CPG and Food and Beverage: Teardown Pack

Load this pack when the target makes consumer packaged goods sold mainly through retailers: grocery, convenience, drug, club, and mass stores, plus their online versions. Growth here is distribution first: winning shelf space, keeping it with sales velocity, and paying for both through trade spend and retail media.

Contents

• How to recognize it
• What drives growth here
• Signals to collect
• Going inside
• Rules that limit copying
• Plays that usually transfer
• Metrics to ask about

How to Recognize It

• A store locator or "Where to buy" page, often powered by a third-party locator widget, and retailer logos on the homepage.
• Product pages with nutrition panels, ingredients, and UPCs, but little or no checkout (or a small DTC shop next to retail).
• Links to retailer product pages (Target, Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Instacart, Amazon).
• Job posts for "category manager", "key account manager", "broker", or "trade marketing".
• teardown.mjs detect <domain> flags store locators and retailer links.

What Drives Growth Here

• Distribution: growth comes in steps as the brand gains new retailers, regions, and shelf placements. The "where to buy" count is the curve that matters more than web traffic.
• Velocity: retailers keep products that sell per store per week. Promotions, demos, and retail media exist to lift velocity so the slot survives the next reset.
• Trade spend: discounts, slotting fees, and promotional allowances paid to retailers are often the biggest marketing line. Frequent price promotions show where it goes.
• Retail media: ads inside retailer sites and apps (Walmart Connect, Amazon Ads, Instacart, Kroger, Target Roundel) drive the digital shelf.
• Brand demand: social, creators, sampling, and PR create the pull that makes shoppers look for the product in store. Brand search and social buzz lead new retailer wins.

Signals to Collect

Going Inside

With approval, under the user's real identity:

• Buy the product at a retailer and through their DTC shop (within budget). Note packaging, on-pack offers, QR codes, and inserts. On-pack QR codes often show the loyalty or data capture play.
• Email capture: subscribe and log the welcome series and coupons.
• Rebates and coupons: check rebate apps and digital coupons in retailer apps for the brand.
• Don't contact retailers' buyers or the brand's brokers pretending to be a buyer, and don't buy or move product in ways meant to distort a store's sales data.

Rules That Limit Copying

• FDA labeling rules (US): nutrition facts, ingredient lists, allergen labeling, and claims are regulated. The FDA updated the "healthy" nutrient content claim in a final rule in December 2024, and structure-function claims on supplements need a disclaimer. Don't copy a claim without checking the current rules.
• FTC substantiation: taste, sustainability, and "natural" claims need evidence. "Green" claims fall under the FTC Green Guides.
• Alcohol: TTB rules govern labels and advertising in the US, the three-tier system limits direct sales, and state rules vary. Platform ad policies also restrict alcohol targeting by age and country. Check with counsel.
• Retailer agreements: slotting and promotion terms are private contracts. You can see the result (price, placement), not the terms.
• Creator disclosure: FTC Endorsement Guides apply to paid and gifted creator posts.

Plays That Usually Transfer

Metrics to Ask About

• ACV or points of distribution: how many stores and how much of the market carries the product.
• Velocity: units per store per week, by retailer.
• Trade spend rate: trade spend as a share of gross sales.
• Retail media ROAS: sales from retail media ads divided by their cost.
• Promo lift: extra units sold during a promotion compared with the base.
• Repeat rate: share of buyers who buy again, from panel or loyalty data.
• Brand search and social share of voice: demand signals that lead new retailer wins.