Author: sosbusinessdevelopment14

Report: High-Volume Wholesale Sales Opportunities You’re Overlooking – Stop Selling The Bag, Start Selling The Margin

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By David Schwartz, Sales Growth Specialist, SOS
david@sosbusinessdevelopment.com

In the specialty coffee world, we’re conditioned to hunt for the “perfect” multi-roaster café. But while we’re all fighting over the same five cafes in town, massive high-volume opportunities are being left to commodity coffee brands.

I’m talking about “sleeper” accounts: regional dessert boutiques, specialized QSRs, and—as I recently navigated—a 500+ unit frozen yogurt chain.

The Scale Shift
When you move into the 500+ unit territory, the conversation changes. These businesses aren’t looking for a “coffee supplier”; they are looking for a strategic partner who can help them increase their “Average Transaction Value” (ATV) without adding operational complexity.

The Elephant in the Room: Price
The #1 reason roasters shy away from these deals is the fear of being “out-priced.” You’re worried your $12/lb wholesale price can’t compete with an $8/lb commodity bid.

Here is the Secret: Stop Selling the Bag; Start Selling the Margin.
In a high-volume retail environment (like a yogurt chain), the coffee is an add-on. If I can show a buyer that using a premium specialty roast allows them to charge $4.50 for a pairing instead of $3.00, the “extra” $4.00 per pound they pay you becomes a rounding error compared to their increased profit.

Bridging the Gap Without the Overhead
Scaling to meet the needs of a 500-unit chain sounds terrifying to a small to medium size roaster. How do we handle the prospecting? How do we manage the roll-out?

Winning these accounts requires a sophisticated, end-to-end sales “engine”. It requires prospecting that looks more like business development and less like “cold calling.”

Many specialty roasters lack the internal infrastructure to manage this level of outreach, but they also don’t want the six-figure overhead of a full-time Sales Director. This is where my role as a Sales Growth Specialist creates the most value: I provide the top-tier expertise to hunt and close these “sleeper” accounts on a contract basis.

The volume is there. The question is whether your sales strategy is equipped to capture it. Let me know.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨


David Schwartz
Specialty Food + Coffee
Sales Growth Specialist
Phone 760.636.4559

Dial In Your Wholesale – Stop The Leaks Before They Drain Your Margin

Wholesale

By David Schwartz, Partner, SOS
david@sosbusinessdevelopment.com

Wholesale should be the steady, predictable revenue engine of a coffee or specialty food company. Instead, for many founders, it’s a quiet leak.

Accounts that don’t reorder.
Pricing that hasn’t been adjusted in years.
Sales reps “working on it.”
Distributors sitting on stagnant SKUs.
Margins that look fine on paper—but thin in reality.

You don’t notice the leak in one dramatic moment. You notice it when cash feels tight even though volume is “up.” That’s not a volume problem. That’s a wholesale problem.

What Is “Wholesale Leaking”?

Wholesale leaking is incremental revenue and margin loss happening across your channel without visibility or correction. It shows up in subtle ways:

  • Accounts ordering 10% less each quarter
  • Special pricing never revisited
  • Freight quietly eating margin
  • Reps closing low-quality accounts
  • Distributors favoring other brands
  • No system for reactivation
  • No accountability for follow-through

It’s not dramatic. It’s operational. And operational problems compound. “Most founders think they need more accounts. In reality, they need to fix the accounts they already have.”
— David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

Why Wholesale Leaks Happen

Founders and operators are stretched thin. Roasting, sourcing, payroll, marketing, production. Wholesale becomes reactive.

Someone places an order.
Someone answers an email.
Someone promises to “follow up.”

