The Partnering Group to Form Industry Board to Establish Category Management Best Practices in Foodservice

Cincinnati, Ohio, April 18, 2013 —The Partnering Group (TPG), an international strategy and general management consulting firm, announced today an initiative to establish best practices for category management in the foodservice industry. In collaboration with the foodservice industry, TPG, which has 20-plus years of experience in helping multiple business sectors develop effective category management capabilities, will work to develop a highly effective and proven category management approach that is tailored to foodservice, and which will enable distributors and manufacturers to better serve their operator customers and, as a result, accelerate growth and profitability.

As part of the TPG initiative, the company will be forming a Category Management Innovation Board to establish best category management practices in the foodservice industry. According to TPG, the mission of the board is to establish best practices for adopting a common language for collaboration and information sharing between manufacturers and distributors, a process framework, and recommended analytics and metrics to enable industry stakeholders to interact more efficiently and effectively with one another.

In this effort, TPG will be partnering with The NPD Group, a leading global information company. NPD, which has been tracking foodservice industry trends and performance for more than 30 years, will be a key insights partner on TPG’s Category Management Innovation Board. NPD will also be collaborating with TPG on other category management activities in the foodservice industry.

“Category management is an insights-driven process. NPD’s rich research and analysis incorporates market-level information, operator segment trends, and consumer insights to create the actionable insights that drive category management leadership and growth,” says Jeff Schroeder, Partner, of The Partnering Group. “Partnering with NPD will facilitate the development of foodservice category management best practices, generating profound results for manufacturers, distributors, and operators.”

NPD recently announced plans to launch SupplyTrack®, the industry’s first monthly sales tracking service with broad distributor coverage see here now. SupplyTrack, which will roll-out this summer with initial categories, will incorporate sales information on every product shipped from a critical mass of distributors to each of their foodservice operators. Through its CREST® service NPD has continually tracked how consumers use foodservice outlets since 1981.

“Category management is a hot topic in the foodservice industry. Manufacturers and distributors are seeing the need for a comprehensive approach to optimize their collaboration for profitably growing their categories and brands,” says Karyn Schoenbart, president and chief operating officer, The NPD Group. “TPG’s successful track record in leading category management processes and capability development, coupled with NPD’s information assets, will provide foodservice manufacturers and distributors the guidance needed for their businesses to prosper and grow.”
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About The Partnering Group
Founded in 1990, The Partnering Group (TPG) is an international strategy and general management consulting firm. Our mission is to provide proven enterprise-wide collaborative solutions for multiple business sectors worldwide. TPG led a major shift in the CPG industry with its focus on driving value through collaborative marketing, merchandising and fulfillment of products across the entire value chain and is recognized for Best Practices in Category Management & Assortment. An industry leader in the Retail sector, TPG also successfully leads consulting projects in the business-to-business (B2B) sector, including Foodservice, Club/Cash and Carry, Medical Products and the Home Improvement channel. For more information, visit www.thepartneringgroup.com. Follow us on Twitter: @TPGConsulting or on LinkedIn.

About The NPD Group
The NPD Group provides global information and advisory services to drive better business decisions. By combining unique data assets with unmatched industry expertise, we help our clients track their markets, understand consumers, and drive profitable growth. Sectors covered include automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, entertainment, fashion, food / foodservice, home, luxury, mobile, office supplies, sports, technology, toys, and video games. For more information, visit www.npd.com and npdgroupblog.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdgroup.

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