January 15th 2023
To Whom It May Concern:
LeBeau Excel is a nationally recognized sales agency within the health, wellness & specialty products industry. We help brands gain market share and learn the ins and outs of the CPG world in Canada. We have 32 employees nationally covering all the provinces and the major population centres with head quarters in the GTA market.
Over the past 10 years we have been honoured to work with Hartley Berg in the capacity of Territory Manager for Alberta and the BC Interior. This region includes management of several hundred independent and chain retailers within the territory, such as Calgary Coop, RCSS, Sobeys, Save-On Foods, Safeway, Amaranth Whole Foods, Community Natural Foods, Planet Organic, Nutter’s, Sangster’s, Vitality Health Foods, Sunterra Markets, Blush Lane, SPUD, Kootenay Coop, who is one of the largest volume single health food stores in Canada.
Hartley also quarterbacked several other chain accounts such as Nature’s Fare headquartered in Vernon BC with 7 stores spread out over the BC Interior and Lower Mainland of BC and Quality Greens, another multi-unit retailer in that market. In addition, Hartley was part of several national teams with regional execution for Sobeys, Loblaw, Overwaitea and Fed Coop affiliates in his region.
Hartley is extremely passionate about health & wellness and often engaged in category overviews on his own time and shared with his pears. He is always well researched on ingredients and source of supply.
It is a pleasure to work with Hartley and we would not hesitate to recommend him to others and have him back at LeBeau Excel at a juncture in the future. Don’t hesitate to reach out of you have questions.
Matthew A. LeBeau
President
519-841-8155
Lebeau Excel
Hartley Berg has been providing LeBeau Excel professional Broker Representation services since 2013. As the National Sales Manager for LeBeau Excel, I have had the privilege of working closely with Hartley, watching as he consistently increased new listings and sales growth, far beyond our expectations, and maintains a very professional level of service standards and communications with our brand clients, retailers and distribution partners. Hartley is respected by our team and industry as an skilled, inspired and highly-effective Sales Broker and Marketing Strategist.
Karen White
Sales Manager
LeBeau Excel
Nature’s Fare Markets
Nature’s Fare Markets
June 8, 2021
To Whom It May Concern,
RE: Hartley Berg Reference
For the past three years I have had the privilege of working with Hartley. Hartley has always been wonderful to work with. He is a man who walks with integrity, always putting others ahead of himself. He is honest and loyal to whomever he is working with.
Hartley is thoughtful, kind and yet business focused, which I believe is a rare find in the work environment today. He is talented in many areas and I have experienced his ability and expertise of growing business. Hartley is creative in his approach to increasing sales and always sincere in his execution and follow through. He is extremely supportive to individuals and groups, being able to relate to all people. Hartley is an excellent communicator.
I can say, with sincere confidence, that whatever Hartley puts his hand to, will succeed.
I hope that I will be fortunate enough to work with Hartley for many more years to come.Sincerely,
Stephanie Hall
Henry’s Tempeh
November 1, 2023
To Whom It May Concern:
We are pleased to provide this letter of recommendation for Hartley Berg.
Henry’s Tempeh has been Canada’s largest soy tempeh manufacturer for over 20 years. We produce premium refrigerated organic and gluten-free plant-based protein foods.
Hartley has been a valued member and initially headed up our national sales and marketing team. During this time, Hartley led our efforts in securing new product listings and promotional activities in key accounts, including Sobey’s, Foodland, Longo’s, IGA, Nature’s Fare, Pomme Market, Community Natural Foods, Blush Lane, Kootenay Coop, and SPUD, and also secured a listing with Gordon Food Service, launching our foodservice products in Western Canada.
Hartley provided much needed strategy and structure to our marketing and sales communications, including retail and foodservice PowerPoint presentations and business development strategic reporting. Hartley also provided management for trade and consumer shows, including CHFA East and West, UNFI, and Sobeys Trade Events, and Planted Expo.
