Food & grocery industry information and research

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Advanced shipping notification	ASN	Electronic delivery note sent by the supplier in advance of the arrival of goods at the customer’s premises.
Agent	Broker Category captain Hub	Usually a large supplier acting on behalf of a retailer to Consolidator organise the supply of products in a specific category. Smaller suppliers may be expected to trade directly with the agent rather than the retailer.
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Backhauling		In its simplest form, the collection of goods from local suppliers using vehicles returning from store deliveries. Operated by all UK food retailers to reduce costs and aid efficiency.
Bar code	Product code EAN	The code, represented by numbers and bars, used on packaging to enable a product, or outer case, to be ‘scanned’. Bar codes operate to internationally agreed standards. Further information available from GS1: www.gs1uk.biz
Bootlegging		Buying goods such as tobacco or alcohol overseas and bringing them into the UK for the purposes of selling them on without paying the necessary taxes. Bootleg imports differ from lawful “personal” imports that they are intended for resale, usually on an informal basis although occasionally through normal retail outlets.
BRC food technical standard	BRC = British Retail Consortium	A standard covering all areas of product safety and legality. Suppliers are audited and certified to the standard by an approved certification body. www.brc.org.uk/Certification.asp
Business-to-business	B2B	Flow of information from one business to another. This can cover a range of activities, such as marketing and conducting market research.
Business-to-consumer	B2C	As above, but the flow of information is between a business and the end consumer.
Buy one get one free	BOGOF	A type of special offer, where purchase of one product means another is thrown in free.
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Case size	Outer case	The number of individual products in an outer case.
Category		A group of products that satisfy a consumer need (e.g fresh produce)
Category management		Strategic management of product groups, through trade partnerships, which aims to maximize sales and profits by satisfying consumer needs.  More...
Code of practice	OFT code	Code existing to govern relations between major supermarkets and their suppliers and put these relations on a clearer and more predictable basis. http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics2/pdf2/ codeofpractice.pdf
Consolidation		The concentration of market share in the hands of fewer, larger operators. This may be in terms of either portfolio share or share of expenditure (or, usually, both).
Consolidation centre	Primary consolidation centre	Regional small scale stocking points used by some retailers to consolidate loads from large numbers of smaller suppliers. Retailers deliver full lorry loads from consolidation centres to RDCs.
Consumer loyalty	Loyalty	Consumer’s allegiance to a product, brand, store or image.  More...
Consumer purchase decision tree	Purchase decision hierarchy	Order of priority in which consumers make their purchase decisions. Can be influenced by a large variety of factors (e.g. price, brand, quality etc).
Convenience store		A store with a sales area of less than 3,000 sq ft (280 sq m), open for long hours and selling products from at least 8 different grocery categories.  More...
Cost Price	Product cost Unit cost	Price at which the supplier sells a product to the customer. Price may or may not include VAT or other taxes (e.g. duty), all of which must be stated.
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Delivered Wholesaler		Wholesalers who deliver to the customers’ premises (as opposed to ‘cash-and-carry’ where the customer picks up from the wholesaler).
Demographic data		Information which breaks down the population structure in terms of age, income, household size etc.
Direct delivery	Store delivery Direct to store	Delivery method straight from supplier to retail store, bypassing regional distribution centres.
Distribution	Logistics	The physical movement of product from one place to another.
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Efficient consumer response	ECR	An approach to supply chain management in which the supply chain is streamlined to react to consumers’ actions while using resources efficiently.  www.igd.com/ecr
Electronic data interchange	EDI	The exchange of documents in a structured form between computers via telephone lines. Used most commonly for purchasing and distribution - orders, confirmations, shipping papers and invoices.
Electronic point of sale	EPoS	Data recorded at point of sale (check out) from bar-code information. Used to track and forecast consumer purchase trends and monitor stock levels and control.
Everyday low cost	EDLC	A trading strategy which reflects all discounts and/or promotional funding in the ongoing cost of products to the retailer.
Everyday low price	EDLP	Partner of EDLC - trading strategy which reflects all discounts and/or promotional funding in the ongoing retail selling price.  More...
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Facing		The physical (linear) space that one product occupies on a shelf or fixture.
Factory gate pricing	FGP	Establishing a price for goods excluding transport costs; i.e. ex-factory.  More...
Fixture	Bay Gondola Module Shelf	The physical space from which a product is sold in a retail store. It can include shelving, peg boards, chiller cabinets, freezers etc.
Footfall		Consumer traffic into a store, or a specific area of a store.
Forecast		Calculation of future sales of a product. Used to help planning.
Frequency of purchase		A measure of how often a product is purchased by consumers, over a given time period.
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Gross margin (retailer)	Margin	Difference between cost price and selling price. Expressed as a cash figure, or a percentage.
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HACCP	Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point	System applied to monitor and control microbiological, physical and chemical factors affecting food safety and acceptability.
HI		Number of cases high per pallet.
Hi-Low		Trading strategy driven by product offers and discounts.
Hypermarket		A store with a sales area of 40,000 sq ft (3,600 sq m) or more, selling a broad range of grocery items, with some non-food participation.
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Incremental	Incremental sales	The additional sales of a product occurring directly as a result of a specific activity (e.g. sales promotion).
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Just-in-time	JIT	A manufacturing/delivery process where a minimum of goods are kept in stock. Items are planned to arrive precisely at the time they are required for use or dispatch.
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Key performance indicators	KPI Key performance measures	Measures deemed essential in monitoring business performance (e.g. service level, sales, profit etc).
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Lean Operations		Lean operations encompass a set of principles to drive greater value out of business processes by making them more efficient and more effective. It is a business system for organising and managing product development, operations, suppliers, and customers that requires less human effort, less equipment, less time, less space – while coming closer and closer to providing consumers with exactly what they want. Also referred to as “Lean Thinking”.
