Outstanding Foods’ plant-based snacks are disrupting the snack category one region at a time. It all began with Dave Anderson, a well-known vegan chef whose LA restaurant served the likes of Paul McCartney and Bill Gates. Dave was also a CPG pro who had co-founded Eat Just and served as executive chef at Beyond Meat, where he helped create the famous Beyond Burger. Inspired by the idea of creating nutritious, better-for-you snacks, he began talking with a regular customer, entrepreneur Bill Glaser, and the stars aligned. The two teamed up on a new creation: ultra-tasty pigless pork rinds and better-for-you puffs full of protein, vitamins and minerals. Outstanding Foods’ tasty new idea has now been backed by a host of celebrities from Cesar Milan to Snoop Dogg.
A natural brand with mainstream ambition
Outstanding Foods may have started in the founders’ backyard of Los Angeles, but they knew that its natural brand could achieve mainstream success. When they signed to independent and natural stores, and then to Whole Foods regionally, they started showing strong sales numbers right off the bat. The next step was to expand to other regions, conventional retailers, and convenience stores. But how would they make the case to buyers? The answer was with data, so the team would spend over 10 hours poring through distributor reports each month to create sales reports. “We needed to find a more efficient and effective way to look at our data,” recalls VP of Sales Bobbie Turco. That’s when they turned to Crisp.
Crisp surfaces an outstanding sales story
Now, the Outstanding Foods team has data at their fingertips to drive sales and keep expanding. They’ve moved from laborious monthly reporting to quick weekly reports that their entire leadership team can easily digest—not only saving time but improving data visibility across the whole company. “Crisp gathers data from multiple different sources and brings them into one place so that we can look at everything holistically. For small brands like ours, that's incredibly important,” Bobbie says. The leadership team now gets a weekly snapshot of key metrics and charts like itemized velocities and growth over time, and account managers from KeHE to UNFI can each pull reports pertaining to their own responsibilities.
With Crisp, Bobbie’s sales team has surfaced a compelling “data story.” Region by region, her team sends their UNFI velocity reports to buyers to make the case for expansion. For instance, they recently used Crisp’s heat maps to reveal strong numbers in the South and Northeast and gain additional retail locations there. “Crisp has helped us provide strong regional sales data to retailers that shows we’re not just a West Coast brand, we’re seeing success nationally,” Bobbie explains. By showing consistent monthly growth, the team is one region away from being nationally available at Whole Foods.
Using data to keep sales healthy
As a result of its strong numbers, the brand’s presence has grown to over 3,000 stores at locations like Walmart and 7-11, far away from where the Outstanding team has boots on the ground. So they rely on Crisp’s Voids Dashboard to identify any issues that might keep products from flying off the shelves. By tracking velocity and voids, they can monitor stores where sales have suddenly stopped, and proactively communicate with brokers or retailers to resolve any issues. As Bobbie says, "In this industry, there are multiple different touchpoints on every sale, and you’re only as good as the information you have. Crisp gives our broker network the tools they need to be successful."
Bobbie’s team even uses Crisp to manage inventory, particularly as they roll out a naming and packaging change for its puffs. They use Crisp to see which stores have started stocking the new products and manage a smooth transition. For a recent in-store photo shoot, the team was able to quickly turn around a store list where they could find the desired products on-shelf.
With an eye on underperforming stores, the sales team can also design promotions to boost sales. They recently used Crisp to plan out its KeHE monthly promotional calendar, focusing on SKUs that need attention in a given area. They use Crisp to track sales trends for each of its flavors by location, which can differ from easier-to-spot D2C trends. For Walmart, they’ve also designed an IRC program focused on specific stores where they’d like to give the brand additional visibility.
Outstanding’s team of data power users has plenty more up its sleeves. They recently ran a #hellahotchallenge campaign to raise awareness for clean water charity Jug Life, which dared social media followers to eat its “Hella Hot” flavored puffs for 30 seconds without water. They’ve also just announced a new limited-edition flavor of Outstanding Puffs, Kansas City BBQ, with more product innovation on the way.
Results they crave:
- Moved insights from monthly to weekly across the company
- Measured velocity to create compelling stories for buyers
- Identified voids across national distribution channels
- Designed successful promotions to boost sales
- Tracked inventory to manage a packaging redesign
About Crisp
A third of the world's food production is wasted before it reaches a consumer, and the food supply chain cannot keep up. Crisp leverages the power of the cloud to connect and analyze disparate retail data sources to provide real-time insights and trends. Food suppliers, retailers, distributors and brokers use Crisp to manage supply more efficiently, reduce waste and skyrocket profitability. Learn more at www.gocrisp.com.
About Outstanding Foods
Built on the burning desire to make better-for-you plant-based foods Addictively Delicious, Outstanding Foods creates foods everyone can love without sacrificing taste and texture. Beginning with wholesome 100% plant-based ingredients, packed with protein and other health benefits, each product is skillfully prepared for superb taste and superior texture, and is free from gluten, soy, GMOs, trans fats, and cholesterol. The brand also gives back, partnering with non-profits that help improve the well-being of farm animals, the environment, and the health of the communities it serves.
