ACNielsen Is The First to Cater for Wholesale in the UK 25/5/00 ACNielsen, the leading global market research agency, has launched the world's first service to provide data and insight into the UK's foodservice wholesale markets. The ACNielsen Catering Wholesale Service, a continuous tracking service, offers manufacturers detailed weekly sales and marketing information on the wholesale sector within foodservice. The first live data from this service was released to clients during April and highlights were shared with manufacturers and wholesalers at the Federation of Wholesale Distributors annual conference at the same time. The launch follows extensive research and development by ACNielsen over the last three years. It offers manufacturers detailed analysis of trends by individual sector and product category, and for the first time allows clients to receive marketing information segmented by customer. The customer segments include the workplace, education, health, hotels, pubs, restaurants, fast food environments, travel and leisure. In addition, the service provides a comprehensive overview of the foodservice market, the products that people buy and how a manufacturer's performance compares with its competitors. The service also allows co-operating wholesalers to benchmark their performance against their competitors. According to Tim Sayers, Senior Business Manager, ACNielsen Foodservice, "The UK market is fast approaching the growth in out-of-home consumption currently experienced in the US. As the UK market matures, a greater need for understanding of customers is crucial. Our new Catering Wholesale Service represents the industry currency and is the only service that provides the crucial information manufacturers and wholesalers need to build more successful business partnerships. This new service also expands ACNielsen's global capabilities and expertise, and ensures that our clients have access to information on all aspects of the food industry." ACNielsen has formed a partnership with the six largest operators in the catering wholesale sector - 3663, Brake Brothers, Watson & Philips Foodservice, dbc Foodservice, Cearns & Brown and Glanbia Foodservice. Together, these six operators represent up to 70% of leading manufacturers' deliveries into the UK foodservice market.