UniPro Foodservice on Wednesday launched UniPro Supplier Connect, a product information management platform designed to give its distributor members a centralized source of product data for digital commerce.
The platform, developed with Cut+Dry, will be available to UniPro’s network of more than 450 foodservice distributors. UniPro said the system is intended to replace static catalogs, PDFs, and spreadsheets with a continuously updated model in which manufacturers maintain product information that is then shared across the cooperative’s distributor network.
Supplier Connect functions as a common product data layer for UniPro, housing item images, descriptions, FDA specifications, allergen and nutritional data, attributes, and other content. When distributors upload their catalogs, products are matched to a shared database. Manufacturers can then fill in missing or incomplete information, with updates distributed across participating members.
UniPro said the platform has processed more than 1.6 million products to date and is currently enriching between 2,000 and 3,000 SKUs per day as assortments, formulations, and specifications change.
The cooperative said the system is intended to reduce manual data maintenance, limit inconsistencies in distributor catalogs and support more accurate search and ordering in ecommerce channels. Manufacturers gain a single point to manage and distribute product content across multiple distributors.
“This gives members a more consistent way to manage and maintain product information across the network,” Luke Wolter, executive vice president at Cut+Dry, said in a statement.
Atlanta-based UniPro Foodservice is the largest foodservice distribution cooperative in the United States, representing more than 450 independently owned distributors. Cut+Dry provides ecommerce, ordering and product content tools to foodservice distributors, manufacturers, and restaurant operators.
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