What a domestic distributor needs from a snack brand

A domestic distributor needs four things from a snack brand: a margin that works for the whole chain, goods that are consistent from lot to lot, a document set complete enough to list the product in their system, and support to move the goods off the shelf. Missing one of the four, a brand may still be listed, but it will not be a priority. This piece takes each of the four in general terms, and ends with a meeting about Let's PLAY jars.

Margin: who keeps which part

The shelf price of a snack is a stack of layers: the price the brand sells to the distributor, the distributor's share, the shop or chain's share, and tax. Each layer pays for real work: warehouse, vans, sales staff, credit terms (goods paid for a set number of days after delivery), and short-dated stock that has to be taken back. A distributor does not open with a percentage. They look at the retail price the brand wants, work backwards, and judge whether what remains is worth their effort.

The brand's job is to know its floor price: the lowest price at which each pack still earns something after production, packaging, transport and an allowance for promotions. Only then is it time to talk about discounts.

Consistency matters more than price

A distributor lives on rotation: buy, deliver, collect payment, buy again. What breaks that cycle is not a high price but inconsistent goods. Consistent means:

• The same taste and texture in every lot, because their sales staff cannot explain to a shop why this lot differs from the last.
• The same carton: the same count per carton, the same dimensions, the same code printing, so the warehouse stacks and counts without thinking.
• Delivery on the agreed date, and early warning when that will slip.
• Enough remaining shelf life at delivery for the goods to pass through their warehouse and the shelf before they become short-dated. The exact figure is agreed in the contract, and the brand has to hold to it.

For a company that produces at partner facilities, as we do, consistency starts with the specification sheet and the lot summary, not with a salesperson's promise.

Documents: what is asked for before listing

Before a product code is created in a distributor's system, they need a set of documents. The set is nearly identical across distributors, so a brand should have it ready:

• Product sheet: name, barcode, net weight, units per carton, carton dimensions and weight, shelf life, storage.
• The product self-declaration required under domestic regulation, and copies of the production facility's certificates.
• Price list with terms: price, discounts, credit terms, policy on short-dated and damaged goods.
• Product and carton images on a white background for their system and for shops.

Sending everything in one go, with sensible file names, is the fastest way to show a distributor that this brand is easy to work with.

Sell-through support: the part a brand cannot walk away from

Getting goods into the warehouse is half the journey. A distributor needs the brand to help push them off the shelf:

• Display materials and a layout suited to each type of shop.
• A promotion calendar agreed a quarter ahead, not announced a week ahead.
• A product briefing for their sales team: who this brand speaks to, the story in two sentences, answers to the usual questions.
• A clear complaints procedure: who receives it, how fast, replace or collect.
• A feedback channel from the shelf back to the brand: what shops say, what shoppers ask. This is the most valuable signal a brand can get from a distribution channel.

An example: three questions before we got to the Let's PLAY jars

At a recent meeting with a domestic distributor we brought Cheese Ball and Maize Ball jars, a price list and the story of the Ô ăn quan board. The person across the table listened to all of it, then asked three questions, none of them about taste.

First: is the product sheet with barcode and jars per carton available now. Yes, sent the same day. Second: how much shelf life remains when goods reach their warehouse, and can we commit to that in a contract. We could answer from the specification sheet, but we realised our quotation had no line for it. Third: does the brand have a plan for in-store tastings, because with a snack jar that carries a game, their sales staff would need to be shown how to set the game out.

After that meeting our quotation template gained a line for remaining shelf life at delivery, and the document set gained a page on how to display the jar and run a game in a shop. The meeting has not yet become an order. But those three questions have become three fixed lines in how we prepare.

If you are a distributor looking at snacks and nutrition bars, send us the list of documents you need through the Contact page or at support@colorvietnam.com. If you want to be the person who prepares the document set and the promotion calendar for four brands, our Marketing Leader role in Hanoi is open on the Careers page.