ACCELERATOR
HALO Brands is a CPG brand accelerator. We invest and we roll up our sleeves, and build along with the founder. We partner with emerging brands and manufacturers to accelerate entry and growth in the North American food landscape.
We develop a customized strategy and approach with each brand partner. Our solutions can range from simply serving as the partner’s outsourced sales organization, to managing the partner’s entire U.S. business operation. Regardless of the scope of the partnership, the ultimate objective is to accelerate our partner’s entry and growth in U.S. markets.
Our name means “High Altitude, Low Opening”. Just like parachutists, who begin with a 30,000 foot perspective, we take a strategic view of markets and trends. Once focused we jump and commit to achieve our objectives.
Our team brings rich depth of experience covering every area of the value chain … from launching a U.S. food brand and growing it to $25M in sales, to managing a $1B category in a major grocery chain, to managing imports and exports for large European brands, to building and leading national sales organizations. With this diverse base of experience we are able to drive value and grow sales for the brands and manufacturers with whom we partner.
BRANDS
Cooking Oils
BRASSOLA organic cold-pressed kernel oils are simply without equal. We revolutionized the art of cold-pressing by first removing the outer hull from the seed and pressing only the kernel. The result is an extremely pure oil that retains the natural taste, goodness, color, and health benefits of the oil.
Cocktail Mixers
Our ON-TIME MIXERS are premium, natural and clean label cocktail mixers for shoppers, who treat themselves with good taste.
Canned Seafood
CASABLANCA'S GREATEST CATCH offers a full range of sustainably certified Sardines, Mackerel and select gourmet Tuna specialties. Our fish fillets are exceptional in quality and a true novelty to the canned seafood category.
Coffee
CHARLESTON COFFEE ROASTERS' mission is to deliver the world's finest coffees … guaranteed! We painstakingly search the world over for the highest quality and organic certified coffee beans. Then bring those beans to our home in Charleston, South Carolina where we roast them slowly to coax out their unique flavor.
Cocktail Mixers
TWIN BEVERAGE skips the measuring & muddling and offers Craft Cocktail Mixers with refined recipes to retailers for their own-brand program.
Candy Gifts
"Merry Christmas", "Happy Easter" or "You're my Valentine" … with WINDEL CANDY's creative and innovative candy gifts you always bring a smile to your loved one's face.
Sports Detergent
WIN Sports Detergent removes sweat, oils, bacteria, and salts from activewear and workout clothing, so it feels and smells fresh as new. Regular detergents are not as effective on synthetics as they are on cotton. WIN contains ingredients that separates oils from synthetic fibers.
CAPABILITIES
Sales
Our dedicated national sales team delivers focused results for each of our brand partners.
Marketing
From packaging to promotions, we operate as a full-suite marketing department for our partners.
Strategy
Our team's deep food industry experience enables us to develop tailored, effective brand strategies.
Import
We are the one-stop-shop for international food manufacturers seeking U.S. market entry.
Logistics
We manage end-to-end warehousing and transportation solutions for our brand partners.
Private Label
We develop and execute private label strategies for our partners.
Manufacturing
We solve our partners’ outsourced and internal manufacturing challenges.
Innovation
We collaborate with our partners in developing innovative products and line extensions.
Back Office
We reduce our partners' overhead costs by providing shared back-office services, from bookkeeping to IT.
Growth Capital
We provide investment capital to support our partners' growth initiatives.
PARTNERSHIP
We work with emerging U.S. brands and established international food manufacturers to accelerate growth in the U.S. market.
Domestic Brands
Emerging brands reach a crucial inflection point once the product has achieved acceptance in a local or regional market. Suddenly an array of new challenges faces the business, and addressing these effectively means the difference between success and failure.
We help emerging brands:
• Sell into nationwide channels
• Achieve scalable manufacturing costs
• Develop a full-scope marketing strategy
• Manage slotting fees to optimize return on investment
• Develop and execute promotion strategies
• Improve and optimize packaging design
• Reduce overhead costs through shared services
• Access capital needed to execute the growth strategy
International Brands
Even the most successful established non-U.S. food manufacturers and brands face unique challenges in seeking to enter and grow in U.S. markets.
