Wholesale Sales Manager

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Ranch Brand Meat Co. · Now Hiring

Wholesale
Sales Manager

Base plus uncapped commission·Company vehicle·Twin Cities or Chippewa Valley

From the Founder

Ranch Brand is two and a half years old and moving fast. We raise the cattle, we run the USDA plant, we own the stores. Pasture to counter, nobody else in the chain. Four retail locations across the Chippewa Valley, an online store, and a wholesale program that already puts our beef on menus and shelves we don't own.

Here's the honest version of why this job exists. Wholesale is real: an established book of accounts ordering every week, and a plant behind it that can do a lot more. What it doesn't have right now is someone in the seat. The person who built the first version of it moved on, and since then we've been keeping the accounts happy instead of adding to them. That's a holding pattern, not a plan.

We're not hiring an order-taker. We're hiring someone to own the channel: find the accounts, land them, keep them, price them right, and build the system so it runs without you having to touch every order. You get a product most sellers would kill for, a plant that can cut to spec, and the room to run. If that sounds like a lot, it is. It's also the kind of job you don't get at a company that already has it figured out.

Jake Rooney, Co-Founderwith Jeff and Charlotte Antczak

What You'll Have Behind You

This is the part most small-brand sales jobs leave out, so we'll put it first.

Our own herd and our own plantSupply is not the constraint. You can promise a chef consistent availability and mean it. When you sell more, we cut more.
Custom cuts, single source, no brokerBecause we own the plant, you can offer cut specs, portioning, and full traceability to the ranch. Almost nobody selling beef at our size can say that.
A book, not a blank pageDozens of accounts already ordering every week across the Chippewa Valley. You start with a base and grow from it.
Tools and backupA CRM, a sample budget, a company vehicle, and a marketing and content manager producing the sell sheets, photos, and content you need in the field.

What You'll Own

In order of priority.

  1. New accountsRestaurants, grocers, butcher counters, institutions, and specialty retail from the Chippewa Valley to the Twin Cities. You build the list, make the calls, run the tastings, get in the back door, and close. Samples in the truck, price sheet in hand. This is the biggest piece of the job and the one we'll judge first.
  2. Existing accountsEvery wholesale customer we have is yours on day one. Reorder cadence, pricing, problems, growth. Wisconsin accounts get a visit at least twice a year; the big ones, more.
  3. The order loopWeekly order coordination with our plant and client services team. You forecast ahead so the plant can cut to demand instead of guessing. When something's short, you're the one who calls the customer before they call us.
  4. Pricing and marginYou price within a floor we set together. You're measured on margin dollars, not pounds, and you'll see the numbers your commission is built on. A big account at a loss is not a win here.
  5. The playbookWe're a systems company. Route, order cadence, credit terms, how an account gets onboarded. As you learn what works, you write it down so the wholesale function outlasts any one person and grows past one territory.

Trade shows, community events, and the occasional delivery run fall to you when they come up. They're not the job, but they're not someone else's either.

Your First 90 Days

Weeks 1 to 4

Learn the product, the plant, the cuts, the costs. Visit every account in person. Tell us what's broken. We'll agree on your 6 and 12 month targets together by day 30.

Weeks 5 to 8

Build the Twin Cities prospect list. Reactivate lapsed accounts. Get your first new accounts ordering. Set the weekly order cadence with the plant.

Weeks 9 to 12

Deliver a monthly wholesale number and a forecast we can plan production around. First version of the playbook exists.

What Success Looks Like

6 months

Wholesale is growing month over month and you can show it. Every account has a cadence. The plant gets a forecast it can trust.

12 months

Twin Cities accounts are a real share of the book. Wholesale is a line the whole company plans around. The playbook exists and someone else could follow it.

3 years

Ranch Brand is on menus and shelves across Wisconsin and Minnesota. You built the wholesale function from one person into whatever it needed to become, and you're leading it.

The Person We're Looking For

You've sold food or beverage into restaurants, grocery, or foodservice and you have the accounts to prove it. You're comfortable at back doors, in walk-in coolers, and across the table from a buyer who has heard every pitch.

You understand margin. You know the difference between a big account and a good account, and you can walk away from the wrong one.

You don't need leads handed to you. Hand you a territory, you'll build the list, work it, keep the pipeline clean, and bring back numbers. You'd rather build a process than repeat a task.

Meat or protein experience is a real plus. A network in the Twin Cities is a real plus. Based in the Twin Cities or the Chippewa Valley either works, as long as you're at the plant in Almena regularly and in front of Wisconsin accounts a couple times a year.

What we're not looking for: someone who wants to manage a team instead of carrying a bag, or someone who needs a script.

Position Details

Full-time. Base salary plus uncapped commission on wholesale margin. The right person will do very well here, and we'll talk real numbers on the first call. Company vehicle. PTO. Health benefits are in the works and not here yet; we'd rather you hear that from us than find out later. Reports to Jake Rooney, Co-Founder. Based in the Twin Cities or the Chippewa Valley with regular time at the plant in Almena.

How to Apply

Send a short note. Tell us about one account you landed and how you did it, and one you lost and what you learned.

Apply by Email

jrooney@ranchbrandmeatco.com

You'll hear that we got it within a business day. If we want to talk, you'll hear from us within a week.

We move fast. If this is your role, don't overthink the email.

Ranch Brand Meat Co. is an equal opportunity employer. We hire on ability and fit, nothing else.