My love of food and the industry in which I work is dynamic and evolving. I am fortunate to meet and work with all types of industry professionals including restaurant operators, distributor owners and salespersons, corporate broadline executives, farmers that grow the raw materials, manufacturing professionals and teams of successful salespersons. It is these experiences that shape my desire to provide solutions and deliver successful outcomes and sustainable sales growth results.The Food Industry is complex. Year-over-year growth is not a given. Despite distributor and sales agency consolidation, the Industry remains fragmented and consumer tastes change and evolve providing new business opportunities for the manufacturer seeking success. Nevertheless, we must work smart for our share. Distributors (broad-line, specialty and cash-n-carry), Distributor Buying Groups, and Operators (chains, management companies, GPO’s), Grocery, Club Cash ‘n Carry have over-time become very adept at stripping manufacturer margin via complex RFP’s, sourcing events and trade spend programs. Costs-to-serve the customer continue to increase due to them transferring quality assurance, e-commerce (GS1), reporting and administration requirements and the related onerous costs to the manufacturer. Deploying smart tools and leveraging well-trained, seasoned human resources to expand markets and share is paramount. Comprehensive sales planning, strategy and tactics that are organization and customer specific are necessary and sales talent must be developed and adaptable to the ever changing environment.To deliver best-in-class sales, marketing and merchandising capabilities we've got to be innovative but not just about products and services but also about supporting a sales organization that is capable and savvy, customer-facing and focused yet mindful of its impact to the company top and bottom line.