Category Manager Profile: Cas Relucio

Q&A WITH CAS RELUCIO CATEGORY MANAGER AT KEHE

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR AN EMERGING BRAND TO WORK WITH A MAJOR DISTRIBUTOR LIKE KEHE?

For an emerging brand, working with a large distributor can open so many doors. Whether it’s in a local region or nationally, large distributors have greater access to a wide variety of retailers, ranging from mom and pop shops to ecommerce to large chain retailers, like Walmart and Target.

HOW DOES AN EMERGING BRAND KNOW WHEN THEY'RE READY TO APPLY TO YOUR DISTRIBUTION NETWORK?

An emerging brand knows they’re ready to apply to a large distribution network when they have a strong presence within their region. This tells us that the brand is growing organically and has been listening to their loyal followers.

They’re also ready for large distribution when they understand how retailers vs. distribution deductions work. This is a huge differentiator for me; most of the time when brands present to me, they don’t understand what slotting fees mean or even manufacture chargebacks.

WHAT SETS A BRAND APART IN A PITCH? WHAT'S A PITCHING NO-NO?

The best pitches I’ve seen come from the founder themselves. They know the brand inside and out. In most cases, I also look at their team. Sure, I can read the brand decks and listen to the pitch, but how strong is the brand’s team? How excited are they? How invested are they in the brand? A huge pitching no-no is not having a brand deck. This is a rookie mistake. It shows me how unprepared some brands can be when they meet with a buyer for the first time. You’d be surprised to know that some brands ask for a meeting, yet do not have any deck prepared. Another one is not being cognizant of time. It’s important to be respectful of a buyer’s time and give them at least 5 minutes towards the end to ask questions. Most importantly, be respectful and kind.

WHAT ARE YOUR MOST COMMON CONCERNS WHEN BRINGING ON A NEW BRAND?

I’ve got a few. First one is worrying whether a brand can support a large distributor through off-invoice allowances or manufacture chargebacks. If a brand has a robust promotion plan with retailer and distributor support, that gives me confidence that the brand is willing to invest in their growth. Second is if the brand has a competitive pricing model, which ties to the above. It’s important for brands to do their research and understand their competition’s pricing. It’s also important to research retailer margins. Last but not the least, due to COVID, I’ve been paying closer attention to production capacity. We all don’t want to face stock issues, so brands should try to forecast ahead of time when working with a large distributor and keep track of their inventory level in each of their distributor’s warehouses to avoid OOS.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT GO INTO DETERMINING A BRAND'S LAUNCH STRATEGY?

I think my best answer for this would be the classic 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. I’ve shed some light on price and promotion to the previous question. Product tells me most of the things I need to know about the brand. It can tell me if it’s premium packaging, specialty-oriented, natural, organic, fair trade, plant-based, free from xxx, regenerative, upcycled, etc. These things tell me how you compare to the rest of the competition, and can help inform who your customer is and where they’re shopping. Place is one of the biggest strategies to highlight when you’re working with a large distributor. You can’t introduce yourself to a buyer and say you want to be everywhere right off the bat. For an emerging brand, I always recommend to focus on growing a certain region (and channel) first before going all out.

WHAT ARE SOME UNDERRATED ALTERNATE CHANNELS? WHY DO YOU THINK THESE CHANNELS ARE SECRET SUPERSTARS?

At KeHE, I would say it’s the ecommerce channel. There are so many opportunities that can be explored within this alternate channel and it’s still being developed in the industry today. They’re already superstars, like Good Eggs!

WHAT IS YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR EMERGING BRANDS LOOKING TO EXPAND THEIR RETAIL FOOTPRINT?

My best advice would be to look at the whole category and highlight your point of differentiation as much as you can in all the ways you can think of: clear and bold packaging on shelf, pricing, or having a rockstar team. At the end of the day, just be yourself when you’re pitching.

Cas Relucio is a Category Manager at KeHE and has accumulated a vast background in supply chain and category management since she started working at KeHE in November 2019. She went from Supplier Analyst in November 2019 to Associate Category Manager in November 2020, handling baby products and functional beverage brands. Recently, she was promoted to Category Manager in March 2022. She is a BIPOC Network Leader in the B Corp community, and a Naturally San Diego liaison. She is also a huge Marvel fan and has a strong passion in helping entrepreneurs, especially diverse founders, within the food industry