Novopoint(TM), an electronic transaction and information hub that connects buyers and sellers of food and beverage ingredients, announced today that more than $6 million in transactions have flowed through its platform in the first few weeks of its pilot. The company’s goal, considered aggressive for the same time period, had been $1 million in transactions.
This higher than expected volume of business was driven by 60 users at more than 80 plants across the U.S. Four of the country’s top ten food and beverage companies are pilot participants.
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“We were confident that our business model was sound, but we really couldn’t predict the degree and speed with which manufacturers and suppliers would adapt to this new way of conducting business on a day-to-day basis,” said Robert W. Schult, Novopoint’s chief executive officer. “The hard work and dedication of our Novopoint team and inaugural partners are clearly responsible for surpassing our goal,” Schult added.
Novopoint’s pilot focuses on transactions in the three highest-volume ingredients in the food and beverage industry, comprising oils, sweeteners and flour. The company’s model is collaborative, helping buyers and sellers work together to manage their businesses more efficiently through a new and fully integrated set of tools.
“By reducing the transactional and logistical burdens of conducting business in our industry, Novopoint enables our users to find true and lasting supply chain efficiencies,” Schult continued. “That means that buyers and sellers can collaborate and strengthen their strategic partnerships and deliver greater value to retailers and their shared, ultimate end-user, the consumer.”
The pilot program began with in-depth fact-gathering about participants’ business needs and plans, then comprised orientation and training of users and, starting on Monday, September 11, the full integration of users’ systems into the Novopoint platform. The company expects to be fully operational prior to the end of the fourth quarter of 2000.
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By GlobalData“We have accomplished so much in six short months and this exciting time is only the beginning for Novopoint,” said Schult. “We are fully committed to an open, e-commerce marketplace that will objectively balance the diverse needs of participant members, and to do so in the spirit of trust created over decades between ingredient companies and their customers in the food and beverage industry.”
About Novopoint
Novopoint is a transaction and information hub that connects buyers and sellers of food and beverage ingredients. Equity ownership is held by recognized industry leaders. Cargill, an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services, is a founding minority investor in Novopoint. Additional investor Crosspoint Venture Partners, ranked by Forbes magazine as the best venture capital firm (1997-1999), specializes in B2B e-commerce. Discussions are underway with other prospective investors. Ariba, one of Novopoint’s technology providers, recently designated the industry hub as one of its four Lighthouse accounts. For more information visit www.novopoint.com.
