The Category
Food and beverage hiring is its own discipline
Food and beverage runs on things a generalist recruiter has never had to think about. Shelf velocity and ACV, broker and distributor relationships, co-manufacturing and fill schedules, trade spend, cold chain, food safety, and the retailer scorecards that punish an operations miss directly.
A leader who thrived in software or industrial manufacturing often cannot translate to it, and the cost of finding that out after the hire is enormous. We recruit inside this category every day, so we know what a strong VP of Sales looks like at a regional brand versus a national one.
We headhunt rather than wait. The leader you want is employed, performing, and not applying anywhere, which is exactly what retained specialized search is built to reach.
- 01
- We headhunt, we do not waitThe leader you want is employed and not applying. We identify and approach them directly.
- 02
- Channel and stage fluencyGrocery, natural, club, foodservice and DTC, matched to the stage you are actually at rather than an impressive logo.
- 03
- You see every stepA live client portal, written candidate evaluations and a 12-month guarantee. No black box.
What We Cover
Roles We Place Across Food and Beverage
From the executive suite to the plant floor, the roles that keep a food and beverage company growing. Work with a specialized CPG recruiter or food and beverage recruiter who knows your world, or see how our search model works.
Executive Leadership
- CEO
- President
- COO
- CFO
- CMO
Sales and Commercial
- VP of Sales
- National Account Manager
- Director of Trade Marketing
- Field Sales Lead
- Director of Foodservice
Operations and Supply Chain
- VP of Operations
- Plant Manager
- Demand Planner
- Director of Cold Chain
- Procurement Lead
Quality and Food Safety
- Director of Food Safety and Quality
- QA Manager
- Regulatory Affairs Manager
- Sanitation Manager
Brand and R&D
- VP of Marketing
- Brand Manager
- Ecommerce Lead
- Food Scientist
- Director of Innovation
The Search
From intake to a hire that sticks
- 01Discovery and intake
A working session where we define the role, the level, the compensation range, and what success looks like in the first 30, 60 and 90 days.
- 02Search kickoff and portal
Your client portal goes live immediately. Targeted outreach to passive candidates begins within days, and you watch it happen in real time.
- 03Active recruiting
We go directly to operators who are not on job boards, using a network built over sixteen years in the category.
- 04Evaluations and shortlist
Three to five finalists, each with a written evaluation and a clear recommendation, delivered to your portal.
- 05Offer, close and guarantee
Andy supports the negotiation and stays available after the start date. The 12-month guarantee begins on day one.
Candidate Evaluation
You meet the person before the first interview
Every finalist arrives with a written evaluation, not a resume and a sentence. Interview notes from several conversations, a homework assignment tied to your biggest need, career motivations, and the resume itself, merged into one document on your portal.
You will not get a weekly summary email. You will see the candidate the day we add them.
Where we work in the category
- Grocery and retail
- Natural channel
- Club and mass
- Foodservice
- Direct to consumer
- Frozen and refrigerated
- Shelf stable
- Co-manufacturing
Common Questions
Answered
What does a food and beverage recruiter do?
We find and place leaders for food and beverage companies through retained executive search, from manager level through CEO. That means mapping the market, approaching passive candidates, running written evaluations, and backing every hire with a 12-month guarantee.
What's the difference between a food and beverage recruiter and a headhunter?
They describe the same work: proactively identifying and approaching the right leaders rather than waiting for applicants. For senior food and beverage roles the best candidate is almost always employed and not looking.
What F&B companies do you work with?
Brands at every stage, from regional companies making their first functional hire to national manufacturers replacing a sitting executive. Grocery, natural, club, foodservice and DTC are all regular ground for us.
How long does a food and beverage executive search take?
Most searches produce a shortlist of three to five finalists in four to six weeks, with the full search typically running six to ten weeks.
Where are you based, and do you recruit nationwide?
We are based in Golden, Colorado, just outside Denver, and recruit nationwide. Most placements are remote or hybrid, though we also fill on-site plant and operations roles.
Need a food and beverage recruiter who gets it?
Tell us the seat. We will show you how we would run the search.