If you’re a natural brand, you’re in the right place.
WELCOME!
This site has a TON of valuable content and insider secrets
to take your brand to the next level and beyond!
It’s a site roadmap to help you find exactly what you’re looking for,
Proven Strategies To Grow Sales And Profits For Your Natural Food Brand.
Dan Lohman is a CPG and Natural and Organic Industry Strategic Advisor. A former Grocery Manager, Store Manager, District Manager, Key Account Manager, and Category Manager, his company Brand Secrets and Strategies provides innovative ideas, actionable insights and strategic solutions to the challenges that brands and retailers face. Dan assists retailers and brands in expanding their distribution, growing sales and getting their products on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.
His extensive knowledge reaches beyond traditional category management and has earned him recognition throughout the industry as an influencer, expert, speaker, trainer and thought leader. Dan is passionate about empowering brands and raising the bar.
His Brand Secrets and Strategies podcast is a popular natural and organic products accelerator for food startups, healthy brands, and retailers. In addition to sharing his 25 years of experience, Dan talks with well-known thought leaders, CEOs, and founders of successful industry companies who candidly share insider secrets.
As a top contributor to the leading trade publications, he has published over 300 articles. A trusted and respected member of the natural and organic community, Dan’s weekly newsletter, podcast, free resources and online mini-courses have become an invaluable resource for brands and retailers seeking to grow sales and gain a sustainable competitive advantage.
To learn more, check out my Linked-In resume. Connect with me on Linked-In.
Colleagues, Clients, and Friends of Brand Secrets And Strategies
Proof that this stuff works!
This short podcast episode will inspire you. It's a David and Goliath story. These strategies helped a small regional brand outmaneuver and block the largest national category leader from dominating sales and promotions at a new superstore's grand opening.
“I was one of the three people who created the discipline of Category Management in the early 1990s and subsequently upgraded it to CatMan 2.0 in 2017. During my long association with the category management community, no one has been a more consistent, creative or committed contributor to the discipline than Dan Lohman. His work especially with the natural, organic and heathier foods community has been nothing short of inspirational because he has adapted the principles of category management and its collaborative ethic to a community which does not have all of the data advantages that large conventional manufacturers and retailers have. Dan's lifelong focus on helping companies in this increasingly important and growing segment benefit from the concept of category management has helped more companies succeed than even he realizes”
– Gordon Wade, Industry Thought Leader And An Original Category Management Creator
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“Dan has keen insights into both the plant-based and natural foods markets, derived from a lifetime of experience. He brings a unique understanding of what makes brands tick and how they can take advantage of undeveloped trends and is a great interviewer!”
– Seth Tibbott, Founder, And Chairman, Tofurky
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“Listening to a half a dozen of your podcasts with the breadth of them being as many as they are, you can listen to half of those and get an MBA in entrepreneurship”
– Scott Jensen, CEO of Rhythm Superfood and Stubbs Legendary BBQ Sauce
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“Dan and I talk about what retailers and shoppers really want, how to get your brand on the shelf, market changes, insights, trends, small brands and the future of the CPG industry!” “Always a great time and discussion with Dan!!!! One of the smartest most intuitive natural food leaders in the industry – thanks for having me on!”
– Phil Lempert, CEO Consumer Insight, The Lempert Report, SupermarketGuru, Forbes.com, Spoon Guru, host USFRA’s Farm Food Facts podcast
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“Scaling mission-based brands takes a specific playbook. Brand Secrets And Strategies podcast shed light on getting to shelf … it’s working for HonestTea and BeyondMeat”
– Seth Goldman, Honest Tea, and Beyond Meat
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“Awesome to see BMC Black Belts Michael Sansolo and Dan Lohman in such a great conversation about the importance of remaining relevant at retail and with shoppers. Dan is the go to resource for natural brands – a tremendous resource for entrepreneurial brands.”
– Bill Bishop, Chief Architect, Brick Meets Click, and Williard Bishop Consulting
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“Daniel is the foremost expert in brand building in today’s marketplace. Daniel’s common sense approach to helping all companies from small to large become successful in a sound process. Daniel provides passion and intelligence to ensure your success in every retail format. Daniel provides sound strategies to guide your brand for increasing, profitable sales. I’ve been a follower of Daniel’s for years, I feel his process makes sense in today’s competitive business environment.”
– Michael J. O’Donnell, The Belmullet Food and Beverage Group, LLC
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“Dan has a brilliant mind, a solid, in depth, understanding of category management. I was impressed with his outstanding analytical abilities..”
– Denny Robinson, Retail Category Management, Sprouts Farmers Market (formerly Sunflower)
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“Dan brings insights that manufacturers and retailers can act on to improve sales and profitability. More that most in the natural products industry, Dan can provide you with actionable intelligence that can improve both your top line and your bottom line.”