Further, he produced a very extensive and targeted national customer prospect list. He also assisted in setting us up with SalesForce and provided a variety of business and marketing tools and reports to help our company expand.
Hartley has been a very active contributing member to our team, our customers, and our company overall, and he offers meaningful leadership and develops professional industry relationships.
Due to difficult circumstances at our company, we made the decision to shift our resources to secure a national sales and marketing broker firm thereby reducing our in-house sales management team. Hartley will be missed and we wish him every success.
Philip Diceanu
Co-owner — Henry’s Tempeh Inc.
Purity Life
Hi Hartley; thought I would contact you to express my appreciation for the excellent job you are doing in growing the business, in the largest chain of Health Food Stores in the BC. Interior…Nature’s Fare. You are tracking at an outstanding 71% sales growth vs the same period last year. What is even more impressive, you have Natural Calm Ranked #2, out of over 112 brands, that Nature’s Fare carries from Purity… thank you for your outstanding support!
Brian King
Account Manager, BC Interior
Purity Life Health Products LP
UNFI
I have only had the opportunity to work with Hartley Berg of LeBeau Excel for 2 years, and the experience has been an absolute pleasure. Hartley is a consummate professional that always responds in a timely manner with all the requested information – usually with some additional information that he thought may be helpful based on the situation! He is always looking to drive the sales of his brands, but with the best interests of his customers in mind at all times. He is a positive person, always with a kind word and smile on his face, even during the times when things aren’t going as smoothly as they could be. I value his industry experience and knowledge, as they have proven very insightful and helpful to someone like myself who is relatively new to the Natural/Organic Foods industry. I truly enjoy working with Hartley and hope to continue to do so for many years to come!
Kristie Zakaib
Key Account Manager
UNFI Canada
Puresource
Purity Life
Harley Berg, of LeBeau Excel, is one of many Brokers, who I deal with in my daily job on a regular basis.
I have always found Hartley to be dependable, he always follows through on what he says he’ll do, and that is extremely important to me.
He has a great personality and his customers like and respect him.
He’s a hard worker, and does goes out of his way to do what’s best for his accounts.
I have had the privilege of working with him for 7 years, and I would rank Hartley right near the very top of my best brokers!
I look forward to many more great years working with Hartley Berg.
Brian King
Account Manager, BC Interior
Purity Life Health Products LP
Nutter’s Everyday Naturals
Kootenay Co-op
Planet Organic
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Hartley Berg for the last 18 months, as my Broker Representative for LeBeau Excel. Hartley is a very effective, professional and reliable Broker, that gives all of his passion behind each brand he represents or product he presents. He’s been a great support for all our stores and is always there to support promotional events we’ve done and always brings great ideas to the table. I would have to say that Hartley is a great pleasure to work with.
Matthew Penner
Director of Purchasing
Head Office, Calgary Alberta
Planet Organic
Sol Cuisine
Hartley Berg was our Broker Representative for the Alberta and BC Interior for 5 years. He did a phenomenal job at securing new placements and setting up promotions. He has strong relationships with the retailers in this region. I would certainly want him to work for me again!
Sara Farkas
Canadian and U.S. Sales Manager
Sol Cuisine
Chuckleberry Farm
Working with Hartley is like winning the draft pick in the NFL and having a multi-talented Quarterback join your team and guide it to a winning season. Hartley jumps in with both feet and offers his immense creativity to launch my business on a fresh track to success. He is a sincere, good-hearted man that will honestly represent your product in a manner that explore the benefits of what your unique business product has to offer. I have no doubt that you will enjoy and benefit from welcoming Hartley to support your business.
Jon Scott
Owner
Chuckleberry Farms
E3Live
Hartley Berg has provided Brand Management services to E3Live Canada for over 2 years. During this time, Hartley has surpassed all expectations in his services regarding the creation and deployment of our marketing and sales strategies for our Canadian retail customers. Hartley was instrumental in the Canadian-wide launch of our 6 new E3Live dried product. In addition, Hartley has recently crafted our Business Plan, which has advance our position in the marketplace as the leader in our category. We are grateful for Hartley’s services and recommend him highly.
