Since this is the VMD breakfast, I will talk from the manufacturer/supplier point of view, even though there are wholesalers in the audience. And since there has become such a blur between the definition of a manufacturer and a supplier, I may occasionally refer to the term “manupplier” to represent them both.
I was asked to be the moderator because it was important to have someone who has been in our industry long enough to remember how the traditional relationship between manufacturers and wholesalers used to be. I accepted because I figured that there wouldn't be too many in the audience that could remember whether what I said was right or wrong.