Natural Products Consulting Releases 8th Edition Field Manual
ANDOVER, Mass. — A completely revised, updated, expanded Eighth Edition of The Natural Products Field Manual, the natural and specialty products industry’s leading guide for bringing products to market across all channels and classes of trade has just been released. Industry veterans Bob Burke and Rick McKelvey, co-founders of The Natural Products Consulting Institute (NPCI), co-authored the 45 chapter, 4-volume manual enhanced with the added insights from over 60 well known industry CEO’s, buyers, brokers, distributors and experts. Not just for startups, the manual has been used by large mainstream companies, long time, experienced natural and specialty products companies, smaller organizations and many trade consulates, investors, consultants, publishers and leading business schools.
The manual is organized into four volumes. Volume 1 – The Basics, covers topics such as budgeting and planning, pricing and margins, working effectively with brokers, financing, maximizing trade shows, managing co-packers and everything else you need to get started. Volume 2 – Trade marketing covers working with distributors, trade spending, deductions, and much more. Volume 3 – Consumer marketing covers branding, couponing basics, public relations, trade advertising, database marketing, social media and much more. Volume 4 is dedicated to the latest trends and updates in the industry including current profiles on leading distributors and retailers and their programs along with eCommerce, Direct to Consumer, Chain Drug Channel, Canada and more. It is ideal for anyone seeking to profitably grow their business in the natural and specialty channel, foreign companies entering the US market, companies who want to educate internal marketing, accounting and support staff on how the industry works and those writing business plans or growth strategies.
Flash drive and coupons for services, including half-day consulting with authors:
The manual includes a flash drive with directories of natural products stores that make up 80% of the volume in the channel, a listing of brokers within the space, channel specific distributors, contract sales organizations, key natural retailer and distributor program overviews, category review schedules and new item forms, pricing and budget models and more. The databases are on Excel spreadsheets which enables users to sort and create their own lists for ready use. Available for $3,999, the Natural Products Field Manual, Eighth Edition offers more than 50 coupons valued at over $100,000 on services from leading companies in the space such as New Hope Natural Media, UNFI, SPINS, and Nutrition Business Journal. Also included are companies specializing in brand building/packaging, channel specific consultants (eCommerce, Direct to Consumer, Airline, Food Service, Operations), leading recruiters, public relations firms, outsourced sales management, retail services, retail and consumer promotional offers, discounts off ingredients and more. Finally, a half-day complimentary consultation with the authors is included as well.
About Natural Products Consulting Institute
Burke and McKelvey founded the Natural Products Consulting Institute in 2001 as a platform for publishing and seminar products for manufacturers and brand owners bringing natural, organic and specialty products to market across all channels. Its mission is to provide the most useful, insightful, and relevant information, training and educational materials leading to profitable growth and a healthy sustainable business in the natural and specialty products industries.
Bob Burke has been a consultant running Natural Products Consulting, LLC for 21 years and previously served as Vice President of Sales and Corporate Development at Stonyfield Farm. He serves on a number of boards and advisory boards and often speaks and presents and major industry trade shows and conferences. Burke was named “One of the top 25 business builders” in the last 25 years by Natural Foods Merchandiser. Rick McKelvey worked for 12 years as Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Lightlife Foods, Inc. and now operates a thriving brand management business.
In addition to collaborating with over 60 leading CEOs, retailers, distributors, brokers and industry experts to produce the landmark Natural Products Field Manual, Eighth Edition, NPCI has created a network of industry experts covering all specialties and capable of tackling any assignment for those companies in need of ongoing or specialized services.
For more information, or to order the book, contact NPCI, 8 Cobblestone Lane, Andover, MA 01810, tel. 978-886-1052 or visit www.naturalconsulting.com Master Card, Visa and American Express are accepted. Installment plans are also available for early stage companies.
