01
Decision session
A focused working session for one urgent question, followed by a concise action memo. Best for a founder or operator who needs clarity before committing time or money.
Specialty food retail & hospitality consulting
Open smarter. Grow what works.
Practical guidance for cheese shops, specialty food retailers, restaurants and hospitality groups—from an operator who understands the counter, the numbers and the decisions behind both.
The operator’s view
Advice shaped behind the counter.
Specialty food businesses rarely need more theory. They need someone who can pressure-test the concept, sharpen the numbers, simplify the assortment and turn a long list of possibilities into the next five decisions.
I run Ideal Cheese Shop in New York City. My work has been built around buying, pricing, merchandising, selling, fulfillment and the daily discipline of keeping a specialty food business healthy. I bring that operator’s perspective to launches, resets and growth projects.
Built for decisions with real money, margin and reputation behind them.
RetailersCheese shops & specialty markets
HospitalityRestaurants, hotels & clubs
New conceptsMarkets, counters & retail programs
Three ways to work together
Start at the size of the decision.
Every engagement is scoped around a real decision and a practical outcome—not a generic deck.
02
Margin & assortment sprint
A practical review of product mix, sourcing, price architecture, margin targets, portion logic, merchandising and selling routines—with clear priorities for what to keep, change or cut.
03
Launch or growth project
A fixed-scope engagement for a new counter, market, cheese program or business reset. Work can cover concept, opening assortment, vendors, equipment, operations, launch sequencing and an executable action plan.
What we can solve
The hard decisions get easier with an operator in the room.
The work stays close to the commercial questions: what to sell, where to buy, how to price, how to present it and what the team needs to execute.
- Concept, customer and positioning
- Opening assortment and vendor plan
- Pricing architecture and margin targets
- Merchandising, gifting and sampling
- Equipment, receiving and inventory priorities
- Staff selling routines and product standards
- Launch sequencing and first-90-day plan
- Growth diagnosis and business reset
Start the conversation
What decision is in the way?
Share three things: the business or concept, where it stands today, and the biggest decision holding it up. I’ll tell you quickly whether I can help.
hello@michaelbinetti.com