But no one owns the system. And wholesale without a system always leaks. “Wholesale is not a sales activity. It’s a channel. And channels require structure.” — David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

The 7 Most Common Wholesale Leaks

  1. Unexamined Pricing
    • Legacy pricing left untouched for years
    • Freight and input costs absorbed quietly
    • No tier discipline
  2. Dead or Dormant Accounts
    • No reactivation cadence
    • No structured follow-up
    • No segmentation by potential value
  3. Distributor Drift
    • No regular check-ins
    • No account mapping
    • No velocity tracking
  4. No Clear Ideal Account Profile
    • “Anyone who wants to buy” becomes the strategy
    • Poor-fit accounts drain service resources
  5. Sales Without Margin Discipline
    • Discounts to close deals
    • No minimum standards
  6. No Channel Strategy
    • Cafés, grocery, foodservice, hospitality all treated the same
    • No focused push
  7. No Owner-Level Oversight
    • Wholesale delegated but not directed

“You can’t fix what you don’t measure. Most wholesale operations aren’t measured — they’re tolerated.”
— David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

What “Dialed In” Wholesale Looks Like

When wholesale is dialed in, you see:

  • Clear pricing architecture
  • Defined ideal account profile
  • Segment-specific messaging
  • Distributor accountability
  • Reactivation systems
  • Margin protection discipline
  • Regular performance reviews

It’s calm. Structured. Predictable. And profitable. “Dialed in doesn’t mean aggressive. It means disciplined.” — David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

Volume Is Not the Goal

Many roasters chase wholesale volume. More doors. More accounts. More SKUs. But more undisciplined wholesale simply means more leak points. The goal isn’t volume. The goal is profitable velocity. “A smaller wholesale base with discipline will outperform a bloated account list every time.” — David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

The Real Cost of Ignoring the Leak

Let’s say:

  • You do $2M in wholesale.
  • 8% of that is quietly underperforming or underpriced.
  • That’s $160,000 of erosion.

Not catastrophic. But meaningful. And it compounds annually. Most owners feel the pressure but can’t see the cause. They assume:

  • The market is soft.
  • Competition is tougher.
  • Costs are just higher now.

Sometimes that’s true. Often, it’s leakage.

Dial In Before You Scale

Before you add a sales rep.
Before you go to another trade show.
Before you chase national distribution.

Dial in what you already have.

Review:

  • Pricing discipline
  • Margin by account
  • Account concentration
  • Reorder frequency
  • Sales follow-through
  • Distributor performance

“Founders don’t need more complexity. They need clarity.”
— David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

Final Thought

Wholesale should not feel chaotic. It should feel engineered. If it feels unpredictable, strained, or thinner than it should be, there is likely a leak. And leaks don’t fix themselves. They require direction. They require ownership. They require someone willing to look under the hood. “You don’t grow wholesale by pushing harder. You grow it by tightening it.” — David Schwartz, Partner, SOS

If you run a specialty coffee or specialty food brand and wholesale feels heavier than it should, it may not be a growth problem.

It may simply be time to dial it in.


David Schwartz
Specialty Food + Coffee
Outsourced Executive Sales + Marketing Director
Phone 760.636.4559
Inquire
Email

Give Wholesale A Better Shot – Why Specialty Coffee and Food Producers Should Rethink and Rebuild Their Wholesale Channel

Business Development, Wholesale

By David Schwartz, Partner, SOS
david@sosbusinessdevelopment.com

Most specialty brands have a wholesale website page. Few have a wholesale strategy.

Wholesale often starts reactively — a café calls, a retailer inquires, a distributor reaches out. You say yes and hope it grows.

But without structure, it doesn’t.

Read more: Give Wholesale A Better Shot – Why Specialty Coffee and Food Producers Should Rethink and Rebuild Their Wholesale Channel

Wholesale plateaus. Margins erode. Follow-up breaks down. Leads go stale. Founders get frustrated.

That’s not a channel problem. It’s a strategy problem.

“Most founders think they have a sales problem,” says David Schwartz, SOS Partner and Outsourced Sales and Marketing Director. “In reality, they have a channel strategy problem. The sales team can’t close what hasn’t been clearly positioned and structured.”

Why Wholesale Matters More Than Ever

The specialty sectors aren’t shrinking. They’re expanding.

 Global Specialty Coffee Growth
The global specialty coffee market was valued at over $110 billion in 2025 and projected to exceed $300 billion within the next decade, growing at roughly 10% annually.

 U.S. Specialty Food Market Strength
The U.S. specialty food market now represents over $200 billion in annual retail sales, according to industry trade data, with consistent multi-year growth driven by premium positioning and consumer demand for differentiated products.

That’s not niche demand. That’s structural market momentum.

And most of that volume moves through wholesale channels — retail stores, cafés, restaurants, specialty markets, and foodservice.

