Simone Wojtaszek

Retail Sales Manager

Simone Wojtaszek has 7 years’ sales experience in CPG as an account/territory manager for various manufacturers. Having worked with brokers and marketers throughout her career, she understands the frustrations manufacturers face in trying to gain distribution. She is ready to apply the lessons learned from other manufacturers for Aisle 9’s clients. She has extensive experience working with both start-up manufacturers and multinational corporations, as well as largescale grocery and independent natural/specialty retailers, primarily in Northern California, but also in the Midwest, Southern California, Pacific Northwest, online and international markets. The secret to her success in sales is her passion for healthy and innovative food; in her words, “I want to change the world by changing the way we eat.”

She started her career with General Mills, where she called on Kroger for both the Yogurt (Yoplait, Mountain High) and Healthy Snacks (Nature Valley, Chex Mix) categories. At GMI she received extensive analytical training in IRI/Nielsen’s and dunnhumby, and learned best-in-class standards for sales presentations. Then her passion for health lead her to the natural side of CPG and to KIND bar, where she started out managing the Chicago market, cold-calling independents/specialty retailers and Whole Foods stores. During her first 9 months at KIND, Chicago became the fastest-growing retail market in the country, and she was promoted to Midwest District Sales Manager. She hired and trained 3 sales reps covering Minnesota, Michigan, and the Chicagoland markets. After a cold winter in Chicago, she decided to move to the West Coast and KIND found a place for her managing the Northern California, Utah, Nevada, and Hawaii markets. She hired and trained 3 reps in Northern California, including reps covering KIND’s #1 and #3 fastest-growing markets.

After KIND, Simone worked with Premier Organics, makers of Artisana raw, organic nut butters, coconut oils, and chocolate bars, based in Oakland, California. At Premier, Simone called on international and non-traditional accounts, including Amazon, Costco, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and food service. She managed international customers in Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, Mexico, and Norway. Most recently, Simone worked with Revolution Foods as their National Sales Manager covering the Midwest, Intermountain, Northern California, Southern California, and Pacific Northwest territories. She directly managed 4 Safeway regions, 4 Whole Foods regions, 2 distributors (Tony’s Fine Foods and Supervalu), Cub Foods, Roundy’s, Raley’s, Save Mart, Nugget, a number of independents, as well as a regional broker network. Simone resides in Oakland, California, and is active in the local foods scene. When she’s not thinking about food, she’s rock climbing and traveling with her partner and their 2 cats.