Digital Transformation · Food & Beverage · CPG, Foodservice & Specialty

Turn Your Customer & Channel Operations
into a Competitive Advantage

Solutions Metrix helps food and beverage manufacturers, CPG brands, foodservice distributors, and specialty food companies modernize how they work — from strategy through long-term success. We start with your commercial goals, not a platform pitch, and stay with you until technology actually delivers value for your sales, trade marketing, and customer success teams.

Platform-agnostic. No vendor commitment. Scoped to your workflows.

600+
Projects Delivered
20+
Years in Business
9.1
NPS Score
1M+
End Users Supported
We implement Creatio Salesforce Microsoft Dynamics Sugar AI
How We Help

From Strategy to Long-Term Success

Solutions Metrix doesn't just implement software. We partner with food and beverage organizations across the full transformation journey — from the first roadmap through adoption, optimization, and beyond.

CRM Strategy & Inception

Before any platform decision, we map your field sales, trade account management, distribution partner, and foodservice operator workflows alongside your ERP and order management requirements. Our CRM Inception service delivers a tailored roadmap with ROI and TCO analysis — so you invest wisely and in full commercial alignment across every channel.

Platform Implementation

Every implementation is tailored to your route-to-market model, retailer and foodservice account structure, and trade promotion strategy — never the other way around. We configure CRM across Creatio, Salesforce, Dynamics, and Sugar AI built around how your field reps, key account managers, and broker networks actually work.

Systems Integration

We connect the dots across fragmented technology stacks — ERP and SAP, order management systems, distributor portals, trade promotion management tools, marketing automation, SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, and Boomi iPaaS — so your CRM becomes the commercial hub your sales and trade teams actually rely on.

AI-Enabled Workflows

We embed AI agents directly into field sales and trade marketing workflows — intelligent account scoring, automated void and distribution gap identification, next-best-action recommendations, and predictive reorder signals. AI that works within your data governance requirements and trade spend compliance boundaries.

User Adoption & Training

Adoption is a success metric in every engagement. Role-based training, co-pilot phases, structured feedback cycles, and explicit adoption milestones ensure your field reps, key account managers, and trade marketing teams use what we build — from day one.

Managed Services & Optimization

Post go-live, we remain a continuous partner. Recurring support agreements, sprint-based optimization, and customer success planning ensure your platform evolves alongside your SKU portfolio, channel mix, and trade strategy.

Industry Challenges

The Problems Food & Beverage Organizations Bring to Us

Across every category and route-to-market, food and beverage teams share the same core pain — disconnected systems, fragmented account and distribution data, and no real-time visibility into trade spend ROI, distribution gaps, or account health.

CRM & ERP Operating in Silos

Field sales teams work in CRM while order history, pricing, and distribution data live in ERP. Field reps visit accounts without current order history; key account managers negotiate without live velocity data; trade marketing teams plan promotions without visibility into actual sell-through. Every commercial decision is made on incomplete information.

No Real-Time Distribution & Void Gap Visibility

Distribution gaps — SKUs that should be on shelf but aren't — are identified too late, through manual audit cycles or lost order patterns rather than systematic monitoring. By the time a void gap is flagged in a weekly report, weeks of velocity have already been lost and competitors may have already filled the placement.

Manual Trade Promotion Management

Trade promotional agreements, promotional pricing, scan-back programs, MCBs, and in-store activation plans are managed in spreadsheets disconnected from the CRM account record and ERP trade spend system. Every promotional cycle is a manual reconciliation effort — prone to error, invisible to leadership until after the fact, and impossible to optimize in real time.

Fragmented Distributor & Broker Network Management

Distributor relationships, broker assignments, depletion data, and route coverage are managed across disconnected tools and email with no shared view of network performance. Sales leadership can't see which distributors are underperforming, which brokers need support, or where route-to-market gaps are eroding commercial coverage.

No Unified Foodservice & Retail Account View

Foodservice operators, retail buyers, and hospitality accounts are often managed by separate teams with separate data systems and no shared account record. A national chain that is both a retail and foodservice customer is invisible as a unified relationship — preventing coordinated account development and creating duplicate or conflicting outreach.

