National Sales Manager : Bulk Chocolate, Ingredient & Private Label Sales

NATURE & SCOPE

The National Sales Manager will be responsible for driving revenue growth across bulk chocolate, ingredient, and private label channels. This role focuses on selling chocolate products, liquid, solid, inclusions, cocoa-based ingredients, and specialty formulations to food manufacturers, co-manufacturers, confectioners, bakeries, and CPG brands nationwide.

The ideal candidate has deep experience in B2B food ingredient sales, understands the product development process, and excels at building long-term strategic partnerships with R&D, procurement, and product development teams.

Duties and Responsibilities

Sales & Business Development

o     Lead national sales efforts for bulk chocolate, ingredient, and private label product lines.

o     Identify, prospect, and secure new business with food manufacturers, co-manufacturers, and private label partners.

o     Manage and grow existing key accounts across bakery, confectionery, snack, frozen, ice cream/dessert, and beverage categories.

o     Develop long-term strategic relationships with R&D, procurement, supply chain, and innovation teams.

o     Deliver annual revenue, volume, and margin targets.

Ingredient & Private Label Sales

• Sell bulk chocolate and specialized cocoa-based ingredients for use in manufacturing applications.
• Guide customers through private label opportunities including formulation customization, packaging formats, and minimum order requirements.
• Collaborate with internal operations and R&D teams to deliver technical solutions and product recommendations.

Account & Pipeline Management

• Build and maintain a robust national sales pipeline across multiple categories and product formats.
• Lead contract negotiations, pricing strategies, and long-term supply agreements.
• Develop quarterly and annual sales forecasts by account, product line, and volume.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with R&D and product development teams to support customer innovation and new product development initiatives.
• Work closely with supply chain, production, and finance to ensure accurate lead times, inventory projections, and program execution.
• Provide market insights and customer feedback to inform product strategy and ingredient innovation.

Trade & Industry Engagement

• Represent the company at trade shows, technical ingredient expositions, and customer innovation sessions.
• Maintain strong industry awareness including ingredient trends, cocoa market dynamics, and competitive activity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Food Science, Marketing or related field.
• 5–8+ years of sales experience in B2B food ingredients, bulk chocolate, cocoa derivatives, confectionery, or related categories.
• Proven track record selling into food manufacturers or CPG product developers.
• Strong technical understanding of ingredient functionality, manufacturing processes, and formulation considerations.
• Excellent negotiation, presentation, and communication skills.
• Experience managing national accounts and long sales cycles.
• Ability to travel up to 50% as needed.

Physical Requirements

Must be able to fly any distance on commercial airlines, traverse long distances, and transport materials and set-up trade shows. May require work over weekends and extended hours as workload requires at any given time

Salary Range - $115,000 - $130,000