How Ice Cream Producers Can Improve Wholesaler Settlements with Real-Time Data
The Italian ice cream market is one of the most competitive and dynamic FMCG sectors. Producers prepare all year to maximize sales during peak demand periods, but success depends not only on great products — it depends on how efficiently they collaborate with wholesalers.
A common pain point is financial settlements. Ice cream producers deliver products to wholesalers, but payment is only settled once the wholesaler sells those products onward to retailers. In theory, this model is fair — it aligns incentives and reduces risk. In practice, it often becomes messy, slow, and costly when data is missing or delayed.
The Challenge: Delayed and Fragmented Reporting
Here’s the typical situation many ice cream producers face:
The producer ships ice cream products to multiple wholesalers.
The wholesaler stores the goods in distribution warehouses and sells them to retail outlets (supermarkets, cafés, kiosks, HoReCa).
The producer should compensate the wholesaler only for the sell-out — when the goods actually move to retail.
So far, so good. But there’s a critical flaw.
Many wholesalers still rely on manual or irregular reporting. Sales data may arrive once a month, once a quarter, or even at the end of the business period. Sometimes reports are incomplete or inconsistent across partners.
For Producers, this causes:
- Cash flow blind spots – settlements cannot be tracked accurately.
- Planning difficulties – without timely sell-out data, production planning becomes guesswork.
- Marketing delays – campaigns and promotions are launched too late to capture demand.
For Wholesalers, the pain is:
- Payment delays – they wait longer than necessary to be compensated.
- Administrative burden – preparing and sending manual reports takes valuable time.
The Solution: Automated Wholesaler Data Integration
Forward-thinking ice cream producers are solving this problem with Data Sharing and Analytics solutions that automate the flow of wholesaler data. Instead of chasing reports, producers receive daily updates directly from wholesaler ERP systems, covering:
- Warehouse stock levels – how much ice cream is sitting in each wholesaler warehouse.
- Sell-out data – what products are being sold from wholesalers to retailers.
But it’s not just about integration. The data is also:
- Cleaned and standardized – ensuring accuracy across multiple partners.
- Enriched – with product hierarchies, categorizations, and additional business sources.
- Structured – into datasets for sales, stock, and customer insights, ready for analytics.
This prepares the data for advanced monitoring and contract compliance through platforms like One View Analytics.
Business Impact: A Win-Win for Producers and Wholesalers
For Producers
- Faster and transparent settlements – payments tied directly to real sell-out.
- Better production planning – align supply with true market demand.
- Agile marketing – launch campaigns when and where they are needed.
For Wholesalers
- Timely compensation – no waiting for manual reporting cycles.
- Lower workload – reduced administrative effort.
- Stronger relationships with producers – trust built on transparency.
A Real-World Example: Ice Cream in the Italian Market
One global ice cream producer operating in Italy faced exactly this challenge. Settlements with wholesalers were often delayed due to late or inconsistent reporting. Production was reactive, marketing decisions were made without reliable data, and wholesalers waited too long to be compensated.
After automating wholesaler data integration, the company achieved:
- Daily visibility of sell-out and stock,
- Transparent and timely settlements,
- More accurate production planning,
- Stronger trust and collaboration with wholesalers.
The outcome was a leaner, faster, and more profitable way of working — just in time for the most competitive sales season.
Why This Matters for Ice Cream Producers
The ice cream category is unique. It combines:
- Temperature-sensitive logistics – every pallet requires freezer storage and careful stock rotation,
- Diverse retail channels – supermarkets, cafés, beach kiosks, HoReCa,
- Year-round demand – Italians enjoy gelato not only in summer, but in cafés and restaurants throughout the year.
These factors make accurate wholesaler sell-out data critical. Without it, producers risk stockouts in key channels, misplaced promotions, and lost sales opportunities that can’t be recovered later.
Tangible Results for the Industry
Up to
80%
fewer settlement disputes,
Up to
50%
faster order execution, thanks to real-time stock monitoring,
Up
70%
higher delivery accuracy (In-Full),
Around
5%
additional sales growth, fueled by better product availability.
Key Takeaway
In today’s competitive Italian ice cream market, data is the currency of trust between producers and wholesalers. By automating the integration of sell-out and stock data, producers gain transparency, wholesalers get paid faster, and both sides unlock sustainable growth.
Do you want to discover how wholesaler data can grow your ice cream business in the Italian market?
Request a personalized demo of One View Analytics and see how stock and sell-out data can be turned into concrete growth decisions.
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