Leading US-based citrus cooperative Sunkist has announced the promotion of Cassie Howard to the role of director of category management.
“Cassie has been a key player in developing fact-based business solutions for our retail and foodservice partners,” said Christian Harris, chief operations officer at Sunkist Growers. “While category management is a familiar concept at retail, Sunkist is putting an increased emphasis on this expertise and value-added service to support our partners in delivering the best offering for their consumers. In Cassie’s role, she has the important job of analysing industry data from multiple sources, to help our partners make better business decisions that grow our citrus categories.
“The number of Sunkist customers requesting category management support has more than doubled, and we’re answering the call with the build-out of this capability,' Harris continued. 'It makes sense to put additional resources behind the programme.”
With the marketing department absorbing the category management team, Mark Madden had this to say: “The plans and insights that category management provides go hand-in-hand with the marketing solutions we offer. We are excited to celebrate Cassie’s accomplishments and to officially welcome her to the marketing arm of Sunkist. She brings a wealth of knowledge and key insights, keeping Sunkist innovative and adaptable to current trends.”
In her role as the head of category management, Howard keeps on top of consumer trends as it relates to Sunkist citrus categories, packaging solutions, and benchmarking opportunities for partners of the 125-year-old cooperative.
“Packaging options can change the category,' Harris added. 'It’s rewarding to see our partners have success with something I recommended, and it’s fun to be able to see them grow alongside Sunkist.”
'I got my start in category management when it was just getting formally introduced to fresh produce,” said Howard. “The numbers [in the data] are like puzzle pieces. You can have all of these ideas around what you think is going on with a certain category, but with the numbers behind it, you can see real solutions to the ever-changing consumer behavior.”
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