The short answer
A mid-market CPG brand that is growing faster than its systems usually needs a fractional COO before it needs a new CEO. The founder can still set vision and win retailers. What breaks first is the machinery behind the growth: forecasting, co-manufacturing, margins, fulfillment, and the weekly rhythm that keeps the team aligned. A fractional COO fixes that machinery at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive, and often reveals that a new CEO was never the real need.
The growth without infrastructure gap
Every food and beverage founder knows the feeling. A big retailer says yes, a velocity report looks great, and a new distributor wants in. Then the reality sets in. A co-packer misses a run, a chargeback shows up, trade spend runs hot, and the team spends Friday afternoon reconciling spreadsheets instead of selling.
This is the growth without infrastructure gap. Demand is arriving faster than the operating system of the business can absorb it. McKinsey’s recent State of Food and Beverage work frames the category challenge as one of renewing growth through deliberate choices, and those choices only pay off when the company can execute them consistently.
The gap tends to show up in a few predictable places:
- Margin leakage. Promotions, slotting, freight, and returns erode gross margin quietly until the P&L no longer matches the story the brand tells.
- Forecast and supply misses. Weak demand planning leads to stockouts on hot items and write-offs on slow ones.
- Decision latency. Without a clear operating cadence, small issues wait for the founder, and the founder becomes the bottleneck.
- Operating capital strain. Growth consumes cash. Larger purchase orders, longer retailer payment terms, inventory builds, and ingredient or packaging commitments tie up working capital faster than margin can replace it, and without cash forecasting a profitable brand can still run short.
- Team capability gaps. As sales grow, so does the complexity of the business: more customers, SKUs, suppliers, and channels to manage. That usually means more people, not just better ones. The team that got the brand to its first few million dollars is rarely sized or skilled for the next stage.
Why the COO comes before the CEO
When results stall, boards and founders often reach for a new CEO. It feels like the biggest lever. But a CEO hire solves a leadership and vision problem, and many mid-market CPG brands do not have one. They have an execution problem.
Hiring a CEO into a company without reliable systems tends to produce an expensive executive who inherits the same fire drills. A COO, even a fractional one, addresses the root cause. The work is concrete: tighten the sales and operations planning process, renegotiate co-manufacturing terms, clean up trade spend, and build the weekly scorecard that shows what is really happening.
There is also a sequencing benefit. Once the operating system works, the founder has room to lead, and the question of whether a new CEO is needed becomes much easier to answer with real data. Sometimes the answer is yes. Often it is not yet.
A fractional model fits this stage for three reasons. It matches cost to the size of the problem, it brings pattern recognition from many brands rather than one, and it can be scoped to a defined result instead of an open-ended hire.
What a fractional COO does in the first 90 days
A typical engagement follows a clear arc.
- Weeks 1 and 2, diagnose. Review margins by channel and SKU, map the supply chain, interview the team, and identify the three constraints that cost the most.
- Weeks 3 to 5, stabilize. Put a weekly operating rhythm and scorecard in place, fix the highest-impact supply and trade spend issues, and clarify who owns what.
- Weeks 6 to 10, build. Install forecasting and S&OP routines, set a 12-month operating plan, and hand the team tools they can run without outside help.
By week 10 the founder should see fewer surprises, healthier margins, and a team that makes decisions faster. That is also the point at which the CEO question can be answered with confidence.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fractional COO? A fractional COO is an experienced operating executive who works with a company part time, on a retainer or defined scope, to run and improve operations without the cost of a full-time hire.
When should a CPG brand hire a fractional COO? The signals are growth that outpaces systems, shrinking margins despite rising sales, recurring supply or fulfillment misses, and a founder who is stuck in daily firefighting.
Does a fractional COO replace a CEO? No. A fractional COO strengthens the operating engine so the founder or a future CEO can lead effectively. It often clarifies whether a CEO hire is needed and when.
How much time does a fractional COO need? Most mid-market engagements run from one to three days per week, with intensity highest in the first 90 days.
Key takeaways
Growth that outruns infrastructure is the most common and most fixable problem in mid-market CPG. Solve operations first, and leadership decisions get clearer and cheaper.
Marc Drucker is a fractional CEO, President, COO, and CMO who helps food, beverage, and consumer products companies grow profitably. To discuss where your brand stands, reach out through marc-drucker.com.