Date Lady syrup is having a breakout year: Retail deals with Erewhon and Sprouts are just the beginning

Many consumers are blissfully unaware of the work that it takes to get a product on the shelves of their favorite local market. Colleen Sundlie, founder of Date Lady, sure does. The brand’s Original Date Syrup, Chocolate Spread, and Sweet Chili Sauce made their debut at upscale grocery chain Erewhon in September, while an exclusive 11-ounce bottle of Chocolate Syrup hit Sprouts Farmers Market shelves earlier this month.Selling products at Erewhon and Sprouts is part of a new era of rapid expansion for Date Lady. This Springfield, Missouri-based company with 25 full-time and 40 total employees believes these new commerce avenues have the potential to add another $1 million in sales by the end of next year. There is also a positive benefit to its infrastructure. “It means opening up distribution warehouses in several different locations where we didn’t have that yet,” Sundlie tells Fast Company. “It means being able to knock on several more brick-and-mortar stores and say, ‘Hey, look, we’re already here in this distribution warehouse in this region.'”This strategy has already worked, even without a dedicated salesperson. [Photo: Date Lady] “We’ve already gotten some stores based on …

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