# Scope Shelf

> Scope Shelf is a CPG sales and retail launch company based in Chicago, Illinois. It is a Golden Scope Partners company, founded by Patrick Pilewski. Scope Shelf works as a food broker, grocery broker and retail broker for food, beverage, and health and wellness brands: it places products in independent grocery stores, retail chains and foodservice, runs merchandising and in-store sampling, represents brands at trade shows, books buyer meetings, and stores and ships inventory from its own distribution warehouse and fulfillment center.

Updated November 10, 2026. Full page: https://scopeshelf.com/what-we-do

## Quick facts
- Company: Scope Shelf (scopeshelf.com), a Golden Scope Partners company
- Founder: Patrick Pilewski, 30+ years in business, foodservice and merchandising
- Based in: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Who we work with: Food, beverage, supplement, and health and wellness brands, including import brands entering the U.S.
- Retail reach: 500+ independent retailers and 850 foodservice operators
- Assets we own: A distribution warehouse, a fulfillment center and e-commerce websites
- Distribution partner: Eagle Distributors
- Our own brand: 78 Brand, sold through Walmart, Sysco, KeHE, UNFI and 2,500+ retail doors
- Signature program: Spotlight Shelf: a retail merchandiser shared by 8 to 12 brands for 90 days, campaigns from $10,000
- How to start: scopeshelf.com/contact

## Services
- [Broker services](https://scopeshelf.com/food-broker): Scope Shelf is a food broker alternative for emerging and growing food brands. We place your product in independent grocers and retail chains, book buyer meetings with your sell-through numbers in hand, and stay through merchandising and reorders. We charge a commission of 3% to 10% on sales, with monthly marketing fees for sampling and trade shows.
- [Grocery brands](https://scopeshelf.com/industries/grocery): We get food and beverage brands into grocery stores. Start with our network of 500+ independent grocers, where owners decide store by store, then use the reorder numbers to reach chains and distributors. Our warehouse keeps inventory close to the stores.
- [How Scope Shelf works](https://scopeshelf.com/): Scope Shelf handles retail sales for consumer packaged goods brands: placement, buyer outreach, merchandising and reporting, in independent stores and chains. One team from first order to reorder.
- [Retail merchandising](https://scopeshelf.com/merchandising): Our merchandisers run shelf checks, facings, price tags, displays and resets, store by store, with photos and a weekly report. Available on its own or as part of a launch.
- [Warehouse and distribution](https://scopeshelf.com/industries/grocery): We own and run a distribution warehouse and a fulfillment center, and partner with Eagle Distributors and local distributors. Your inventory sits with us, and stores can order you the way they order everything else. For Spotlight Shelf brands, our distribution purchases the product and places it in the store.
- [Wellness brands](https://scopeshelf.com/industries/wellness-brands): We work with supplement, vitamin and wellness brands. Health and wellness is one of the most competitive categories on the shelf, so we start with stores that fit, put product in shoppers' hands with sampling, keep it findable with merchandising, and show buyers the reorder.
- [Wellness brands](https://scopeshelf.com/industries/wellness-brands): Functional foods, better-for-you snacks, wellness drinks and supplements. We place them in independent grocers and natural retailers, run sampling and merchandising, and report what sells.
- [Beverage brands](https://scopeshelf.com/industries/beverage-brands): We launch beverage brands: placement in the cold box and on shelf, sampling so shoppers taste it, merchandising, and buyer meetings with the reorder numbers. Our warehouse and distributor partners handle the cases.
- [Import foods](https://scopeshelf.com/industries/import-foods): We help international food brands test the U.S. market: ocean freight with trusted forwarders, licensed customs brokers, FDA paperwork and English labels, storage in our warehouse, then placement with real American shoppers.
- [Trade show representation](https://scopeshelf.com/trade-shows): We staff your booth, run sampling, book buyer meetings, film the show and follow up on every lead after it closes. Fancy Food, Expo West, the NRA Show and more.
- [Buyer outreach](https://scopeshelf.com/buyer-outreach): We research the right buyers, write the outreach, send samples and follow up on a set cadence. You get meetings with people who can say yes.
- [Pop-up activations](https://scopeshelf.com/pop-up-activations): We pass out samples where your product sits, run pop-up activations where shoppers already are, and bring back the feedback and sales.
- [Spotlight Shelf program](https://scopeshelf.com/spotlight-shelf): Spotlight Shelf puts your product on a merchandiser shared by 8 to 12 brands, in 10+ stores for 90 days, plus 10 to 20 more stores on regular shelves, with media, sampling and an e-commerce listing. Brands pay for marketing, promotions and scan-back credits, with campaigns from $10,000. Brands that perform earn a permanent spot and exclusive distribution into 100+ doors.
- [Reports by industry](https://scopeshelf.com/reports): We read the category, the buyers and the costs before you spend. Published reports cover retail media and merchandising costs and fresh food delivery; custom research covers your aisle.

