Henderson Foodservice Turning Supplier Collaboration into a Competitive Advantage -
how Henderson Foodservice scaled compliance, improved supplier accountability, and streamlined product data management with Akeneo Supplier Data Manager
Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager helps us win business from our competitors.
For more than 100 years, Henderson Foodservice has been a trusted food distributor across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Serving thousands of restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools, and national retail chains, the company’s success depends on delivering not just quality food, but accurate, transparent, and compliant product data.
At the heart of this operation is Andrea Scott, Product Data Manager, who leads a team responsible for maintaining over 20,000 SKUs and ensuring that every item meets strict UK and EU food regulations.
“Our customers need to know exactly what they’re serving and selling,” Andrea explains.
“That means every single product, ingredient, and allergen has to be correct, complete, and compliant.”
But managing this accuracy across multiple markets and hundreds of suppliers was becoming increasingly complex. Henderson partners with more than 360 suppliers, including world leaders such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Nestlé, each with different systems, standards, and levels of digital maturity.
As Henderson expanded across the UK and the EU, so did the complexity of its operations. The team’s biggest hurdles came down to three interconnected needs:
Compliance with EU allergen labeling laws and the impending EUDR (European Deforestation Regulation) required complete, traceable product data —not just for a few high-profile items, but for every SKU in Henderson’s 20,000+ product portfolio.
A missing ingredient or allergen field wasn’t just a clerical issue; it was a compliance and reputational risk.
Henderson’s operations handle two regulatory environments:
That means the same product could require two versions of metadata and labeling depending on where it was sold. Andrea’s team needed governance that could flex to both sides of the border while maintaining a single source of truth for every product.
With more than 360 suppliers, each with its own data standards and systems, ensuring consistency and accuracy was nearly impossible without a centralized approach.
Suppliers varied widely in digital maturity. Some global manufacturers had sophisticated product data systems, while many local producers relied on manual files or simple spreadsheets. That variability meant Andrea’s team spent countless hours consolidating information, checking for missing attributes, and aligning technology.
With a team managing more than 20,000 SKUs, manual work wasn’t just time-consuming; it was slowing progress.
Andrea and her team spent much time coordinating supplier files, validating details, and ensuring compliance across multiple markets.
It became clear that Henderson needed an end-to-end solution that would bring suppliers into the process, automate data validation, and make collaboration easier at scale.
We had suppliers sending us files in all kinds of formats. Getting everyone to follow one consistent process was the biggest hurdle
To build a scalable, compliant foundation, Henderson implemented Akeneo PIM, creating a single source of truth for all product data.
“Getting all of our products into Akeneo PIM was a game-changer,” Andrea says.
“It gave us one place to manage everything, connect our systems, and make sure the information we share with customers is always right.”
PIM gave Henderson control, consistency, and governance. But even with strong internal processes, one issue remained: supplier data was still slow, inconsistent, and often incomplete.
When Andrea discovered Akeneo Supplier Data Manager (SDM), she immediately saw the opportunity to extend Akeneo’s capabilities upstream, to the supplier level.
“It was a no-brainer,” she says. “SDM gave us a way to put accountability back where it belongs, with the supplier, while making their job easier at the same time.”
Because SDM is natively integrated into the Akeneo Product Cloud, data flows seamlessly between suppliers and PIM. No more manual file reformatting, double entry, or complex IT intervention.
“When a supplier uploads their data, it’s already mapped, validated, and ready to use,” Andrea explains. “It’s saved us an incredible amount of time.”
With SDM, Andrea’s team could:
This connected workflow also ensures real-time governance. Any updates made in PIM automatically flow into SDM, so suppliers always see the most current requirements and standards as expected by Henderson food services
Rolling out SDM across hundreds of suppliers wasn’t just a technology project; it was a collaboration project.
Andrea hosted personalized demo sessions using suppliers’ own products, walking them through how SDM validates and simplifies submissions. Once they saw it in action, resistance turned into enthusiasm.
“We made it easy,” she says. “We adapted the templates to what they already use, then showed them how much faster and easier SDM makes their jobs.”
Even smaller or less technical suppliers have embraced the change. “Some were nervous at first,” Andrea recalls. “They thought they might ‘break’ the system. But after one session, they were confident. Now they call me just to say how much easier it is.”
Today, Henderson’s team is onboarding five to six suppliers per week, steadily rolling out SDM across its network, and strengthening relationships through trust and shared efficiency. As a result, SDM has become the tool that allows Henderson food service to win market shares, thanks to the depth and variety of its product portfolio.
Through SDM’s built-in validation rules, critical fields like allergens, ingredients, and labeling information are automatically checked. Suppliers receive instant feedback if a submission is incomplete, allowing them to correct and re-upload without manual intervention from Henderson’s team.
This supplier-led workflow not only improved compliance but also eliminated repetitive, low-value tasks from Andrea’s team’s daily work.
We wanted to spend our time improving product content, not just cleaning it up, but without automation and supplier accountability, we couldn’t scale.
The difference was immediate and measurable. What once took Andrea’s team hours now takes minutes, and what once required manual correction now happens automatically.
“Before SDM, a single supplier update could take us hours to clean, check, and format,” Andrea explains. “Now that same process takes minutes.”
Compliance accuracy has also improved dramatically. Every SKU now meets EU and UK standards before activation, reducing audit risk and ensuring consistent labeling across both markets.
By connecting PIM and SDM within the Akeneo Product Cloud, Henderson transformed supplier management into a competitive advantage.
They’ve built a trusted, transparent data ecosystem that connects suppliers, systems, and customers across borders. It’s an ecosystem that not only drives internal efficiency but also strengthens customer confidence and helps Henderson differentiate in a competitive market.
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