Your brand is next

I'll build your brand strategy and connect you with my network so you have the best in the biz behind your brand.

Join my clients hitting retail shelves🛒

Join my clients hitting retail shelves🛒

Guessing is the most expensive way to build a brand

Too many early-stage, first-time CPG founders jump straight to branding and formulation without a brand strategy, in an industry with a 70% failure rate.

They design packaging that doesn't speak to their target consumer. They hire a formulator before they know who they're selling to. They name the brand before checking whether it can be trademarked. They pitch retailers who were never the right fit.

Brand strategy is your first step to beating the odds.

Trusted by the next generation of CPG food & beverage founders

After Twenty years building emerging brands led me to my niche in CPG food and beverage. I work with some of the hottest emerging brands coming to market, including Cotto and She's the Sauce (humble client brag!). On Emerging Brands Podcast® I've interviewed hundreds of founders now selling in Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Target. And I'm a (newly) angel investor in emerging CPG brands and the operations scaling their retail footprint.

Now, I'll build your brand strategy and connect you with my network of partners so you have the best in the biz behind your brand.

Brand Strategy
USD 8,997.00
One time

All sales are final.

Sign up here

Join my clients hitting retail shelves next🛒

cotto

Whipped Cottage Cheese Dip

Branding & Packaging by House of Wynn

NIDA (coming soon!)

Flash-Frozen Aromatics

Branding & Packaging by If Only Creatives

GLOWSTATE (coming soon!)

Ready-to-eat Chia Pudding

Branding & Packaging by House of Wynn

rabbit hole (coming soon!)

Crunchy Puffs Made with Real Veggies

Branding & Packaging by House of Wynn

Nomie

Just-Add-Water Kids Meals

Branding, Packaging & Web by Benita Studios

afternoon toast

Roasted Barley & Ginger Tea

Branding & Packaging by JanesHaus

Dear jean (coming soon!)

Marshmallow Crispy Treats

Branding, Packaging & Web by Benita Studios

She’s the sauce

Sauce, With Benefits

Branding & Packaging by House of Wynn

little twists

Allergy Friendly Baking Mixes

Branding & Packaging by House of Wynn

gratta (coming soon!)

Flavored Sourdough Breadcrumbs

Branding, Packaging & Web by Benita Studios

👀 Sappy, Wobble, Pesto Joe, Team Egg, Leapday

👀 Sappy, Wobble, Pesto Joe, Team Egg, Leapday

Clients are saying…

  • Cotto

    I started working with Kelly when I only had a product concept and was testing early recipes in my kitchen, and building my brand strategy with her completely changed how I approached every decision that followed. She helped me dial in my positioning, messaging, and target consumer, and guided me toward a brand name that truly reflects what I’m building after my original name couldn’t be trademarked. Beyond the work itself, Kelly is an incredible supporter and connector, always generous with her time, her network, and her energy, and genuinely someone you want in your corner.  

    Kendall Kransdorf, Founder Cotto

  • She's the Sauce

    'Before She’s the Sauce was even a concept, I met with Kelly, and from day one, she helped me shape this brand into something truly unique. Her strategic mind helped me uncover what made my sauces different, find the key selling points that would resonate, and has helped create the kind of buzz that every founder dreams of..." Nicole Glabman, Founder She’s the Sauce

  • Nomie

    A few months into starting Nomie, I needed someone to help me cut through the noise and see the full picture. Kelly's brand strategy gave Nomie a real foundation that set the direction for brand design, social strategy, and product messaging and positioning. What I didn't expect was how much she'd continue to show up long after our work together wrapped, and I'm so grateful for that.

    Roopa Annadatha, Founder

  • Frankly Good Coffee

    "...Pop Up Grocer slid into our dms and before I knew it we had launched inside one of the most respected entities for up and coming CPG brands - we were on the shelves, standing out among the other coffees that surrounded us. This is just the beginning of our growth and retail journey - grateful I was smart enough to hire Kelly when we did!" Stefanie Frank, Co-founder, Frankly Good Coffee

You’re exactly who I work with

  • You know you want to be on retail shelves

  • You're ready to invest in the full path, not just this first step

  • You're ready to start now

  • You have a unique CPG food or beverage idea

  • You're in the earliest stages from testing recipes, brainstorming a brand, while working full time

  • You don't have a brand name, formulator, designer, or manufacturer yet

  • You want a real strategy before you spend money on executing your idea

  • You want a brand strategy to use for fundraising later

  • You want to work with industry experts and do this the right way

now, Let’s get to work.

