Strategy to shelf.

See the work

Plug-in US marketing leadership for food and beverage brands. For international brands entering the US, and US brands built to grow. One architect managing every part of the build, from the category read to the second purchase.

Fractional CMO. The architect.

Brand Strategy

Whitespace hunting in syndicated data. NIQ and SPINS category reads, velocity gaps, and the underserved sets your competitors miss.

Package Design

A successful package design needs to disrupt the shelf and tell the consumer in 1.5 seconds why the give a crap. Our team has developed some of the top designs in the space, but more importantly it equals 25%-700% increases in velocities.

CMO Advisory

For your channel strategy and goto market plan, we can lead the charge on retail support, direct to consumer, Amazon and TikTokShop as well as shopper marketing. This provides you a seasoned CMO without the impact on your SG&A.

Brands Constructed

It all begins with an idea. Layer in some data and some whitepace thinking… and then you’ve got yourself something.

Past Clients

Real Good Foods
GoodBelly
Perla Table Foods

Unilever
Smithfield Foods
MonkFruit Corp.

B&G Foods
Yishi Foods
Cano Water

Let’s Build Something!

From conceptualizing to constructing, we’re ready to create your CPG dream. We promise a client-centric approach that empowers ideas, eases concerns, and delivers quality craftsmanship we’ll all be proud of.

Chief Architect

Stephen Gaither

Steve Gaither is the Chief Architect and brings over 25 years of CPG experience. He was the founder of JB Chicago, a CPG focused branding and creative agency in 2000 with a client roster that included Unilever, Goodbelly and Dish Network. Steve exited the agency to C.A. Fortune in 2019, where he ran the Branding unit and became CMO of the larger organization. Steve is also a partner agency with 1o8, a creative meets commerce agency that worked with Rocky Mountain Chocolate, Trejos Tacos, and Calbee.

As a mentor at the Good Food Business Accelerator, ICNC, the Food Foundry, Chicagoland Food and Bev, and The Hatchery, his relationships with entrepreneurs led him to cofound the Windy City Troublemakers, an emerging brand meetup and podcast. Steve is also a partner in Vosges Chocolate, a partner in Spiral Sun Ventures and Windy City Food Brands, where he and his fellow CPG experts provided the capital and go-to market strategies that help brands accelerate their growth.