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Hire the Top 1% of Packaging & Design Consultants

Operators who took CPG and DTC brands from kitchen-table packaging to national retail.

See the operators

About MentorPass

Est. 2020·10,000+ engagements·avg rating

The list

The 4 best packaging & design consultants

Ranked by what they have actually shipped, not their portfolio reels. These are operators who fixed packaging while running the brand it belonged to.

  1. 01Eric Carl

    Eric Carl

    Vetted operator40+ sessions

    Emerging Brands Leader at Target; retail advisor

    Eric runs the emerging brands program at Target, the room where shelf-ready packaging gets a yes or a no. He has done 40+ sessions on MentorPass at a perfect rating. If you want packaging that clears a real retail buyer, he tells you what they look for before you spend on a redesign.

    Retail readiness

Sound familiar?

From stuck to a plan you can run this week

The problems founders bring our packaging & design operators — and what they walk away with.

  1. We have retail-ready packaging (according to us), but no idea if a buyer would agree.

    Packaging benchmarked against what a real retail buyer accepts: pricing, margins, and shelf presence checked before you pitch.

  2. Very little experience with packaging: pouches, bottles, labels, compliance.

The scope

What a packaging & design consultant actually does

The work our packaging & design operators take on, from first call to ongoing.

  • Retail-readiness audit

    A review of pricing, margins, and packaging against the benchmarks a real buyer uses before you engage retail.

  • Primary and secondary packaging direction

    Decisions on format, structure, and design system that hold up on shelf and in hand.

  • Format and compliance guidance

    Help choosing pouches, bottles, and labels and getting the regulatory details right for your category.

  • Unboxing and inserts

    Physical inserts and unboxing moments that educate customers on usage and reinforce value at first contact.

  • Cost and shipping optimization

    Sizing and material choices that fit shipping tiers and cut packaging spend without cheapening the product.

How MentorPass works

The easiest way to hire a packaging & design consultant

Find your expert, book a call, solve your problem — and keep them on when you’re ready.

  1. 1. Find your consultant

    Browse the ranked list of vetted operators. Every profile shows their track record, the brands they’ve scaled, and exactly what they go deep on.

  2. 2. Book a call

    Pick a time and share your context up front. They review it before you meet — no spending the first 20 minutes on background.

The guide

What to know before you hire a packaging & design consultant

What a packaging & design consultant does

A packaging & design consultant helps you make the decisions that turn a product into a brand: primary packaging, secondary packaging, unboxing, labels, and compliance. The good ones do not start with a moodboard. They start with the buyer and the shelf. Design packaging from the customer's perspective so it performs where it actually has to perform, whether that is a retail shelf or an Amazon listing. They sweat the unglamorous parts too: fitting a box inside a shipping tier to cut cost, getting label compliance right, choosing pouches over bottles, hitting an order minimum you can afford.

The work compounds. Standardize logos, fonts, and design across your ads, site, and packaging and the brand reads as one thing, which builds trust and quietly lowers what you pay to acquire a customer. Get it wrong and every channel fights the others.

What to look for when hiring one

Hire operators, not vendors. The difference shows up fast. Someone who has sourced their own pouches and labels will spot the compliance pitfall before you pay for it. Someone who sat on the buyer side at a national retailer knows the exact benchmarks your packaging has to clear, so you stop guessing whether you are retail-ready.

Look for proof, not adjectives. Ask what they built, what it scaled to, and what they would change about your packaging in the next 30 days. The best advice is specific and immediately usable, not a brand philosophy. Match the operator to your stage too: moving from a farmer's market look to national retail is a different problem than standing out on a crowded Amazon category, and different operators are sharp on each.

Why founders use MentorPass for it

MentorPass connects you to operators who built and scaled real consumer brands, then lets you book them by the session. No retainer, no agency markup, no waiting on a deck. You bring the decision you are stuck on and get a direct answer from someone who has made the same call with their own money on the line.

Most of the founders booking packaging help here run ecommerce brands, the stage where packaging stops being a logo and starts being the thing that wins or loses the shelf. The roster includes a former Target emerging brands leader, a 13-year Petco buyer, and CEOs who scaled CPG and supplement brands from zero into the tens and hundreds of millions. Book one call, get a clear next step, and rebook the same person as the work moves from direction to production to launch.

Proof

Results from these packaging & design consultants

Average rating
5★

Average rating

Written reviews
22

Written reviews

Sessions booked
210

Sessions booked

Expert operators
4

Expert operators

Matt is a trustworthy, reliable mentor who guided us through key technical manufacturing questions and helped us spot potential pitfalls to avoid.Matt is a trustworthy, reliable mentor who guided us through key technical manufacturing questions and helped us spot potential pitfalls to avoid. You can tell he knows the space and genuinely has your back. Highly recommend. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From a session with Matt Hobbs

Why MentorPass

MentorPass vs. the alternatives

When you need packaging & design help, you have four options. Here's how they actually stack up.

MentorPassAgenciesFreelance marketplacesFull-time hire
Time to first callThis weekWeeks of pitchesDays, hit or miss2–3 months

Industries

Where our packaging & design operators have done it

Real reps in these verticals, not theory. The kind of pattern-matching that only comes from having shipped in your category.

  • E-commerce Packaging & Design ConsultantsPackaging & Design operators who've built and scaled DTC and online retail brands.
  • CPG Packaging & Design ConsultantsPackaging & Design operators who've scaled consumer packaged goods brands in retail and DTC.
  • Agency Packaging & Design ConsultantsPackaging & Design help built for agencies and professional service firms.
  • Marketplace Packaging & Design ConsultantsPackaging & Design for multi-vendor marketplaces and platforms.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much does a packaging & design consultant cost?