If your wholesale channel is underbuilt, you’re under-capturing growth that already exists.

The Leaks That Kill Wholesale Performance

Across specialty coffee and food brands, the same issues recur:

  1. Undifferentiated pitch — “We’re high quality” isn’t a strategy.
  2. Loose pricing — inconsistent discounting erodes margin.
  3. No defined account profile — anyone becomes a lead.
  4. No sales process — follow-up is reactive and undocumented.
  5. Founder bottlenecks — every deal routes back to the owner.

“Wholesale shouldn’t feel random,” says Schwartz. “When it feels random, you’re leaving revenue and margin on the table.”

The Business Case for Wholesale

When structured properly, wholesale delivers:

Predictable revenue
Recurring orders stabilize cash flow.

Operational efficiency
Larger production runs improve margin control.

Lower acquisition cost
One strong account can equal hundreds of retail customers.

Market authority
Strategic placements build credibility and brand reach.

Scalable growth
You grow distribution without adding retail overhead.

For specialty food producers especially, wholesale often represents the primary path to scale — through regional grocery chains, distributors, and foodservice partnerships.

What “A Better Shot” Actually Means

Giving wholesale a better shot isn’t about more activity.

It’s about tightening the system:

  • Defined ideal account profile
  • Real margin math
  • Structured outreach
  • Clear close process
  • Managed execution

“You don’t fix wholesale by sending more sales emails,” Schwartz explains. “You fix it by clarifying who you’re for, what problem you solve, and how your accounts win by working with you.”

That clarity improves close rates.
It protects margin.
It reduces wasted effort.

David Schwartz
Specialty Food + Coffee
Outsourced Executive Sales + Marketing Director
Phone 760.636.4559
Inquire
Website
Email

Rising Costs, Tariffs, and Inflation: How Pricing Strategy Adjustments Drive Profitability

Business Development, ,

By David Schwartz, Partner, SOS Coffee, Food+Beverage Consulting
david@sosbusinessdevelopment.com

In today’s business climate, many coffee, food, and beverage businesses are grappling with the challenging trifecta of rising costs, tariffs, and inflation. Whether you’re in the coffee, food, or beverage industry, these economic pressures can make it seem like no matter how much you invest, you just can’t get the return you’re hoping for. The reality is, there’s no magic formula for overcoming these obstacles, but there is a strategic approach that can give your business the edge it needs: pricing strategy adjustments.

At SOS Consulting, we’ve worked with coffee, food, and beverage businesses to implement pricing strategy adjustments that address these very challenges. The result? Increased profit margins, revenue growth, and a more sustainable long-term business model. In this blog, we’ll discuss the pricing strategies that have proven effective for businesses facing rising costs and inflation, and how you can apply them to your own operation.

The Impact of Rising Costs, Tariffs, and Inflation

Before diving into the solution, let’s quickly examine the problem. Rising costs, tariffs, and inflation are all major concerns for businesses in 2025 and possibly in the years to come.

Rising costs are felt across the supply chain—from raw materials and transportation to labor and energy. This puts pressure on companies to maintain profitability while costs climb.

Tariffs can further increase the cost of goods, especially for businesses importing materials or products from overseas. The cost of coffee beans, for example, has been volatile in recent years due to shifting tariffs and trade policies.

Inflation affects the price of virtually everything, making it harder for businesses to keep prices competitive while managing operating costs.

All of these factors contribute to a squeeze on margins. But even in the face of these challenges, businesses have the power to adapt their strategies to protect their bottom lines.

The Power of Pricing Strategy Adjustments

One of the most effective ways to combat rising costs is through pricing strategy adjustments. The right pricing structure not only helps to offset increased costs but also aligns your pricing with the value you’re delivering to customers. By carefully adjusting your pricing, you can increase profitability without losing customer loyalty.

SOS Actionable Tactic: Tiered Pricing Structure

One of the key strategies we’ve implemented for our clients is the tiered pricing structure. This strategy involves charging different prices for products based on their quality, exclusivity, or other value-added factors. It allows you to cater to different market segments while increasing profitability for premium products.

