Chris Zifchak Email & Phone Number

Greater Boston Area

Lead strategic recommendations for and execution of Wells Dairy's overall Category Development vision and business objectives to gain a stronger consultative position with our customers. Drive overall skill development and improve functional strength of the entire Category Development team. Collaborate with internal and external resources to develop broad-based category and customer knowledge. Leverage data and observations to create breakthrough category insights designed to share with our customers to drive category growth. Build a strong, effective, high-performing team by utilizing performance management methodology and functional skills while motivating, coaching and developing the next generation of leaders to perform to their maximum potential.

Tewksbury, Ma

Responsible for developing category management platform and corporate category vision. Building internal and external category capabilities leveraging best in class tools and developed internal talent to meet the expanding needs of our customers. Managing internal analyst team to deliver insights and provide category expertise to our category partners. Working with Advantage Sales and marketing to develop monthly in-store objective and tracking to better understand true business driver at out top customers.

Burlington, Ma

Developed strategic category objectives for the Specialty, Mass and Club channels. Identified brewer and portion pack opportunities using syndicated custom research from IRI. Led the merchandising strategy and implementations for the Keurig Kold system. Implemented new reporting and tracking tools to better track Keurig’s growth. • Led research and insights development improving our ranking in annual Advantage survey from 8th to 3rd.• Successfully launched new 2.0 brewer platform gaining 100% acceptance across all accounts.• Developed brewer program for the discount channel driving an additional 10% in brewer sales.• Implemented new item tracking tools to improve performance of new item launches.

Waterbury, Vt

Managed and implemented strategic category management and shelving objectives across all channels. Worked with the sales and marketing teams to develop category and aisle strategies. Led research initiatives with Kantar Retail to develop strategic selling platform. Utilized business analytics and shopper insights to drive profitable growth across our categories for KGM and our customers. • Expanded distribution of K-Cup packs by over 30 sku's across all accounts increasing sales $18.2MM.• Implemented new reporting processes which increased productivity 20% among the analyst team.• Developed merchandising guidelines doubling our shelf space and growing category sales over 14%.• Hired and managed 2 analysts, increasing capacity 200% and reducing turn around by 1 week.

Manage Johnson & Johnson business across the Northeast, including $6mm trade budget and annual revenue goals for Stop & Shop, Hannaford, and Imperial Distributors. Work closely with Customer Business Managers and Category Management team to develop trade plans for achieving customer and account-specific objectives. Work with the J&J broker manager and brand teams to determine opportunities by account. Secure incremental funding to support brand initiatives.

New Hampshire

Formulated the annual promotional plan across multiple J&J product categories for two separate buying offices. Managed $2MM trade budget. Ensured effective execution of promotional programs by fostering collaboration between customer and J&J marketing team. Developed action plans to target specific opportunities. Coordinated with trade marketing and sales strategy to secure incremental funding for customer-specific special packs and consumer overlays.

Developed and executed strategic business and assortment plans designed to drive Pfizer’s financial goals at Ahold. Managed POS Analyst and all syndicated monthly reporting functions. Assisted team leader in developing annual operating plan by identifying financial opportunities

New Hampshire

Developed and executed strategic business and assortment plans designed to drive Pfizer’s financial goals at Ahold. Managed POS Analyst and all syndicated monthly reporting functions. Assisted team leader in developing annual operating plan by identifying financial opportunities

Developed strategic category plans to drive baseline and incremental volume at Ahold. Utilized merchandising assortment and promotional tools to build effective category plans. Evaluated promotional results to determine promotional effectiveness using syndicated data. Worked with Account Executives, Customer Marketing, and Category Management to deliver incremental programs. Managed broker implementation of new item introductions.

Consultative sales of diverse merchandising visualization software solutions to C-level managers at major corporations. Devised effective prospecting and business development techniques. Attended trade shows and developed sales materials. Planned software implementations for field sales roll-outs.

Mba, Marketing

Bachelor'S Degree, Business Administration And Management, General

Diploma