Efrain Cardenas

Ready to kick-ass with a kick-ass product and team.

Led Retail Revenue and Strategy as disruptor brand in the Cookie category. Developed channel & customer penetration strategy, created price pack architecture, and built sales/trade planning processes and structure. • Exceeded budget by 92%, grew store count from 2000 to 20,000 (53% above goal) and established beachhead across 10 Channels resulting in being named the fastest growing Food & Beverage company in 2022 (Inc. Magazine) • Developed retail capabilities and processes including Category assessments, BIC Sales materials, KPI reporting, and S&OP/forecasting

Led expansion from Ecommerce to Brick and Mortar retail.

Leads revenue generating Branded, Ingredient/B2B, and PL strategy, sales capability development, and org design to meet business objectives. Developed Brand strategy across Super Seed and Protein Powder categories and created Category expansion strategy in Wellness/Protein bars, Granola, and CBD categories. Grew a business from $65M to $100M by multi-channel strategy development. Exceeded Revenue and EBITDA goals by 25% and double-digit growth in each channel. Distribution expansion (+220%) and trial initiatives resulted in doubling of US HH Penetration and expansion to 20 countries. Modernized sales capabilities by developing Annual Customer Planning process, Demand forecasting, S&OP, Trade Promotion Management, Channel Pricing strategy/sloping, Trade ROI, Shopper Marketing and Category Management. Developed purpose driven culture resulting in high employee engagement and employee turnover <2%.

Asked to lead the 3rd largest Grocery Region, the National Geo Region which had $1B in Sales. Responsible for 60 regional grocery customers covering 24 product categories. Managed a $200M budget and a 70 person team. F17 results to date, despite intentionally low customer investment and a lower cost/serve model, outperforming Total Grocery (Top 20 customers) through clear prioritization against biggest opportunities and execution. Topline and share vs. competition performance ranking vs. other Regions improved from 9th to 3rd place.

Selected by leadership to move into highest growth business category to develop and execute Snacks Division domestic Customer Strategy. The Snacks Op Unit is a $2B business with businesses in Granola Bars, Salty Snacks, Fruit Snacks, and Cookies. Member of Snacks Leadership team which jointly builds LRP, Brand, Marketing, Supply Chain, and M&A strategy to achieve top and bottom-line objectives. Managed a $500M merchandising and in store customer budget, 10 direct reports and directed a finance/consumer insights team of four.

Led 11 centralized Region Trade teams (13 direct reports, 35 person team) who act as Liaison between external Customer teams and 5 Operating Units. Accountable to provide hands-on development and retention of this high potential employee group while delivering on each Op Unit’s business strategies and finding operational efficiencies.

Promoted to develop and execute Progresso and Old El Paso Corporate Customer Strategy. Progresso and OEP are a $1B business, hold a 15% market share. Managed a $250M merchandising and in-store Customer budget and team of three and directed a finance/consumer insights team of two.

Promoted to ensure Zone (Multiple Regions) delivers corporate topline by serving as internal voice of the customer in Corporate headquarters. Responsible for strategic business / product development, personnel continuity planning, and profit targets for sales teams responsible for National Grocery, Club, Dollar, Drug, Deep Discount, Military and Mass customers. Sales planning and fiduciary guidance for a team with direct selling responsibility for entire General Mills portfolio. $3B in sales. $600MM in trade expense and similar profit contribution. Served as Chief of Staff to Zone VP.

Promoted and moved to corporate HQ location to serve as lead liaison between Trade Marketing and field sales. Oversaw and directed 20 Product Sales Managers in support of Trade Marketing strategy. Acted as primary point of contact for all opportunities and issues involving go-to-market customer strategy.

Partnered with customers to grow their sales and profits. Progressing through the following roles: Senior Customer Manager- Scottsdale, AZ (2004 to 2005) Customer Manager - Scottsdale, AZ (2003 to 2004) Product Sales Manager - Minneapolis, MN (2001 to 2003) Business Planning Manager, Scottsdale, AZ & Pleasanton, CA (1998 to 2001) Business Team Leader - Houston, TX (1997 to 1998) Sales Management Associate I &II - Dallas, TX (1996 to 1997)