UK Food & Drink Success Stories: How BitesWeLove Won Over Whole Foods
How do you go from spotting a gap in the market to landing your snacks on Whole Foods shelves? Marleen and Luuk from BitesWeLove did just that and shared her journey with us after pitching at Bread & Jam Festival 2024. From prepping the perfect slide deck to nailing the pitch (and handling a last-minute packaging curveball), here’s how she did it, plus her top tips for smashing your own pitch.
🚨 Pitching applications for Bread & Jam Festival 2025 are now open! Apply to pitch to Whole Foods Market and 25+ other top retailers before 7th July at 10am.
Give us the lowdown on BitesWeLove, how did it all begin?
BitesWeLove was founded in 2015 by Marleen. Working as a category manager on impulse for Albert Heijn (leading retailer in the Netherlands), she saw that a consumer need for healthy and tasty snacks was not being addressed by existing brands, and so she decided to found BitesWeLove and fill this gap. Now 10 years later, BitesWeLove is one of the leading healthy snacking brands in the Netherlands with healthier bites like nut mixes, crunchy corn, lentil crisps and oat bars.
How did you prep for your pitch at Bread & Jam? Any tricks that helped you feel ready?
I believe the trick is to prepare really really, really well, dry run often and know exactly what you want to say. Yet - then have the confidence and flexibility to walk in the room and be ready to just have a good conversation, even if that means not following your storyline. If you prepared well enough, you’ll find a way to get your main points across.
What do you think made your pitch land so well with the Whole Foods buyers?
We pitched our brand new Chewy Oat Bars; a low sugar oat bar with no added sugar or artificial sweetners that are also free from nuts, gluten and vegan. Something that really shakes up the category where sugar and sweetners dominate. In the pitch we focused on the distinctiveness of our concept in the category, how that brings value to the buyer AND the consumer,and made sure we did not add unnecessary slides. Boil it down to the core! Time is short.
Did you go in with a slick presentation or was it more of a back-and-forth conversation?
We had a slick (but short) slide-deck ready, but then just went through it casually and had a nice conversation. The slides served as back-up to ensure everything was covered.
Was there a moment when you could see the buyer getting excited? What do you think clinched it?
The moment the buyer grabbed one of the samples, checked the ingredient list, and started asking detailed questions, that’s when I sensed she was genuinely interested.
What happened after the pitch? Did things move quickly, or was there a bit of a waiting game?
It went rather smoothly. I believe several weeks after the Bread & Jam they expressed interest to launch in January.
Any hiccups along the way or was it all pretty smooth sailing?
Initially Whole Foods wanted to launch start of January, but our product would not be ready by then. Also, in the end we decided to launch a smaller packaging size than we anticipated when pitching at the Bread & Jam. However, We managed expectations well (and in time) and fortunately Whole Foods was flexible enough to agree to list us in February instead, with the smaller packaging size.
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice before pitching, what would it be?
I’d tell myself just to relax. If you prepared well, and you know your story inside-out, there's no need to stress. Now just have fun!
What are your top three tips for smashing a buyer pitch?
1. Prepare prepare prepare before the pitch,
2. Have fun during the pitch, be ready to deviate if the conversation needs you to.
3. smash the pitch, but don’t forget to get contact details ;)