Published: July 1, 2026
For wholesale grocery distributors, the business runs on supplier relationships. Thousands of brands, constantly shifting deals, promotional allowances, rebates, and pricing agreements across a massive supplier network — the complexity is enormous. And when margins depend on getting every transaction right, even small errors add up fast.
Most distributors with a primary audit firm in place know there’s still money being missed. The question isn’t whether to go after it — it’s whether you can do it without creating new problems. Adding cost. Straining the supplier relationships your business depends on. Piling more work onto already stretched internal teams.
A major US grocery distributor found a way to win on all three fronts. They brought in PRGX and the Retail Merchandise Profit Recovery program as their 2nd pass audit partner — and the results proved that recovering more doesn’t have to mean more complexity, more cost, or more risk.
$11.3M
Recovered Second Pass
$24B
In Spend Audited
12 Months
Audit Engagement
The Challenge: Recover More — Without the Operational Trade-Offs
The client already had a primary audit firm in place. They knew additional value was out there. But as a distributor whose business depends on strong supplier partnerships, engaging a second firm carried real risk. They needed to answer three questions:
Can it pay for itself? The right 2nd pass program should more than cover its cost — generating returns that far exceed the investment.
Can it protect supplier relationships? For a distributor, supplier relationships are at the heart of the business. Any additional audit activity needs to work alongside those partnerships, not put them at risk.
Can it run without adding to the workload? Finance and procurement teams were already managing a complex supplier network. A second audit program needed to run independently without stretching them further.
Adding to the complexity, the client was in the middle of a major SAP migration — meaning internal teams were already stretched thin and systems were in flux.
The Approach: Hands-Off, Supplier-Friendly, and Built for Distribution Complexity
PRGX’s approach was designed to address all three from day one.
Self-funding and then some. The engagement was structured on a contingency basis — PRGX only gets paid when recoveries are realized. There’s no risk of paying for an audit that doesn’t deliver.
Supplier relationships protected — by design. This was the critical piece. With 50 years working alongside many of the same suppliers across the grocery and distribution industry, PRGX understands that for a distributor, every supplier interaction matters. Every claim is handled transparently with a vendor-sensitive approach. Suppliers are engaged professionally and transparently, and disputes are resolved in a way that strengthens rather than strains the relationship. For a business built on supplier trust, this isn’t optional — it’s essential.
Truly hands-off. PRGX managed the engagement start to finish. The client’s internal teams didn’t need to run the program, manage handoffs, or get pulled into claim-by-claim reviews. PRGX handled the data, the analysis, the supplier outreach, and the reporting. This was especially critical during the SAP migration, when internal bandwidth was at a premium.
The team focused on areas where the primary firm’s review may not have reached — particularly promotional funding and price protection on existing inventory — using purpose-built AI and technology designed for this level of complexity. PRGX worked the audit in two six-month cycles, covering the full calendar year.
The Results: More Recovery, Zero Disruption
In a single audit year, PRGX recovered $11.3M that had already been missed by the primary firm — from $24B in audited spend — at a rate nearly double industry average.
Top finding categories included promotional funding and price protection on existing inventory — areas where the volume and complexity of distributor-level transactions create significant opportunity for a specialized 2nd pass review.
Beyond the Recoveries: Insight the Primary Audit Can’t Provide
What makes a 2nd pass audit truly valuable isn’t just the additional dollars. It’s the perspective.
PRGX’s review gave the client clear visibility into where and why the primary firm was missing value. That intelligence helps the client improve internal processes, strengthen deal compliance, and understand where their own systems are creating errors.
Root-cause analysis went beyond individual claims to identify patterns — recurring deal setup issues, pricing errors, and miscommunications with specific suppliers. For a distributor managing thousands of supplier relationships, these insights provide a roadmap for tightening controls across the entire network, not just recovering past losses.
PRGX also served as an advisory partner during the client’s SAP migration — helping ensure that the transition didn’t create new gaps in deal tracking, promotional compliance, or supplier payment accuracy. This advisory role extended the value of the engagement well beyond traditional recovery.
Ready to Recover More — Without the Trade-Offs?
PRGX is the global leader in Retail Merchandise Profit Recovery. Our 2nd pass programs are built to complement your existing audit — recovering hidden value while protecting the supplier relationships your business depends on. Speak with a PRGX expert to find out how much is still on the table.
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