From the Outback to Online

A Legacy Business Running on Legacy Systems

“A lot of the processes were very much old school... double handling, triple handling. Everything was antiquated.” — Josh Hughes

K&A Foods, a 32 year old food distribution company headquartered in Finley, Australia, knew they needed a change. When K&A Foods changed ownership nearly four years ago, the leadership team inherited a well-established foodservice distribution business, but also a deeply outdated set of tools and processes. Sales reps were manually writing down orders, back-office teams were performing redundant data entry, and software systems hadn’t kept up with modern standards. The company’s accounting and ERP workflows relied heavily on human intervention, leading to inefficiencies, errors, and frustration across the organization.

The team quickly realized that true transformation would require more than just plugging in an eCommerce tool. As General Manager Josh Hughes puts it: " We were looking for a backend ERP that runs our whole system - since when we were making that change, we thought, all right, now we're making this change. Let's look at our eCommerce platform at the same time."

What they needed was a holistic upgrade of their technology stack - something that could not only digitize their customer-facing experiences, but also unify operations across departments. 

Their initial move was toward a new ERP system bundled with an eCommerce module. But even after nearly two years of planning, it didn’t feel like the right fit. 

As Josh put it, “We weren’t just looking for a new e-commerce provider. We were basically looking for a back-end ERP that ran our whole system.” That’s when they found Pepper.

A Timely Pivot to Pepper That Changed Everything

“In that half-hour, 40-minute Zoom call, I said, ‘This is what we’ve gotta do.’ We got off the call and decided to change.”

Despite being only three months away from launching their new ERP and eCommerce stack, K&A Foods made a bold move: They pulled the plug on their ERP’s eCommerce add-on module and pivoted to Pepper. 

After attending a Pepper presentation at an industry conference and scheduling a follow-up demo, the value was immediately clear. Pepper wasn’t just a tool, it was a full platform built specifically for the challenges of foodservice distribution. In a single 40-minute Zoom session with Pepper’s team, K&A’s leadership unanimously agreed to switch providers.

Why? Because Pepper offered what the ERP bundle didn’t: simplicity, speed, and features designed with both customers and reps in mind. It improved item visibility and discoverability, allowing customers to quickly find the products they needed without lengthy catalogs or outdated SKU references. Pepper also prioritized mobile responsiveness and UX, making it easy for customers to place orders on the go and reducing the burden on reps.

The flexibility of Pepper’s platform stood out. As Josh noted, “Every time we talk to Pepper, there’s something new we can take advantage of.” This responsiveness and continuous improvement gave K&A Foods confidence that they weren’t just choosing a product—they were choosing a partner.

Increased Revenue through A Modern, Efficient, and Scalable Operation

“Pepper isn’t just helping us catch up—it’s helping us lead.”

Since implementing Pepper, K&A Foods has radically transformed the way they operate. Manual double-entry is a thing of the past. Orders are now placed and tracked digitally, with reps and customers using the same intuitive platform. Reps spend less time taking down orders by phone or manually checking stock, and more time building relationships and growing accounts. For customers, the experience is night and day: ordering is fast, browsing is easy, and promotions are front and center thanks to Pepper’s robust item display and search functionality.

Equally important is Pepper’s ongoing evolution. The platform isn’t static, it continually rolls out features based on customer feedback and industry trends. K&A Foods has taken advantage of this agility, using each new release as an opportunity to improve efficiency and delight their customers.

The impact is clear: K&A Foods went from a legacy distributor weighed down by inefficient systems to a forward-thinking, tech-enabled business. The move to Pepper didn’t just fix old problems—it created new momentum. Today, K&A Foods is not just modernized—they’re positioned to scale and thrive in an industry that’s rapidly digitizing.