Top Seedz will roll out its products to all 156 Giant supermarkets later this year after receiving a purchase order recently.
It’s the first major retail chain to onboard Top Seedz products since the crackers-and-seeds startup won the 43North competition in October. Giant initially committed to stocking Top Seedz before it even received the company’s samples.
Other major chains selling Top Seedz include Wegmans, Whole Foods, Tops and California-based Erewhon (where they caught the attention of Gwyneth Paltrow).
The Giant deal is a major moment for Top Seedz, especially because it’s only half the battle.
The company must now convince new consumers in Giant territories of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia that its artisan crackers are worth buying.
Top Seedz CEO Rebecca Brady said the company will utilize its new business infrastructure to support that effort. Brady built Top Seedz, customer by customer, by standing at individual stores and handing out crackers.
Now she has a consumer sales and marketing lead who will place Facebook ads in Giant territories. She’ll work to identify events and promotions, and get Top Seedz products into gift bags. And she’ll seek health-conscious venues, such as fitness centers, that are willing to feature Top Seedz on display tables.
And a newly hired business-to-business sales and marketing employee will manage the relationship with Giant, and who will measure the success of Top Seedz at each store. That employee will work under the oversight of Brady’s husband – William – a former manager at Moog Inc. who came over to work at Top Seedz.
“Getting into the store is only a quarter of the battle,” Brady said. “The main thing is moving them out the door, because if you don’t do that, they’re not going to order again.”
Top Seedz wowed the 43North judges by the quality and popularity of its products and through Brady's commitment to become a $100 million company in the next few years.
Brady said that remains the goal. She is actively searching for new space to accommodate the expected growth, and plans to finalize that process soon. Her current space on Cayuga Drive is leased into October 2023 and she may keep the two spaces, especially as she seeks to diversify her product offerings beyond crackers.
The Top Seedz workforce has increased from 20 to about 30 employees this year.
As the business grows, Brady said she’s had to learn how to delegate responsibility for aspects of the business that she used to tightly control.
“We’ve had an exciting first half of the year focused on growing within our existing stores and preparing to introduce crackers to new locations,” Brady said. “Even my job has changed so much. We are learning how to do new things and just focused on building this company.”
