fs octopus

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fs octopus

Channels

How We Work

What is TOM

Podcast

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Foodservice and alternative channels

Skip the shelf.
Land the operator.

FS Octopus gets emerging food & beverage brands into the channels grocery buyers ignore. We don't chase shelf space — we land the operators who move volume.

Real doors, real operators, real revenue — without paying to sit on a shelf. Get your product in front of buyers who actually place orders — not category managers who bury you.

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What is Tom

5,000+

Contacts in foodservice

8 Alternative channels

6-mo

Engagement plan

0%

Commission. Retainer only.

Grocery is a blood bath.

Grocery retail sucks — and it's built to bleed you dry.

Slotting fees. Free fills. Spoilage. 30 weeks to maybe earn a set — then cut at the first review.

Built for legacy CPG. Not you.

The alternative: one micro-market network. One campus contract. One GPO award. No slotting. No free fills. A buyer who actually answers the phone.

That's the work. We point you straight at the operators who say yes.

What we do

A fractional sales team built for the channels nobody else covers.

We run your entire foodservice and alternative-channel sales — focused on driving sales and distribution into these small-format channels.

01

Channel strategy

Which doors fit your margin, format and capacity — and the order to attack them in.

02

Operator sell-in

Direct introductions to operators and decision-makers from an existing network, not cold lists.

03

Distributor alignment

Vistar, broadliners and regional DSDs — getting you set up where your buyers already order.

04

GPO & contract

Foodbuy and GPO submissions, plus the SOWs and pricing that hold up at review.

The reach

Eight tentacles. One operator network.

Every channel below is a different door, a different buyer and a different distribution path. We work all of them.

01

Colleges, Universities & K-12

Dining services, c-stores and meal-plan retail.

05

Military

Commissary, exchange and on-base channels.

02

Hospitality

Hotels, resorts, grab-and-go.

06

Corporate Campuses

Tech and non-tech — dining and employee marketplaces.

03

Convenience Stores

Regional chains and alt-distribution sets.

07

Airports / Airlines / Cruise

Travel and transportation foodservice.

04

Micro-Markets / Vending / Pantry

Unattended retail in offices, plants and campuses.

08

GPOs

Foodbuy and group purchasing awards.

How we work

Straight terms. No commission. No lock-in games.

6 Months

Plan

A clear six-month plan. Long enough to land doors, short enough to stay accountable.

$$$

Flat retainer

One monthly retainer. No commission, ever.

1:1

Structure

You work with an experienced team member who lands accounts.

SOW

Sales & Distribution

We put together a scope of work and a plan to execute.

The modelS

Not a brokerage agency — an extension of your team, focused on fractional sales and distribution.

Two ways to work with us:

Option 1 · Fractional Sales

1:1 fractional sales & consulting

A dedicated team member runs your foodservice and alternative-channel sales — consulting, outreach, operator sell-in and distribution — as an extension of your team on a flat monthly retainer.

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Option 2 · The Program

TOM The Octopus Method

A 6-month hybrid brokerage + education cohort. We open the doors and teach you to work them — in non-competing Beverage and Snack cohorts so nobody's selling against you. Jul 1 – Dec 31, 2026.

What is Tom?

The Podcast

The Octopus Podcast

Foodservice operators, distributors, category buyers and founders talk with me about the secrets — how to get in and grow your business.

Listen to the show

New episodes · 2nd & 4th Tuesday

Skip the

shelf talk.

Spotify · Apple · YouTube

Mike Levinson
Founder & Principal

Mike Levinson
Founder & Principal

Who's behind it

Mike Levinson built FS Octopus on one idea: the shelf isn't the only way in.

Years inside foodservice and alternative channels — micro-markets, vending, OCS, GPOs, campus and military — gave Mike a network most brands can't buy and a clear-eyed read on where emerging product actually sells. FS Octopus packages that into a fractional team: senior, channel-specialized, and pointed straight at the operators who say yes.

No corporate speak. No hedging. Real numbers and the next right door.