How Van Holten's grew Amazon revenue 63% without building a marketplace team.

"The ability to partner with RivrHub — and allow my team and me to stay focused on those decades-old wholesaler and retailer relationships — has been critical. We're able to focus on what we know how to do best."

— Eric Gerard, Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Van Holten's

A brand built for the real world.

Van Holten's has been making pickled products since 1898. Its pickle-in-a-pouch business grew the old-fashioned way — independent distributors, corner stores, bodegas, and major retailers. The team was built to win shelf space and maintain long-standing distributor relationships, not to manage Amazon inbound shipments, rewrite product listings, or police rogue sellers.

As ecommerce became inseparable from retail, that gap started to matter.

"We are designed to build distribution. We are designed to get retail pull-through."

The Problem

Demand went viral before the operation was ready.

When Pickle-Ice — Van Holten's pickle-flavored freeze pop — went viral, demand surged faster than the brand could control it. Third-party sellers flooded Amazon. Listings showed packaging years out of date. The factory fielded small, Amazon-specific shipments with custom labels. A lean internal team was being pulled away from the work it knew how to do.

The problems compounded:

• Product sold out before inventory could be replenished
• Amazon capped inbound shipments
• Rogue sellers fragmented the buy box and undercut pricing
• A 12-pack-only assortment created a high entry price and heavy fulfillment costs

Van Holten's didn't have a demand problem. It had a control, execution, and operating-model problem.

"I really had no idea what to do and how to control that."

The Model

Most agencies send recommendations. RivrHub sends a purchase order.

The RivrHub relationship starts with a transaction. Van Holten's sells product to RivrHub the same way it sells to any wholesale customer — full-pallet orders, on terms, in quantities that fit how the factory already operates. RivrHub then takes complete ownership of what comes next: forecasting, inbound logistics, catalog management, content, advertising, brand protection, reporting.

This is RivrHub's agency 2.0 model. Not strategy plus recommendations — strategy plus commercial commitment plus full operational ownership.

1. Van Holten's sells RivrHub product
   Purchase orders in standard wholesale quantities. Paid on agreed terms.
2. RivrHub runs the marketplace
   From inventory to availability, presentation, promotion, and performance.
3. Both teams plan the next stage
   Monthly planning, live dashboards, direct working channels.

"It is a full-service deal. I can be involved as little or as much as I want."

The Playbook

Growth followed a sequence. Not a collection of random tactics.

1. Regain control
   RivrHub audited every active SKU, closed 24 rogue listings, and removed 7 unauthorized sellers. Brand control moved from roughly two-thirds of marketplace sales to over 90%.
2. Build the right offers
   The 12-pack was the wrong entry point for Amazon. RivrHub introduced six-packs across the flavor line — lower price barrier, lighter fulfillment. Variety packs let shoppers explore before committing. The portfolio grew from 35 to 47 SKUs.
3. Earn the click
   New titles, product imagery, Premium A+ content, and a rebuilt storefront turned browsing into buying. Conversion rose from 6.68% to 16.63% — nearly 2.5× the original rate. The creative work was strong enough that Van Holten's started using those assets outside Amazon.
4. Add traffic, launches, and channels
   With the foundation in place, advertising and new product launches stopped being wasted on weak listings. More than 12 products launched during the partnership. TikTok Shop opened as a new revenue channel.

"They do such a good job, I'm asking them for those assets to use in other marketing."

The Results

Growth wasn't one viral spike. It was the compounding result of control, better offers, stronger content, and operational readiness — built in sequence, each layer enabling the next.

TikTok & Operations

The first viral moment created chaos. The second created revenue.

Before RivrHub, when Pickle-Ice went viral, the operation couldn't capture it. After RivrHub, when creator content sent it surging again, the result was different. Full-pallet orders moved. TikTok Shop stayed in stock. Amazon served as a fallback purchase path. The teams coordinated through a dedicated channel and responded without friction.

TikTok Shop generated over $250,000 in its first year.

The shift ran deeper than a single channel. Instead of preparing small, Amazon-specific shipments, Van Holten's now receives full-pallet orders from RivrHub — the same format as any other wholesale customer. Easier production planning, more predictable cycles, more capacity to serve every customer.

"We had one simple video go crazy on TikTok, and it was pallets and pallets of product. Unlike the time before RivrHub, we had the ability to execute."

"It allows us to run efficient shipping, efficient production, and meet orders not just for Amazon, but for all of our customers."

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