Area Sales Manager — Foodservice & Independent Accounts

Experience Level: 6–10+ YearsPrimary Channels: Independent foodservice, hospitality, and institutional accountsTerritory / Location: HyderabadAbout the RoleThe Area Sales Manager (Foodservice & Independent Accounts) will own territory development, direct customer acquisition, revenue growth, credit collections, and service delivery across independent and regional foodservice businesses. The primary objective is to build a high-density, highly productive route-to-market while developing long-term partnerships with business owners, chefs, purchase managers, and outlet teams.Target Customer UniverseCake makers and bakeriesCafés and restaurantsHotels and hostelsCloud kitchens and local food establishmentsKey ResponsibilitiesTerritory & Account Planning: Map local markets, classify outlets, define call frequencies and route beats, and execute monthly conversion plans.Customer Acquisition & Trials: Prospect and onboard bakeries, cafés, restaurants, and cloud kitchens via structured product presentations, kitchen sampling, and commercial demonstrations.Account Growth & Penetration: Maximize order frequency, average basket size, SKU mix, and share of wallet within active customer accounts.Commercial Management: Manage quotations, price tiers, discount limits, distributor economics, and credit terms in alignment with company governance.Credit & Collections: Ensure disciplined order-to-cash execution, regular invoicing reconciliation, timely receivables collection, and tight credit risk control.Operations & Supply Coordination: Liaise with supply chain and fulfillment teams to ensure product freshness, order fill rates, delivery schedules, and prompt return/complaint resolution.Field Marketing & Activation: Collaborate with marketing to run local chef and baker engagement events, sampling drives, and customer referral initiatives.Market Intelligence: Track competitor moves, pricing changes, trade schemes, and delivery performance across the territory.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)Achievement of monthly/quarterly revenue, volume, gross margin, and contribution targets.Number of new active accounts opened and first-to-repeat conversion rates.Account productivity, average order value (AOV), SKU penetration, and account retention.Route plan adherence, productive sales calls per beat, and trial-to-conversion metrics.Receivables ageing, collection efficiency, credit compliance, and wastage/return rates.Candidate ProfileEducation: Graduate degree; MBA or relevant commercial qualification preferred.Experience: 6–10+ years of frontline B2B sales experience in FMCG, foodservice, HoReCa, dairy, bakery, food ingredients, or fresh/perishable goods.Network & Market Knowledge: Established industry relationships with chefs, purchase managers, bakery owners, and local food distributors.Commercial Acumen: Strong working knowledge of margin structures, distributor margins, beat optimization, credit cycles, and route economics.Execution Style: Hands-on field orientation, high ownership, comfortable working in an early-stage growth environment, and willing to travel extensively within the territory.