Bimbo Bakeries USA is the largest commercial baking company in the United States and the only one servicing all 50 states. What began as a small family-owned operation grew into a complex, nationwide direct-store-delivery business supporting iconic brands and serving hundreds of thousands of retail and foodservice customers every day.

With that scale comes a different kind of challenge: how do you maintain control, visibility and trust across thousands of routes, operators and transactions without slowing the business down?

Rapid expansion, including the acquisition of Sara Lee’s baking business, dramatically increased BBU’s operational footprint. The business inherited:

• Multiple legacy systems
• Different operating models
• A significant increase in scan-based trading participation
• A sharp rise in transactional volume and financial exposure

Scan-Based Trading introduced a new level of nuance. Shrink, credits and settlements now depended on accurate scan data, disciplined execution and consistent interpretation across markets.

The risk wasn’t theoretical. Without a consistent way to understand and manage scan-based data, margin leakage, procedural gaps and even fraud could go undetected.

BBU partnered with Salient to support a model where complex information could be understood — and acted on — by the people responsible for route performance.

The goal wasn’t to turn sales teams into analysts. It was to:

• Make exceptions visible
• Tie operational activity directly to financial impact
• Enable managers to challenge discrepancies confidently
• Reduce reliance on centralized interpretation

As scan-based trading expanded, BBU needed to ensure that:

• Shrink was measured accurately and consistently
• Credits aligned with actual activity
• Exceptions could be identified early
• Route behavior could be challenged with facts

Instead of forcing teams to navigate dozens of disconnected reports, performance views were structured to reflect how the business actually operates, weekly, quarterly and at the route level.

This clarity shifted conversations from assumptions to accountability.

Better visibility presented an organizational responsibility to reset expectations. Training focused less on how to run reports and more on:

• What mattered
• Where to look
• How to interpret results
• What action was expected

Because information was structured around real operating scenarios, even new team members could identify meaningful issues quickly.

The most tangible result came in areas where risk was previously hidden.

In markets already considered top performers, early warning signs surfaced — issues that would have compounded if left undiscovered.

By empowering managers to see and understand discrepancies, BBU:

• Reduced shrink
• Identified procedural non-compliance
• Challenged fraudulent behavior
• Strengthened financial discipline across routes

For Bimbo Bakeries USA, performance improvement wasn’t about adding controls or slowing execution. It was about creating transparency that:

• Reinforced accountability
• Enabled better conversations with operators
• Protected margin without micromanagement
• Scaled with the business

When complexity increases, discipline matters more, not less.