Grocery agencies create Epic Sales Partners

Four grocery agencies have joined to create Epic Sales Partners, which the organizations indicated is the largest independent fresh food sales agency in the U.S.

Irving, Texas-based Epic combines the resources of Irvine, Calif.-based Premier Sales Solutions; San Antonio-based Maher Marketing; Rochester, N.Y.-based Frontier Food Brokerage; and Irving, Texas-based MPF Sales and Marketing, to better provide grocers with fresh food and consumer-relevant brands, the company said.

Epic also offers headquarter management, retail merchandising, sales administration, data analytics, retail technology and other selling services for the fresh, specialty, natural, and organic departments.

Epic said in a statement that the combined group will serve food manufacturers as a fresh-focused, sophisticated, and national-selling partner “as retailers look for partners with solutions to address rising costs, supply chain challenges, increased retail store support needs, and greater consumer demand for fresh food and specialty products that are both healthy and convenient.”

In addition, Epic will offer insights on how to drive distribution, enhance competitiveness, and increase retail sales, Mark Wilhelm, president of Epic (West), said in a statement.

“Most sales agents remain localized or siloed, and grocery retailers and manufacturers are forced to work with multiple partners in order to meet the needs of their customers,” Epic said. “This can result in a lack of overall strategy, reduced efficiency, inconsistent retail store service, and it can unintentionally limit the potential growth of the companies.”

Epic will serve close to 100 retailers on behalf of more than 350 food manufacturers generating retail sales of $1 billion annually. The company is commonly owned and managed by the grocery agencies.