Trends and Developments in DSD

Abstract

In spite of widespread adoption of the DSD process in the food and beverage industries, and despite many recent technological advances, there is still untapped value in how, when, where and why DSD gets deployed within its traditional channels – and even beyond them. While DSD does not address every consumer-oriented situation, we believe that, with some effort to adapt the distribution process and technology enablers, DSD has enormous potential to deliver even greater value to retailers and suppliers. To fully tap this potential and differentiate themselves, food and beverage companies in particular will need to capitalize on several key trends that are shaping the DSD process. The leaders of the future will not be content to merely react to business dynamics created by these consumer and retailer mega-trends; rather, they will position themselves ahead of them and leverage value into market share in the highly competitive DSD environment.