Food Biz Wiz

I help producers of packaged products in the food industry understand how to get on the retail shelf!

I am a food industry consultant in San Francisco, CA, specializing in wholesale strategy for packaged food, beverage and taxable grocery businesses. I focus on helping packaged food producers understand the ins and outs of wholesale, and how to stand out in a crowded retail space (whether that's physical or digital!) through my online course, Retail Ready®. Since launching in 2016, Retail Ready® h

as supported about 1,000 emerging brands from all around the globe inside of our program. Join the waitlist to find out when Retail Ready® next opens for enrollment here: www.alliball.com/waitlist

Prior to launching Allison Ball Consulting, I was essential in the growth the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses in San Francisco, sourcing product and developing grocery staff for years at Bi-Rite Market on 18th Street, and then in the position of Head of Grocery and Store Manager at Bi-Rite Divisadero, building and managing a team and operations to support over half of the products in the store.

09/03/2026

Building a sustainable packaged products business takes a lot of industry knowledge, patience, creativity, and tenacity. 🛒💪✨🚛💰🥵

One of the most valuable qualities I see in CPG founders is the belief that you CAN figure it out.

“I can figure out how to get better at sales.”

“I can figure out how to make my pricing work for everyone - including me.”

“I can figure out how to fund this next stage of biz growth without getting investors.”

(And it’s rarely “I can figure it out on my own and never lean on anyone for support and DIY it until I get so burnt out that I have to throw in the towel.”)

Soooo a little love note & a little tough love for my hard working founders today! Which reminder did you need to hear?

09/01/2026

Tough love for CPG founders 🛒⤵️

If you can’t hit your sales goals in your own backyard, how the heck are you going to sell in that retail account across the country?

Instead of saying YES to any account that wants your product, focus on going FULL OUT in your own region first.

(I’ll save my rant about one-off accounts on Faire for another day 😜)

In your first ~50 accounts, you’ll learn how to pitch so a wholesale buyer says yes, what promos work to move off the shelf once you’re there, and how to support your brand at the store level.

Until you’ve got this down (and systematized!) - hold off on the temptation to go further afield, no matter how flattering it is when a buyer across the country asks for samples.

Has this worked for you? Let me know in the comments, or prove me wrong! ✨

08/24/2026

Our Retail Ready® student growth blows me away ⬇️

When you join Retail Ready®, you take a biz health assessment to assess what’s working well and where you’re wasting time, money, and energy in 8 key pillars of a successful packaged products business.

We track things like sales & marketing systems, financial health, broker/distributor readiness, founder mindset, and more.

And the results are insane - After 90 days in Retail Ready®, the average founder grows:

🗣️172% in pitch readiness - so you feel CONFIDENT selling

📦 158% in marketing - so reorders come faster

💰 140% in channel strategy - so you’re more profitable

📊136% in sales systems - so you’re no longer winging it with sales

…. And on and on and on - averaging 107.2% growth across all 8 pillars.

We’re the longest running online CPG sales training, helping our students sell over $1 BILLION over the past decade, for a reason: our students get RESULTS.

🛒 Ready to see how Retail Ready® can help you grow your sales?

Comment READY and I’ll send ya DM (or link in bio - save $500 off enrollment thru 8/31!) 💗

08/13/2026

You don’t have to follow the same playbook that $100M CPG brands use.

(investors / brokers/ distributors / national accounts / trade shows / promos, oh my!)

In fact, following that playbook does more harm than good when you’re still on your way to your first million.

Ready to grow your sales sustainably, in independent stores, small chains, direct accounts, and through relationship-first wholesale accounts?

Join my FINAL live sales training this season: next Tuesday, Aug 18 and Wednesday, Aug 19.

I promise I’m gonna give you a bunch of tough love, sales strategy, and immediate next steps for growing your CPG brand before the holidays.

Comment SYSTEM for the free RSVP link, or find it in my bio!

See you there, Alli

08/07/2026

HOPING sales pick up is not a sales strategy 😬

Hustle and hard work gets you started, but DIY turns into WTF in our industry really quick!

Incredible packaged products (like yours!) need systems and strategies to make it from the bottom of a buyer’s inbox to front + center on the shelves.

Enter Retail Ready® - the longest running online CPG sales program in the industry. Over the past decade, we’ve helped over 3,500 brands go from scrappy to scaleable.

This program isn’t just good on paper, it’s good in practice. Inside, we cover:

🍪 repeatable wholesale sales systems that stops you from reinventing the wheel every month

🍪 sales growth strategies built for where your brand is now and where you want to land next, whether that’s 5 accounts or 500

🍪 expert guidance from people who have gone before you and understand both the buyer side and the founder side of wholesale

🍪 a trusted community that helps you move from second-guessing yourself to making confident wholesale decisions

Are you Retail Ready®? Drop a 🍪 if you’re ready to go from DIY to PRO in your packaged products biz!

08/06/2026

Celebrating 9 Retail Ready® alumni who are finalists for Startup CPG 2026 Shelfie Awards! Way to goooooo! 💪📦🎉

(Did you know that a byproduct of being in Retail Ready® is learning how to pitch to ANY application you’re submitting? Whether that’s awards like this, grants, programs like Whole Foods LEAP, or accelerators like SKU or Target Forward Founders…. Our alumni report getting YES’s and acceptance letters after they’ve learned the art of pitching with us!)

Now go use this bragging right in your wholesale pitches!

Join me in congratulating Gigantic — Candy Deluxe Oh So Easy! BRISCA nusa® | discover the secret of jamu Aerchitect Samsāra Nutrition Nut Just a Cookie Cantina Royal | Chef-Driven Brooklyn Hot Sauce hrb•vor HERBAL ICED TEA! Love to see this 🛒🤸💗

07/29/2026

If you can’t get a retail buyer to say YES ⬇️

Ask yourself “why would they trust me?”

🙄 And if you just thought “well my products are THE BEST” or “we make the MOST DELICIOUS xyz…”

Well, everyone and their mother thinks they’ve got the best product line.

Questions about buyer pitches? Drop them below and I’ll help ya out. 📦🛒

-Alli (former wholesale buyer who has helped generate over $1 billion in CPG product sales!)

07/18/2026

No sales = no business.

We’re changing that in Sales Bad-A$$, starting Tuesday.

➡️ Comment BADASS to join us, or grab the link in my bio.

4 week to fundamentally change your sales confidence - so you can get your incredible product line on more shelves and in more homes.

Only $99 for lifetime access 🛒🙌🏽✨

Comment BADASS and Basil the Bot will DM you the full info!

Address

San Francisco, CA

Website

http://www.alliball.com/

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