AboutEric Hofer Expertise Over 27 years experience, with 17 in international FMCG in back office operations and in field sales and data collection, including design, development and deployment of Handhelds, Marketing Equipment (Service, Tracking and Return on Investment), reporting and Vending management. Have participated on the launch of operations in new markets, and re-engineered the back office in several countries.
Experience Designed and led the development and deployment internal ERP system for Pepsi used in On-Premise/Vending in 13 markets.
Designed 2 handheld systems, the latest is now deployed in 4 markets internationally.
Re-engineered the back office functions (settlements, despatch, invoicing, credit control, etc) for over 20 snack, confectionary and beverage operators.
Developing software: Progress, VB, Access, C, Sybase, SA
Organizations Innovative-Selling Solutions
Publications BudapestSun
Education/Credentials State University of New York - BA Economics
NYU - Courant - Graduate work - Computing
Past/Present clients PepsiAmericas
PepsiCola International
PepsiCola Company
British Steel
British Telecom
Britvic (Pepsi's bottler in the UK)
AT&T
BellSouth
Mars Overseas Bottling
Pepsi France
Matutano (Frito-Lay Spain)
Frito-Lay
Pepsi Foods International
Chase Manhattan Bank
Kidder Peabody
National Power
SmithKline Beecham
Mars Overseas Bottling (Pepsi Azerbaijan)
A&P Bottling (Pepsi Serbia & Montenegro)
Iberia Bottlers (Pepsi Georgia)
Question I have found a product that is currently imported into the U.S. by its manufacturer. This product is only being distributed locally in (1) market. I have the opportunity to purchase distribution rights in other parts of the country. What i am looking to do is purchase the product from the manufacturer then distribute it to liquor stores & restaurants for resale to the public.
My questions are these:
1. Is a license required in order to distribute to stores & restaurants?
2. Do the stores & restaurants purchase the product from you immediately or is the product on consignment and you get paid as the product sells?
3. What kind of markup is put on liquor when selling to liquor stores & restaurants?
In general i just want to know as much about the distribution process as possible before jumping in.
Thanks for your time.
Answer Christopher,
Question 1...
As far as I understand it, there are laws etc. concerning distribution and these can differ from state-to-state; and of course, trading across state borders comes under Federal jurisdiction.
Question 2...
Consignment vs COD vs x days... It's up to you; your clout, their credit, your trust, etc.
Question 3...
Hard to say about the mark-up... first it's relative (where are you measuring your final costs? You could work from cost-of-goods, or product variable costs, including Primary Transport, 3rd party storage, etc.)... From my experience its been anywhere from a few % (because the product is on offer in a world wide chain) to 200%+ because of exclusivity and having paid upfront fees to secure the account.
