Henderson Foodservice streamlines supplier product data management in Akeneo tie up

Ireland-based Henderson Foodservice says it has saved an estimated ten minutes of data processing time per product - significantly reducing time-to-market across its food and non-food products, after adopting Akeneo's Supplier Data Manager (SDM).

Henderson Foodservice, a division of the Henderson Group, has over 50 years of experience in the foodservice and hospitality catering industry in Ireland. It serves over 4,500 customers across multiple sectors including hotels, restaurants, pubs, education, bakery, wholesale, cafes and coffee shops, workplace catering and travel/leisure.

The company has a range of 5,000+ products from locally sourced produce to national brands across fresh, frozen, ambient and non-foods, and supplies the Country Range brand in Ireland.

In 2020, Henderson Foodservice adopted Akeneo’s Product Information Management (PIM) solution - unifying its product data onto one platform. However, the process of gathering product data from its hundreds of suppliers and inputting it into its PIM remained time intensive for its internal team, often requiring manual reviews and checks. 

The adoption of Akeneo’s SDM has allowed Henderson Foodservice to streamline how product information is collected, cleaned, enriched and shared. It rebuilt its onboarding process in alignment with SDM’s architecture creating a process where product data is captured directly from suppliers based on key fields, including critical allergen declarations and dietary suitability to ensure full alignment with regulatory and customer requirements. 

Data is then uploaded by suppliers into the SDM portal where Akeneo’s inbuilt machine learning works to categorise or correct any missing attributes to ensure the smooth mapping of data directly into the PIM.  Any errors or missed information, including supporting information such as necessary certification (such as Halal and Kosher), is then automatically flagged with both the Henderson’s team and the supplier to ensure it can be quickly rectified. 

To support the ongoing transition to SDM across its network of more than 200 suppliers, Henderson’s has created a tailored onboarding process that includes product demonstrations and training videos housed in Henderson’s supplier portal, explains Andrea Scott, Product Data Quality Manager at Henderson Foodservice.

“This shift to SDM has really empowered our suppliers to take control of the process of supplying product information with suppliers commenting that the SDM system was the easiest onboarding they’ve ever used,” she says.

“Additionally, it has significantly speeded up our internal processes. Product data processing times have improved dramatically - saving us an estimated ten minutes per product. And for a business such as ours with a significant number of products, each with multiple data points, it is a real game-changer.”

Henderson’s is also utilising SDM to meet the challenges of new legislation. The forthcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will ensure all products consumed within the European Union do not contribute to global deforestation or forest degradation and requires detailed compliance documentation for high-risk items such as palm oil, cocoa, coffee and soy. 

Henderson Foodservice is tapping SDM to gather and store these compliance metrics, ensuring that its product range remains compliant and market-ready ahead of the 2026 deadline. 

Justin Thomas, VP Sales EMEA North at Akeneo, comments: “We are delighted to support Henderson Foodservice and help it achieve such a significant improvement in the speed and efficiency of capturing product data from its significant supplier base.  Food-based industries are rightly heavily legislated and the automation of the collection of product information delivers crucial efficiency for the business while ensuring compliance for its B2B customers and end consumers.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Product data management will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.