Your brand strategy investment includes:

Brand strategy to build your CPG food or beverage idea into brands hitting retail shelves next!

What's included:

  • Meeting 1 Kickoff call: We talk through your big vision and goals. Then my team starts on your competitor landscape, so Meeting 2 begins with work already done.

  • Meeting 2 Brand: How your brand stands out on shelf and connects with the right consumer, no more guessing how to get their attention. You'll need this before: branding, packaging, content

  • Meeting 3 Product: Your product differentiation, competitor landscape, ideal ingredients, claims, and flavor direction, which shape how you'll sell and scale. You'll need this before: product development and go-to-market

  • Meeting 4 Buzz, demand, and first retailers (with Nicole Krasnow Smith): How to build early buzz and consumer demand before you hit shelves, and how to reach out to early retailers the right way. You'll need this before: posting on social, talking to consumers, contacting retail buyers

  • Meeting 5 Brand strategy review: We talk through your whole strategy out loud, make the final calls, and land on direction for your brand name. You'll receive your brand strategy deck the following week.

  • Meeting 6 Next Steps call: I answer your execution questions and make personal introductions to my network of vetted partners (best in the biz!) to help you execute each step. Plus, if you choose to work with my partners, I stay in direct communication with them as they implement it. It's complimentary, and it's a real perk for solo founders. All your partners stay in sync and the handoffs are seamless!

You'll walk away with:

Deliverable: Your brand strategy deck including:

  • The strategy: Why you're the right founder to build this vision, your brand overview, visual branding brief, product concept, target consumer, and how to build early buzz and demand before you hit first shelves

  • The tools: Your competitive landscape, a first-year sales channel strategy (created by It’s All Happening), and a retail tracker (created by Many Thanks Consulting)

  • The roadmap: A personal breakdown of next steps, including the vetted partners to work with at each stage

Time: 8 weeks

Cost: $8,997

The industry experts working on your brand strategy

Nicole Krasnow Smith

Nicole will consult on your retail positioning and how to build early buzz, generate demand, and land your first retail shelves. She’s a leading retail consultant for emerging CPG brands.

She helps emerging and established CPG brands launch and grow through thoughtful strategy, differentiated positioning, and high-impact partnerships. From refining a brand's story to identifying the right retail, experiential, and brand partners, she turns big ideas into clear, actionable plans that build awareness, drive trial, and create lasting growth.

Danielle Calabrese

Danielle will build a sales channel strategy for your first year, mapping where to focus your channel opportunities. With 16+ years in CPG, she’s scaled brands from zero to $40M, revived a legacy brand, guided 100+ brands to $100M in sales, and secured dozens of SKUs with top distributors and retailers. She’s the creator of Launch Lab, a program for first-time founders, and hosts the It’s All Happening: Women in CPG podcast.

You’ll also have a 30-minute call with her covering how she advises on execution from market research and pricing to distribution, supply chain, sales forecasting, and financial modeling. So you’re building a scalable product from the start.

kelly bennett

Kelly Bennett (that's me!) will be your brand strategist, building your CPG food or beverage idea into a brand hitting retail shelves next. After 20 years building emerging brands, Kelly found her niche in CPG food and beverage and currently works with some of the hottest emerging brands hitting retail shelves next, including Cotto and She's the Sauce.

She's also the host of Emerging Brands Podcast®, interviewing founders scaling into retailers like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Target, and a (newly) angel investor backing emerging CPG brands and the operations scaling their retail footprint.

best in the biz working alongside you on your brand strategy

direction on the brand and product you're developing

Buzz & demand for your brand before you ever hit retail shelves

sales channel strategy & pitch for your first retailers

strategy for every key decision pre-launch, from formulation to brand name, branding, packaging to building buzz

Brand Strategy
USD 8,997.00
One time

All sales are final.

Sign up here