Daily control of the core business: Jensen & Co turns 160 years of grocery distribution into data-driven decisions
Jensen & Co AS is a family-owned business from Oslo, established in 1866. Originally founded as a grocery store, the company has developed into a leading distributor of food products to the Norwegian grocery market. Jensen & Co represents both Norwegian and international brands with products that promote enjoyment of food, taste and natural health, including Fria, Weetabix, Ryvita, Hervik, Ella’s Kitchen, Smoothie Xchange and Sunsweet.
What was the challenge?
Food distribution is an industry with low margins, where profitability depends on strong sales volume and efficient distribution and logistics. Good flow of goods, optimal inventory management and high delivery precision reduce costs and keep waste to a minimum. At the same time, the collaboration with the grocery chains and individual stores opens the opportunity to work strategically with campaigns and product placement — and by taking an active role in category management and sales, Jensen & Co creates growth and added value.
All of this rests on insight. Sales and profitability data, and the ability to analyse it, is what strengthens Jensen & Co’s capacity to understand the market and make even better decisions. The company therefore needed to automate its reporting and analysis, and to bring data that was spread across separate sources — sales, profitability, inventory, campaigns, customer insight and trends — into one place where the whole organisation could use it.
Our solution
With support from Codento, Jensen & Co implemented a modern cloud data platform with integrated reporting and analytics as a single combined solution for business management.
The data platform consolidates and structures data from the different source systems into one integrated platform. This gives a solid foundation for both historical analysis and forward-looking forecasting. It also makes ad hoc analysis a matter of minutes rather than days, because all the relevant data already sits in the same place.
An interactive reporting and analytics layer then provides the ability to visualise and analyse that data. Jensen & Co can follow sales development per product category, supplier or customer, and thereby identify which products perform best and where there is potential for improvement. The company can also monitor inventory levels and distribution efficiency in order to reduce waste and secure a good flow of goods.
Why Codento?
Jensen & Co needed one partner who could deliver the full chain — data platform, reporting and analysis — as a single solution rather than as separate projects, and who understood both modern data platform and analytics technology and the commercial realities of grocery distribution. Codento combined hands-on data platform and analytics delivery experience with an understanding of how sales, category and logistics data is actually used to run a distribution business, and worked closely with Jensen & Co to make the reports part of everyday operations rather than a reporting exercise.
What were the results?
The reports have become an important part of the working day at Jensen & Co. Employees are in the reports daily to gain insight, follow KPI development and make good decisions. Thanks to the integrated data platform, the entire organisation has direct access to data-driven insight and can answer new questions immediately, without any further data collection.
The company now has good control of its data foundation and applies that knowledge at every level — from strategic investments to operational routines in store and warehouse. Concrete outcomes include:
- One integrated platform consolidating sales, profitability, inventory, campaign, customer and trend data
- Daily use of KPI reporting across the organisation, not only in management
- Ad hoc analysis delivered in minutes, with no new data collection required
- Better visibility of inventory and distribution efficiency, reducing waste and improving flow of goods
- Stronger collaboration with customers and suppliers, and a more profitable operation
This holistic approach to data makes Jensen & Co unique in their industry and gives them a solid competitive advantage through faster, better and more informed decisions.
In the customer’s own words
“We are very satisfied with the assistance we have received from Codento. We now have a data-driven reporting and analytics solution that strengthens our insight into our own core business. The solution improves the collaboration with our customers and suppliers, and contributes to a more profitable operation.”
— Olav Thorstad, Working Chair of the Board, Jensen & Co