Colony Brands – one of the largest direct marketers in the United States – decided to replace its existing and aging recipe management processes. The current system had served the company well in the past but could no longer deliver the features and capabilities needed to remain competitive, especially as Colony Brands was expanding the retail side of its business. The entry into the retail market meant that the company had to meet competitive price points and undertake least cost formulation, something that the existing recipe management process could not provide.

Having researched the recipe management systems market, Colony Brands evaluated offerings from a number of suppliers before deciding to partner with Hamilton Grant. “We had two key requirements,” explained Michelle Frame, Colony Brands’ Food Innovation Director. “Our new recipe management system had to be super user-friendly. We are a catalogue, mail order and electronic retail business, not an IT company and our staff had to be able to hit the ground running with any new solution.  We also wanted a solution that was simple to install and did not have to be customised before it went live as it was urgently needed by R&D.”

Hamilton Grant’s Recipe Management System ticked all of the boxes. “From the outset, we could see measureable benefits and improvements,” added Michelle Frame. “HG shed new light on our existing recipes, allowing us to refine and improve these by standardising on a smaller number of ingredients – saving money and ensuring that we could meet competitive price points.”