– Bill Crawford, Retail Marketing Services Director New Hope 360
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“Dan, Thank you for giving me hope again. I believe that our brand and the mission behind it is important. I know that we provide a unique solution to consumers who really need us because they write to us and tell us so. Listening to your courses over the past two days gives me hope that we can stay on shelf and compete with the big boys even though we are bootstrapped. Before I met you I was growing weary and questioning whether we could survive. Thank you for sharing your incredible guidance with brands like mine so we can help people lead healthier and happier lives. It is an incredible service to humanity.”
– Laura Katleman, Founder BHU Foods
About Brand Secrets And Strategies
The Natural Consumer Is My Focus
Category Management Solutions is BRAND SECRETS AND STRATEGIES
Category Management Solutions
Category Management Solutions provides innovative ideas, actionable insights and strategic solutions to help your business gain a competitive advantage.
Traditional category management tends to overlook what makes natural, natural. The committed natural shopper is responsible for all the sustainable growth in every category. Similar to the initial ripple in a pond – these consumers, your consumers, are responsible for turning those tiny ripples into the huge tidal waves where natural products begin appearing on mainstream shelves.
True category management involves everything from the product inception all the way through the process to the end consumer beyond the shelf – after they make the purchase. It can help you with traditional and advanced deep-dive sales analysis, trade management, sales planning, forecasting, merchandising, schematics, consumer and shopper insights, etc. It is the backbone of advanced strategy.
Our mission is to level the playing field between natural and conventional (mainstream) by helping natural organic companies make the most of their available resources, win at shelf and connect with consumers.
Our goal is to leverage the relationships between brands and retailers, creating a collaborative approach to better meet the needs of the shopper. Consideration of all three needs, the brand, the retailer and the shopper, is the foundation for a sustainable strategy that competes in the marketplace regardless of size or volume.
Combining the industry’s advanced best practices and tools that come from True Category Management, Category Management Solutions implements a customized process that meets the demands and needs of your CPG or organic brand.
BRAND SECRETS AND STRATEGIES
Empowering Brands | Raising The Bar
The Brand Secrets and Strategies podcast is an audio natural products accelerator for food startups, entrepreneurs, emerging health-focused brands and retailers. It's radically different and raising the bar in our industry. We rise by lifting others. I remain passionate about our industry, mission-based brands, making a healthier way of life more accessible and raising the bar.
In addition to sharing my 25 years of experience, more than 50 well known industry thought leaders candidly share their advice with you. Learn actionable insights and strategic solutions to grow your brand, avoid the pitfalls and save valuable time and money. CLICK HERE NOW to go to my podcast page to view a partial list of my guests and links to the shows.
I am excited to announce the release of my free Turnkey Sales Story Strategies course. This is your roadmap to success. In this course, you will learn the insider secrets of how to get your brand on the shelf and what retailers REALLY want. Stay tuned! I will be announcing several fall courses that will specifically address exactly what a brand needs to know to succeed and grow in this industry.
As an internationally published author, my 300+ articles (blog) are published in every leading trade publication both in print and digitally. You can read my most recent articles here.
My articles (blog), courses, and podcast are all FREE resources I offer to our community. They teach brands what retailers REALLY want, how to get your product on the shelf and how to save valuable time and money. Sign up now below for my weekly newsletter so you don't miss out! Please use and share these FREE resources with your team or any brands or groups in our community that would find them valuable.
Ready to take your brand to the next level and beyond?
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Free resources to help you build a healthy foundation for your brand.
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Sell More
Expert help and guidance to give you a significant and sustainable competitive advantage. CEO’s, industry thought leaders, food entrepreneurs, and founders of successful industry organizations and brands candidly share their insider secrets and advice!
If you want to compete at the level of big brands, you need to be at their level!
Not sure where to start?
Brands Who Trust Brand Secrets And Strategies – Partial List
SOLUTIONS
BUILD – GROW – EXPAND
Optimize your selling potential with an effective distribution strategy that helps your brand standout on a crowded shelf. Ensure that your brand can easily be found and the category is easy to shop.
You need to clearly understand each retailer's expectations and the strategies they use to meet their shopper's needs. Creative brands that think out-of-the-box have a significant competitive advantage and stand out on the shelf.
Data can be overwhelming and extremely confusing. Choosing the right external and internal data and then integrating is the key to your success. Canned reports are a great starting place but they will not help you achieve your goals.
Getting your product on a retailer's shelf is just the beginning. You need to effectively manage every aspect of your sales funnel to avoid any potential missteps and issues that cause your brand to be discontinued.
Empowering Brands | Raising The Bar
Ever wish you just had a roadmap? Well, now you do!
Don’t miss out on all of these FREE RESOURCES (strategic downloadable guides, podcast episodes, list of questions you need to be asking, and know the answers to, the weekly newsletter, articles, and tips of the week. You will also receive access to quick and easy online courses that teach you how to get your brand on the shelf, expand distribution, understand what retailers REALLY want, and address your most pressing challenges and questions.
All tools that you can use, AT NO CHARGE TO YOU, to save you valuable time and money and grow your sales today!
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