Every year, AWMA members get the chance to participate in the HIPA (Hershey Industry Performance Analysis) report, which measures the profitability of convenience distributors. Participants can also see how they stack up against their peers in terms of salary, number of employees by function, number of SKUs and more. Those members that do participate in the HIPA report get a free copy of the report–no one else, except the study participants, has access to HIPA. (AWMA members who want to make sure they get the next HIPA form to fill out should e-mail Kathy Trost.)

AWMA also conducts research on a variety of other industry topics, and the resulting reports are offered to members either for free or for a discounted price. Past topics have included distributors’ use of technology, SKU and sales analysis, human resources and more. For more information on our research reports, visit the Other Publications link on our site