Pros
They have a good product first of all. The independent operators make a decent salary if the territory is good. I've been in route sales over 30 years and make a good salary but I put in the time on my route.
Cons
Management is short handed due to lack of income. Why go into management if you can work less hours and get paid more on a route. That's what they will end up doing most of the time. There are routes that are slumping sales on them partly because some of the operators aren't aggressive enough and others that don't have the knowledge to order correctly or distribute the product right. Supervision is always tied up with either running a route or miscellaneous stuff. And in what I've seen supervisors are just doing what they are told and not that knowledgeable in route sales. Most of the drivers do not check their pay statement on their portal weekly because Flowers is ripping the drivers off. They aren't giving them credit for all their transactions. Its alarming how much the accounting people screw up and it goes unnoticed by most drivers.