Member Profile: Tom‟s of Maine

Tom Beech, Director of Sales

Tom Beech is the Director of Sales for Tom‟s of Maine, a leading manufacturer of natural care products including soap, , mouthwash, and deodorant. Located in Kennebunk, Maine, Tom‟s of Maine was founded by Tom and Kate Chappell in 1970 on the philosophy that both people and nature deserve respect, thus their products would not contribute to harming the environment. Becoming a part of the Colgate- Company in 2006, Tom‟s of Maine has retained the core values of its former owners by encouraging employees to use a percentage of their paid time off volunteering at non-profit organizations of their choice and donating a share of the company‟s pre-tax profits to charitable organizations supporting the environment, human needs, the arts and education.

Tom currently serves on the GMDC Health Beauty Wellness Advisory Board and is a 23-year veteran of the industry, holding responsibility for U.S. Food, Drug, Mass, Club, Value Discount and the Health & Specialty channels for Tom‟s of Maine since 2006. A GMDC member since 2007, Beech states that “As a leader in Natural Personal Care the opportunity to expand and utilize GMDC as an industry „platform‟ to meet and interact with new and existing customers for business expansion was what initially attracted Tom‟s of Maine to the Association.” “It was easy to see that GMDC provides an affordable opportunity to interact with wholesaler/retailers in the industry.

As one of the nation‟s first leading natural products companies, Tom explains that “membership in GMDC has been instrumental in helping Tom‟s of Maine to reach a wider audience. By taking a leadership role and laying out the benefits of offering a broader range of natural and organic products in mainstream grocery and drug stores, GMDC has helped us to capture a valuable consumer.” Further, the many educational opportunities available at the conferences, as well as through the GMDC website, contribute to this process by offering data and information that is beneficial for both CPG manufacturer/supplier companies and retailer/wholesalers, particularly important are the timely insights provided by GMDC‟s ongoing Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally Conscious Lifestyles study.

Beech credits the face-to-face advantages provided by the conference as one of the many reasons he continues to renew the company‟s annual membership and, “every year at the HBW Conference we are able to engage with potential new customers. This enables us to lay the groundwork for follow-up appointments to drive business forward.” In addition, Beech states that the opportunity to meet with existing customers on important updates is equally beneficial, “for example, one existing customer was updating their planogram ahead of schedule and we were able to place 4 new sku‟s due to our GMDC meeting.”

An experienced conference attendee, Beech stresses advance preparation and advises first-time marketing conference attendees to “go to the First Time Attendees meeting on Friday evening, have two or three specific goals with each customer that you will be meeting with, and be sure to follow through on key points from your discussion after the conference.“

For further information on the educational benefits offered to GMDC members, log into the Member Access area at www.gmdc.org and click on “Education.”