Courtesy of Chris Rebsamen
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur who needs help bringing a new product to market? Or a small business owner looking to scale your company? You could hire a marketer to help you achieve your goals, but onboarding can take time, and you’ll also have to consider high costs like a full-time salary, benefits, and paid time off.
That’s where Jupiter CPG comes in. With over 100 years of combined experience, Jupiter CPG’s team can help with everything from product placement to providing logistics solutions and analysing consumer behaviour and retail trends.
A key part of the proposition is the ability to acquire an experienced management team, including senior roles in sales, marketing and finance, without the usual hassle and costs that come with it.
Since its founding 15 years ago, the Park City-based company has “helped many startups enter the retail industry and promote their products.”
The company’s name, CPG, stands for Consumer Packaged Goods, and refers to products that customers use and replace frequently, such as items like food, beverages, cosmetics and toiletries.
According to founder and CEO Chris Rebsamen, this could include a number of “cool creations,” such as Dog Brew Bones, a soup topping for dogs made by Anheuser-Busch, and the children’s book Chicka Chicka Boom, published by Simon & Schuster.
A collaboration is also currently underway with international company Amaxi Nutritional, where Rebsamen serves as vice president of sales and marketing for the $300 million group. The collaboration will include end-to-end distribution of many of the company’s products.
“Our job at Amaxi Nutritionals is to develop strategies and bring products to market,” Revsamen says, “and we’ve built an entire retail distribution business. We run it as an end-to-end distribution process, from ideation to getting it on the shelves and everything in between.”
One of these processes was used for Kathy Ireland Worldwide Nutritional Products, which consisted of plant-based protein mixes, powdered collagen and green energy mixes.
Rebsammen’s team has also partnered with a South Korean company to help launch a volcanic water line called “Jeju 16 Water.”
“It’s a division of RCA Television, and this product took the company in an entirely new direction conceptually,” Revsamen says. “To give them immediate exposure and results, we built an entire social media campaign from the ground up.”
As a local business, the company and Rebsamen found a way to support Park City and its small business owners.
“I’m one of the founding members of Pando Labs, an entrepreneurial development organization,” he said. The Park City-based community group brings business owners together to network with one another. “Jupiter CPG is part of the team that supports entrepreneurs and offers a unique perspective to our members.”
He said the company has set new sales records over the past three years and has bolstered its “force” by adding new executives, including market strategist Julie McPeak and chief revenue officer Brian McGeough.
However, it hasn’t all been smooth success.
“After the initial launch, things were going well. I was busy working with both startups and Fortune 500 companies,” He says. But six years ago, “it all started to go wrong.” “I fought cancer for three years and everything went under, including the business.”
Treatment was successful, the cancer went into remission three years ago, and he has since rebuilt his business.
“After that, I had to start over from the bottom of my heart. It was very difficult, but I knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go,” Rebsamen said. “After some counseling, I was able to restart Jupiter and get it to where it is today.”
He said the first launch 15 years ago was kind of by chance after he and his family moved to Park City from New York in 2009.
“We wanted to live in the mountains,” he says. “I’ve been skiing since I was five years old, and I’d always dreamed of living in a ski resort town.”
With no jobs or plans, Rebsamen, his wife Elizabeth, their son Connor and their dog Bode “came here on a whim. For the first few months we lived with my sister in a small two-bedroom apartment. Eventually we found our own place and settled down.”
This was at a time when the Great Recession was “really hitting the country hard.”
“We’ve had some transactions with retailers who need help maintaining the sales process,” he said.
A 30-year executive with a consumer goods company, he was the obvious choice to turn to for help. Soon, others were finding out about his consulting help and soon began asking for his advice.
“I’ve been helping out as a hobby for four years, but maybe it’s time to turn it into a business,” Rebsamen said.
Of course, your business needs a name, right?
“I was at the ski resort in Park City with Connor, who was a senior at the time. [my idea to start] Company. We were riding the Jupiter Bowl lift and he said, “Why don’t we name it Jupiter?”
Jupiter CPG is currently celebrating its 15th anniversary.
“We’re at a tipping point,” Rebsamen said. “We want to continue to scale our business and help entrepreneurs scale their businesses.”
