Preparation + Opportunity = Success

New Leaf has been busy on the tradeshow circuit these last few weeks. In early October, we exhibited at NACS (October 6-8 in Atlanta, GA) and at the end of October, we exhibited at The 14th Americas Food and Beverage Show and Conference (October 25-26 in Miami, FL). Both shows were plagued by the same issue: low foot traffic.


But both shows were a rousing success for New Leaf. How is that possible? Well, in both cases it took a lot of prep work, a little outside-the-box thinking, and a ton of follow up. Let’s start at NACS, and see where it all went right.


Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. No one personifies this idiom like our VP of National Accounts, Rob Welcome. Weeks before the NACS Show, Rob was busy doing his homework: finding out who the buyers were at key national accounts, double-checking name spellings and contact information and generating a database of knowledge about each and every person on his target list. Then, after aggregating a list of these people, he emailed them an introduction of himself and New Leaf. That was then followed by samples, mailed out from the main office in New Jersey, which the prompted follow up mail, phone calls and emails to secure appointments at NACS.


And it didn’t end there. Rob had a comprehensive list of all the people who agreed to meet with him, and if someone did not arrive at the 10x20 New Leaf booth, he called them from the show, and asked them to swing by.


Early on at the show, it became apparent that he was going to need a place to sit and converse with these interested, and by now time-invested, buyers. However, there really was no such place available at the show, so Rob headed over to on-site services and ordered a table and 2 chairs, creating a conference room within the New Leaf booth.


The only true measurement of success is shelf space in the major accounts Rob targeted. And while I can’t comment on the status of most of those discussions, I will say look for New Leaf at your favorite retailer in the coming months.


The second show we attended in October, The 14th Americas Food and Beverage Show and Conference (AFB), is another example of how organization and guerrilla thinking pay off. In advance of the show, New Leaf was able to set up appointments through ECRM with key international accounts in South America, Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Asia and the UK. All of the meetings were set outside of show hours, so we could perform at maximum capacity in our booth at the show.


When it became obvious that we were dealing with light foot traffic, we took our cold samples of New Leaf to the aisles, armed with a rolling barrel cooler filled to the brim with a variety of flavors. Going to the visitors instead of waiting for them to come to us allowed New Leaf to increase our presence at the show ten-fold. By the end of the show, not only were people flocking to the New Leaf booth, but New Leaf bottles could be seen all around the show floor and in other exhibitors’ booths. Everyone at AFB learned to love New Leaf because It Just Tastes Better™.


As I take a step back and look at the success of these two shows, I see that the quick thinking and preparedness displayed by New Leaf team members are the same qualities that are driving the success of our brand.


As an up-and-coming RTD beverage company, fighting for shelf space and establishing distribution across this great country, we are constantly challenged to overcome obstacles that require creative solutions. I have found that the best strategy is to be well prepared before approaching new endeavors. Because we are an independent company – not owned by the likes of a huge corporation (i.e. Pepsi, Coca Cola, et al.) – this allows us the latitude we need to compete effectively: we are able to be adaptable and resourceful, an advantage in an industry full of rigid corporate domination.


Our goal at New Leaf is to create opportunities for to consumers learn what we already know: It Just Tastes Better™. Really, it’s a matter of sampling: once people try our products, it’s truly love at first taste. So, in preparation, we are working on increasing our distribution, and as mentioned above, reaching out to various national chains for plan-o-gram inclusion. Our goal is to have New Leaf products available wherever consumers ask for them and they will, because It Just Tastes Better™.


Eric Skae
Founder & CEO, New Leaf Brands