Newman’s Own Increases Efficiency, Freeing Up Cash for Worthy Causes
“I saw NetSuite and the associated tools and processes as a critical step function change in being more effective and efficient going forward. And every dollar we save from being more effective is another dollar that can go to help kids who face adversity.”
– Dave Best, CEO & President @ Newman’s Own, Inc.
Company
Newman’s Own, Inc.
Location
Westport, Connecticut
Industry
Food and Beverage/Nonprofit
Employees
50 to 99
Number of Countries
1
Number of Subsidiaries
4
NetSuite Modules Deployed
NetSuite Fixed Assets Management
NetSuite SuiteAnalytics Connect
NetSuite Planning and Budgeting
NetSuite Learning Cloud Support
Helping Kids, One Pizza at a Time
Newman’s Own, Inc. seeks efficiency
The Newman’s Own, Inc. product line has expanded over the years, from salad dressing and pasta sauce to salsa, frozen pizza, cookies lemonade, popcorn, olive oil and dog treats. However, its ERP was in no shape to support future growth. It was, says CFO Eric Fuller, “bespoke”— it felt held together with tape and bandages. Newman’s Own Inc. needed a scalable system that would help it fulfill the Foundation’s mission to help nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity, whether by bringing joyful experiences to children battling serious illnesses or by working to end food insecurity in schools and among Indigenous youth through funding organizations such as SeriousFun Children’s Network, FoodCorps, and Zuni Youth Enrichment Project.
Meeting requirements with few customizations
Newman’s Own, Inc. knew its current ERP system was not up to the job and launched a search for a new foundational system. The first step: Identify areas where it could increase productivity by reducing manual effort, then score each candidate on key metrics, making sure inputs and outputs were aligned with the food company’s needs. NetSuite SuiteSuccess Food & Beverage scored highest and promised immediate results, right out of the box.
All entities and data together
Moving to NetSuite enabled Newman’s Own, Inc. to clean up its data and bring all its entities together on one ERP. Architecturally, a “spaghetti diagram” of crosstalk among applications was replaced with a hub-and-spoke model that delivers better control, easy addition of new business units, instant financial reports, and organization wide audits. IT no longer worries about core software becoming obsolete, and APIs power future expansion.
NetSuite frees up resources for kids
As a company that donates 100% of its profits, Newman’s Own Inc. sees any efficiency improvement to generate more money for worthy causes. That’s why the organization plans to explore additional NetSuite modules, including NetSuite Analytics Warehouse, and increase its use of those it already has, such as NetSuite Planning and Budgeting.