Mitch Gould, founder and CEO of Nutritional Products International (NPI), is set to attend the ECRM Vitamin, Weight Management & Sports Nutrition Session from September 14-17 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. With a career spanning decades and millions of dollars in products sold to major retailers like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Target, GNC, and Vitamin Shoppe, Gould brings a wealth of experience to the event. For him, ECRM represents a shift from the traditional grind of traveling city to city for buyer meetings to a consolidated opportunity to engage with retail decision-makers from multiple channels in one location.
“I've spent my career traveling the country, sitting down with buyers and building relationships with major retailers,” Gould said. “ECRM brings many of those opportunities together under one roof. Instead of flying from city to city for individual meetings, you can have productive conversations with retailers over several days in one location.”
Gould emphasized that the value of ECRM extends beyond mere efficiency. “Retail has always been a relationship business,” he noted. “There is something different about meeting people face-to-face, having dinner together, talking outside the formal meeting environment and getting to know the people behind the business. ECRM creates that kind of atmosphere.” This sentiment is particularly relevant in an era where technology dominates business interactions, yet Gould argues that personal connections remain indispensable.
Gould's extensive retail experience includes working with manufacturers, consumer brands, and major retailers across the health, wellness, and nutrition industries. He later developed NPI's “Evolution of Distribution” platform, which provides domestic and international brands with a streamlined approach to entering or expanding in the U.S. market. The platform integrates sales, marketing, logistics, and retail distribution services under one operation, simplifying the complex process of bringing products to market.
“ECRM fits naturally with the way we approach retail expansion at NPI,” Gould said. “It gives us an opportunity to sit across the table from retailers, understand what they are looking for and introduce them to brands and products that may fit their customers.” This alignment underscores the strategic importance of the event for NPI and the brands it represents.
Gould will attend the session on behalf of NPI, which has a track record of helping brands launch and scale in the U.S. market. His career includes work with iconic consumer brands such as Igloo, Rubbermaid, Sunbeam, and Miracle-Gro, as well as high-profile celebrity brands including Steven Seagal, Hulk Hogan, Chuck Liddell, Ronnie Coleman, and Bob Wall. He has also played a key role in shaping the growth of the U.S. sports nutrition category, supporting the expansion of performance-focused products across major retail and e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Walmart, GNC, CVS, and Walgreens.
As technology continues to accelerate the pace of business, Gould's participation in ECRM highlights a critical balance. “Technology has made business faster, but relationships still matter,” he said. “When you can bring efficiency and personal relationships together, that's a powerful combination.” This philosophy is central to NPI's approach, which focuses on guiding products from concept to shelf while building long-term, scalable growth for brands. By leveraging events like ECRM, Gould aims to foster the personal connections that drive success in the retail industry.
