UniPro Foodservice has launched a new product information management platform aimed at standardizing and updating product data across its national distributor network, the cooperative said.

The company calls the platform UniPro Supplier Connect. It gives UniPro’s more than 450 distributor members access to a centralized system where product information is maintained directly by manufacturers and shared across the network. UniPro said it intends for the platform to replace long-standing reliance on static catalogs, PDFs, spreadsheets and one-time data uploads that often become outdated as products change.

UniPro Foodservice is a national foodservice distribution network comprising more than 450 independent companies. The cooperative was formed through the merger of 15 former buying and marketing groups and provides shared programs and services to its members and supplier partners.

About the UniPro Foodservice product data platform

Built on technology from Cut+Dry, Supplier Connect serves as a shared product information layer for the UniPro network. The system houses product content that companies use in digital ordering and ecommerce. That can include:

• Images
• Descriptions
• FDA specifications
• Allergen and nutritional data
• Attributes
• Other media

Distributors upload their catalogs into the platform. There, the platform matches items against a shared product database. Manufacturers can then enrich missing or incomplete data at the source. That allows companies to automatically distribute updates across participating distributors when formulations, packaging or branding change.

UniPro said the platform has processed more than 1.6 million products to date. It added that the platform enriches between 2,000 and 3,000 SKUs per day as new or updated information is added.

The cooperative also said it designed the system to reduce manual catalog maintenance for distributors, limit inconsistencies in product data and support more accurate online search and ordering for foodservice operators.

“This addresses a longstanding product data challenge in foodservice distribution,” said Luke Wolter, executive vice president at Cut+Dry, in a statement.

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