Thomas J. Payne Market Development

What Thomas J. Payne Market Development does

Thomas J. Payne Market Development (TJPMD) is a privately held, founder-operated marketing consultancy founded in 1986 by Tom Payne in San Mateo, California, originally under the name Thomas J. Payne & Associates and rebranded to its current form in 2003. The firm specializes in business-to-business marketing and market development services for the global food processing industry, serving agricultural commodity boards (California Raisin Administrative Committee, Almond Board of California, North American Blueberry Council, California Walnut industry, National Honey Board, Canadian Flaxseed industry), government and multilateral agencies (World Bank, USAID, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, Indonesian Trade Promotion Center, Indian government), and international development NGOs (Mercy Corps International, Land O'Lakes International). The service portfolio is structured around five integrated offerings: Research & Planning, Documentation, Demonstration, Communications, and Evaluation/Consulting, delivered via field-based market reconnaissance, trade show representation, technical seminars, multilingual publications, and feasibility studies executed through a network of in-country experts spanning more than 50 countries.

The firm's core technology is human expertise rather than software: it combines domain knowledge in food science with marketing and communications capabilities, supported by a field representative network including a ten-person team in China (across ten cities), a regional office in Madison, Wisconsin, and individual correspondents in markets such as Eastern Europe, Cuba, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Africa. Distribution is direct-to-client through professional services engagements; revenue is generated through bespoke consulting and market development contracts with no publicly disclosed pricing. The firm has also commercialized a consumer-facing specialty food product line, the Peruvian Aji Collection, anchored by the Inca Flame pepper product that won the top prize at the 1998 Fiery Foods Festival.

TJPMD's positioning is distinctive in its willingness to operate in structurally difficult markets where larger consultancies avoid deployment, including Afghanistan (USAID Helmand cotton sector work), Kosovo (USAID Business Services), North Korea, Cuba, and multiple African countries on World Bank advisory mandates. Go-to-market motion is sales-led and event-driven, with documented earned media coverage in BusinessWeek Asian Edition (2001), the BBC World Service, and Stars and Stripes reinforcing niche authority in cross-border food industry promotion. The firm remains privately owned with no institutional investors, no funding rounds, no subsidiaries, and no AI/ML capabilities disclosed; operational information post-2007 is limited, leaving current growth dynamics unverified.

Name

Thomas J. Payne Market Development

Legal name

Thomas J. Payne Market Development

Website

https://tjpmd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Thomas J. Payne Market Development is a privately held food industry marketing consultancy founded in 1986, serving agricultural commodity boards, government agencies, and NGOs with research, documentation, demonstration, communications, and consulting services across more than 50 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Mateo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Food Industry Consulting Services: TJPMD generates revenue through professional consulting services for the food industry, including market research, market development, business consulting, and trade promotion activities for commodity boards, government agencies, and food processing companies worldwide.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Thomas J. Payne Market Development is a specialized food industry marketing consultancy that delivers five integrated service areas: Research & Planning (market research and feasibility studies), Documentation (technical brochures, newsletters, web pages explaining product characteristics and benefits), Demonstration (trade show representation, seminars, prototypes), Communications (technical articles, publicity, direct mail, international web content), and Evaluation/Consulting (introductions to partners and customers using sound research methodology). The firm serves suppliers of ingredients, equipment, and processes in the dairy, baking, confectionery, snack, and other food processing industries, operating across more than 50 countries worldwide. The firm also maintains a specialty product line, the Peruvian Aji Collection of chile peppers.

