🚚 Dive Into The Debate: UNFI’s SSA Policy Change

The relationship between brands and broadline distributors has always been fraught with potential peril and strife. And for many customers of UNFI, that pain now has a number.

The powerhouse national distributor’s new Simplified Supplier Approach (SSA) – which consolidates various service fees and add-ons into a single all-inclusive 2.5% tariff on all purchases – may be more streamlined than previous agreements. But that’s about the only thing everyone will agree on.

Nosh Insiders can access the full story and gain a clear understanding of the dynamics at play and all the points to consider about the new policy change.

Organic and natural frozen food brand Amy's Kitchen announced today that Mel Cash has been appointed chief growth officer and Leanne Molter has been promoted to CFO.

👀 Cash most recently served as chief marketing and innovation officer of Nestlé North America where she helped grow brands like Sweet Earth and Stouffer’s. At Amy’s, she will help redefine the company’s sales and marketing strategies. 

🤝 Molter, who will succeed current CFO Peter Wong upon his retirement this month, previously served as Amy’s chief transformation and strategy officer. She has over 20 years of experience in the CPG industry. 

💭 “[Molter’s] strategic foresight and operational prowess have already propelled our business forward, and we are confident she will lead Amy's Kitchen to even greater heights as chief financial officer," said Amy’s president, Paul Schiefer, in a statement. 

Go Deeper: Amy’s Kitchen Adds Execs to Stabilize Supply Chain Ops, Brand Transparency

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Natural channel distributor UNFI instituted a policy change on May 1 called the Simplified Supplier Approach (SSA), and as you read above – reactions have been mixed at best. The new policy was said to combine many common compliance fees into a single, 2.5% charge. It was originally touted by the distributor as a way to reduce friction, but many suppliers aren’t so convinced. 

The CPG Week team ran down the new policy, shared reactions from industry stakeholders over the last few months and made some predictions on how this change could impact the natural retailers and consumer pricing down the road.

Listen to this week’s episode to get a full overview of the policy change. 

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