Peppere-commerce platform for food distributors continues to expand into the territory of Sysco and US Foods, giving smaller, independent distributors a technological advantage.
Specifically for independent food distributors, the company has developed an ordering system that supports catalogs of over 100,000 items and enables these firms to launch mobile applications and web sites so that they will accept orders and payments online.
Co-founder and CEO Bowie Cheung, who previously worked at Uber Eats, said the company currently has 200 customers in a market of 25,000 food distributors. Cheung, nevertheless, said Pepper desires to expand on this by facilitating the link between independent distribution and technology.
“Generally speaking, these companies have never been well served by large broad-line distributors like Sysco or US Foods,” Cheung told TechCrunch. “If you enjoy the variety and vibrancy that non-chain restaurants bring to your community, then you already understand the importance of that independent distributor, and that is largely the customer we have always served and continue to serve.”
Pepper does this by developing dozens of latest product features each 12 months that leverage advanced technology akin to generative artificial intelligence to enhance experience, performance and results. The company’s evidence includes customers experiencing a 23% increase in sales, 93% customer retention and the ability to avoid wasting greater than 10 hours of labor per week per sales representative, Cheung said.
There are several players in the e-commerce food distribution space with Pepper, including Choco, which developed a sustainable food system for restaurants and suppliers, Cut+Dry, and Anchovi, which was a foodservice e-commerce platform under its Dot Foods brand. In April, Dot Foods migrated Anchovi users to Choco as a part of a latest partnership.
Cheung believes that Pepper is unlike any other because all competitors have adopted a market-oriented strategy of downloading the app. There is no “Pepper app,” he said, reasonably it requires a distributor-facing strategy. This implies that the distributor’s brand identity is the focus, not the Pepper brand.
Customers appear to prefer it. The 140-plus customers are double the number of shoppers Pepper raised in its $16 million Series A round in 2021.
Since then, the company has grow to be a full-fledged payment processor. This makes it easier for operators to pay distributors. It also “reinvented” what modern customer relationship management software and co-pilot software for a food distribution sales representative should appear to be so they will be more productive. In addition, the company has built an promoting platform that permits distributors to conduct marketing campaigns with their suppliers to advertise existing products.
Cheung didn’t speak specifically about Pepper’s revenue, but said it had increased greater than 20 times. He also didn’t disclose the company’s valuation, but said it was “a jump up from our last round.”
Investors like Pepper too. On Monday, the company announced a $30 million Series B financing round led by latest investor ICONIQ Growth, with participation from one other latest investor, Harmony Partners, and existing investors from Index Ventures, Greylock and Imaginary. This gives the company roughly $60 million in total funding.
“ICONIQ Growth is the perfect partner for us,” said Cheung. “Their experience in supporting large, successful vertical software companies and industries that the consumer world wouldn’t necessarily recognize really resonated with us. Food distribution is one such industry.”