Case Study
Food industry
Tactical Foodpack: AI found the right person at a major Norwegian retailer
Founded in Viljandi, Estonia, Tactical Foodpack makes freeze-dried meals for hikers, emergency preparedness organisations and defence customers across Europe. After years of trying to reach a major Norwegian outdoor retailer, Sera found the right decision-makers and helped turn the opportunity into a growing partnership.
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Sera Editorial
Case study
Tactical Foodpack
For years, Tactical Foodpack couldn’t reach a major Norwegian retailer. Then AI found the right person
For years, Tactical Foodpack had been trying to get its products onto the shelves of a major Norwegian outdoor retail chain. On paper, the fit was obvious: Norwegians spend a lot of time outdoors and are willing to pay for quality gear. Tactical Foodpack’s meals last for years, are ready in minutes and actually taste good.
One thing was missing: the right person.
“We had tried several times before, but we couldn’t even get to the right contacts,” recalls Rainer Mäemets, Sales Manager at Tactical Foodpack. The breakthrough came when the company started using Sera, an AI-powered sales platform built in Estonia. The system identified the right decision-makers inside the retailer and reached out to them.
From there, things moved quickly. Tactical Foodpack sent samples, delivered product training and the retailer was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Today, Tactical Foodpack is listed by the retailer and the partnership continues to grow.
It all started with a can of food no one wanted to eat anymore
Tactical Foodpack’s story goes back to 2014, when founder Sverre Puustusmaa was serving in the Estonian Special Operations Forces. During one mission, he had to hold a position for several days. Eventually, he reached the point where he simply could not face another can of food. It did the job nutritionally, but there was nothing enjoyable about eating it.
Founded in Viljandi in 2016, Tactical Foodpack began producing freeze-dried meals that are lightweight, last for years and can be prepared in minutes while still tasting like real food. As the company grew, production expanded to Hilden, Germany, creating capacity to serve larger retail chains and institutional customers across Europe.
In export sales, the winner is not the one who sends the most emails
Tactical Foodpack operates in a narrow market. Its buyers include outdoor retail chains, emergency preparedness companies, rescue and medical organisations, defence-sector buyers and specialist distributors. Success does not come from contacting as many companies as possible. It comes from knowing who actually needs the product and reaching the right person inside that organisation.
“There’s simply no way one person can do that much contact research, preparation and follow-up,” Mäemets says. “You can build a very good email campaign manually, but then that becomes your full-time job. In reality, you have a hundred other things to do.”
Sera finds relevant companies and the right decision-makers inside them, gathers background information, writes personalised outreach and keeps track of follow-ups. The sales team steps in once a real conversation has started.
One of the biggest advantages has been the ability to test new ideas quickly. Export businesses constantly form hypotheses: could German campervan stores sell freeze-dried food, or could emergency medical companies in Denmark become customers? In the past, testing each idea could mean weeks of researching companies and building contact lists.
“If you get an idea that a segment could work, you can put it into the system and quite quickly see whether there is real potential,” Mäemets says. “Once the first order comes in, you know it was not just an interesting idea. There is a real business opportunity there.”
Customers in places the team would never have thought to look
One experiment led Tactical Foodpack to a customer the sales team would probably never have searched for on its own. In Denmark, Sera identified a company in the emergency medical sector with serious interest in the product. “This was exactly the kind of customer we would never have thought to look for ourselves,” Mäemets says.
In Germany, Tactical Foodpack tested a completely different segment: camping and van-life stores that had never sold freeze-dried food before. The first larger partner placed an order, and monthly sales in the segment soon reached tens of thousands of euros. The real value was knowing they had found a new customer segment that worked.
“AI opens the door, but a human closes the deal”
Mäemets is clear that AI-powered sales is not something you simply switch on and leave running on its own. He sees it more like a new member of the team: it needs direction, feedback and boundaries. The company still decides which markets to target, how to approach different types of buyers and what kind of message will work in each market.
“If it sounds too much like AI, people notice straight away,” Mäemets says. “With cold outreach, the winner is the one who can approach people in a more creative and precise way.”
Tactical Foodpack’s story shows what AI is actually changing in export sales. It does not make salespeople less important. Instead, it takes over much of the work that comes before the real selling begins: finding companies, identifying the right contacts, doing the background research and keeping track of follow-ups.
The product was there. The customer was there. What was missing was the connection between the two. In international B2B sales, one door opened at the right moment can be worth more than a thousand emails sent.
The Danish buyer already knew the Tactical Foodpack brand and even had the company’s products at home. When the person on the other side already knows and trusts the product, the business conversation does not start from zero.
Tactical Foodpack’s sales team still negotiates, sends samples, delivers training and closes deals. AI simply helps them get to the right conversation faster. In export sales, that precise connection can matter more than sending a thousand generic emails.
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