Penny Valdes Email & Phone Number

Wilmette, Il, Us

Focused on volume and velocity while driving profitable growth for Dirty Hands' Brokerage.Manager of Dirty Hands' Strategy Division including a team of 11 with roles in brand strategy, brand management, analytics, and project management.Tasked with vetting brands for Business Development and partnership opportunities.

Burgess Strategic Advisors was acquired by Dirty Hands in November 2023.

Broadline Distribution and Natural Channel: If it's sold through UNFI and KeHe, I'm responsible for the revenue and relationships.

National lead for all sales efforts driven through UNFI and KeHE. Key accounts include Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Publix, NCG, INFRA, and many regional players in the natural and conventional space.

• Manage sales across Natural and Conventional channels in the East and Midwest USA, as well as lead for KeHE and UNFI nationally.• Unlocked over 5,000 PODs in 2019 - including Stop & Shop, Shaw's, Giant Eagle, Fresh Thyme, etc.

Chicago, Illinois

• Pioneered launch of company and two beverage brands: VIBE X and Gaiam (RTD Teas)• Manage sales across Natural and Conventional channels in the East and Midwest USA, as well as lead for KeHE and UNFI nationally.• Gained first-year placements in key retailers: Stop & Shop, Giant Martin, Dierbergs, Kowalski's, etc.- Implemented sales processes for cross-department functionality (forecasting, account tracking, etc.)

Greater Chicago Area

• Leveraging experiences in the Natural, Organic, Health & Wellness industry and relationship management skills rooted in business intelligence, data and analytics to provide measurable and actionable insights and solutions to drive sales for Acosta’s Natural Sales and Specialties (NSS) division brand clients.• Maintaining a meaningful SPINS presence while driving the value of SPINS assets within NSS.Supporting executive-level category review meetings delivering concise analysis reflecting understanding of NSS internal goals and the external competitive landscape.• Cultivating interest and managing new joint digital marketing pilots and reporting capabilities leveraging analytics, activation, and industry-leading wellness segmentation (Shelvspace Inc).• Elevating the role to be the voice and recognized leader to support NSS business and deep understanding of its client's needs in Health and Wellness using information and analytics supporting strategic business processes and initiatives.• Developing training and materials bringing a common language and understanding of trends, measures, and metrics within the Natural/Organic CPG ecosystem.• Providing succinct progress updates relating to all active initiatives, area for improvement, and new opportunities to elevate the overall engagement between SPINS and NSS, including creating and publishing a monthly NSS exclusive SPINS newsletter.• Producing, analyzing and delivering efficient reporting and analytics through SPINS proprietary business intelligence solutions while driving the natural/wellness components of the category management process.• Anticipating shifts in market trends and competitive threats and providing industry-leading overviews using IRI and SPINS breadth of assets to reinforce the value of our partnership across multiple areas of the business.

Greater New York City Area

• Leveraged relationships, strong work ethic, persistence, and team play to keep the brand relevant and expanding in Natural and Grocery classes of trade across the Eastern and Midwest U.S. • Spearhead top-to-bottom company rebrand including product line price-reduction and additional product line price-increase at an implementation and execution level to distributors and retailers.• Collaborated with leadership team (CEO, Marketing, Operations) ensuring cross-functional alignment on forecasting, trade spend management, customer business planning, new product development, trade show planning and go-to market strategy.• Co-led national call with Whole Foods Market Global and lead for six Eastern and Midwest Whole Food Market regions. Experience with Whole Foods Portal to pull and analyze WFM specific data.• NYC Metro area responsibility focused on growing landmark in-house accounts, local chains, and high-volume Whole Foods Market stores.• Headquarter responsibility for national and regional distributors (UNFI, KeHE, Nassau Candy) to facilitate ongoing business engagement and bottom-line revenue growth.

Orlando, Florida Area

Developed and managed all aspects of the sales strategy and execution among the natural and conventional grocery channels at a head-quarter and store level in the Southeast U.S.• Pioneered the brand and managed the day-to-day business for both conventional and natural industry leading retailers: Publix, Harris Teeter, Bi Lo, Winn Dixie, Ingles, Delhaize, The Fresh Market, Whole Foods South and Florida regions, Earth Fare and independents.• Cultivated and managed business through key distributors: KeHE, UNFI, Haddon House, DPI and direct store delivery (DSD) network Snyder’s Lance.• Increased dollar growth in the conventional channel over 200% year-over-year.• Propelled and maintained brand ranking to top five highest dollar ranking in the natural tortilla chip category in the Southeast U.S.• Spearheaded the successful launch of new products, packaging, line extensions, and sales strategy to largest retailers.• Leveraged syndicated data such as SPINS, IRI, and the Whole Foods portal to promote fact-based selling to maximize account specific sales potential.• Coordinated and participated in distributor and natural foods specific trade shows - UNFI, KeHE, Haddon House, Natural Products Expo West, Fancy Foods NYC, etc.

Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

• Executed and worked on local and national client initiatives including preparing competitive analyses• Created various public relations kits and materials to be distributed among public outlets• Targeted and contacted media outlets to pitch stories and performed follow-ups• Provided support to Account Executives and Assistant Account Executives

Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

• Wrote media releases and a published feature story for the quarterly newsletter• Assisted on set at My Fox Tampa Bay and Bay News 9• Re-organized and added to the previous media kit• Assisted in the creation and distribution of event notifications, set up and worked sales/fundraising events “Guppyween” and “Brews By The Bay”