New retail tech drives supply chain efficiencies

In 2019, ANZCO Foods piloted PrimeXConnect, the largest meat trading platform in the local market, designed for the meat supply chain, to help manage the unique nature of the domestic business model.

New retail automation technology is helping ANZCO Foods increase efficiency in its growing domestic business.

 PrimeXConnect replaces the traditional email and phone call based offer-and-order model that has been favoured by generations of Kiwi butchers.

The platform allows our customers to place orders from the shop floor at any time using their computer, laptop or phone. The automated process ensures the confirmed orders are routed to the company’s distribution centres for delivery.

Rick Walker, ANZCO Foods GM Sales and Marketing says PrimeXConnect has enabled the domestic sales team to focus on driving new opportunities and strengthening customer relationships.

“In contrast to the rest of our $1.6bn export business, the domestic market has always been highly fragmented and characterised by a large number of relatively small customers, with a corresponding volume size per order that needs to be delivered in a short window of time.

“The local market makes up close to half of our global customer numbers but only around 15% of our total revenue, highlighting how labour intensive it is. “We started working with PrimeXConnect before the impact of COVID-19 on our business and the world, and the last 18 months has accentuated how important it is to drive greater efficiencies through the whole supply chain through increased automation.

“In New Zealand we’re seeing the development of a new generation of butchers and food processors who have graduated into senior purchasing roles and are looking for better and new ways of working with suppliers to ensure they can access the beef  and lamb they want when and how they need it,” says Rick.

“The adoption of this new technology has also provided us with the opportunity to enhance the value our salespeople can bring to our customers via more direct personal engagement. Automation is an important tool, but building relationships

and understanding our customers' businesses, opportunities and challenges will always be paramount to our ultimate success. Our domestic sales team is now better equipped to do that thanks to the introduction of PrimeXConnect,” he says.

PrimeXConnect CEO Michael Chandler says digital automation has a clear role to play in helping to drive efficiency at all levels of the meat supply chain.

“This platform has been designed to help suppliers make and communicate price updates dynamically. Suppliers like ANZCO can now create promotions for very targeted customer groups, around a specific cut of meat – replacing what would have previously been a manual process,” he says.