## Categories we work with
- Food: Condiments and sauces, Snacks and chips, Cookies, candy and sweets, Pantry and specialty foods, Pickled and fermented foods, Imported and European foods, Foodservice products
- Beverage: Sparkling drinks, Juices and fruit drinks, Functional and wellness drinks, Protein beverages
- Health and wellness: Supplements and vitamins, Better-for-you snacks, Natural and organic products, Functional foods, Personal care

## Spotlight Shelf program
- [The program](https://scopeshelf.com/spotlight-shelf): a retail merchandiser shared by 8 to 12 brands, rotating every 90 days. Minimum 10 store activation on the merchandiser plus 10 to 20 more stores on regular shelves. Our distribution purchases the product and places it in the store; brands pay for marketing, promotions and scan-back credits. Campaigns from $10,000. Brands that perform earn a permanent spot and exclusive distribution into 100+ doors.
- [Build your shipper](https://scopeshelf.com/spotlight-shelf/build-your-shipper): pick a design direction, palette, screen and shelf layout.
- [FAQ](https://scopeshelf.com/spotlight-shelf/faq)

## Reports
- [The cost of getting on the shelf](https://scopeshelf.com/reports/cost-of-getting-on-the-shelf): Every charge between a new brand and the shelf, sourced, with a calculator that shows what you keep per unit.
- [In-store retail media and merchandising costs](https://scopeshelf.com/reports/retail-merchandising-costs): Cost benchmarks, sales-lift evidence and slotting practice by retailer, with 40+ sources.
- [Farm-to-door fresh food delivery market](https://scopeshelf.com/reports/fresh-food-delivery): Market size, demand, unit economics, eight business models and the Chicago and Midwest operator landscape.
- [Premium protein beverage entering the Midwest](https://scopeshelf.com/sample-research-report): A real research report: ten named prospects, sample outreach and a 72-hour cadence. Buyer contacts redacted.
- [Hot honey launch plan for retail](https://scopeshelf.com/sample-launch-plan): A premium hot honey brand entering specialty retail in the Northeast: top ten prospects, the outreach angle and a 72-hour cadence.
- [78 Brand: a category disrupted](https://scopeshelf.com/work/78-brand): Our own condiment line, from a debut at the 2014 NRA Show to Walmart, Sysco, KeHE, UNFI and 2,500+ doors.

## Articles
- [What Is a Food Broker, and Does Your Brand Need One?](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/what-is-a-food-broker): A food broker sells your product to retailers and distributors for a commission. Here is what they do, what they cost, how they differ from a distributor, and how to tell if you're ready for one.
- [How to Get Your Supplement Brand Into Stores](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/supplement-brand-into-stores): Supplements sell differently from food. Here is where Americans buy them, the rules your product must meet before a buyer will look at it, and how a new supplement brand gets from distributor to shelf.
- [Scan-Based Trading and Scan-Backs, Explained for New Brands](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/scan-based-trading): Scan-based trading means you own your product until it sells. A scan-back means you pay a promotion only on units that sell. Here is how both work, where they fit, and what they mean for your cash.
- [Slotting Fees: What They Cost and How New Brands Avoid Them](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/slotting-fees): Slotting fees are what a store charges to put a new item on its shelf. Here is what they cost, every other charge that rides along, and the ways a new food, beverage or supplement brand gets on the shelf without writing that check.
- [Getting on the Shelf Is the Marketing](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/getting-on-the-shelf-is-the-marketing): For a young CPG brand, retail distribution isn't the reward for marketing. It is the marketing. How product actually gets into stores, and why the launch, not the buyer meeting, is where brands stall.
- [The Food & Beverage Trade Shows Worth the Booth (2026 USA Guide)](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/food-beverage-trade-shows-usa): A working guide to the national and regional food and beverage trade shows in the USA, Fancy Food, Expo West, and the rest, what each is for, who should go, and how to get in front of the buyers without paying for your own booth.
- [Field Marketing Is Just Showing Up Where It's Sold](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/field-marketing-retail-activation): The most under-used channel in CPG is a person, a table, and a sample, standing where your product is on the shelf. What field marketing is, why it converts, and how to run retail activations that actually move units.
- [Shopper Marketing: The Last Six Inches Decide It](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/shopper-marketing-winning-at-the-shelf): Most of the purchase decision happens in the aisle, in seconds, with your product competing against everything next to it. What shopper marketing is, and how to win the six inches of shelf where the sale is actually made.
- [CPG Broker Alternative: Why Vertical Integration Beats the Traditional Model](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/cpg-broker-alternative): Considering a CPG broker? Here's why emerging brands get lost in a 4,000-brand portfolio, and what a vertically integrated alternative does instead.
- [How to Get Your Product Into Retail Stores: A 2026 Route-to-Market Guide](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/how-to-get-product-into-retail-stores): How to get your product into retail stores in 2026: the 4 routes to market, honest tradeoffs, and a decision map from operators who've done it.
- [The Future of CPG Sales: Why the Brokerage Model Is Breaking](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/future-of-cpg-sales-brokerage-model): The future of CPG sales is shifting. Why the traditional brokerage model is breaking for emerging brands, and the operator-led model replacing it.
- [Chicago Pop-Up Event Licenses in 2026: What Brands Get Wrong, What It Costs, and How to Open on Time](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/chicago-pop-up-licenses-2026): A field guide to Chicago's pop-up rules. Which licenses, which departments, what the paperwork costs, and how to open on time without losing your date.
- [Retail Marketing Strategy: A 90-Day Playbook for Modern Brands](https://scopeshelf.com/articles/retail-marketing-strategy): How DTC brands earn their spot on physical shelves. A working playbook for the first 90 days: buyer targeting, merchandising, in-store media, and sell-through proof.

## Company
- [About Scope Shelf](https://scopeshelf.com/about)
- [Contact](https://scopeshelf.com/contact)
- Parent company: Golden Scope Partners (https://goldenscope.io)