Before partnering with Promomash, Milkadamia lacked internal processes, procedures, and a platform to track chargebacks from distributors and trade spend from retailers. They had no visibility into the amount or type of chargebacks at the distributor or retailer level and didn’t reconcile, validate, or dispute them—resulting in a significant impact on their P&L.

Challenges in Trade Spend Management

Milkadamia faced significant challenges managing their trade spend, with no visibility into trade spend management or optimization opportunities. Like many growing CPG brands, they didn’t have internal processes, procedures, or a platform to track chargebacks from distributors or manage trade spend from retailers. Whether it was MCBs or scans, they had no way of knowing how much they were losing to chargebacks, both at the distributor and retailer levels. Even worse, they weren’t reconciling, validating, or disputing those chargebacks—resulting in a significant impact on their P&L.

Another major challenge was measuring the effectiveness of their trade spend. Milkadamia was investing heavily in promotions at the retailer level, from merchandising to TPRs, but without a system in place, they couldn’t track the impact. They had no way of merging data from sources like Spins or Nielsen with their promotional activity to determine whether these efforts were driving the expected lift.

How Milkadamia Optimized Trade Spend with Promomash

At Promomash, we provided Milkadamia with a solution that solved two major pain points: deductions and chargeback management and trade spend effectiveness.

The TradeGenius trade management platform gave Milkadamia the visibility they needed into chargebacks at both the distributor and retailer levels. For the first time, they could see the exact type and amount of chargebacks they were receiving. We enabled them to validate and reconcile each chargeback, ensuring they were contractually accurate. If inaccuracies were found, they could now dispute them, saving a significant portion of their trade budget.

Promomash also equipped the Milkadamia team with the tools to measure their trade promotion effectiveness. By merging syndicated sales data with their trade spend, they could track the impact of each promotion and evaluate whether it delivered the expected lift. This newfound ability to measure the effectiveness of spend at the TPR period level allowed them to make data-driven decisions.

Additionally, Milkadamia integrated Crisp into their operations to consolidate data from multiple platforms into a single, easy-to-navigate interface. Now, they could compare data from different distributors and retailers in one place, making it easier to analyze and act on.

"Onboarding with the Promomash team was amazing. They obviously knew everything about the platform and the one page on the platform was great!"

Measuring Trade Spend Effectiveness

The onboarding process with Milkadamia was smooth and efficient. With our one-page platform, their onboarding lead could track each step with ease. The detailed checklist helped assign tasks to team members and ensured that the process moved forward without a hitch. Our team of subject matter experts provided guidance throughout, and Milkadamia continues to work with a dedicated account lead who is always available to assist.

Since implementing Promomash, Milkadamia has gained full visibility into their chargebacks and trade spend, allowing them to make more informed and strategic decisions. This has provided them with the control they needed over a critical part of their P&L that they previously struggled to manage.

After nearly a decade in business, Milkadamia now recognizes that growing top-line sales and gaining distribution are only part of the equation. Having clear insights into expenses—especially chargebacks and trade spend—has proven essential to building a healthier, more profitable brand.

"We didn't have the capabilities until we had Promomash to have visibility to that and track that and make the decisions accordingly moving forward to become a more healthy, more profitable brand."

Next Steps in Trade Spend 

By partnering with Promomash, Milkadamia successfully streamlined their trade spend management processes, gained visibility into previously opaque chargebacks, and optimized their overall trade spend strategy. This resulted in significant profitability improvements and more strategic budgeting for future growth. Moving forward, Milkadamia plans to continue leveraging the Promomash platform with Crisp data insights to refine their strategies, ensuring every dollar spent delivers maximum impact.

Want to explore how Promomash can help your brand better manage deductions and trade spend? Contact us.