LISTEN: Why profit recovery should be on every FMCG supplier’s agenda

FMCG suppliers are being asked to perform in a market where almost nothing feels simple.

Consumers remain cautious on price. Retailers are under pressure to protect their own margins. Own-label continues to gain strength. At the same time, suppliers are managing cost inflation, promotional complexity, changing data environments and internal teams that are already stretched.

That combination creates a difficult reality. Commercial and finance teams are working harder than ever, but value can still be lost in the gaps between agreements, invoices, deductions, promotions and historic trading activity.

In the latest episode of Grocery Gazette’s Unpacked Podcast, Ben Lewis, Chief Revenue Officer at Salitix, joins Kieran Howells to discuss how suppliers can recover lost profit without creating disruption in their retailer relationships.

The conversation looks at one of the most overlooked opportunities in FMCG: retrospective reconciliation. Not as a confrontational exercise, but as a practical way to understand whether historic trading agreements have performed as intended.

For many suppliers, that work simply does not make it to the top of the priority list. That is understandable. Commercial teams are focused on what happens next: the next negotiation, the next promotion, the next price conversation, the next trading plan. Very few people are measured on whether they can recover value from previous trading periods.

But that does not mean the opportunity is small.

As Ben explains in the podcast, when Salitix reviews trading with larger retailers, recoveries can often run into meaningful sums. In some cases, that might be £50,000 or £100,000. In others, it may be significantly more. The important point is not simply the amount recovered. It is the nature of that value.

Recovered profit is net value. It does not require additional sales volume. It does not require more promotional spend. It does not place further pressure on supply, pricing or account teams. In a low-margin environment, that distinction matters.

The episode also tackles one of the biggest concerns suppliers often raise: retailer relationships.

Profit recovery has historically been misunderstood as something that risks tension with customers. In reality, when handled properly, it should be evidence-based, professional and separate from forward-looking commercial negotiations. That separation is critical. It allows suppliers to resolve historic discrepancies through the right channels, without turning every issue into a trading conversation.

That is what Salitix means by frictionless profit recovery.

The discussion also explores why this work is difficult to manage internally. Suppliers often trade with multiple retailers, each with different systems, processes and data formats. Add legacy platforms, team changes, promotional records and historic agreements into the mix, and it becomes clear why value can be missed, even inside very sophisticated businesses.

For Salitix, the opportunity is not only to recover lost profit. It is to give suppliers a clearer view of where leakage happens, why it happens and how future processes can be improved.

At a time when every pound matters, that clarity is becoming increasingly valuable.

Listen to the full Unpacked Podcast episode with Ben Lewis to hear how FMCG suppliers can recover lost profit, protect margin and build more confidence into their commercial performance.