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DIGITAL MARKETING OFTEN
gets the lion's share of the credit
for driving sales, but Amanda
Kenny at Hive Naturals knows
the value of meeting customers
where they're (physically) at—
shopping in retail stores.
"We are the feet on the street
for brands," Kenny explains.
Hive Naturals is a food and
beverage sales merchandising
agency: the team builds dis-
plays and does in-store educa-
tion to help brands promote
their products. "I always say
that we're Switzerland because
we work with the brokers, the
distributors, the retailer and the
brand," she adds.
Since Kenny started Hive
in B.C. in 2022, it's grown to a
team of 32 people operating in
six provinces. Over 90 percent
of the brands Hive works with
are Canadian. "A lot of these
brands, although they're big,
they don't have the same bud-
gets as Pepsi or Coca Cola, so
we're ensuring that they get
their time and that the sales are
there," Kenny says.
Hive is quickly adding large
retailers to its roster too, like
Walmart and Loblaws, reach-
ing up to 300 stores in Canada.
AMANDA
KENNY
F O U N D E R A N D
C H I E F M E R C H A N D I S E R ,
H I V E N AT U R A L S
RISING STARS
"When people talk about Hive,
they definitely talk about the
ROI that we produce. But they
also talk about the bright energy
that we bring into retail," she
says. "We're making money
for these stores because we
care. We're going in and saying,
'What do you need? What can
we do?' And I think that really
makes a difference."
Recently, her team built
elaborate displays in Ontario
for Canadian and family-owned
Cedar Valley Pita Chips. "Sales
went up by 565 percent with no
promo in that time, like a few
days," Kenny says, adding that
she regularly sees these kinds
of results.
But Kenny attributes much
of Hive's success to the team.
"The people that work at Hive
are tenacious, and they just
give it everything," she says.
Not only is Kenny proud of the
group she's brought together,
she adds that it's the people that
give her purpose.
"I want to build the next
generation of young men and
women in this industry," she
says. Kenny hopes to continue
growing Hive, move into more
discount retail stores across
Canada, integrate more data
and AI in the work and offer
mentorship and training sup-
port for her team.
"For the first two years, I
was like, 'OK, well, what if I fail
and I don't make it? What other
job would I get?' Then I remem-
ber waking up only six months
ago saying, 'Oh, this is going to
work. It's a multimillion-dollar
profitable company; I'm not
going to need to find another
job.' And when I thought about
that, it really was [because of ]
the people," Kenny says.–S.J.
"We're going in
and saying, 'What
do you need?
What can we do?'
And I think that
really makes a
difference."
