A frozen food maker that stopped growing
Prepared for the private equity owner of a frozen Asian food manufacturer.
The problem
1. The ethnic grocery channel is growing. This company is not.
A 4-week diagnostic that does 3 things.
| # | Step | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find the leak | See which ethnic accounts are slipping, and why. |
| 2 | Prove the fix | Test every change against a control group. |
| 3 | Open the mainstream | Pick the right door: mass, club or foodservice. |
A consulting proposal by James Lantos · 2026. Prepared for the private equity owner of a frozen Asian food manufacturer.
The problem · Situation
2. A $40M frozen food maker with 2 plants
| Today: ethnic | H Mart, 99 Ranch, Weee! and small mom-and-pop grocers |
| The goal: mainstream | Mass retailers, club stores and foodservice |
The solution · The 4 weeks
3. 4 weeks from raw data to a plan
| Week | Focus | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Current state | Sales data by account and SKU · Leadership interviews · Map the sales process |
| Week 2 | Deep dive | Score every account · Benchmark the competitors · Channel economics |
| Week 3 | Solution development | Growth plan for each channel · Sales team design · Test plan and KPIs |
| Week 4 | Handoff | Findings and roadmap · Leadership sessions · Tracking tools |
The solution · Analysis flow
4. How the analysis flows
Figure 1
From raw data to 1 plan, in 2 tracks
The solution · Find the leak
5. RFM sorts every ethnic account into 4 groups
Recency, frequency, monetary: when each account last ordered, how often, and how much.
| Group | Share | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Champions | 20% | Protect them. First look at new items and top service. |
| Loyal | 35% | Grow the basket. Add categories they do not carry yet. |
| At Risk | 25% | Call now. Find what changed and fix it. |
| Lost | 20% | Win back the best. Let the rest go. |
The solution · Find the leak
6. Which products sell together
Figure 2
Product affinity, 5 categories
| Strength | What to do |
|---|---|
| Strong: 0.70 and up | Bundle and promote together. |
| Moderate: 0.45 to 0.69 | Test a cross-sell offer. |
| Weak: below 0.45 | Do not force the pairing. |
The solution · Prove the fix
7. Test and control proves what works
| Group | Name | What |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | Control | Nothing changes. This is the baseline. |
| Group 2 | Target | Gets the new program. |
| Group 3 | Holdout | Qualifies for the program but is held back. |
| Group 4 | Modeled holdout | Picked by the model, then held back. Tests the model itself. |
Lift = target result minus holdout result
If the 2 results match, the program did nothing.
The solution · Prove the fix
8. 6 numbers to watch
Figure 3
Now against target, ethnic and mainstream
The solution · The payoff
9. Revenue by phase: $40M to $63M
Figure 4
Ethnic: $40M, $42M, $45M, $48M. Mainstream: $3M, $8M, $15M
Illustrative estimates. The company holds the real numbers.
Contribution
10. What this work contributes
| # | Step | What it delivers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find the leak | A ranked list of ethnic accounts: who to protect, grow, call and release. |
| 2 | Prove the fix | A 4-group test design and 6 KPIs that show what worked. |
| 3 | Open the mainstream | A scored entry plan and a ranked prospect list. |
1 integrated growth strategy, handed off in week 4.
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