Finding growth in mature markets cannot rely solely on better creative.

It is about getting as close to the changing cultural reality of consumers as possible so that you can understand the intersection of emerging demand trends and tomorrow's business models.

Hartman consulting helps food/beverage clients align their food portfolios to real consumer demand, both existing and emerging.

Unlike the big firms, our work harnesses the power of nearly 20 years of constant research on eating behavior, and unparalleled understanding of long term trends in food culture.

Depending on our clients' business problems, we offer a range of solutions from contemporizing the base to rethinking how food/beverage is made and sold in America.

“To accelerate growth in the U.S., the food industry can no longer rely on simply making consumers want what it wants to sell. Senior management needs to stop blaming marketing, step back and reinvent the business of food.” — Harvey Hartman

Key Services for CPG Companies

Contemporizing existing portfolios

Squeeze incremental growth out of cash cow legacy businesses that are not worth reinventing
Re-frame select categories/brands for more adaptive, long term growth in food culture

Portfolio Reinvention

Chart growth in the burgeoning premium food/beverage marketplace
Advise/due diligence on M&A opportunities
Advise on selection of incremental categories to move into

Business Model Innovation

Evaluate demand potential for R&D, supply chain and other operational innovations
Identify new products or services with long term growth potential and overall portfolio fit

Two Unique Tools

The Culture of Food

A high level view of key orientations to eating in contemporary food culture
A consumer-centric context in which to understand your portfolio in a long term context

Occasion-based Strategy

A finer grained tool for contemporizing for your base business and charting relevant incremental growth

Select Clients: