Sales Manager – Food and Beverage

About M2 Ingredients

M2 Ingredients is a leading organic functional mushroom company dedicated to producing high-quality mushroom ingredients for customers around the world. We are committed to operational excellence, innovation, and creating trusted partnerships that help bring the benefits of functional mushrooms to more people. Our team takes pride in delivering quality products while fostering a culture built on accountability, curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Our Mission & Values

At M2 Ingredients, our mission is simple: To be the most TRUSTED mushroom company. Our values guide how we work every day:

Honor Your Commitments - We value accountability, clear processes, compassion, and respect.

Seek to Understand - We lead with honesty, transparency, recognition, respect, and humility.

Sweat the Details - We take pride in our work and believe strong processes and consistency create exceptional results.

Why Join M2 Ingredients?

We are seeking a driven, results-oriented Sales Manager – Food & Beverage to accelerate growth, expand customer relationships, and bring our innovative functional mushroom ingredients to new markets. This role offers the opportunity to drive business development across food and beverage, foodservice, dietary supplements, and emerging applications, with a particular focus on ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages and coffee.

The ideal candidate brings established industry relationships, strong commercial expertise, and a passion for identifying new opportunities. This individual will develop strategic accounts, drive new customer acquisition, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative ingredient solutions. You'll play a key role in expanding M2 Ingredients' market presence, building long-term customer partnerships, and contributing directly to the company's continued growth and success.

Position Overview

The Sales Manager – Food & Beverage is responsible for driving sales growth across M2 Ingredients’ commercial portfolio, including food and beverage, foodservice, dietary supplements, and other emerging applications. This role leverages established industry relationships to develop new customers, expand strategic accounts, and identify opportunities for M2’s functional mushroom ingredients and innovative technologies. Experience in ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages and coffee is particularly valuable, while the ability to develop business across all market segments is essential. The Sales Manager collaborates with cross-functional teams to execute commercial plans and support long-term growth, quality, and customer success.

Key Responsibilities

• Achieve annual sales goals within budget; monitor performance, identify gaps, and implement corrective action plans.
• Develop and retain customer accounts across food and beverage, foodservice, dietary supplements, and other relevant market segments, primarily in North America, with international opportunities as regulatory approvals allow.
• Identify and develop cross-segment opportunities, including foodservice beverage programs, supplement formulations, and new product launches, in collaboration with customers and internal technical teams.
• Build annual customer-level sales forecasts and monthly forecasts by customer and SKU; conduct quarterly performance reviews.
• Develop and negotiate sales contracts, pricing, and commercial terms to optimize business value and financial return.
• Partner with R&D, Marketing, Production, Customer Service, Logistics, Warehouse, and Finance to develop and execute sales plans and communicate customer needs.
• Represent M2 Ingredients at relevant industry trade shows, conferences, and customer meetings.
• Monitor trends, customer needs, competitive activity, and industry data across food and beverage, foodservice, dietary supplements, and emerging applications; share insights and recommend proactive strategies.
• Maintain awareness of customer quality, regulatory, and logistics requirements and promptly escalate food safety or quality concerns to authorized personnel.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of B2B sales experience in ingredients or related markets, with demonstrated success developing business relationships across food and beverage and/or dietary supplements; strong knowledge of RTD beverages and coffee preferred.
• Established relationships with food and beverage brands, foodservice operators and suppliers, beverage manufacturers, co-manufacturers, dietary supplement brands, contract manufacturers, and ingredient distributors.
• Experience conducting direct sales meetings with customers at their headquarters or other key business locations.
• Demonstrated success growing sales of technical or specialty ingredients across multiple market segments, including opportunities requiring customer education, formulation support, and tailored sales strategies.
• Working knowledge of customer quality, regulatory, and operational logistics requirements.
• Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, organizational, and follow-through skills; ability to engage Procurement, R&D, Product Development, Marketing, and commercial stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Self-motivated, resourceful, results-oriented, and effective in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.
• Ability to travel up to 40%.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, food science, or a related field preferred.

What Success Looks Like

• Drive Revenue Growth: Consistently achieve sales targets by expanding existing accounts and developing new business opportunities.
• Build Strategic Relationships: Leverage your industry network to establish strong partnerships with food and beverage brands, manufacturers, and key industry stakeholders.
• Expand Market Opportunities: Identify and develop new applications for functional mushroom ingredients, particularly within RTD beverages, coffee, foodservice, and emerging markets.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Partner with R&D, Marketing, Operations, and other internal teams to deliver solutions that meet customer needs and support successful product launches.
• Own Your Business: Take a proactive, strategic approach to managing your sales pipeline, forecasting opportunities, and driving long-term account growth.

Who You Are

You are a driven, relationship-focused sales professional with a proven track record of growing business in the food and beverage or specialty ingredients industry. You bring an established network, strong commercial instincts, and the ability to identify opportunities and turn them into long-term customer partnerships. You're comfortable navigating technical sales conversations, collaborating across departments, and working directly with customers to bring innovative products to market. You're proactive, adaptable, and thrive in a fast-paced environment where you can take ownership, build relationships, and deliver results.

Benefits & Perks

We believe great work happens when people feel supported both professionally and personally. M2 Ingredients offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and continued growth, including:

• Competitive compensation
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with Company Safe Harbor Contribution
• Paid Time Off, paid holidays, floating holiday, and sick leave
• Paid parental leave
• Company-paid life and disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Professional development and career growth opportunities
• Health and Wellness Discounts through LifeMart