Addressing these challenges is best achieved with a partner who has deep knowledge of and experience in both the U.S. and international markets.
We deliver an end-to-end solution, planning and executing all aspects of a successful U.S. operation. In some cases we also share risk with our partners by co-investing our own capital alongside the partner in executing U.S. entry and growth strategies.
We help international brands and manufacturers:
• Navigate the maze of regulatory requirements
• Manage complex import/export logistics
• Crack the code on effective U.S. marketing strategies
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Our team is made from every sector knowledge of the CPG world.
Our knowledge is from launching a U.S. food brand and growing it to $25M in sales, to managing a $1B category in a major grocery chain, to managing imports and exports for large European brands, to building and leading national sales organizations. This diverse base of experience allows us to drive value and grow sales for the brands and manufacturers with whom we partner.
Damon DeCristoforo
Managing Partner
CEO, Sales
Damon grew up in an entrepreneurial family and worked in every facet of his family's multiple restaurant business.
He has taken those early life business lessons and applied them to creating businesses of his own. Most notably from his kitchen table with original recipes he founded and built Lindy’s Homemade, LLC - a frozen dessert manufacturer located in Charlotte, NC into a fully automated manufacturing of Italian ice, gelato & sorbet with annual gross revenue exceeding $20M and retail distribution in over 10 thousand stores nationwide.
He and Veronica sold out to a private equity company in 2015 & have started a new company helping emerging brands grow in the US retail landscape.
Contact details:
Phone: (704) 287-2842
Email: damon@halobrands.comDamon DeCristoforo
Jeff Hankinson
Managing Partner
CFO, Logistics, Sales
Jeff is a cross functional business leader and entrepreneur with a strong background in sales, finance, and logistics.
Upon graduating from the University of Georgia, Jeff began his career as a banking officer with a large Atlanta based bank. He later worked for a one of the world’s premier human resources consulting firms where he simultaneously completed his Master of Business Administration.
In late 2003, he joined an Atlanta based food import company where he led their national retail sales effort. In this role he worked with a broad base of retailers, distributors, brokers, and suppliers from around the world.
In 2007, he joined the U.S. subsidiary of Europe’s largest producer of frozen baked goods as Vice President of Sales. In this role he led the development and roll-out of a new brand entry into the US market.
Jeff is a founding owner of HALO Brands where he oversees logistics, financial management and key account sales.
Contact details:
Phone: (678) 249-9903
Email: jeff@halobrands.comJeff Hankinson
Veronica DeCristoforo
Managing Partner
COO, Sales
Veronica’s father owned & operated a Textile manufacturing company based in NC for 30 years. Veronica worked in every facet of the business growing up, eventually running the financial end of the business after obtaining her accounting degree. Along with Damon, Veronica also co-founded Lindy's Homemade running the accounting as well as assisting the sales team in both direct sales calls & marketing/trade spend management.
Contact details:
Phone: (704) 287-2915
Email: veronica@halobrands.comVeronica DeCristoforo
Mark Williams
Senior Vice President
Sales & Sales Analytics
Mark is a highly respected grocery leader with over 38 years of progressive experience leading to strategic sales and profit development with branded and private label products.
Working with companies like Harris Teeter (retailer) and Daymon Worldwide (national brokerage), he has a proven track record displaying consistent leadership combined with the ability to maximize top line revenue growth and bottom line profitability for each company he has been associated with.
Contact details:
Phone: (704) 999-6832
Email: mark@halobrands.comMark Williams
GET IN TOUCH
Want to discuss what HALO Brands can do for you?
Please contact us.
HALO Brands LLC
7301 Carmel Executive Park Drive, Suite 214
Charlotte, NC 28226 (USA)
Phone: (704) 287-2915
Email: ObscureMyEmail-Info
© 2018 HALO Brands LLC, Charlotte, NC 28226. All rights reserved.