Blacksmith Applications Acquires Food Sales Enablers

Blacksmith Applications, a provider of SaaS-based trade promotion management and optimization software for consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, announces its acquisition of Food Sales Enablers (FSE), bringing together the CPG trade effectiveness and sales enablement platforms. 

FSE, of Buffalo, New York, provides integrated sales enablement and mobile technology solutions to manufacturers and brokers of all sizes and categories. In a competitive set where CRM solutions simply serve as a repository for data and pipeline tracking, the FSE platform, combined with Blacksmith's data and applications, will yield offensive sales insights; telling CPGs where to spend their time selling and even what price to offer for a higher-probability win.

The combined company will facilitate end-to-end sales enablement and efficiency through a broad assortment of trade management, promotion optimization, sales execution, and revenue growth solutions. Blacksmith will retain the Food Sales Enablers brand and application as the principal CRM and sales enablement platform for customers, and it will be offered to new clients seeking a set of tools for integrated trade spend, contract tracking, data visibility and analytics for market activation.

As part of the transaction, Rick Heavern will join Blacksmith Applications' leadership team as General Manager of the Food Sales Enablers product division.