Parfetts and J.W. Filshill are among the first UK wholesalers to go live with Wholepal, an AI platform designed to modernise how technical product data is shared across the grocery supply chain.
The leading wholesalers are using the new platform to tackle what the industry describes as one of its ”most persistent bottlenecks”, by improving the manual and error-prone process of completing new product forms.
These documents, often exchanged as spreadsheets or PDFs, can take up to 12 weeks to process before a product can go live. The same forms are frequently required for minor product data changes, adding unnecessary repetition and delay.
Product data sharing in wholesale remains heavily reliant on manual data entry, according to Wholepal, slowing routes to market for suppliers and creating “operational drag” for wholesalers.
Wholepal allows suppliers to upload their product specification documents directly to the platform, where the information is extracted, structured and stored automatically. Following supplier verification, the product data is then ready to be shared instantly and digitally with wholesale partners on the platform, removing the need for physical forms.
The company said the platform delivers “cleaner data, fewer errors and dramatically faster product setup”, reducing the onboarding process to minutes.
Wholepal was founded by Victoria Lawson, following years spent working closely with FMCG suppliers and wholesale partners.
“Time and again, I saw product sales slowed down by admin,” said Lawson. “The way product information is shared hasn’t fundamentally changed in decades. It’s manual, inconsistent and outdated.”
Lawson continued: “Having Parfetts/Go Local and J.W. Filshill go live is a hugely important milestone for us. These are two highly respected wholesalers who understand the operational realities of the sector, so to see them adopt Wholepal is a strong validation of the platform and the problem it’s solving.”
Both leading wholesalers said they have teamed up with the platform to “streamline supplier onboarding, improve data accuracy and free up internal teams from time-consuming manual work”.
Cheryl Hope, trading director at Parfetts/Go Local, said: “Anything that helps us range products faster, reduce manual work and improve data quality is a real benefit. Wholepal gives us a more efficient and consistent way to work with suppliers, while supporting quicker routes to market.”
Chris Miller, chief commercial officer at J.W. Filshill, said: “Product data is fundamental to how we operate, but the way it’s traditionally been shared hasn’t kept pace with the rest of the industry. Wholepal helps remove friction from supplier onboarding and data updates, giving us greater confidence in the accuracy of the information we receive while saving valuable time for our teams.”
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