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LaunchPad is the official home to the entrepreneurs of food brands. The dreamers, DOERS,troublemakers, DISRUPTORS and mavericks, who spend every day BREAKING THE RULES accomplishing what others foolishly believe to be impossible.
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The only full service business strategy, branding and REPRESENTATION group intensely focused on emerging food brands highly specializing in Costco.
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At LAUNCHPAD, we are exactly like nothing else in the FOOD INDUSTRY, an anti-agency, a rebel with a cause.
WELCOME TO LAUNCHPAD
Business and Brand strategy with real world relevance, package design that packs a punch.
When it comes to Costco representation, we have reinvented what being a Costco Broker should be.
When it comes to Costco representation, we have reinvented what being a Costco Broker should be.
WE WILL GUIDE YOU, PUSH YOU,
AND NEVER B.S. YOU.
Face it. In today’s new market, the food brokerage model is just plain broke.
The old rules of brand building no longer apply. Today’s shrewd buyers and savvy
consumers demand elevated, unheard of product experiences.
At LaunchPad, forward thinking paired with decades of know-how are the secret
sauce to catapulting emerging brands to a national arena.
TIP-TO-TOE
We get how brands work. We develop winning strategies and fine tune products to appeal to buyers. We present compelling messaging to consumers and win their hearts and their trust. We build the kind of value that is irresistible to venture capitalists. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again. You can take that to the bank.
10,000 HOURS
With decades clocked in the advertising and design world, and years of consulting with Costco, we know the ins and outs of the retail and club dynamic. And because we get the nuance of every aisle, we can confidently inject any category with something new that consumers will rave.
WHAT YOU SEE
IS WHAT YOU GET
There are plenty of companies that will tell you what you want to hear and kindly collect a handsome fee. But because we are interested in the kind of results worth bragging about, we’ll always tell it to you straight; even if it’s uncomfortable. The way we see it, that’s our job, and being shy would be a missed opportunity.
“I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos-especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom…”
Jim Morrison, Poet Rebel and Musician
CREW
GUTSY INDUSTRY PROS
We live to bust open biz as usual in every food & bev category,
and will take our experience to the mat for your brand.

Jeremy Smith
PresidentAfter more than 35 years in strategic sales, branding and marketing Jeremy’s senior management and graphic arts resume is a salute to the country’s most iconic brands. Think Apple, Chobani, Krave Jerky, Bob’s Red Mill and popchips. Prior to Launchpad, as co-founder of Level One, his relationships with buyers, marketers, strategists, venture capital firms and designers, presents enviable connections in the food industry. Jeremy was named to Forbes and Circle Up’s 2017 Top Catalysts Dealmakers and Influencers in the Consumer Industry.

Monique Parent
Vice President of SalesMonique’s mix of experience is ideal for emerging brands as they launch, grow and thrive in today’s marketplace. With over 25 years of sales experience with Fortune 500 companies like Kraft Foods, Starbucks, Cadbury and IRI, to smaller brands like Promax Nutrition, Detour Bar and FRS, she has the brand landscape well covered. From spotting opportunities for growth and new business development, to account management, channel strategy, marketing planning and research, Monique is your gal.

Simon Goode
Goode Consulting | Socially Conscious Entrepreneur & Strategy ConsultantSimon is an expert in early and growth stage food and healthy living companies. He has spent over 25 years in general management and marketing positions at companies including allGoode Organics, Balance Bar, the FRS Company, Junto Bicycle Works, Nestle USA & Promax Nutrition. He has the unique perspective of having started up three businesses, engineered the sale of two brands to strategic investors and run a brand portfolio for a major packaged goods company.

Deb Read
Creative Strategist | Marketbrand.usDeb has worked with both CPG’s and private labels in most every food and bev category. As verbal and visual brand expert, her heart is at the center of connecting what consumers need and want to quality products worth their salt. She has championed brands for decades across all consumer touch points including: Kraft, Hormel, Saralee, Safeway, Conagra, Big Heart Pets, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Logitech, and Williams-Sonoma.