No Real-Time Field Sales or Commercial Visibility

Sales leaders can't see field call coverage, account visit frequency, distribution performance, or trade spend ROI in real time. Territory reviews are conducted on manually pulled ERP reports — outdated, incomplete, and incapable of supporting the intraday commercial decisions that determine whether a sales period closes on target.

Our Solution

What We Build for Food & Beverage Organizations

The platform changes based on your needs. The outcomes don't. Every engagement is designed around your route-to-market model, account structure, and trade strategy — not the other way around.

360° Account & Distribution View

Unified retail and foodservice account profiles linking order velocity, distribution points, trade promotional agreements, in-store activation history, buyer contact records, and depletion data — synced from ERP and order management systems. One complete commercial picture for every field rep, key account manager, and trade marketing team member.

Automated Trade Promotion & MCB Management

Promotional agreements, scan-back programs, MCBs, co-op budgets, and in-store activation plans managed within CRM — linked to ERP trade spend data and account velocity metrics. Approval workflows automated, promotional ROI tracked in real time, and post-event reconciliation burden eliminated.

AI-Assisted Distribution Gap & Void Identification

AI agents continuously monitor distribution points, SKU velocity, and order patterns to identify void gaps, distribution losses, and reorder opportunities — surfacing prioritized actions to field reps and key account managers before velocity losses compound into material revenue impact.

Field Sales Call Management & Route Planning

Structured call plans, visit frequency targets, account coverage tracking, and post-call activity logging built into CRM — with real-time call coverage dashboards for sales managers. Field reps enter every account visit with full order history, distribution status, and open trade activity visible on their mobile device.

Distributor & Broker Network Management

Distributor account profiles with depletion data, route coverage, performance against volume commitments, and relationship history — alongside broker assignment management, performance tracking, and sales support activity. Converts network management from individual spreadsheets into a structured institutional commercial capability.

Commercial & Trade Performance Dashboards

Real-time distribution point counts, velocity by account and territory, trade spend ROI, field call coverage, distributor performance, and new item sell-in tracking — accessible to sales and commercial leadership on demand with no manual ERP report pulling or spreadsheet reconciliation.

Unified Foodservice & Retail Account Management

Coordinated account profiles linking retail and foodservice activity for accounts that span both channels — buyer contacts, contract terms, activation history, and order velocity unified in a single CRM record accessible to every team engaged with that account.

ERP, Order Management & Distributor Portal Integration

Bidirectional sync between CRM and your ERP, order management system, and distributor portals — order history, depletion data, pricing, and distribution performance always current in the CRM account record. API and SFTP integration models supported across all major food and beverage technology platforms.

Platform Agnostic

We Start with Your Goals. Then We Recommend the Right Platform.

Solutions Metrix doesn't sell platforms — we implement whichever one fits your business best. Our CRM Inception process identifies the right technology before any commitment is made.

Creatio logo

Creatio

No-code workflow engine with fast, flexible configuration. Ideal for mid-market food and beverage brands, regional CPG companies, and specialty food businesses needing rapid iteration on field sales, trade management, and distributor workflows without heavy IT dependency.

Best for Agility & No-Code
Salesforce logo

Salesforce

Deepest Consumer Goods Cloud ecosystem with purpose-built trade promotion management, retail execution, and key account management modules. Ideal for large food and beverage manufacturers and national CPG brands with complex multi-channel distribution and enterprise trade analytics requirements.

Best for Enterprise & Scale
Microsoft Dynamics 365 logo

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Native ERP, Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, and Power BI integration. The natural fit for food and beverage companies already running Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP or operating in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem with existing Power Platform investments across commercial and operations teams.

Best for Microsoft-First Orgs
Sugar AI logo

Sugar AI

Flexible, cost-effective, strong automation. The right choice for emerging food and beverage brands, craft producers, and specialty food distributors that need a powerful field sales and account management platform without enterprise licensing costs.

Best for Emerging Brands & Value
Not sure which platform is right for you? Our CRM Inception service exists precisely for this moment. We evaluate your current systems, route-to-market model, ERP environment, trade strategy, and growth plans — then give you a clear, business-goals-first recommendation before any technology commitment is made.
Our Approach

We Don't Stop at Go-Live

Most technology partners disappear after deployment. Solutions Metrix is built for long-term partnerships — with structured phases from first discovery through ongoing optimization, and adoption as a measured outcome at every step.

