KRAVE is the original premium meat snack brand, founded in 2010 by Jon Sebastiani who was in search of a better-for-you high-protein snack when training for the NYC Marathon.  Unable to find one commercially available among a meat snacks category that was once dominated by conventional brands, KRAVE was founded to modernize the meat snacks category through culinary-inspired flavor profiles, premium protein sources, elevated claims, and a proprietary cook process that results in a distinctly tender eating experience.

 

Chef’s Cut was similarly an early pioneer within the better-for-you meat snacks category. Founded in 2012 by pro-golfer Dennis Riedel and his Chef looking for a healthy and delicious meat snack to enjoy while out on the golf course.  Riedel and Chef scaled the brand from the country club to every major retail channel, on a mission to deliver a ‘steakhouse quality experience, outside of the steakhouse’ at an approachable price point, with its thicker jerky cuts and traditional flavor profiles.  

 

Through acquisition, KRAVE and Chef’s Cut are now jointly owned and operated.  The combined portfolio represents premium, ultra-premium, and value segments within the meat snacks category – currently the fastest growing segment within total US snacking. KRAVE and Chef’s Cut’s stick and jerky offerings are available in 25,000+ stores nationwide, with key retailers that include Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Costco, Albertsons, Kroger, Meijer and more.

The Director of Sales will be responsible for developing and executing against new retail customer opportunities and driving performance within our existing retail footprint to expand KRAVE’s and Chef’s Cut’s reach and to achieve/exceed the Annual Business Plan.  This role requires a highly dynamic, data-driven, and commercial-oriented individual with a proven track record in Grocery and Natural channels with comparable brands.  An ideal candidate will have deep expertise in key account management and experience managing a sales broker and broadline/DSD route-to-market. Candidate should have exceptional negotiation skills, high EQ, a deep understanding of the snack industry, and a passion for delivering outstanding results.

 

New Customer Development: Both directly and in partnership with broker network, leverage data and intelligence to identify, develop the sell-in strategy, and execute against white space opportunities to aggressively grow distribution in KRAVE’s and Chef’s Cut’s target accounts.

Customer Engagement: Build and maintain strong relationships with key customers; identify and understand the unique needs and challenges of each customer and collaborate on implementing mutually beneficial solutions. 

Innovation Sell-In: Responsible for leading new item presentations to retailers ensuring distribution on flavor extensions and new product lines is secured and seamlessly executed against. 

Distributor Management: Drive accountability and performance with broadliners and DSD distributors to maximize shared performance objectives.

Trade Spend Management: Responsible for the development and execution of promotional strategies and tactics, including review of promotional history and evaluation of ROI to maximize profitability while driving topline growth.

Sales Execution: Track retailer and distributor performance against new distribution and strategic initiatives, providing regular reporting of key metrics and partnering on timely execution of action plans where opportunities exist; conduct regular business reviews with retailers and distributors.

Business Planning: Own the development of customer business plans as a part of Annual Business Planning process in partnership with marketing and finance, including bottoms-up volume and trade spend by key account with a target of 95% forecast accuracy.

Sales Intelligence: Monitor industry trends, competitor activities, and market conditions to identify white space opportunities for growth and areas for improvement.

Sales Materials & Tools Development: Partner with marketing on the development of sales materials to deliver strategic, data-driven presentations with high degree of professionalism and clear articulation of KRAVE and Chef’s Cut value propositions.