Product overview

Thomas J. Payne Market Development (TJP) is a specialized consulting firm in the food industry that offers a comprehensive suite of professional services rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include five integrated service areas: Research & Planning, Documentation, Demonstration, Communications, and Evaluation/Consulting. These services are delivered through market development activities across 50+ countries worldwide. Additionally, TJP has developed a specialty product line called the Peruvian Aji Collection featuring Peruvian chile peppers and related food products. The company operates from offices in San Mateo, California (headquarters), Madison, Wisconsin, and maintains international consulting operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 95+ new products developed in 2 years for California Raisins
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• World BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTJPMD serves as food industry advisors to World Bank projects in several African countries including Madagascar (vanilla trade structural analysis), Central African Republic (identification of exportable food items), and Mozambique (cashew industry analysis and market recommendations).
• US Agency for International Development (USAID)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTJPMD received contracts from USAID for projects including Helmand Province cotton sector work in Afghanistan and Kosovo Business Services program to help rebuild the region's food industry identifying specialty food products for domestic and export markets.
• Central Asian Development GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTJPMD works with the Central Asian Development Group on Afghanistan projects including cotton sector revitalization in the Helmand River Valley with test farms, extension systems, and worldwide marketing activities. One of the first US firms to work in this area.
• Land O'Lakes InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTJPMD serves as marketing advisor for the Honduran Dairy Project administered by Land O'Lakes International with USAID funding, working in La Cieba and San Pedro Sula on dairy industry revitalization.
• Industrial Development Corporation of South AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTJPMD serves as advisor to the IDC of South Africa on agricultural issues including product analysis, market analysis and development activities of various crops and experimental projects.
• Neptune Agricultural Group, Inc.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNeptune Agricultural Group is a Florida company active in agricultural trading worldwide, sourcing products from more than 20 countries. They worked with TJPMD on Afghanistan and Central Asian agricultural product development and procurement.
• Panagra Trading Pte. Ltd.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSingapore-based company active in procurement of agricultural products from 15+ Pacific Rim and Central Asian countries. Active in organic certification programs and marketing products in USA and Europe.
• Mercy Corps InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational humanitarian organization. TJPMD worked with Mercy Corps alumni including Rahmatullah who has 12+ years experience with Mercy Corps International managing development activities in Afghanistan.
• Indonesian Trade Promotion CenterminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorConducted 35 market feasibility studies for the Indonesian government on agricultural diversification including coconut, tapioca, and banana chips. TJPMD advised nation's ministries of trade on small business and trade issues.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Camelot Strategic Marketing & Consulting: Specialized food and agricultural marketing consultancy serving commodity boards and food processors with market research, promotion, and trade development — a directly comparable business model and client base to TJPMD, though operating at a different scale.
• Hale Group: Boutique food industry strategy consulting firm offering market research, business development, and strategic advisory to CPG and food ingredient companies — overlapping service mix and target clients.
• Promar International: Food, beverage, and agriculture consultancy providing market research, feasibility studies, and business consulting — comparable in service offering and food industry specialization to TJPMD.

Broad incumbents

• Mintel: Global market research firm with deep CPG and food industry coverage offering product intelligence, consumer research, and category analysis — serves many of the same commodity board and food processor clients at much greater scale.
• Circana (formerly IRI + NPD): Large-scale CPG and food market research and analytics provider — competes for the same food industry research budgets as TJPMD, but with enterprise data platforms and global infrastructure.
• Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research: Banking group with a global food and agribusiness research and advisory practice — competes for institutional food/agricultural consulting mandates and serves commodity boards worldwide.
• The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) — Food & Agriculture Practice: Global management consulting firm with a dedicated food and agriculture practice — competes for high-end food industry strategy mandates though operating at vastly greater scale and offering different analytical depth.

Others

• Winrock International: International agricultural development NGO working on USAID, World Bank, and government contracts across Africa, Asia, and Latin America — comparable institutional development footprint to TJPMD's USAID/World Bank engagements.
• DAI (Development Alternatives, Inc.): International development company implementing agricultural, economic growth, and food security programs funded by USAID, DFID, and World Bank — competes for the same institutional development consulting contracts.
• Land O'Lakes International Development: International development arm of the Land O'Lakes cooperative implementing dairy, agriculture, and food security programs — TJPMD has even served as a subcontractor to Land O'Lakes on the Honduran Dairy Project with USAID funding.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/payne-thomas-j-market-develp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Thomas J. Payne Market Development