Joseph Tarnowski’s Post

Wanted to share a little of last night's fireworks out near the Long Island Sound from my brother's boat. Hope you had a great Independence Day!

Here are two people in Chicago you have to meet! On the right is Teresa Ging, Founder and CEO of Sugar Bliss an independent woman minority-owned bakery in downtown Chicago. Sugar Bliss offers a wide variety of baked goods including morning pastries, cupcakes, cake pops, French macarons, brownies, cookies, and more. On top of that, Teresa also launched a line of packaged products back in 2020, and via connections she made via RangeMe and ECRM she has landed some TREMENOUS deals in both retail and foodservice! On the left is Matthew Stannah, the lead bartender at La Grande Boucherie in downtown Chicago. He's one of my best friends from Astoria, and worked at Boucherie's amazing NY location. When they opened this restaurant in Chi-twon earlier this year, Matt and his wife Annie moved there to help out (Annie handles events for the restaurant, so if you are looking for a cool place to celebrate a birthday or other special occasion, definitely check it out!) I interviewed Teresa last week about her brand's success, and when I mentioned my friend's restaurant, she wanted to check it out. Matt sent me this pic last night! Keep an eye out for our blog post later this month featuring Teresa! Nothing makes me happier than connecting good friends! Next, we'll get Maggie Sadowsky of 8 Track Foods over there -- especially since she lives close by! BTW -- Maggie and Teresa, the two of you should definitely meet! You have a lot in common! 😁 #retail #restaurants #hospitality #foodservice #cpg #ecrmrangeme

For CPG brands, transparency with buyers is critical. You need to be transparent about what your capabilities are, as well as what they ARE NOT. Promising a buyer you can do something and then not delivering on that promise is the surest way to lose their trust forever. I was reminded of the importance of transparency by the latest of Ryan Holiday's books, titled, "Right Thing, Right Now." It's part of his Stoic Virtues series, and it focuses on the value of doing good in this world. One quote from the book on this topic really stood out to me: "How many marriages would survive our spouse looking at our phone? Or our boss seeing what's in our email? How many reputations would survive a lawsuit that made it to discovery? If we are inclined to hide it, we probably shouldn't do it. If we dread the publicity, maybe we are not living or doing right. " We should strive for the opposite. We want people to see what we are doing. We want to be the city on a hill. We should be the kind of person [or brand, in this case] who the more they hear about us, the more they respect and admire us." Can your company survive being an "open book" to your buyers and consumers? If not, perhaps it's time to take a look inward. #business #smallbusiness #cpg #retail #ethics #ecrmrangeme ECRM RangeMe

Sometimes great stuff comes on the other side of a mess. About 10 minutes into my ruck yesterday, a thunderstorm came out of nowhere. As you can see, I was completely drenched. I figured I may as well stick it out; after all, I couldn't get any wetter. So I decided to embrace it and make the most of it. Then the rain lightened up. And when I got to Astoria Park, I ran into two good friends I haven't seen in a long time, as they recently had twin boys, who I got to meet for the first time. We spent an hour catching up under the Triboro bridge. Had an awesome time -- it had been far too long and it was great to see them. Then the sun came back out. And you know what? By the time I got back home, I was completely dry. If I would have hurried back home after getting soaked, I would have missed a great time with some awesome friends. This was a little reminder that sure, life throws you curve balls every once in a while. But if you don't let them stop you, often you will find some good that comes from it. You might even hit that curve ball out of the park. 😁

Not sure if it's because they are grown in the U.S., or maybe it's the steel cans, but these black beans from 8 Track Foods were the most flavorful beans I've ever had! Owner Maggie Sadowsky sent me some samples after I interviewed her, and I had them with rice and pasture-raised eggs fried in grass-fed butter, which is my typical lunch every day (boring, I know — but I love it and it's good for my gut microbiome). One thing I noticed was that when I rinsed out the can to throw it in the recycling bin, it rinsed out super fast and clean; I'm guessing the steel had something to do with that. With other canned beans, there is usually gunk that takes a while to rinse out). BTW - Love the design on the label, too! You can find them at Meijer and Whole Foods Market (from connections Maggie made on RangeMe) and in Food Lion (from a meeting facilitated by ECRM), as wellxas a bunch of indie grocers. And you'll see them on our blog shortly! #smallbusiness #womanowned #food #startup #organic #naturalfoods #ecrmrangeme

Coming soon! 8 Track Foods has gotten its products into Whole Foods Market, Meijer and independent grocers via its regular submissions to retailer reviews and its best-in-class profile content that includes detailed information about its products, certifications and sustainability efforts. In addition, the supplier -- which markets beans, chickpeas and lentils that are grown in the U.S. and sustainably packaged in steel cans -- has landed Food Lion via ECRM's Center Store Sessions. I had the privilege of interviewing the company's Founder and Owner, Maggie Sadowsky about her unique background as a food scientist, how she made the pivot to entrepreneur, and how she has leveraged all of the opportunities available to RangeMe Premium subscribers and ECRM Session participants to get maximum exposure and buyer engagement around her brand. We'll be sharing the interview next week, so keep an eye out for it. Here's a little snippet in which Maggie shares some of her RangeMe wins and how she gets the most out of the platform! #smallbusiness #cpg #food #retail #womanowned #supplierdiversity #ecrmrangeme

Do your products fill the white space at retail? During my recent panel discussion at ECRM's Beauty Session, I had two superstar suppliers discuss best practices around retail buyer meetings, from prep to meeting execution to follow up and beyond. In this excerpt from the discussion, Osman Mithavayani of Okay Pure Naturals and Jack Savdie of Global Beauty Care share how they develop products that address white spaces -- those untapped areas of opportunity that require an innovative product or marketing strategy to exploit. Both Osman and Jack are experts at this, and have seen tremendous success from their buyer engagement over the years at ECRM's Sessions. You can watch the entire panel discussion on YouTube at the link in the comments! #cpg #retail #beauty #ecrmrangeme

Long vacations or long weekends? I prefer to take a lot of long weekends, using my PTO to take Mondays off during the summer and the Fall holidays vs. taking a couple of long vacations. For one thing, I tend to get bored doing one thing for a long period, so I can't see myself staying at a vacation resort for a full week, for example. I prefer the frequent "rest and recharge" breaks that long weekends deliver. Plus, they are less disruptive, work-wise. Planning around a missed day is easier than planning around a missed week or two. How do you prefer to use your PTO? Long weekends or long vacations? Let me know in the comments! #wellness #vacation #productivity #business

NielsenIQ was spot on with their research on Gen A beauty trends. Definitely a consumer segment for brands and retailers to watch! Thanks again, Katie Hazlett for the great presentation at ECRM's Beauty Sessions!