A leader in national sales and marketing management of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) with comprehensive knowledge of P&L management, strategy development, customer team and retail leadership, category management and customer development.
Managed businesses generating $110M in sales and a 150-member Direct Store Delivery (DSD) sales organization and possess an established network of channel contacts and a reputation for building and nurturing lasting business relationships. A proactive, flexible, results-oriented team leader and team contributor, and as a supervisor and leader, instill the same sense of loyalty, flexibility, and company-first values in trainees.
Consistently able to deliver industry leading sales and marketing results with a proven history of doing just this in a successful 25-year career. With unparalleled category and brand management skills, not only work to secure sales, but also to improve the organization’s customer retention and reputation.
Director of Sales @ From May 2015 to Present (8 months) VP of Sales & Marketing @ Develop revenue, margin and volume for entire fresh and frozen Amoroso’s business. Personally develop and drive national sales efforts while managing a 90 member DSD sales force and 10 sales and marketing managers. Develop key customers, prospects, marketing activities and sales promotions designed to achieve profitable sales growth through both Frozen Foods and DSD operations.
• Negotiated and secured long-term marketing partnerships with all major Philadelphia based sports franchises including the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and 76er’s. Partnerships include the use of team logos on packages and all merchandising materials and have yielded annual revenue in excess of $1M.
• Developed Private Label program for one of the largest grocery customers in the U.S., impacting 425 stores and generating over $4M in annual revenue.
• Designed new merchandising fixtures currently being used in over 500 outlets yielding incremental sales in excess of $500K annually. From June 2008 to Present (7 years 7 months) President RDU Consulting @ Provided recruiting services for sales, marketing and market research positions for over 30 Fortune 500 Consumer Packaged Goods companies across the U.S.
• Generated $200K in recruiting revenues in first 6 months.
• Developed exclusive recruiting relationships with 3 top-tier CPG companies. From July 2007 to June 2008 (1 year) National Sales Manager @ Led all sales related activities across the United States. Provided direction, leadership and support to two regional sales managers (East & West) and one district sales manager. Developed innovative sales programs to support all classes of trade and managed $4M trade budget.
• Increased overall Stella D’oro case sales by 20% in 2007.
• Directly managed over 30% of Stella D’oro sales volume with Wakefern, A&P, Foodtown, Kings, Associated Supermarkets, Consolidated Supermarkets, Key Foods, Drug Fair and K-Mart.
• Interviewed and signed 40 independent distributors nationally to replace Nabisco distribution system.
• Secured over 2,000 permanent merchandising racks in first 6 months.
• Created customer promotional planner template to track weekly sales and trade expenses. From April 2006 to June 2007 (1 year 3 months) Region Director of Retail @ Managed $89M retail and field customer operations for Nabisco Biscuit Division throughout Metro NY. Managed $20M Stella D’oro business throughout Metro NY and New Jersey with P&L responsibility. Direct reports included 10 management personnel and 140 field sales representatives.
• Improved profitability at Stella D’oro by $9M in 2004 by negotiating a favorable contract with local Teamsters Union
• Team led metro region in sales growth vs. prior year in Q1 and Q2 of 2005.
• Led Nabisco East Area by growing sales over 10% vs. prior year in 2004.
• Implemented quarterly sales incentives and conducted monthly sales meetings to improve morale. From June 2002 to April 2006 (3 years 11 months) Regional Director of Customer Business Teams @ Managed customers with annual sales exceeding $70M. Customer responsibilities included Wakefern Food Corporation, Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Metro NY Division), Kings Supermarkets and all Metro Region Down the Street (DTS) businesses.
• Customer team finished in top 5 nationally for 2 consecutive years with blended growth rate of 7.8% vs. national growth rate of 1.1%.
• Assisted in development of detailed tracking forms for managing promotional planning and spend rates.
• Led efforts to implement joint promotional and delivery events with the Planters Company at Wakefern Food Corporation generating sales increase of 6.8% over prior run rate. From 1998 to 2002 (4 years) Category Manager @ • Initiated, developed and implemented trade specific partnership programs designed to achieve volume, share and return on investment goals by brand across the New York, Vermont and Northern New Jersey markets.
• Sold Wakefern on the benefits of awarding total Snack Category Management to Frito-Lay and devised and implemented a strategy which secured 30% space increase across the chain (+8’ per store).
• Led Account Team to achieve +40% growth rate across Key Accounts, paced by Price Chopper at +60%.
• Successfully developed unique promotional store specific strategy which resulted in a +40% increase in promotional volume at Wakefern for 3 consecutive years.
• Managed a budget in excess of $1.5M, planning, recruiting, training and logistics for each Market. From April 1987 to June 1997 (10 years 3 months)
BS, Economics @ Kean University From 1982 to 1987 Edison High School From 1979 to 1982 Ron Ugarte is skilled in: IRI, Shopper Marketing, Grocery, Direct Store Delivery, Consumer Products, Nielsen, Key Account Development, National Accounts, Sales Management, Trade Marketing, Key Account Management, P&L Management, Management, Spectra, AC Nielsen, Categorization
Websites:
http://www.dawnfoods.com