You book by the session, so you pay for the advice instead of a retainer or an agency project. Most founders start with one call to pressure-test direction, then book again when they hit the next decision.

How do I book a session?

Pick the operator who fits your stage, choose a time, and book. Come with your current packaging or design and the decision you are stuck on, and you get specific feedback in the call.

How are these consultants vetted?

Every operator here built or scaled real brands and is rated by the founders who booked them. The roster is ranked by sessions and ratings, not portfolios, so you are talking to people actively doing the work.

Explore more

See all capabilities

Hire a packaging & design consultant who's done it before

Pick a consultant and book a call — or tell us what you're working on and we'll route you to the right operator in the network.

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Contact

4.97

Eric Carl

Emerging Brands Leader at Target; retail advisor

Matt Hobbs

Co-Owner & COO, Cowboy Colostrum (0 to 8 figures)

Julie Nelson

CPG & retail advisor, 13 years at Petco

Vetted operator
40+ sessions

On MentorPass

Hire Founders & Operators from Top Brands

Go to market
Buyer strategy
Positioning
View profile
  • 02Matt Hobbs

    Matt Hobbs

    Vetted operator

    Co-Owner & COO, Cowboy Colostrum (0 to 8 figures)

    Matt co-owns Cowboy Colostrum, an animal-based wellness brand he helped scale from zero to eight figures through DTC. Founders call his sessions actionable down to the minute, with hard numbers most operators keep private. He works through packaging, manufacturing, and compliance the way someone who has actually sourced pouches and labels does.

    DTC scalingManufacturingOperationsCompliance
    View profile
  • 03Julie Nelson

    Julie Nelson

    Vetted operator

    CPG & retail advisor, 13 years at Petco

    Julie spent 13 years at Petco on the buyer side of consumer brands. She advises on product, commercialization, and channel strategy, so packaging decisions get made against the retailer's demographics, not a guess. Useful when you need packaging tuned to a specific channel rather than a generic refresh.

    Channel strategyCommercializationProductRetail
    View profile
  • 04Greg LaVecchia

    Greg LaVecchia

    Vetted operator100+ sessions

    CEO, Bloom Nutrition

    Greg is CEO of Bloom Nutrition and has helped CPG and supplement brands scale from $0 to $100M a year. With 100+ sessions and a perfect rating, he is the most-booked operator on this list. He connects packaging to the rest of the machine: brand cohesion across ads, site, and box, which is where acquisition costs quietly drop.

    BrandingCPG scalingMarketing strategyGo to market
    View profile

    • A clear path through format, labeling, and compliance from someone who has sourced and shipped it for their own brand.

  • Traditional cleaners come in ugly plastic with harsh chemicals, and we look the same.

    Packaging that signals what the product actually is, so it stands apart instead of blending into the category.

  • We need a more unique style and look to stand out on Amazon without insanely high MOQs.

    A packaging approach that earns attention on a crowded listing while staying inside realistic order minimums.

  • We want a brand refresh across website, packaging, and marketing collateral, but it all feels disconnected.

    One coherent system across ads, site, and packaging, which builds trust and lowers acquisition costs.

  • We are moving from local farmer's market branding to national retail and the design does not hold up.

    A professional, shelf-ready design system built for retail expansion without losing what made the brand work.

  • Brand cohesion across channels

    Aligning logos, fonts, and packaging with your ads and site so the brand reads as one and trust compounds.

    • 3. Leave with a game plan

    Get specific, prioritized advice you can act on this week — and keep working with them ongoing if it clicks.

  • Keep them on

    Found your match? Keep your packaging & design operator on as an ongoing advisor as you scale.

    • Eric posed thoughtful questions to ensure he provided the customized and specific advice that I could apply immediately. He sought to understand my challenges and then had very insightful ideas for how I can accelerate my growth. I appreciated that Eric was open in sharing his learnings throughout his journey with me.
    From a session with Eric Carl
    Greg not only provided us with all the contacts we needed, but he also went above and beyond our expectations by proactively offering insights, making introductions we hadn’t even considered, and ensuring we had everything in place to move forward with confidence.
    From a session with Greg LaVecchia
    Julie was very helpful and shared alot of ideas that will definitely help our business.
    From a session with Julie Nelson
    Who you actually getTop 1% packaging & design operatorsJunior account managersUnvetted freelancersHard to find senior talent
    Proven at your stageBuilt & scaled real brandsA playbook, not your contextVaries wildlyIf you can afford them
    CommitmentPer call — no lock-inMonthly retainerPer projectSalary + equity
    CostPer session$$$$ / month$$ / project$$$$$ + overhead
    Ongoing supportKeep them on as an advisorLocked into scopeChurn and rehirePermanent headcount
    Can I get ongoing help, not just one call?

    Yes. Most founders rebook the same operator as packaging moves from direction to production to retail launch, so you keep continuity instead of re-explaining your brand each time.

    Will they tell me if my packaging is actually retail-ready?

    Yes, and that is one of the most common reasons founders book here. With a former Target emerging brands leader and a 13-year Petco buyer on the roster, you get a real buyer's read on whether your packaging clears the shelf.

    Can they help me stand out on Amazon without huge order minimums?

    Yes. Several operators have run their own DTC and CPG brands and can point you to packaging that earns attention on a listing while staying inside realistic MOQs.