  • CRM Inception

    Discovery workshops, ROI & TCO analysis, RASCI and RAID setup, and a tailored roadmap — all before any platform decision, with ERP integration requirements, distributor portal connections, and trade spend system complexity mapped from the start.

  • Workshops & Data Modelling

    Collaborative process mapping with your field sales, key account management, trade marketing, distributor management, and IT teams. Implementation shaped by your route-to-market model, account tier structure, and trade strategy — not the other way around.

  • Agile Development Sprints

    Iterative build cycles with bi-weekly demo gates and transparent sprint reporting. Typically 20+ sprints for a full production rollout including ERP and distributor portal integrations.

  • UAT & Go-Live

    Structured user acceptance testing, dedicated hypercare support, and phased soft and full go-live milestones — with ERP and order data integrity validated before production cutover and go-live timed to avoid peak promotional periods.

  • Adoption & Optimization

    Role-based training for field reps, key account managers, trade marketing teams, distributor managers, and admins. Co-pilot phases and feedback cycles. We measure success by adoption rates and distribution, velocity, and trade ROI outcomes, not deployment date.

Integration Architecture

Connecting CRM to ERP, Distributor Portals, and Your Full Commercial Technology Stack

A significant part of Solutions Metrix's value is connecting the dots across fragmented food and beverage technology stacks — so your CRM becomes the commercial hub your field sales, trade marketing, and account management teams actually rely on.

ERP / SAP / Oracle

Bidirectional sync — order history, velocity data, pricing, distribution points, and customer financial data current in CRM in real time. API + SFTP models supported across all major ERP platforms.

Distributor Portals & Depletion Data

Depletion reports, route coverage data, and distributor order activity linked to CRM account records — enabling proactive distributor performance management without manual data extraction.

Trade Promotion Management Systems

Promotional agreements, scan-back programs, MCB accruals, and trade spend budgets synchronized between TPM tools and CRM account records — real-time trade ROI visibility without spreadsheet reconciliation.

Outlook & Teams

All customer, distributor, and broker communications logged in CRM without leaving Microsoft tools — full interaction history automatically captured for field and account teams.

Boomi iPaaS

Integration platform layer connecting ERP, order management, distributor portals, TPM tools, and any food and beverage commercial technology to your CRM ecosystem.

SSO & RBAC

Enterprise single sign-on with role-based access controls for field reps, key account managers, trade marketing teams, distributor managers, and admins — with territory and channel data visibility rules.

Starfish ETL

Data migration and transformation for consolidating legacy CRM, ERP customer master data, depletion history, and trade spend records into your new platform.

BI / Reporting

Real-time dashboards with distribution point counts, velocity by account and territory, trade spend ROI, field call coverage, distributor performance, and new item sell-in tracking.

Food & Beverage CRM Glossary

Key Concepts in Food & Beverage Digital Transformation

Plain-language definitions of the technologies and processes Solutions Metrix implements for food and beverage manufacturers, CPG brands, foodservice distributors, and specialty food companies.

CRM Inception
Solutions Metrix's structured discovery service for organizations evaluating CRM platforms or not yet ready to implement. Includes discovery workshops, ROI and TCO analysis, ERP integration scoping, distributor portal mapping, and a tailored CRM roadmap — so organizations make a business-goals-first technology decision before any platform commitment.

CRM Inception is available to food and beverage organizations regardless of whether they ultimately implement with Solutions Metrix.

Distribution Gap & Void Identification
A CRM capability that continuously monitors SKU distribution points, order velocity patterns, and account-level sales data to identify voids — SKUs that should be carried by an account but are missing from the order file — and surfaces these as prioritized actions for field reps and key account managers. When integrated with ERP and depletion data, void identification shifts from a reactive weekly audit to a real-time commercial alert.

Solutions Metrix configures void gap scoring models and alert thresholds to match each brand's specific distribution targets, account tier structure, and field sales cadence.

Trade Promotion Management CRM Integration
A CRM data architecture that links trade promotional agreements — scan-back programs, MCBs, off-invoice allowances, co-op budgets, and in-store activation commitments — to the account record in CRM and the trade spend system in ERP. Enables trade marketing teams to see promotional ROI against each account in real time rather than assembling post-event reconciliation reports manually weeks after the promotion closes.

