Bill Weiland, Presence Marketing CEO, Founders’ Gala Honoree
Bill Weiland, Founder and CEO of Presence Marketing, is more than a successful businessman. He is a change agent.
Weiland founded Presence in 1990, well before people were talking about a "Good Food Movement" and before many consumers prioritized better-for-people and better-for-the-planet products.
As he and his team built Presence into the nation's leading independent broker of natural and organic foods, helping emerging brands grow and thrive in retail, Bill developed and refined an uncanny knack for foreseeing changes in consumer demand and for promoting products that are on the fast track for success.
Simple Mills. Clif Bar. Califia. Vital Proteins. Suja. These household names and category leaders in the natural products space make up a small fraction of the brands that Presence has helped obtain shelf space in major grocery chains.
Bill is also a renowned predictor of trends — such as bone broth/collagen, grain free, mushrooms, fermented foods, regenerative agriculture, snout-to-tail animal nutrition, decline in seed oil consumption, chips cooked in animal fat — that have expanded consumer demands for natural foods.
A huge industry development involving Siete Foods underscored the power of Bill Weiland's insights and foresights.
Just 10 years ago, the Garza family of Austin, Texas decided to commercialize the grain-free tortilla chips that matriarch Veronica Garza developed to address her own health issues. Bill Weiland sensed that the products would be popular and engaged Presence Marketing with the startup when it was known by its original name, Must B Nutty.
As has so often happened, Bill's instincts were correct. Made with flours such as almond and cassava, Siete's chips became hugely successful as the leading alternative to traditional grain-based chips. So popular, in fact, that food giant PepsiCo announced this week that it was purchasing Siete Foods for $1.2 billion. Yes, that billions with a b.
Bill has a long track record of this kind of success.
Suja, a juice company based in the San Diego area and launched in 2013, provides an example of Weiland's and Presence's magic touch. Suja was approached by two leading national grocery chains, seeking six-month exclusives during the initial launch period. Weiland suggested and then helped Suja develop six custom proprietary blends for each of those customers, allowing for a smooth, simultaneous launch strategy!
They even flew in a crew, and Bill personally helped stage a tasting event for Whole Foods Market, showcasing the delicious and innovative offerings and thus cementing the successful national launch initiative.
Presence Marketing's success is powered by Weiland's uncompromising belief in the power of healthy food, holistic wellness and regenerative systems. These are key drivers behind his commitment to building a world with clean products for all. Weiland also is a leading supporter of consumer transparency and GMO labeling.
Named by Forbes Magazine as one of the Top 25 Most Influential ‘Kingmakers’ in Consumer and Retailer Companies, Weiland is widely recognized for his devotion to helping entrepreneurs. New Hope recognized his extensive contribution to the Natural Products Industry by inducting him to their Hall of Legends.
Naturally Chicago is grateful for the opportunity to honor Bill Weiland for achieving legendary business success while steering a course toward Presence Marketing's vision of a better world.
