SFA’s Maker Prep series is an online educational program designed to provide young companies with the building blocks and knowledge base they need to do business in the specialty food industry. As part of the ongoing series, we offer the Working with Distributors webinar bundle, which includes three webinars:
• Working with Distributors: The First Key Steps. Specialty food veteran Ian Kelleher takes you through the initial information you’ll need to decide on and form relationships with distributors. We’ll cover what distributors do, ways of finding a distributor, managing a distributor, expectations on both sides of the relationship, and the distributor life cycle.
• Working with Distributors: Building the Relationship. In this webinar, you’ll learn from two distributors who provide perspective on how makers can be effective and what they can expect from the relationship.
• Working with Distributors: Strategies for Success. You’ll learn from two veteran specialty food makers, Jack Acree of Saffron Road and Patti Doyle of Rumi Spice, who have worked with a variety of distributors. They discuss how to think about pricing to ensure profitability, contracts, and negotiation strategies, how to handle disagreements, and how to keep maker-distributor relationships strong.
The Working with Distributors webinar bundle is free for SFA members and $50 for non-members. Sessions can also be purchased individually, free for SFA members and $19 each for non-members. Visit our Learning Center for more.
Related: How to Navigate Distributor Relationships; Distributor Directory Updated for 2022.