Director, Food Service Business Development

Schlotterbeck & Foss; Connecticut; Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Schlotterbeck & Foss is seeking a dynamic Foodservice Business Development leader with extensive channel experience to expand our Foodservice footprint in the United States. You will drive growth by identifying opportunities, opening doors with distributors, and converting prospects into profitable, long-term customers.

The ideal candidate has a proven track record in commercial foodservice, relationships with distributors and operators, and can navigate complex paths to market.

Qualifications

• Experience selling into foodservice segments including distribution, national or regional accounts, and key customer channels.
• Existing relationships across foodservice distributor networks strongly preferred.
• Ten+ years of progressive foodservice sales/business development with proven growth track record.

Responsibilities

• Execute and build upon the current Foodservice strategy to expand customer base and grow growth across channels.
• Develop and own a 3-year Foodservice business development plan with target channels, customers, and revenue opportunities.
• Prospect actively through cold calling to create new conversations and build a strong sales pipeline.
• Utilize Salesforce to manage prospects, contacts, conversations, and pipeline stages.

Skills

Foodservice sales

Distributor relationships

Broker management

Travel 50%+

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

The candidate will scale our existing Foodservice business and unlock new avenues for growth, expand our presence in the channel and make Foodservice a larger and more meaningful contributor to the overall growth of the company.

This is a new business development and hunting role for an individual with extensive foodservice industry experience who understands the complexities of the channel and can navigate the many paths to market. The ideal candidate will bring an established understanding of commercial foodservice, distributor networks, value-added protein manufacturers, prepared foods manufacturers, grocery retailers and other foodservice customers, along with the ability to identify opportunities, open doors and convert prospects into profitable, long-term customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Execute and build upon the current Foodservice strategy, expanding our existing customer base and identifying new avenues for growth across key Foodservice channels.
• Develop and own a 3-year Foodservice business development plan outlining target channels, customers, revenue opportunities, pipeline requirements and strategic priorities needed to significantly increase Foodservice as a percentage of our overall business.
• Consistently cold call and conduct proactive outbound prospecting to create new customer conversations, building a strong, qualified sales pipeline.
• Utilize Salesforce as the central business development tool, maintaining accurate records of prospects, contacts, conversations, opportunity stages, next steps, RFQs, expected timing, probability and potential revenue.
• Conduct Foodservice capability presentations for prospective customers, communicating our manufacturing capabilities, product portfolio, flexibility, innovation capabilities and ability to partner with customers, includes a compelling Foodservice value proposition that clearly differentiates Schlotterbeck & Foss from other foodservice manufacturers and competitors.
• Work closely with all cross-functional teams including S&F R&D to develop customer-specific concepts, samples, formulations and applications that demonstrate how our products can solve customer needs and create value.
• Host customer innovation events, demonstrations and ideation sessions, either at the customer's location or in our custom kitchen, to showcase our capabilities and generate new opportunities.
• Work closely with Supply Chain and Operations to understand capacity, lead times, manufacturing capabilities, packaging capabilities and operational constraints so that opportunities pursued are commercially and operationally viable.
• Engage Finance and the SVP of Sales in evaluating opportunities, establishing pricing strategies, determining appropriate margin objectives and ensuring new business meets company profitability requirements.
• Continuously identify opportunities to expand existing Foodservice relationships through new products, new applications, additional SKUs, new facilities, new customers within the organization and additional channels.
• Conduct regular market and competitive intelligence, identifying emerging food service trends, customer needs, competitive activity, new concepts and categories where S&F can compete.
• Track and report key business development KPIs, including new prospects, new contacts, meetings, qualified opportunities, RFQs, pipeline value, win rate, new customers and revenue won.
• Evaluate and manage potential broker (s).
• Develop a reputation in the marketplace as a knowledgeable, credible and solution-oriented S&F Foodservice partner, strengthen the S&F brand and create an expanding network of relationships that can generate future opportunities.

This role will be measured not only by the management of existing Foodservice business, but by the ability to create new opportunities, open new customer relationships and convert those opportunities into profitable, sustainable growth. Success requires a high level of personal accountability, urgency, persistence and consistent prospecting activity.

Experience That Will Support Your Success

• Experience selling into foodservice segments, including distribution, national or regional accounts, and key customer channels.
• Experience working with foodservice distributors such as Sysco, US Foods, DOT Foods, or regional distributors preferred.
• Experience managing brokers across complex selling environments preferred.
• Existing relationships across key foodservice, distributor, operator, and broker networks strongly preferred.
• Ability to influence internal and external cross-functional stakeholders to drive alignment and execution.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a bias for action, ownership, and disciplined follow-through.
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 50%+ to support customers, field execution, broker partners, and geographically dispersed opportunities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; bachelor’s degree in business administration, Sales, Marketing, Food Science, Hospitality Management, Culinary Arts, or a related field preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive food service sales/business development in food experience with a demonstrated track record of generating new business, opening new accounts and delivering profitable growth.
• Candidate must live within reasonable proximity to a major U.S. metropolitan airport.