How To Get Into Mad Butcher
The name “mad Butcher” sounds like something off a horror movie. The imagery it paints is probably that of a psychotic man who doubles as a butcher and a serial killer. He probably stays in peaceful village from where he sells his meat by day and hunts people by night. Gory right? Well every business has its own peculiarity and for this particular chain its peculiarity starts with its insanely outstanding name. it is a name that jumps straight off the shelf ad right at you. Mad Butcher. I doubt if you can ever forget that name. Of course you can’t and neither can her customers.
But the name is not just what makes Mad Butcher stand out. The name “The Mad Butcher” is synonymous with Sir Peter Leitch. The big question, who is Sir Peter Leitch? Sir Peter Leitch, or simply called Leitch, is a businessman in New Zealand. He is well known for the chain of butcheries he founded is currently the ambassador of, he is the founder of the New Zealand based butchery chain called Mad Butcher. Much more interestingly, he is even the more popular for his charity, fundraising work and his promotion of the New Zealand rugby league, the Mangere East Hawks and the Warriors.
The butchery chain was founded in 1971 in Rosella Road, Mangere East. When a friend suggested a marketing gimmick for his radio advertising, Leith was said to have recalled an occurrence at the pub in which someone referred to him as “that f**king mad butcher”. Hence his butchery became, “and that was how the butchery came to be called “Mad Butcher”.
In the past few years, the number of Mad Butcher stores have shrunk from over forty to an all-time low of twenty-nine. Slice 2015, at least a dozen stores have closed, including two in Auckland which occurred last month. This huge loss was explained by Peter Jollands, who had been appointed to liquidate about five stores since 2016, to be the result of a flawed and unsustainable system. According to him, the cost of sales was about 90 per cent which left only about 10 per cent gross profit. Michael Morton, the managing partner of Mad Butcher, blamed some of the problems that his stores were facing on industry-wide issues. According to him, “Red meat has become incredibly expensive because more and more, we’re competing with international customers from the export market, and suppliers would rather deal with one large international customer than lots of smaller local ones.”
It is not all gloomy news for Mad Butcher. According to NZ Herald Mad Butcher will continue earning decent profits from the butchery chain, even if dome independent store operators are struggling. This makes bold the promise of Morton to bring back the glory days.
If you desire to be a supplier for Mad Butcher this is the best time. Walk into any store and pitch your product to the man or simply send a mail to madbutcher.
How to get your product into Mad Butcher
- Understand you client: Before you spend a lot of time and money creating a product, you should know if anyone will want to buy it. Learn more about Market Research
- Learn if it’s protectable: Know if you can defend your product against cheap copies if it gets knocked off. Learn more about Copyright and Patent your product
- Test your product: Make sure that there’s a demand for your product and the customer understands what you are selling when it’s on the shelf and nobody is there to explain it. Learn more about Product Testing
- Perfect your pitch: Before you speak to decision makers, know your numbers, know your retailer and know your logistics in and out. Learn more about Pitching Your Product
- Don’t do it alone: If you haven’t been successful in retail before, a secret of success is that you can’t do it alone. Having great sales staff, customer support and marketing partners can take you from zero to success faster than if you tried on your own. Learn more about Retail Partnerships
Contact Mad Butcher Buyer
Do not trust any “list” of buyers.
Typically retail buyers change either companies or positions every few years. This strategy helps retailers know that their buyers are not taking “kick-backs” and are selecting the very best product for the very best position each time.
Buyers are typically held to a very rigorous standard of sell-through volume that they must hit and because of this they are risk averse. Your job as a supplier or vendor is to convince them that the buyers going into the stores not only know about what you’re selling but are actively seeking the product in the store currently.
How to Submit a Product to Mad Butcher
There are several ways to get a product placed in Mad Butcher. However, most entrepreneurs only dream about getting their product distributed to major retailers, few actually do it. We have experienced a significant rise in interest since the show Shark Tank started airing on NBC. Mr. Checkout has had the pleasure of working with a few Shark Tank success stories such as KISStixx and 180 Party Cups which are now currently being distributed around the country to stores like Walmart, Target, Kroger, 7-Eleven and more.
If you envision your product would be a good fit for Mad Butcher, we have a few steps to help you get your product on their shelves.
Here are the 6 steps you need to take to have your product placed in Mad Butcher.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Mad Butcher, you need to ask yourself a few basic questions. Do you need to build demand for your product, or is there already a demand for it? Do you know that Mad Butcher would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Mad Butcher, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Mad Butcher, or do you want to license your product to a manufacturer that will handle distribution?
2. Be prepared to profit.) Does your product offer enough of a profit margin for Mad Butcher? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Mad Butcher guidelines for other fees that you will have to build into the cost of your product in order for you to be able to turn enough of a profit to make the effort worth your while. If you work with a discount retailer, they will try to strip your profits down to zero in order to keep their prices as low as possible.
The typical breakdown of margins are: If a products costs $1 to produce, that product will retail for $4. That product that retails for $4 will wholesale for $2 to distributors and stores that purchase direct. Big box retailers like Mad Butcher may offer to pay $1.25 to the manufacturer if the product costs $1 to produce. That is the typical profit margin.
3. Determine if Mad Butcher is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Mad Butcher starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Mad Butcher already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Mad Butcher to see what kind of products they are selling, speak to the manager and see if he thinks your product will sell well in their store. Picture in which zone your product would best fit on the shelf and keep in mind that the most precious asset that these big box stores value are their shelf space. Keep this information in mind when you are preparing your presentation to Mad Butcher.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Mad Butcher website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Mad Butcher.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Mad Butcher. Your presentation depends heavily on your strengths as a businessperson as they will most likely ask financial questions and logistics questions.
It’s common for companies to hire a broker to pitch their product to Mad Butcher, as it will be more likely that your product will make it to the next stage if the individual pitching your product has industry knowledge or a personal relationship with Mad Butcher. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to Mad Butcher.
We at Mr. Checkout have experience dealing with brokers and know that there are several retail brokers that have poor business practices that can potentially damage your brand. If you are seeking a legitimate Mad Butcher broker, please give us a call for a recommendation. It could save you a huge headache and a lot of money.
5. Complete the required Mad Butcher paperwork.) Often Mad Butcher will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Mad Butcher, you should contact a buyer at Mad Butcher and let them know your intentions. Having a contact inside of the company will potentially move your application more smoothly through the process.
6. Anticipate the need for increased volume.) Having Mad Butcher agree to stock your product will most likely mean a significant increase in volume. You should be prepared to ramp up your production and informing your manufacturer of this opportunity.
Having production, logistics and distribution to sync is not only difficult, it requires a significant amount of time invested in customer relations. Also, Mad Butcher may have stipulations in the contract that may penalize you for delays in shipping and production. Have an attorney explain all contracts to you if you don’t understand the terms.
If you’re looking to sell your product to Mad Butcher, be sure to thoroughly assess the marketplace, carefully prepare for production growth, and take full advantage of resources available to help you grow your business.
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