Legal		Usually referring to the ‘legal department’ responsible for ensuring products and actions meet legal requirements.
Local food		There is considerable debate as to identifying a definition of local food. IGD consumer research has found that 63% of consumers see local food as from the county they live in or within 30 miles of where they live.
Local sourcing	Regional ranging	A process of matching consumer needs on a local/regional basis with selected products likely to be demanded.  More...
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Market		A division of retailing, devoted primarily to the sale of a similar range of goods, eg: grocery, clothing, electronics, pharmacy.
Market share		Percentage of business in terms of value or volume, held by a product, brand or company. Used to indicate relative strengths or weaknesses within a market place.
Merchandising		The allocation of shelf space and physical layout of products within a category or fixture.
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New product development	NPD New product instructions	Process involved in development and launch of new lines, either branded or own-label.  More...
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Operator	Foodservice operator	Companies who own/manage foodservice outlets (e.g. restaurants and pubs etc). The term is often used to refer to national chains but also includes independent operators.
Out of stocks	Stock outs	Term used when a product is unavailable at a given point in supply chain (e.g. at point of sale or RDC).  More...
Outer case	Case	The packaging unit in which products are delivered from supplier to retailer.
Outer case code	TUC	Barcode on outer case used to electronically track product through the supply chain.
Overrider	Rebate Discount	Payment made by a supplier to their customer based on a percentage of product sales over a set time period.
Own-brand	Own-label Retailer label Retailer brand	A product showing the retailer’s brand name. Retailers will demand very strict specifications for local/regional products carrying their name. More...
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Pallet	GKN blue Euro pallet	A flat, open structure (usually constructed of wood) used to hold and transport merchandise through the supply chain.
Planogram	Stocking plan	The medium of communicating a range layout to retail store or distributor.
Point of sale	PoS	The most literal meaning is the physical location where the product is displayed for sale (e.g. shelf or checkout). PoS is also used in reference to marketing material displayed with the product.
Product	Stock keeping unit SKU	Individual line within a product range or category. Each variation of a product (e.g. different size) is a separate SKU.
Product support	Marketing support	The support customers may expect suppliers to give listed products. This may come in many forms.
Promotion		Some form of special offer that provides additional benefit to buying one or more products. Promotions follow a variety of models (e.g. BOGOF).
Proof of delivery		Often a form requiring customer signature when product changes hands.
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Range	Distribution	Choice/number of products available in a given store or depot.
Range change		The process of changing the level of distribution of a product or range. Can cover the introduction of new lines, deletion of existing lines, change in number of stores stocking the product.
Range cycle		A period of time during which a product or range can be introduced or deleted to a store or depot.
Regional food	Locality food	Term used to describe foods that have a specific association with/reputation for good quality when produced in a region.
Regional distribution centre	RDC Central distribution centre Depot	Warehouses designed to hold stock ready for onward distribution to retailers. Most retailers have a network of RDCs. Small suppliers may or may not be required to deliver into an RDC.
Regional food group	RFG	Represent quality, small and medium sized food and drink producers in their region. Their aim is to assist business development.
Retail selling price	RSP	The price at which a retailer sells a product to the consumer.
Route to market		The supply chain that a product follows to get to the final consumer. Major routes include retail and foodservice. Routes to retailers and foodservice operators can differ greatly.
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Sales based ordering	Automated store ordering SBO	A system of building a product order by using EPoS data to generate an order for future stock requirements.
Seasonal		Reference to a specific time of year when a product is available or when there is a specific focus on a product.
Sector		A sub-division of a market, where retailers adopt a similar store format, e.g. convenience, discounting, supermarkets.
Sensory	Organoleptic	Eating qualities of a food e.g. taste, texture, mouth feel.
Serial shipping container code	SSCC	The unique identification of a logistic unit using an 18-digit data structure.
Service level	Product availability	Extent to which demand is met by product availability. Usually expressed as a percentage of product availability versus requirements.
Shelf edge label	SEL	A descriptor that identifies the adjacent product on shelf. The shelf edge label contains information covering selling price, barcode, product description etc.
Stock Keeping Unit	SKU	A uniquely identifiable line within a stores range. One product may have many different variations e.g. 20% extra free. Each of these variations is an individual stock keeping unit.
Sub-category		A sector within a product category (e.g. if the category is desserts, a sub-category may be chilled desserts).
Supermarket		A store with a sales area of 3,000 sq ft (280 sq m) - 25,000 sq ft (2,250 sq m), selling a broad range of mainly grocery items.
Superstore		A store with a sales area of 25,000 sq ft (2,250 sq m) - 40,000 sq ft (3,600 sq m), selling a broad range of mainly grocery items. Non-food may also be present.
Supply chain	Logistics	The chain through which a product travels from raw materials to consumption.  More...
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TI		Number of cases per pallet layer.
Trading objective		Usually a commercially based goal, often centred around sales, profit or market share.
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UDEX	Universal Descriptor Exchange	Allows suppliers and their customers to have a ‘common currency’ of product descriptions. It is used by several large supermarkets and foodservice companies. www.udex.com
Unique selling proposition	USP	The real point of difference of a product, in comparison to others. It could be a wide variety of things including taste, packaging, origin and so on.
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Vendor creation form	VCF	A form (or series of forms) all new suppliers complete including company information, product information/specifications etc.
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Waste as percentage of sales		A common method of assessing levels of waste. A maximum level will be set during negotiations.
Waste support		The support customers expect from suppliers to mitigate the effects of product waste.
Wholesale selling price	WSP	The price at which a wholesaler will sell products to their customers.
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Year-on-year	YOY	A direct comparison of results with the same time in previous years.

To see a full glossary of terms used in the Packaging industry, click here.