Manufacturer Chargebacks (MCBs)

Manufacturer Chargebacks (MCBs) are financial deductions and fees imposed by retailers and distributors on beverage manufacturers. They are a core component of non-working trade-spend-optimization and a significant hidden cost of retail placement.

A common form of MCB is the “free fill” requirement, where retailers (such as whole-foods) mandate that a brand provide a full case of free product per SKU as a condition for carrying a new item. Alongside lumper-fees and traditional slotting-fees-beverage-industry, MCBs ensure that the high gross margins generated by premium functional beverages at the retail shelf are largely captured by the distributor and retailer, rather than the manufacturer.