Mission Field

What Mission Field does

Mission Field is a Denver-based CPG innovation, strategy, and insights consultancy that helps Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods manufacturers move from ideation to retail launch. The firm's offering is anchored in the proprietary EMBR Innovation Process—a four-phase methodology covering Energize (ideation), Make (prototyping), Burst (transactional testing), and Roar (launch preparation)—supplemented by service modules including Lightning Strike (front-end consumer insights), MicroBurst Retail Labs (real-world in-store transactional testing over 12–20 weeks), Moving Front (reverse-equity commercialization of dormant CPG IP), SPARKS, and FLASH. A national co-manufacturer network enables small-batch production for in-market testing that large CPG clients cannot achieve internally.

The firm generates revenue through professional services fees on project-based and retainer consulting engagements with enterprise CPG clients, augmented by keynote speaking engagements and book royalties from the 2023 publication 'Fire in the Machine: Driving Entrepreneurial Innovation In Large CPG Organizations.' Customer logos span food, beverage, and consumer products manufacturers including PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg's, Clorox, Kraft-Heinz, Keurig Dr Pepper, Danone, Mondelez, Heineken, Tropicana, and Ocean Spray, with global delivery claimed across North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. Distribution and demand generation are driven by thought leadership—content marketing, the published book, keynote speaking, and industry press—rather than digital channels.

Mission Field is privately held, founder-owned by Jonathan Tofel (CEO, ex-P&G and Clorox) and Carolina Sasson (COO, ex-P&G and WhiteWave Foods), with 11–50 employees and no disclosed external investment. The firm has received third-party validation through Inc. 5000 (2019), Financial Times Americas' Fastest Growing Companies (2020, 2022), and Colorado Fast 50 (2022). No AI/ML capabilities, proprietary software platforms, patents, or regulatory filings were disclosed in the source material.

Name

Mission Field

Website

https://mission-field.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mission Field is a Denver-based CPG innovation consultancy that helps Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies ideate, prototype, test in real retail environments, and launch new products using its proprietary EMBR four-phase methodology and MicroBurst transactional testing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDABALAG

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Education/Corporate Training & Professional Development/Industry-Specific Professional Training (e.g., Healthcare, Manufacturing, Construction)

SECONDARYEDABAHAL

Data & Metrics for PM/PPM (Analytics, KPIs, Experimentation)

Education/Corporate Training & Professional Development/Project, Program & Product Management Training

Keywords

• CPG innovation consulting
• Consumer insights research
• Product strategy services
• Retail market testing
• New product launch support

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. CPG Innovation Consulting Services: Mission Field generates revenue through consulting fees charged to Fortune 500 CPG companies for innovation strategy, product development, testing, and launch support services. Services are delivered through various engagement models including project-based consulting, retainer arrangements, and speaking engagements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Mission Field is a CPG innovation, strategy, and insights consultancy that helps Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies create, formulate, produce, test, and launch new products. The firm delivers this through its proprietary EMBR innovation process and supporting methodologies including Lightning Strike, MicroBurst Retail Labs, Moving Front, SPARKS, and FLASH.

Product overview

Mission Field is a global CPG innovation, strategy & insights consultancy offering a portfolio of innovation services. The core offering is the EMBR Innovation Process—a comprehensive four-phase methodology (ENERGIZE, MAKE, BURST, ROAR) that guides clients from ideation through transactional testing. Supporting modules include Lightning Strike for front-end insights, MicroBurst Retail Labs for real-world market testing, Moving Front for reverse equity portfolio management, SPARKS for rapid problem-solving, and FLASH for accelerated development. The firm also publishes the book 'Fire in the Machine' and offers keynote speaking services. All offerings are delivered through a consulting engagement model rather than as standalone software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• EMBR Innovation Process Mission Field's proprietary end-to-end innovation methodology that guides Fortune 500 CPG clients through creating, formulating, producing, testing, and launching new products.
• Lightning Strike Mission Field's proprietary front-end insights engagement designed for CPG clients seeking rapid, focused consumer understanding before full product development.
• MicroBurst Retail Labs Mission Field's proprietary in-retail product testing methodology for CPG clients, designed to validate new products under real retail conditions.
• Moving Front Mission Field's proprietary 'reverse equity' consulting engagement that helps CPG clients identify and act on emerging innovation fronts moving from niche to mainstream.
• SPARKS Mission Field's proprietary rapid problem-solving engagement designed to resolve specific CPG innovation challenges quickly.
• FLASH Mission Field's proprietary accelerated innovation engagement for CPG clients that need compressed timelines for new product development.
• Speaking & Keynotes Executive speaking and keynote offering where Mission Field leadership presents on CPG innovation topics to industry audiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60% of delivered concepts achieved Outstanding probability of success as defined by Nielsen, with many qualifying as SuperStar ideas
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IRI: Large-scale CPG-focused market research, analytics, and consulting firm; broader and more data-centric than Mission Field but addresses overlapping CPG innovation and category-development use cases.
• McKinsey & Company (Consumer Practice): Global management consultancy with a deep consumer/CPG practice covering innovation strategy, growth, and operations; competes with Mission Field for the same Fortune 500 innovation budgets but at a significantly larger scale and broader service offering.
• Acosta Group: Sales, marketing, and innovation services firm dedicated to CPG clients — broader service portfolio but serves the same enterprise CPG buyer as Mission Field and competes for innovation and activation budget.
• Kantar (Insights Division): Global market research and consulting powerhouse serving major CPG manufacturers with consumer insights, innovation testing, and category strategy — overlapping Mission Field's research and testing services at much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Strategos: Boutique innovation and strategy consultancy working with large enterprises on growth strategy and new venture incubation — comparable scale and methodology depth to Mission Field with overlapping CPG clientele.
• Insigniam: Management consultancy focused on enterprise transformation and breakthrough results, including innovation outcomes; serves Fortune 500 clients with comparable engagement model and pricing tier to Mission Field.
• IDEO: Design and innovation consultancy serving CPG and consumer brands on product development, prototyping, and consumer insights — overlapping with Mission Field's ENERGIZE and MAKE phases and shared Fortune 500 clientele.
• Doblin (Deloitte): Long-established innovation consulting practice (originally independent) serving large enterprises on innovation strategy and execution; now part of Deloitte, providing direct overlap with Mission Field's EMBR-style offerings plus significantly broader resourcing.
• Fahrenheit 212 (IBM iX): Premium innovation consultancy serving Fortune 500 CPG and consumer brands on growth strategy and product innovation; now part of IBM iX, it is one of Mission Field's most direct methodology and client-base competitors.
• ?What If! (Accenture): Innovation consultancy specializing in CPG and consumer goods innovation strategy and activation; direct competitor to Mission Field's EMBR-style methodology, now operating as part of Accenture's larger portfolio giving it global scale Mission Field lacks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mission Field