ISSUE 01 · 21 OCTOBER 2026

Welcome to LISTED - the weekly newsletter for brand builders, category shakers and product floggers.

Expect a weekly mix of practical retail advice, first-hand lessons, honest benchmarks and stealable tools to help you win those precious listings and grow faster. Coming up today:

🎢 Pimentae’s two-year rollercoaster to Sainsbury’s shelves
💸 Poll: Have you put through a CPI in 2026 - and by how much?
📢 Free download: example buyer pitch deck
🧐 A guide to incrementality

Let’s goooo

THE INSIDE TRACK
Pimentae’s two-year rollercoaster to Sainsbury’s shelves

We spoke with Pimetae’s Head of Retail Charlotte Wood about what to do when a buyer says no, why her Sainsbury’s buyer said Pimentae is “so good” to work with, how she’d grow the brand with £50k and if it’s ever a good idea to turn down stores.

P.S: We’ve worked with Charlotte first-hand and know how good she is at what she does. Pens out.

You joined Pimentae nearly two years ago and are now Head of Retail. What does that mean and which accounts do you look after?

We’re a small team, so the scope is wider than it would be in a bigger company. Primarily, I look after grocery accounts: Waitrose, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Ocado and Morrisons. And we’ve got some exciting new accounts coming up too. I also cover a couple of foodservice and travel bits.

Five months ago, you finally landed Sainsbury’s after what you described as an “emotional rollercoaster.” Take us through it.

The whole process of getting to that point was an emotional rollercoaster. I think this is representative of a lot of challenger brand journeys. During the two years we were pitching to Sainsbury’s, buyers changed. And we’re in a category where there’s lots of innovation and newness so it’s really competitive.

There was a yes, then there was a no, then there was a yes - and there was a no. We virtually had a yes and then a no two weeks later. We finally got confirmation around Christmas last year for the March listing.

What were the Buyers pushing back on - and what changed in the end?

The big pushback was pure commercials. Usually there would be a negotiation - you’d propose something and kind of see or feel where that landed. But because it’s just so competitive in this category, it was just a no.

We didn’t know why, but when we asked, she said: “Well, your commercials weren’t strong enough.” Had she come back and said: “Look, I really like the product, but the commercials aren’t where I need them to be,” we could have reviewed them.

We reviewed our whole proposal, moved investment around and made sure our commercials were stronger and aligned to the category.

You’ve said: “‘no’ doesn’t mean never - turning a no into a yes takes patience, timing, relationships and trust.” Practically, what should a NAM do after a Buyer says no?

The first thing is to understand why it’s a no, because you’re never going to turn it into a yes if you don’t understand why. Say: “I just want to understand why, for future reference”. Then take a step back and look at how you can do things differently or change the way you’ve done things.

If their objection is genuinely that there’s not room in the fixture, it’s: what do we outperform in the fixture, or why do we recruit a different shopper? Come at it from a slightly different angle based on their needs and KPIs.

Don’t just keep emailing the buyer for no reason. Go with genuine information or genuine newness that will give them a reason to reply, and show them that you’re listening.

The Sainsbury’s buyer commented publicly that it had been “so good” working with you. Why do you think the relationship has worked so well - and what makes somebody a great supplier to work with?

We’re also very lucky with the category we’re in. We have a lot of events, like Taste of London, branded events and collaborations - fun things to come to that are engaging. It is always nice to have a bit of a relationship with the Buyer outside of just the day-to-day work, because then you’re naturally going to earn their trust more. So if there are any brand events or new launches you could invite them to, do it.

Most Buyers I arrange to meet face-to-face maybe once every six months, but then we see them at events outside of that. Maybe every three months we’re seeing them face-to-face.

^ read about what Charlotte would spend £50k on to grow the brand, her go-to way of growing ROS and whether it’s ever a good idea to turn down stores.

THE QUESTION
Have you implemented a CPI in 2026 - and by how much?

We’ll publish the benchmark in next week’s newsletter.

THE TOOL
Example pitch deck

For our first ever LISTED tool, we’ve created an example pitch deck, designed to demonstrate how a typical buyer deck might look - from the key messages and story flow to the types of insights that build a compelling case.

We’ve created a fictional brand to make this deck as realistic and helpful as possible. Your own pitch will come to life through your unique brand story, product visuals, consumer insight and commercial opportunity.

Whether you’re crafting your first Buyer pitch deck or you’re further along in your journey but always iterating and looking for inspiration - we hope this helps!

THE PLAY
The number that wins buyer meetings: a guide to incrementality

What is it?
Incrementality is the measure of additional value your product brings to a retailer's category - sales that wouldn't have happened without you on shelf. The opposite is cannibalisation: your product simply stealing sales from something already there. Cannibalisation bad, incrementality good. Now for the interesting stuff.

Why it matters more than your sales data
Buyers are judged on category performance, not brand performance. However strong your numbers are, they’ll almost always ask: "where are those sales coming from?" And if the honest answer is "mostly from the product next to us on shelf" you have a problem.

This is why leading with your own sales data alone is rarely enough. The good news: you don't need perfect data to make the incrementality argument - just a few sensible assumptions.

Using incrementality proactively
Most brands reach for incrementality when challenged. The smarter play is to use it proactively, to support your case to replace an existing product. If two products are serving an almost identical shopper, there’s a cannibalisation problem worth raising.

"Products A and B have an 80% shopper overlap. Replacing Product B with BUZZ protects existing sales whilst bringing an entirely new shopper to category. Net result: category growth."

Plant this seed before a ranging review and you'll be front of mind when decisions are made.

The bottom line
Incrementality is not about whether people buy your product - it’s about whether they buy more category because your product exists. To buyers, this is the gold standard.

That’s it for this week.

Have feedback, an idea or something you’d like us to cover? Drop us a reply, we’re always listening.

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See you next Wednesday 👋