Eric Read
Creative Director | Marketbrand.usEric has boundless passion about making the food biz better. Just ask anyone at Brand Engine, Plumbline, Axion Design, or Primo Angeli from back in the day. An all-star creative with a nose for business, his instincts have benefited clients Dole, Nestlé, Wildwood, Kikkoman, FritoLay, Banana Republic, and Hewlett-Packard. Eric has received hundreds of package design awards, and even though he’s 30 years in, feels like he’s just getting started.
“You climb to the summit, and then there is nothing there…
It’s how you get there that is the important part.
If you compromise the process and you’re an asshole when
you start out. Then you’re an asshole when you return. ”
It’s how you get there that is the important part.
If you compromise the process and you’re an asshole when
you start out. Then you’re an asshole when you return. ”
Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Founder and CEO
WORKSPACE
BRAND SHOUT OUT
As much as we love to brag, these brand stories speak for themselves.
Chobani: Making yogurt relevant again.
FoodGo Raw: Keeping nutrition alive.
FoodHope Hummus: Restoring goodness.
FoodPromax Bar: Personalizing power.
Food5 Hour Energy: Boosting sales.
FoodMaya Kaimal: Making exotic easy.
FoodEvol: Revolutionizing organic.
FoodRed’s: Making the burrito better.
FoodPure. Breaking beyond the bar
FoodBob’s Red Mill: Revitalizing grains.
Food
“I live for myself and I answer to nobody.”
Steve McQueen, Actor and Race Car Driver
SERVICES
EMERGING BRANDS DONE RIGHT.
We’ll help you perfect your product, present itself in the best light, get the numbers right, and
deliver our collective team’s best effort to the biggest buyers in the business.
Innovative collaboration from start to finish, and then some.
BUSINESS STRATEGY
AND CEO SERVICES
• Business Plan Creation & Implementation
• Product Assessment & Development
• Brand Audit & Assessment
• Competitive Analysis
• Operational & Logistics Evaluation
• Co-packing & Materials Partnerships
• Manufacturing & Production Appraisal
• Business Strategy & Planning
• Financial Forecasting & Growth Modeling
• Brand Strategy & Platform
• Go To Market Strategy
• Venture Capital & Investment Relationships
• Management of existing investors (Board relationships, meeting & presentations.)
• Advisory & Board Member Services including Board Development.
BRANDING DESIGN
STRATEGY &
IMPLEMENTATION
• Creative Strategy
• Corporate, Brand & Product Naming
• Brand Narrative & Key Messaging
• Communication Hierarchy
• Design Strategy
• Brand Identity
• Graphic Design
• Package & Structure Design
• Print and Online Marketing Materials
• Brand Documentation & Guidelines
• Trade Show Booth Design
• MARKETBRAND.US
FULL SERVICE
LONG TERM
REPRESENTATION
• Pricing Strategies
• Presentation Strategies
• Full Service Representation
• National Sales Implementation
• Fully Integrated Sales & Administrative Team
• Demo Program Development
• Product Portfolio Management
• Brand Growth Management
• Long Term Brand Stewardship
PARTNERS
POWER OF THE PACK
Because your most tangible ROI is the package in consumer’s hands, we work
with only the most experienced creative minds so your brand beams proudly
through category clutter on shelf. Our partner MarketBrand is an
award-winning Creative Strategy and Design firm with decades of industry
street cred and a passion for turning the food industry on it’s head.
- Snack to Basics Launchpad client, Jeremy Smith, client Representation for Costco.
- Organic Girl Beverages, packaging design by Marketbrand.
- Padma's Easy Exotic, packaging design by Marketbrand.
- Iron Springs Beer, packaging design by Marketbrand.
- CHOW BROS Infused Beverages, packaging design by Marketbrand.
- Urban Remedy, Launchpad client Representation for Costco.
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming we lost the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.”
Gloria Steinem, Feminist, Activist and Journalist
NEWS & BLOG
PUTTING OUT A P.O.V.
NOSH Live Winter 2018 Livestream Studio
CircleUp25: Announcing the 2018 Winners
Kraft Heinz Selects First Springboard Incubator Food & Beverage Brands
Taste Radio Ep. 100: How The Future of Food Will Be Shaped by Blockchain, Brokers & Beer
Noshlive Event in Santa Monica Winter 2017
Consumer Catalysts: 2017’s Top Dealmakers and Influencers in the Consumer Industry
Guest Column: What’s My Valuation? Pt. 2 – So… What Is My Valuation?
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
Truman Capote, Novelist, Screenwriter, Playwright and Actor
CONTACT
WE SHOULD TALK, SERIOUSLY.
Same old, same old or up the ante?
If you think your brand might have what it takes, let’s connect.
LOCATION
6 Crow Canyon Court, Suite 100
San Ramon, CA 94583
PHONE
O 925 329 6425
C 650 576 8803