🎓 Build better beverage sales teams, onboarding systems, and field execution: BEVedu.co 🛒 Learn more from Robert Johnson: AstraCPG.com How do you sell to retail buyers, get a new product into grocery stores, and build relationships that actually create opportunities? In this episode of the Off Route Podcast, I sit down with Robert Johnson, founder of Astra CPG and a grocery retail veteran with more than 20 years of experience. Robert started at store level, worked his way into merchandising and category buying, and now helps CPG sales teams, emerging brands, and brokers understand how buyers actually think. We break down what retail buyers look for from sales reps, why great relationships can't overcome poor execution, how data influences buying decisions, what Robert calls “operational friction,” and why the best CPG sales reps learn to think from the buyer's side of the desk. We also get into grocery merchandising, category management, forecasting, product packaging, brokers, new-item presentations, Buyer Ready Standards, and the small details that can determine whether a buyer trusts you with the next opportunity. If you work in beverage sales, CPG sales, grocery retail, distribution, category management, or you're trying to get an emerging brand into retail, this conversation gives you a look behind the buyer's desk. Chapters00:00 – 01:04 | Meet Robert Johnson & Astra CPG 01:05 – 04:39 | How Astra CPG Started 04:40 – 06:44 | What Sales Reps Get Wrong About Buyer Communication 06:45 – 08:21 | From Grocery Clerk to Retail Buyer 08:22 – 11:24 | How Robert Earned His Buyer Role 11:25 – 15:11 | Merchandising, Forecasting & Managing Multiple Stores 15:12 – 18:04 | Why Store-Level Experience Matters to Buyers 18:05 – 20:49 | What It Means to Think Like a Buyer 20:50 – 23:24 | Product Packaging, Case Packs & Shelf Space 23:25 – 28:07 | Buyer Ready Standards & Reducing Operational Friction 28:08 – 30:24 | Data vs. Relationships: What Actually Wins With Buyers? 30:25 – 34:04 | How CPG Brokers Work 34:05 – 38:14 | What Emerging Brands Need to Understand About Brokers 38:15 – 40:32 | What Buyers Want From CPG Sales Reps 40:33 – 43:42 | Building Astra CPG & Training Sales Teams 43:43 – 44:59 | The #1 Lesson for Selling to Retail Buyers
