Fueling Growth: How 3Bears Streamlined Retail Partner Connections with Procuros

Background

3Bears is one of Germany’s most recognizable food brands, celebrated for its innovative oat-based products and strong presence across leading retail chains. The Munich-based startup first came into the spotlight in 2017 on the TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen” (Germany’s equivalent of Shark Tank), where it secured investment from well-known entrepreneur Frank Thelen. Since then, 3Bears has grown into a household name, establishing a loyal consumer base and continuously expanding its product portfolio.

With this rapid growth, however, came rising operational complexity. 3Bears works with several external producers and a logistics provider, while also coordinating with dozens of retail partners across the country. As a young and ambitious company, it had already built a lean and modern operations setup. But as volumes scaled, the limitations of manual processes became increasingly clear. Producers frequently exchanged Excel files with production numbers, stock levels, and best-before dates. While functional, this process often led to delays, errors, and a lack of real-time visibility into inventories. Orders, production planning, and delivery coordination required long email chains, leaving little room for efficiency.

At the same time, the company’s ambitions extended well beyond Germany. In 2025, 3Bears returned to “Die Höhle der Löwen” to unveil the next chapter of its growth journey: international expansion. Its first step abroad was the listing of its porridge products with the Dutch retailer Albert Heijn. But the biggest milestone ahead is the entry into the UK market, supported by none other than Harry Kane, captain of the English national football team, who joined as brand ambassador. Kane himself emphasized how naturally the partnership came together, praising both the product and the brand’s mission.

To keep scaling without adding operational overhead, 3Bears set out to digitally connect its retail partners directly to its Xentral ERP system. 

Key Outcomes After Procuros Implementation 

3Bears now saves more than 60 hours every month thanks to Procuros. This frees up capacity which the team can now reinvest into growth rather than administration.

How Procuros Enabled This

1. Seamless ERP Integration

With the Procuros–Xentral connector app, 3Bears was able to connect new customers within just a few days. They are connected to nearly 30 customers by now. The setup was simple, and full EDI-readiness was achieved without the need for a long or complex IT project.

2. Automated Document Exchange

Today, orders, invoices and credit notes flow directly into and from Xentral without manual uploads or endless email chains. These tasks have been significantly reduced, which has made daily work much smoother for the sales and finance teams. 3Bears is also one of the very first customers trialing our new remittance advice feature.

3. Relief for Sales & Finance Teams

For Gisela and her colleagues, Procuros has taken away a large part of the manual effort. Receiving orders and sending invoices now works smoothly and with very few errors, which saves valuable time and creates noticeable relief in day-to-day work. Instead of handling data manually, the team can now simply request a new connection in the portal — and Procuros takes care of the rest.

4. Quick Setup for Larger Customers

Procuros also enabled 3Bears to onboard major international customers like Albert Heijn in just a few steps. Looking ahead, features such as Order OCR will further help automate orders that are still received by email today.

5. Customer Support

3Bears values not only the automation but also the personal support from Procuros. Gisela highlighted that questions are answered quickly, and the team feels fully supported. This strong partnership gives sales and finance confidence that everything runs reliably in the background.

Feedback from the customer

“I’m super happy with the great service at Procuros. All processes related to invoices, credit notes and orders work smoothly and with very few errors. Special requirements for certain customers we have are taken care of. I just request a connection in the portal and Procuros takes care of the rest. This makes my job much easier – less manual work and a lot of time saved. ”
— Gisela, Finance Department, 3Bears Foods GmbH

Conclusion

By connecting its ERP system Xentral with Procuros, 3Bears was able to replace manual coordination with seamless digital workflows. Orders, invoices and credit notes now flow directly into the system, reducing manual work and noticeably decreasing errors. This has created a huge relief for the sales and finance teams, who can rely on smooth processes and great support from Procuros. At the same time, 3Bears can quickly connect to larger international customers such as Albert Heijn, and in the future features like Order OCR will help them automate even more orders currently received by email.

Ready to scale your operations like 3Bears?

👉 Book a demo with Procuros and see how we can help you connect all your trade partners in days, not months: https://procuros.io/demo