Benjamin Hoffmann Email & Phone Number

Cincinnati, OH, US

Cincinnati, Ohio, US

• Grow sales and adoption of 84.51° Kroger insights by CPG partners across Grocery, Perimeter, HBC, and non-CPG. Acquire, retain, and deepen relationships with CPG partners
• Improve client outcomes on shelf, by aligning CPG offerings to retailer goals, and by escalating category threats and opportunities
• Help brands leverage customer insights to improve outcomes, drive merchandising strategies, prepare for assortment meetings, and win on shelf
• Conduct training sessions for CPG partners across multiple 84.51° Stratum reporting suites, emphasizing how/when to utilize available reports
• Collaborate with team members and category managers to identify sales opportunities and advocate for current CPG partners

Cincinnati, OH, US

• Mentors a large team of Category Analysts/Managers across two separate business units (National Brands Fresh, National Brands Grocery)
• Working with the Insights Team, identifies client and customer areas of opportunity, directing category strategy to proactively and successfully realize areas of potential growth, benefitting client, customer, and Empire
• Effectively distributes the Insights Team’s expanding workload across the team’s limited headcount
• Assists and covers team members’ desks when necessary, comfortably moving between a mentor/leader role and a producer role
• Responsible for recruiting, hiring, and termination of team members
• Conduct biannual performance reviews, and determine annual merit increases based on performance; conduct weekly 1:1 touchpoint with every member of the Insights Team

Norwalk, Connecticut, US

• Category Management across Total Fresh Bakery (DSD) and Frozen Bakery portfolio, calling on Kroger Headquarters, Harris Teeter, and Roundy’s
• Identified several opportunities to expand and add new distro from our Frozen portfolio to Kroger that would assist Kroger with declining sub-commodity trends, and presented to Kroger
• Pinpointed opportunities for immediate growth in Frozen Bakery by identifying and monetizing the expansion of current PF Frozen items based upon Kroger warehouse efficiencies
• In the absence of a corporate Category Strategy Lead, took on responsibilities for Fresh and Frozen Bakery category strategy work; developed and implemented usage of a Frozen Bakery opportunities scorecard for entire.

Camden, NJ, US

• Partners with sales leads for customer calls, providing data-driven category insights, category/brand/item analysis, and customer recommendations
• Provide ongoing trend analysis in order to seize value-creating opportunities and take corrective action as necessary
• Category Management across Total Soup/Broth/Stock portfolio, calling on Kroger Headquarters, Harris Teeter, and Roundy’s
• Sold-in new line after initial indication of disinterest by buyer; developed selling story using a mix of data resources, in addition to highlighting and showcasing the quality of the items vs. currently available.

Bakersfield, CA, US

• Category Management for 3 distinct categories across 7 major grocery/mass outlets: Kroger/Harris Teeter, Target, Meijer, Wakefern/Shoprite, Hy-Vee, Wegmans, and Tops
• When faced with plan that would significantly reduce SPJ shelf presence at a major grocery retailer, representing a substantial risk, developed story utilizing 84.51̊ Shop, Shelf Review, Market6, and IRI to.
• Defended deletion of specific size offering at major mass retailer utilizing 84.51̊ Shop insights
• Utilizing available data sources, generated general beverage category insights utilized by the Brand Marketing and Sales teams (e.g. importance of flavor variety, importance of brand variety, shelf optimization can.

St Louis, Missouri, US

• Achieve P&L targets; manage business relationship between a major grocery manufacturer and The Kroger Company
• Implement marketing strategies and analysis of trends and results to achieve income and expense budget goals
• Manage and maximize client marketing/promotional funds while staying within financial guidelines
• Identify opportunities and close white space within the market
• Initiate and direct customer headquarter calls and penetration of key positions at The Kroger Company
• Organize and assist business unit team to retain and expand upon the client relationship

St Louis, Missouri, US

• Through the use of syndicated data, identified patterns of sales behavior and areas of potential growth for three major consumer goods manufacturers (combined total net sales of over $7b annually) in Kroger and its.
• Presented sales analysis and actionable insights contextualized within commodity groups to both manufacturers and Kroger management, resulting in maximally efficient sales mixes that are beneficial to both manufacturer.
• Identified source of $1m+ annual loss to one manufacturer and where lost dollars were being sourced to; presented (December 2012) an outlined pricing strategy to the manufacturer with the potential to reverse the loss.
• Proposed and implemented weekly Shopper Insights Team store visits, resulting in greater awareness of commodity areas of responsibility and regular visibility to competitor promotional activity, providing for a faster.

• Leading a team of 3, researched and analyzed the financial impact of the commercialization of 2 nutraceutical juice products developed at the Ohio State University, including potential value-added from seeking FDA.
• Discovered that the FDA process takes 10-12 years, $100-$500 million in research expenses, with only an 8% chance of approval; subsequently calculated that the product would need to yield incremental gains of $9.8 m in.
• Researched distribution channels, consumer demographics, and competitor products to create financial projections for both products; illustrated that in a downside scenario, revenues for a tomato-based drink would.
• Successfully presented findings to the Vice President of Technology Commercialization on time; recommendations were enthusiastically received, with requests for post-project consultation

• Recruited, trained, and mentored a team of 8 sales people, resulting in three promotions over 18 months
• Successful launch of corporate driven initiatives, including sales strategies, new product releases, and a client loyalty program
• Consistently ranked in the top 5% for the district (200 sales people) for total sales dollars ($4000-$6000/wk.) and units sold per transaction (2-4)
• Trusted by regional management to assume the role of interim Store Manager for a three-month period extending into the high-traffic holiday sales rush; during this time, increased same store sales by 5-10%, improving.

Master'S Degree, Finance

Master'S Degree, Finance, General

M.A., Theology

B.A., Theology

Education record