By Jim Dudlicek, NGA Director, Communications and External Affairs
Independent community grocers account for a third of all grocery sales in the United States. As a supplier, have you unlocked the opportunities of doing business with them?
The National Grocers Association and RangeMe are teaming up to provide emerging brands increased access to the independent grocery sector, in which consumers are increasingly placing their trust when they’re looking for local, authentic, diverse and clean-label products.
NGA and RangeMe hosted a recent webinar to explain the benefits of NGA membership for suppliers of emerging brands and how being a part of this new exclusive curated collection could bring those products to a wider audience. Presenters included Joe Tarnowski, RangeMe’s VP of content and global media, and Jim Dudlicek, NGA’s director of communications and external affairs.
Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:
Independents are a great home for emerging brands. Products trending on the shelves of independent supermarkets reflect keywords like fresh, natural, functional, clean, sustainable and authentic. Consumers have demonstrated that they trust independent grocers to offer products embracing those qualities, and emerging products typically have compelling brand stories, much like multigenerational, community-focused grocery retailers.
NGA resources can help emerging brands grow. NGA members receive access to exclusive resources, tools, services and benefits to help address shifting demands and marketplace challenges. Manufacturers and suppliers that become NGA associate members can provide thought leadership for a wide audience of retailer members, including insights and research shared in conference presentations, webinars, whitepapers and blogs. Associate members can exhibit at the annual NGA Show and reach independent retailers through NGA’s e-newsletters and other publications.
The independent grocery sector is robust. Independent operators account for more than $250 billion in annual sales – about a third of all U.S. grocery sales – and encompass more than 21,000 stores. NGA has members in every U.S. legislative district as well as Canada.
The NGA Collection of Emerging Brands is housed within the RangeMe platform and will be available for NGA retailer members. Representing products without national retail distribution, these RangeMe verified brands encompass categories including food, beverage, health and beauty care, and select general merchandise categories such as pet, housewares, household cleaning and baby products.
RangeMe is the leading product discovery and sourcing platform where retailers and suppliers from around the world can discover, connect, transact and grow their businesses. More than 9,000 of the 15,000 retail buyers on RangeMe are from community-based and regional retailers. RangeMe’s total portfolio includes more than 800,000 products from 200,000 active suppliers.
For more information, contact supplier@rangeme.com or visit www.rangeme.com. For information on how to become a member of NGA, visit https://www.nationalgrocers.org/membership/associate-membership/ or contact Membership@NationalGrocers.org.
Click here to view a recording of the complete webinar.
