A food marketing expert without the full-time commitment

Karen Anderson is a food marketing expert. She advises brands, from emerging and funded to global CPG, on how to grow sales, profit, and distribution through consumer insights, market and competitor analysis, and product development.

She established Purple Peak Marketing after a 10-year career in brand management at Lindt, the #1 premium chocolate brand, where she led the two largest, 7-figure product launches in company history for Lindt USA and Lindt Australia.

Karen is adept in the commercialization of innovation from ideas to launch, including consumer validation, packaging development, and customer sell-in. She partners with and speaks the language of sales teams, equipping them with the sell-in story and tools for launch.  

Karen received her MBA from Babson College and her BA from Tufts University. She lives in Boston and spends her summers in Ipswich, MA – home of the famous fried clam!

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller

I’ve been fortunate to work with cross-functional teams throughout my career. It’s been my experience that when teams can align on goals and leverage one another’s strengths, the likelihood of meeting or exceeding expectations on a project or initiative is very high. But we’re not robots. It’s also important to build personal connections within teams. I like to get to know the people I work with. I like to have fun and laugh - it makes the work better.

Here, we’re one of many teams competing in the annual EF Education First Halloween Contest. The women were the Spice Girls - playing off McCormick Spices - and the men were the Backstreet Boys. We didn’t win, but it was fun to brainstorm, make our costumes, and take a pause during the work day.

My clients are my partners and teammates. We work together to overcome challenges and grow. We might not dress up for Halloween, but we will build a meaningful relationship that allows us to have fun and produce exceptional results.