Solutions Metrix designs trade promotion CRM integration as a foundational commercial capability, not a reporting afterthought, across Creatio, Salesforce, Dynamics, and Sugar AI.

Platform-Agnostic Digital Transformation
An approach to technology consulting in which the firm recommends and implements the most appropriate platform for each client — rather than reselling a single vendor's product. Solutions Metrix implements Creatio, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Sugar AI based on client fit, route-to-market model, and operational requirements.

Platform-agnostic partners prioritize client outcomes over vendor incentives.

User Adoption as a Success Metric
Solutions Metrix measures every CRM engagement not by go-live date, but by actual platform usage. Role-based training, co-pilot phases, structured feedback cycles, and explicit short-, mid-, and long-term adoption milestones are built into every project scope.

In food and beverage, field rep and key account manager adoption is the defining success metric — a CRM that teams don't use in the field delivers no distribution, velocity, or trade ROI value regardless of how well it is configured.

Distributor & Broker Network Management
A CRM capability that consolidates distributor and broker relationship data — contact records, route assignments, depletion performance, volume commitments, co-investment history, and contract renewal timelines — into a structured institutional record shared across the commercial team. Converts distributor and broker management from a siloed activity held in individual account manager spreadsheets into an organizational capability that drives consistent network performance and survives personnel transitions.

Solutions Metrix configures distributor and broker management workflows to match each brand's specific distribution model, tier structure, and co-investment strategy.

Direct Answers

Common Questions About CRM for Food & Beverage

Concise, factual answers to the questions food and beverage organizations most frequently ask Solutions Metrix.

What makes Solutions Metrix different from other CRM implementation firms for food and beverage?

Solutions Metrix is differentiated by three things: a platform-agnostic approach — recommending and implementing the right platform for each brand, not the one they resell; a holistic strategy mindset — starting with route-to-market model, ERP integration requirements, and trade strategy before any technology decision; and an obsession with user adoption — treating field rep and key account manager adoption as measured success metrics in every engagement. With 600+ projects and a 9.1 NPS score over 20+ years, the firm is built for long-term partnerships, not one-off deployments.

What is the best CRM for food and beverage companies?

The best CRM for a food and beverage organization depends on its size, route-to-market model, ERP environment, channel mix, and specific field sales and trade management requirements. Creatio delivers the fastest time-to-value with flexible no-code configuration — making it a strong choice for mid-market food and beverage brands and specialty producers. Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud suits large manufacturers and national CPG brands with complex multi-channel distribution and enterprise trade analytics needs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the natural fit for Microsoft ERP-first organizations. Sugar AI offers the best value for emerging brands and craft producers. Solutions Metrix recommends the right platform through a structured CRM Inception process at no cost.

How does Solutions Metrix integrate CRM with ERP and distributor portals for food and beverage companies?

Solutions Metrix builds bidirectional integrations between CRM, ERP, and distributor portals via REST API or SFTP, synchronizing order history, velocity data, depletion reports, pricing, and distribution points into the unified CRM account record in real time. ERP and distributor integration is scoped and architected during the CRM Inception phase — not added after go-live — so field reps and key account managers always have current commercial context before every account visit or buyer meeting.

Can Solutions Metrix build trade promotion management and distribution tracking in CRM?

Yes. Solutions Metrix configures trade promotion management and distribution gap monitoring as native CRM capabilities. Promotional agreements, scan-back programs, MCBs, and co-op budgets are linked to the CRM account record and connected to ERP trade spend data — enabling real-time promotional ROI visibility rather than post-event manual reconciliation. Void gap and distribution monitoring runs continuously against ERP and depletion data, surfacing prioritized field actions before velocity losses compound. Both capabilities are configured to match each brand's specific trade strategy, account tier structure, and field sales model.

Does Solutions Metrix serve food and beverage organizations across North America?

Yes. Solutions Metrix serves food and beverage manufacturers, CPG brands, foodservice distributors, and specialty food companies across the United States and Canada — including Los Angeles, Dallas–Fort Worth, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Phoenix, Denver, and nationally across Canada. The firm is headquartered in Montreal, was founded in 2001, has delivered 600+ projects across North America, and holds a 9.1 NPS score. Engagements are delivered remotely and on-site depending on project phase.