Johnnie Siakotos
Owner
E3Live Canada
Swheatgrass
You do not want to pass on an opportunity to have Hartley Berg work with you and your business. Displaying an undeniable wealth of knowledge, Hartley has designed a solid Business Plan for Swheatgrass Organics. His professional and caring nature along with his passion for the health and wellness industry made for a prefect fit in our business. We are truly grateful for the renewed confidence to keep expanding and now feel well positioned to keep moving forward. Simply put, Hartley Berg works for your success.
Liane Kaltiainen
Owner
Swheatgrass Organics
Theme Management
“It is my pleasure to write this letter of reference for Hartley Berg. I have known Mr. Berg for over 10 years and have spent many enjoyable hours in his company in the context of project planning and implementation, creative thinking as well as social occasions. Theme Management Group has used Hartley’s marketing and product development consultancy skills to produce 12 Business Plans to date, several preliminary Marketing Research Reports and Strategic Marketing Plans, as well as several new brand, product and packaging development projects. Hartley first and foremost takes a professional and thorough approach to his work. He has a depth of knowledge and contacts in the health food industry in particular, that far exceeds the norm. He uses this knowledge and skill base effectively by taking an entrepreneurial approach to the difficult task of bringing new products to market. I can say that Hartley has a genuine concern for his clients, that he applies a strong work ethic in pursuing his tasks and creates dependable and tangible results. I would recommend Hartley very strongly in the described capacities or simply for someone to have an engaging philosophical chat with.
Alan Pasemko
President
Theme Management
West’s Department Stores
Hartley Berg was hired as our General Manager on September 2007. His contractual position was set for an 8 month period and was hired to support Business Development for Ellison’s Market & Cafe, Wests Home Hardware, Wests GE Appliance Centre, West’s Travel, Wests Fashion and Sleep Experience. Hartley set out to quickly learn about all the operations and began to identify, plan and launch initiatives to build communications and training among over 80 of his general staff and Managers. This included the creation of comprehensive Policy & Procedure Training Manuals for each business. Team building was certainly one of Hartley’s gifts. Hartley’s personal approach to quality service also won the hearts of our customers. Over some time, we clearly saw that sales and profits were exceeding expectations. Existing customers shopped more often and new customers were coming in. We attribute this, in large part, due to Hartley’s ability to motivate and stimulate new and positive directions for all our businesses.
Hartley’s mandate was to identify areas of concerns and issues and to inspire a proactive approach to staff training, day-to-day operational activities as well as business and marketing development strategies. Hartley provided conflict resolution training and created consensus among management, staff, customers and suppliers. Hartley quickly defined, created and launched effective marketing initiatives that helped to build our business profiles within our communities. The results of his efforts could be measured with increased customer counts and increases in average dollars spent per customer. Hartley initiated, created and launch a natural foods Café in Ellison’s Market, with live music every Saturday. He produced print and radio advertising campaigns and trained our staff in effective product merchandising and layout strategies to optimize store space, visual effectiveness and ultimately sales. Hartley supported structural changes, systems and procedures, community fund-raising, customer appreciation events, product purchasing and strategic financial management, to name a few.
As one of Hartley’s Senior Managers of West’s Department Stores, I can say without hesitation that Hartley was directly responsible for bringing our businesses to the next level of success. Chairing weekly management meetings, Hartley brought about a way to optimize our collective efforts. Having served in our community as President of the Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce, I have worked closely with many Business and Marketing Consultants. Hartley has earned my respect and gratitude for his abilities and integrity. He has also earned the respect of many within our business communities. Hartley has effectively supported business development and positive change for all of our businesses in both Castlegar and Nelson.
I give Hartley my highest recommendations for any company looking to build their business.
