About Us:
Since 1935, we’ve been on a mission to bring a little extra happiness to everyday life and inspire connections over food. We select the finest ingredients the world has to offer, craft premium products made with love, and never settle for shortcuts. We believe that when we share our food, we share a part of ourselves — and that’s the only way we’d put our name on it.
Today, our small family company has grown into a national leader in specialty olives, peppers, and sauces under the leadership of CEO Jeff Mezzetta, and our commitment to quality has never wavered. With an 80-year legacy behind us and a bright future ahead, we’re seeking passionate, driven candidates to help us bring our cherished family traditions to a new generation.
The ideal candidate will have an immediate connection to our Core Ingredients:
- Crunchy Crunchy: We are hungry for excellence.
- Own It: We think and act as an owner – with appetite, initiative, and responsibility.
- Connection: We build authentic relationships that foster trust and open communications.
- Vibrance: We come to work eager and passionate about fulfilling our vision. When we share our work, we share a part of who we are.
The Role:
The Brand Manager will serve as a Portfolio Business Lead for their assigned categories at Mezzetta. This involves overall P&L leadership for the categories, including sales growth and profit delivery. The Brand Manager plays an integral role in partnering with key COEs (Sales, Shopper Marketing, R&D, Category Management, Finance, Operations, Creative, and external agencies) to successfully drive business growth and achievement of corporate financial goals.
Ideal candidates will have a passion for, and demonstrated experience in, managing growth in market share and profitability of core product lines. They will need to have classical CPG marketing experience at the Manager level and can translate brand building fundamentals into retail activation. They will have a demonstrated passion and track-record of fielding and managing a variety of consumer research activities. They will also need to have demonstrated relevant experience growing smaller businesses, an ability to manage a portfolio of brands/initiatives and demonstrated successful people leadership.
This role will be based in Larkspur Landing, CA with a three-day on-site expectation, specifically Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
What you'll do:
- Market Share, Gross Profitability and Net Sales targets per category.
- Annual planning and category strategy updates and execution.
- Successful Go-To-Market execution of innovation products.
- Day-to-day management of product lines; adherence to annual plan; performance reporting.
- Brand Continuous Improvement, including benchmarking/competitive cuttings.
- Consumer experience, including, taste, color, shelf stability, etc.
- Partner with Sales, deliver sales toolkit/selling resources, prepare for and (when necessary) attend retailer meetings.
- Deliver shopper/direct marketing tactics.
- Partner with Digital team and Creative team to deliver comms tactics (packaging, content, etc.).
- Collaborate & engage with cross-functional teams to achieve goals.
Who you are and what you'll need for the position:
- 3-5 years of CPG brand management experience, which includes P&L management.
- Strong analytical skills. Must have demonstrated experience with pricing analysis, share analysis, category and competitive reviews.
- Experience developing and executing sophisticated consumer insight programming.
- Self-starter with the ability to prioritize in a fast-paced environment and meet changing deadlines and priorities.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to connect long-term vision to short-term goals and initiatives.
- Ability to influence internally and externally to drive compelling Marketing plans and consumer and engagements.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Familiar with Nielson and other marketing databases and tools.
- Ability to manage marketing and trade budgets; make needed adjustments to hit targets.
- Experience managing direct reports and developing their skillsets.
Education:
BS/BA degree required; MBA required
Our Commitment to an Inclusive Workplace:
At Mezzetta, we embrace diversity and strive to create an inclusive environment where you know you belong. Part of that commitment includes a zero-tolerance policy and being an Equal Opportunity Employer that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions at Mezzetta are solely based on merit, qualifications, abilities and business needs, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, national origin, disability, military or veteran status, family or parental status, pregnancy, or any other status protected by law. All of us share in the responsibility of fulfilling this commitment and creating a culture where our team can thrive.
