Earlier this year, industry veteran Fredric Richard Neubauer, passed away. He made an impact in the specialty food world with his willingness to help others and through the company he founded, FDM Sales Management.
The consulting firm has helped champion many specialty food brands, including yogurt company Noosa, frozen Greek yogurt maker Yasso, chocolatier Hu Kitchen, and all-natural meat snacks and condiment maker The New Primal.
Before beginning FDM Sales Management, Neubauer served as CEO of Milwaukee Biscuit Company, a Midwest-based distributor. After the company was sold to KeHE, he transitioned to VP of sales.
“Fred left KeHE to start FDM Sales and I joined Fred as a partner a few years later,” Neubauer’s business partner and close friend Brian Polencheck told SFA News Daily. “Fred’s vision was to serve a need in the marketplace he identified, which was to focus on innovative and emerging brands embarking into retail.”
Polencheck added that FDM’s mission was to increase the chances for success for specialty food brands in an industry with an average failure rate of 85 percent. In its early years, the company operated with just four employees but eventually grew to a 40-person organization before being sold to Advantage Solutions in May of 2021.
“Fred’s passion for the food industry and helping others was infectious,” said Polencheck. “He often told me that he couldn’t wait to wake up each morning and get to work, serving his brands, employees, and others in the industry. Fred had one of the best eyes in the industry for finding brands and seeing their opportunities at retail; I have many memories of walking food shows and him pointing out brands that he predicted would become big. [Often,] he was right, and those brands [grew and] were eventually sold.”
Neubauer was a passionate leader, parent, husband, coworker, and friend, Polencheck said.
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Image: FDM Sales Management