The story of Pilgrim’s Journey with Pepper to stand up a digital advertising and growth program, backed by real-time data, is a masterclass in how data, digital visibility, and distributor collaboration can actually move cases.

A couple of years ago, Pilgrim’s Senior Director of Corporate Accounts, John “Krez” Krezanosky, was introduced to Pepper at a Frosty Acres meeting. What started as a conversation about digital ads and e-commerce quickly evolved into something much bigger: a scalable playbook for growth in the independent distribution channel.

The Aha Moment

As Krez told it during our recent webinar, his “aha moment” came when he realized just how precise and actionable Pepper’s data could be.

“On the retail side, we’ve had access to these kinds of insights for years,” he said. “In foodservice, we were always flying a bit blind. This was the first time I saw a program that tied all the pieces together; data, distribution, and action.”

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That precision, knowing which operators are buying, what’s moving, and where the white space lies, changed the way that Pilgrim’s approaches independent distribution. Instead of the old “shotgun” method, Pilgrim’s can now target specific operator segments with tailored campaigns, coordinated with distributor teams.

Building the Digital Shelf in Foodservice

At its core, Pepper provides white-label e-commerce platforms to independent distributors. These are tools that let operators place orders in minutes, DSRs manage relationships on the go, and manufacturers connect to the point of sale in ways that used to be impossible.

From that foundation, Andrew Van Bark has conceived Pepper’s Supplier Growth Services, which is a suite of programs that bring manufacturers, such as Pilgrim’s, front and center in the distributor’s digital storefront. That includes:

• Display ads that appear in operator order guides that is only showing items the distributor actually stocks.
  
• Search prioritization that is surfacing the right products first when operators search for “chicken,” “burger,” or “wings.”
  
• Sample requests that invites operators to try new products through a structured digital workflow that connects the supplier, broker, and distributor.
  
  

Pilgrim’s was one of the first suppliers to lean into this digital model, helping Pepper shape the way the playbook for digital advertising is built for foodservice.

From Awareness to Action: The Rise of Profit IQ

The next evolution of that playbook is Profit IQ. This is Pepper’s data-driven approach to DSR activation.

Here’s how it works:

1. Identify: Pepper analyzes data across the independent network to identify which operators buy the category, who doesn’t, and who should.
2. Prioritize: Each distributor gets a ranked list of high-potential accounts, accompanied by an “opportunity score” that tells DSRs where to focus.
3. Activate: Pilgrim’s and Pepper run a 30–60 day DSR campaign, complete with sales incentives, text message updates, and real-time leaderboards.
4. Reward: Within five days of the program ending, DSRs receive their payouts within days of selling the items, which keeps momentum and morale high.
5. Analyze and Repeat: Results are measured in real time, feeding back into the next cycle of targeting and growth.
   
   

Krez called this “speed to market” — the ability to turn opportunity into results faster than ever before.

“It’s not just data for data’s sake,” he said. “It’s data turned into action — and that’s something we’ve never had at this level in foodservice.”

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21% Growth... and Growing

Since Pilgrim’s launched these joint initiatives with Pepper, they’ve seen a 21.3% year-over-year increase in sales with participating distributors. That growth has become part of a repeatable, scalable model that aligns suppliers, distributors, and sales reps under one unified system.

Just as importantly, it’s created a shared language between Pilgrim’s, Pepper, and the distributor community. Everyone’s working from the same “sheet of music,” as Krez put it. No more dueling spreadsheets, no more disconnected data. Just focused execution and clear ROI.

“This isn’t a one-and-done program,” Krez said. “It’s something you can build on month over month, quarter over quarter, year over year. It’s flexible, measurable, and it’s driving real growth.”

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Lessons from the Playbook

If there’s one thing I took away from our conversation, it’s that the future of foodservice selling is collaborative. The manufacturers that will win are the ones that:

• Embrace transparency with their distributor partners.
• Use data not just to see opportunities but to act on them.
• Invest in tools that empower the DSR.

That’s what the Pilgrim’s Playbook represents. It’s not just about ads or data. It’s about alignment, action, and accountability. And for Pepper, it’s proof that when technology meets teamwork, the results are unmistakable.

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