Martin Schoch on vendor management
From Marty Schoch, B&G Foods & Michael Atkin, Prosperous AI · · Prosperous AI
“We changed 70% of the vendors that were up for contract in the first year, reducing costs by about 10%. Many previous contracts were overpriced, and some were part of the SK Food price-fixing scandal. I was brought in to fix that because they didn't know how deep it went.”
On , Martin Schoch, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain at B&G FOODS INC, spoke about vendor management during Marty Schoch, B&G Foods & Michael Atkin, Prosperous AI on Prosperous AI.
About Martin Schoch
Martin Schoch was promoted to Executive Vice President of Supply Chain at B&G Foods in February 2025, a role that added quality assurance, consumer affairs, R&D, and packaging to his previous responsibilities as Senior Vice President. On the Results Loading Podcast, Schoch stated that the CEO approached him about the expanded role, and he attributed his continued advancement through four CEOs to delivering against objectives and seeking feedback from peers outside his department. He recalled being told by a former CFO that he would never become an EVP, but said he changed his approach by working on weaknesses identified through constructive criticism. Schoch described several operational improvements at B&G Foods, including lowering inventory by over $150 million, reducing transportation costs, cutting customer fines by half, and improving forecast accuracy from the 60s to 80% or higher. He said that in his first year he changed 70% of vendors up for contract, reducing costs by about 10%, and noted that some previous contracts were part of the SK Food price-fixing scandal. Schoch characterized food companies as "second or third-tier movers in technology adoption" and said AI in procurement has not yet returned expected value. He expressed a goal of creating a real-time command center for supply chain visibility.