For example, let’s consider a coffee roaster. They may have several types of coffee blends: premium single-origin beans, mid-tier blends, and budget options. With a tiered pricing structure, you can charge more for the premium, high-quality single origins and offer lower prices for the budget blends. With espresso blends, it’s the same except that it is now commonplace to blend Arabica with Robusta beans, as the European roasters have been doing for some time. The key is making sure each price point reflects the value the customer receives. You’re charging more for higher quality, but you’re also giving customers more options to choose from.

The Results: Profit Margins and Revenue Growth

Implementing a tiered pricing structure has shown remarkable results for businesses we’ve worked with. Here’s a glimpse of the impact:

Premium Products: By charging more for higher-quality products, we’ve seen profit margins increase by up to 32% for premium offerings. The difference in price between a standard and premium product often covers the increased costs of production, resulting in a higher net margin.

Overall Revenue Growth: The increase in profitability from premium products doesn’t just benefit high-end lines; it boosts total revenue as well. Businesses that implement tiered pricing structures have experienced an overall 22% growth in total revenue. By focusing on higher-margin products, you can offset the impact of rising costs on lower-margin goods.

These results aren’t just hypothetical—they reflect real-world applications. Our clients have seen substantial improvements in both profitability and long-term sustainability through pricing adjustments.

Why Tiered Pricing Works

Tiered pricing works because it acknowledges that not all customers are the same. Some are willing to pay a premium for the highest-quality product, while others are more focused on value and price. By offering multiple tiers, you can meet the needs of both segments and maximize your revenue potential.

Additionally, a tiered pricing structure provides a clear value proposition. Customers understand that the price they pay is tied to the quality they receive, making them feel more confident in their purchasing decision. This transparency is especially important in industries like coffee and specialty foods, where quality and sourcing practices can significantly impact perceived value.

How to Implement Tiered Pricing in Your Business

If you’re considering implementing a tiered pricing structure for your coffee, food, or beverage business, here are some steps to get started:

1. Assess Your Product Offerings

The first step in creating a tiered pricing model is to assess the different products or services you offer. Are there variations in quality, size, or features that justify a higher price point? For coffee businesses, this could mean categorizing blends by origin or processing method.

2. Identify Your Customer Segments

Next, identify the different customer segments that buy your products. Do you have premium customers who are willing to pay more for exclusivity? Are there budget-conscious buyers who prioritize cost over quality? Understanding your customers’ needs will help you tailor your pricing structure to match their preferences.

3. Define Your Pricing Tiers

Once you have a clear understanding of your products and customers, define your pricing tiers. A typical tiered pricing model might look something like this:

Premium Tier: High-quality or exclusive products that command a higher price.

Mid-Tier: Good-quality products that offer a balance of price and value.

Budget Tier: More affordable options that cater to cost-conscious customers.

Be sure to position each tier based on customer expectations and the value they receive at each level.

4. Communicate the Value

Make sure your customers understand the value of each tier. This means clearly communicating the benefits of each product, whether it’s through marketing materials, product descriptions, or customer interactions. You want customers to feel confident that they are getting a good deal at every price point.

5. Test and Adjust

Pricing is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. It’s important to test your pricing structure and make adjustments as necessary. You may need to tweak the pricing or product offerings based on customer feedback and sales performance.

The Bottom Line: Sustainable Growth Through Smart Pricing

Rising costs, tariffs, and inflation can make it feel like your business is caught in a financial squeeze. However, by adjusting your pricing strategy to reflect the true value of your products, you can counteract these pressures and maintain profitability.

Implementing a tiered pricing structure is one of the most effective ways to not only survive but thrive in today’s challenging business environment. With this approach, you can increase profit margins for your premium products, boost overall revenue, and ensure long-term sustainable growth.

At SOS Consulting, we’ve successfully helped numerous coffee, food, and beverage businesses navigate pricing challenges and come out on top. If you’re facing similar struggles, we invite you to reach out for a free consultation to explore how pricing strategy adjustments can help your business stay profitable, even in difficult economic times.

Contact David at SOS Consulting:
+1.760.636.4559
david@sosbusinessdevelopment.com

By implementing these actionable tactics, your business can adjust to the realities of rising costs and set itself up for a brighter future.

This blog provides a comprehensive overview of how businesses can address the challenges of rising costs, tariffs, and inflation with actionable pricing strategies, helping you increase profitability and set your business up for success.