We’ve added a lot of value with the insights we’ve gained. I’ve been able to pull the report each week, which gives us great insights into our new distribution points, how many orders we’re doing, the value we’re adding from those orders, and just overall what the team is doing each week.
By far the most used app as part of the role... It’s kind of like a personal assistant, which I can use to remind myself what’s going on, what’s changed, and what to do.
When you’re one of the fastest-growing nutrition brands in the UK, every store visit, pitch, and order has to count. We spoke to Nick Smith, Huel‘s Field Sales Manager, and David, one of their Field Sales Reps, to find out how their team transformed their field sales operations using Bowimi, as well as how it’s helped power up their plans for growth.
Huel uses Bowimi in two ways: firstly, for reps out in the field, and secondly, for managers to gain visibility of their team and report back to stakeholders. In this case study, we sit down with both Nick and David to hear their perspectives on different features of the app, and how it supports their day-to-day roles as well as their long-term strategies.
Who are Huel?
Huel are on a mission to make nutritionally complete food that’s good for people and the planet, and easy to grab on the go. Since 2022, they’ve been using Bowimi to manage their growing field sales operation.
But things really levelled up in 2024, when Nick Smith came onboard as Field Sales Manager and expanded the team. At the end of 2024, retail made up about a third of Huel’s £110m UK revenues—more than doubling over the course of the year (The Grocer). Huel’s field sales team has played a pivotal role in driving their retail expansion, securing fixtures through on-the-ground prospecting, ensuring new product listings in existing customer stores, and maintaining the quality of in-store displays.
Nick brings years of experience using (and wrestling with) other CRMs. David, who made the leap from working in Finance at Huel into field sales a year ago, represents the frontline. He brings a unique perspective on what it takes to be effective out in the field, and Nick gives us insight into managerial needs of reporting to stakeholders.
What problem did they have?
Before Bowimi, Huel’s field sales process relied on traditional CRM systems that weren’t built for field sales teams. Nick’s prior experience to Bowimi consisted of tools like SAP and Zendesk, before joining Huel where Bowimi was already implemented. In his experience other CRMs had major limitations: integrations were difficult, user interfaces were unintuitive, and there were no features to support on-the-ground prospecting or simple store-level insights.
For the team, this meant wasted time, poor adoption, and an overall lack of visibility into what was happening in the field. New store setups were slow, reporting was manual, and reps had limited context when visiting stores.
While the field team are mainly based in London, expanding into new UK territories demands clear visibility of existing customers, potential prospects, and a CRM capable of managing and recording every interaction in one place.
The Bowimi solution
Ultimately, that’s where we come in. With Bowimi in place, Huel’s end-to-end field sales operation is now more efficient, better informed, and easier to scale. After over two years on the platform, their use of our CRM is at the core of how they operate, generating valuable insights that feed directly into their strategy. When Nick joined in mid-2024, our Customer Success team helped him quickly get up to speed and start making the most of Bowimi.
For Nick as a Manager, the platform has streamlined the entire field sales workflow — from onboarding to reporting. New accounts are easy to set up, and hiring and onboarding processes are more efficient.
In the field, Huel’s reps use Bowimi to:
- Plan journeys
- Identify new prospects
- Record standardised surveys
- Transfer orders
- Tag stores for follow-up
The platform’s dashboards and insights give Nick visibility over performance and ROI, making it easier to report to senior stakeholders. They’ve had great feedback from the wider retail team and beyond on the added value the field sales team are bringing to the table, which we love to hear. This wouldn’t be possible without Bowimi’s seamless data and activity tracking.
Transfer orders have also become a particularly valuable tool, enabling reps to quickly make stores live and set up with new wholesalers in as little as one day. Check out our guide on how to increase your rate of sale here.
David relies on Bowimi to surface relevant context before each visit, track previous interactions, and keep his outreach consistent. The mobile and tablet responsiveness makes it practical in the field, and the platform’s ease of use means less time spent learning and more time selling.
The results
Let’s take a look at the impact of Bowimi on several key areas of Huel’s field sales team.
In terms of onboarding, due to our easy-to-use nature and simple interface, one of Huel’s reps was able to go through her entire territory within her first three months of joining the team. Bowimi’s ease of use is deceptive of the powerful insights being generated behind the scenes. Field reps are making more visits, identifying more opportunities, and opening new accounts at a faster pace.
Weekly and monthly reporting to senior management now includes real-time insights on field activity, store performance, and campaign impact. The team has identified and sold into over 87 new stores through Bowimi’s prospecting tools alone.
Small efficiencies stack up fast. With everything from routes and orders to notes in one place, the team spends far less time on admin and stays far more organised. Everyone has clear visibility of their territories, their tasks, and what’s on their plate. What used to take hours to plan—routes, prospects, tasks—now takes seconds with Bowimi.
Looking forward
Huel’s field sales strategy in 2025 includes expanding its reach across major UK cities like Manchester and Birmingham. To support this, Nick is focused on further enhancing Bowimi’s dashboard functionality, improving report-building, and streamlining order summaries to reduce manual effort. Working closely with Huel, Bowimi have already made changes to our platform based on their past feedback, we’re always evolving our software to work better for our customers.
The platform continues to play a core role in supporting Huel’s wider growth plans, especially in scaling the brand’s presence across independent retailers. Bowimi is helping the team do more, faster, and with better data behind every decision.
