Robert Tepper
As President/Founder/COO/&CEO, Robert arranges, composes and orchestrates all Sunrise Brand Management Specialists, L. L. C.’s activities.
Robert is personally responsible for “Client Relations,” applying all 45 + years of successful experiences (19 years as Sunrise ) to the customized needs and opportunities of each Sunrise client.
Robert oversees all budgeting, sales and marketing planning and execution, promotional activities and new product introductions. Hands-on broker and key account management has been a key to Sunrise successes for their brands.
President, National Sales Manager
A pioneer in the Natural Foods Industry since 1974, and a Specialist in taking Natural Foods products into the Grocery trade. With Robert as VP of Sales and Marketing each time, four companies have enjoyed dramatic and profitable growth, sold into both Natural and Grocery, introduced many new and innovative products, and became industry leaders in their categories.
In 1999 Sunrise Brand Management Specialists, L.L.C. was started, offering “outsourced” Sales and Marketing expertise and management to a select group of Clients in the Natural and Organic industry on a contract basis. Sunrise maintains a “National and Regional Manager” approach to handling client brands. Sunrise duties include projecting and planning, promotional tracking and regular reporting, broker “day to day” management, distributor responsibilities and key retail involvement, among others.
1999 – Present Sunrise Brand Management Specialists, L.L.C.
1998-1999 Annie’s Naturals
- Growth in 1 year …52%.
- Two product launches
- Grocery Sales went from 22% to 32% of company sales
- Grocery ACV grew from 11% to 24%
1996-1998 Blue Sky Beverage Company
- Grew sales from $4+Million to $9+Million
- Took Grocery ACV from 5% to 35% nationally
- Several product launches – Seltzers, Premium Line (Nutracuticals).
1987-1995 Natural Nectar Corporation
- Grew Sales from $3 Million to $33 Million.
- Fi Bar, Nectar Nuggets, Frozen Novelties
- Emerald Forest Hair & Skin Care Line
- Fi Bar reached 84% ACV before selling to Weider
- Emerald Forest hit $2 million in 2 years
1974-1986 Farm Foods / Barricini Foods (after ’85)
- Company was early innovator in soy foods
- Maintained Production and Distribution operation for 2 years in Bay Area…Soy Yogurts, Soy Frozen Deserts,Cheesecake, Bulk and Block tofu, Tofu Salads. Grocery line of Tempeh Starter, TVP, Good Tasting Nutritional Yeast, Split Soybeans, etc.
- Ice Bean sold to Natural Foods Trade Tofulite sold to Grocery Trade
- Involved in Barricini merger and Public Offering
- Managed sales from 0 to $5 million.
Gia Magliocco
Gia Magliocco is our Operations and Finance Manager for Sunrise Brand Management Specialists. Her duties include and are not limited to: managing regional sales reports on a monthly basis, including downloading and creating sales reports from the Tree of Life and Whole Foods Portals. She manages the shipping of samples for our Clients.
Gia has also become quite an expert at managing the Whole Foods Category Review process for our clients, ranging from the shipping of samples to Whole Foods Buyers to preparation of all the powerpoints and forms to the Whole Foods Buyers.
Gia manages all finances for Sunrise Brand Management including: monthly budgets, grant budgets, and all daily accounting needs. She manages two of our Clients Warehouses by handling purchase orders, inventory, and customer service. Gia also manages our Sunrise Import Business. She handles all compliance importing paperwork with Federal, State and Local Government Agencies. She handles the projections of importing inventory and works with our customs broker to insure that product is imported in on a timely manner. Lastly, she is our ever patient Office Manager and provides support for our regional sales managers.