How Clootie McToot won a listing with their dream retailer John Lewis
Scottish dumplings brand Clootie McToot saw their "dream come true" when they managed to secure a listing with one of their target retailers: John Lewis, after Product Guru facilitated the golden opportunity!
Success Story Highlights
- Product used: Virtual Pitch secured via the Product Guru platform.
- Retailers the brand secured listings with: John Lewis & Partners
Customer Testimonial
"Product Guru made it possible for me to meet with buyers who I would never normally have had access to. A virtual pitch via the platform, the swapping of emails, and then my dream came true: our products available to purchase at John Lewis.
For a wee business like mine, the Product Guru platform is an invaluable way of making connections with retailers and supporting my business to grow."
Michelle Maddox, founder of Clootie McToot
What John Lewis said about their experience listing the brand
"Meeting with brands through a Product Guru hosted virtual pitch is a great way to keep things short and sweet, and form an opinion as to whether they fit the John Lewis brand. As a result, we offered Michelle a chance to stock Clootie McToot Dumplings in our SIS 2021 range."
John Lewis Buyer
Clootie McToot's journey with Product Guru
Michelle found out about Product Guru and signed up for free. Then they uploaded all their traditional dumplings products to the platform in the relevant category.
Thanks to Product Guru's connection and close relationship with the buyers at John Lewis & Partners, Clootie McToot was successful in securing a 10-minute virtual product pitch session with the Gift Buyer at John Lewis.
John Lewis buyer reviewed Clootie McToot product details in their search for experiential gift food. The pitch was then arranged and delivered via the Product Guru platform, followed up by sample requests and conversations between the retailer and the supplier.
Michelle from Clootie McToot received the offer to stock their traditional dumplings in John Lewis between the months of Spring and Summer in 2021.
About the brand
The idea for Clootie McToot came about when Michelle's son asked her to bake and have a stall at his local school fête. The aroma of sugar and spice and the laughter from her children brought back fond memories of her childhood.
Her inspiration, desire and passion for traditional Scottish cooking was ignited and a business was born. The rest, as they say, is history. Clootie McToot dumplings are lovingly prepared, following a traditional, closely-guarded family recipe.
These lovely, old-fashioned puddings are bursting with Scottish charm. Michelle joined the Product Guru platform to attract the attention of buyers, to help her build awareness of her brand and make connections with retailers to grow her business
We are very thankful to the team at Clootie McToot for sharing their virtual pitch experience and success story. To learn more about the brand, visit their website here.
A Product Guru account makes challenger and emerging brands accessible to buyers looking for products their customers will love. We improve your visibility and support you in marketing your brand with customisable online product cards, showing buyers everything they need to know about your products as they search our platform.
We help brands like yours to engage and connect with buyers with in-platform messaging functions, virtual product pitches and sample opportunities, and we're proud to support a thriving community of independent, innovative brands across all FMCG, gift, home and specialty categories.
Other Success Stories
How HotTea Mama's success with Virtual Pitches
Beautifully Nourished wins listing with Selfridges after Virtual Pitch
Product Guru can help you reach retail buyers.
The content on our site is provided for general information only. Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up to date. Please read our full Terms and Conditions.