Mark Melnyk
West’s Department Stores Ltd.
KinFolk Foods Ltd.
Making the decision to hire Hartley Berg as my business consultant was one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him over the past several months developing my plant-based food company.
Hartley has helped professionalize my business, bringing some much needed structure to the vision/mission of the company, as well as the sales & marketing plans. And now, my business has been thriving, thanks to Hartley!
Besides his business acumen and experience, he is a hell of a nice and conscientious guy who is great to work with and might just become a good friend of yours!
Jeffery Mclean
CEO
Kinfolk Foods Ltd.
Inner-J
Hartley Berg has been our exclusive Western Canadian Brand Manager. He has been instrumental in setting up our distribution channels and securing new product introductions and launches into both the traditional mass grocery chains as well as natural food retailers. Hartley is both enthusiastic and focused on achieving results. His experience and skills in brand-management is a tremendous value for our business.
Raw Magic Chocolate
Our struggling business was going through a critical time of re-branding when we met with Hartley Berg for help. His expertise and intimate knowledge of the Health Food industry helped encourage and inspire us to have sure footing in a difficult time of re-branding. He helped us with several face-to-face consulting sessions where he took the time to know the ins and outs of our current business model and came up with a number of strategic practices that he outlined in a professional Business Plan, highlighting a path to success. Since working with Hartley Berg, we’ve grown in confidence and doubled our sales, the re-branding was a success and Hartley’s support was certainly a part of that.
Andrew da Silva
Owner
Raw Magic Chocolate
Rocket Foods
Senior Living Magazine
Common Ground Publishing
Hartley Berg fulfilled the role of Sales Manager at Common Ground Publishing for a period of three years. Having been a member of his sales team, I can attest that Hartley Berg knows how to sell advertising! He consistently achieved the company’s highest advertising sales revenue and for the first time in the company’s history, he pre-sold all cover and premium pages 12 months in advance. Up-selling existing clients is his specialty. Also for the first time, Hartley sold national advertisers into the magazine. He works effectively with his clients and maintains a professional work ethic. In his role, Hartley organized and chaired weekly motivational and informative sales training meetings where he provided innovative sales tools. Additionally, he implemented administration and software systems to optimize sales and service. Hartley clearly displays a very positive approach in his personal and professional life. He is performance driven, and possesses an outstanding standard of excellence in client-service relations and the prospecting of new business. Hartley’s skills and dedication resulted in positive growth for Common Ground Publications. I would not hesitate to recommend Hartley as a cooperative team player and effective leader.
Sonya Weir
Common Ground Magazine
SJS Group
Tilsonberry Farms
Maggie’s Gluten Free Kitchen
Pacific Canadian Fruit Packers
Hartley House Vacation Rentals
Noah’s Natural Foods
Hartley Berg has worked as my Store Manager for over five years. During this time, Hartley has excelled in all areas of business management, including marketing and financial systems and analysis. The results of his efforts are reflected in: the increase of YOY sales within virtually all product categories; positive customer, staff and supplier relations, and ensuring a consistently smooth-running overall store operation.
Hartley created and implemented a comprehensive Policy and Procedure staff training manual. This has enhanced employee productivity and customer service quality.
Hartley developed an on-going consumer product demonstrating program, utilizing extensive support from many of our suppliers, which effectively built product and brand awareness – leading to customer appreciation and impressive sales growth.
Further, Hartley provided assistance in the opening of our second Noah’s store, where he created and managed Toronto/Canada’s first commercial hydraulically-pressed juice bar and vegetarian café, which became a leading source of revenues for this new store.
In summary, Hartley has consistently demonstrated strong work ethics, every day, and displays creative and effective management skills. His loyalty to my company and to the natural products industry has been truly inspiring. I extend my thanks and gratitude to have had Hartley Berg as my Manager in charge of my operations.
Dave Titcher, President
Noah’s Natural Foods
322 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario