In this week’s episode of the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with Stephanie Lind, whose extraordinary story embodies the resilience and innovation at the heart of the food service industry. Stephanie brings invaluable insights from her multifaceted career, emphasizing strategies that drive small, impactful brands toward success against the backdrop of an ever-evolving sector. Nick and Stephanie discuss the complex interplay between sales, marketing, and product innovation in food service. Stephanie also shares the challenges faced by both emerging and established brands, specifically highlighting the broker model's pitfalls and the pressing need for industry-wide reform. 

Quotes

• "I don't think the industry has stopped, at least at the higher levels, to think about their model from the customer's point of view, because the manufacturers and brokers, and when I say brokers, I mean the big guys, they have this relationship that is codependent as much as it is interdependent. There are a lot of people whose job is basically to keep things the status quo. And people don't, like change. Humans don't like change." -Stephanie Lind [30:33]

• "There is a disconnect on the food service side between marketing and sales. A lot of times, for my lens on the broker side, the manufacturer will provide a point of sale or things like that. It may not be pertinent to what we're doing, but I feel like a lot of times, the marketing side is really on the sales teams to figure out how to do it. And so now, a lot of times, it's salespeople trying to be marketing people simultaneously." -Nick Portillo [37:52]

TIMESTAMPS

(00:34) Stephanie’s career trajectory

(01:34) Alohi Strategic Advisors: Empowering small, natural, and sustainable brands 

(02:38) Fiery Five Food Service Questions with Stephanie 

(22:18) The effects of the roll-up of Key Impact and Waypoint and the challenges they face 

(28:28) Lack of transparency in distributor margins 

(31:23) Importance of transparency and fair treatment of partners 

(33:12) Disruption through the creation of comprehensive services 

(38:22) Salespeople often take on marketing responsibilities 

(40:48) Contact Stephanie Lind 

RESOURCES

Portillo Sales

CONTACT 

Nick: nick.portillo@portillosales.com