before a number was ever discussed. The search was deliberately slow. In food and beverage, the right VP of Sales is always already employed and rarely on the market.
The outcome
After three failed hires from generalist backgrounds, the right industrial sales leader changed the trajectory of the business. Three years later he isn't just leading sales — he's part of the long-term plan.
Head of Sales placed from a top regional competitor
Rebuilt the rep team and account coverage model in the first nine months
Two of his hires already promoted to senior account roles
Three years in role, now part of the ownership succession conversation
Search backed by our 24-month placement guarantee
Kernel placed a sales leader who actually knew our category. Three years in, our top accounts are bigger and we finally have bench strength under him.
President
Industrial Distributor (confidential)
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