Dive Brief:

• Several retailers have recently unveiled plans to boost supplier diversity as the industry reckons with representation and sustainable practices among its vendors. 
• Peapod Digital Labs will host four virtual events quarterly throughout 2022 to meet with certified, diverse-owned businesses. Albertsons said it will expand its supplier diversity program, while Sam’s Club plans a supplier diversity summit in April.
• Dozens of retailers, including Albertsons, Aldi, Kroger, Target and Sam’s Club, have signed up for a virtual event in April hosted by Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) to connect them with food and beverage brands that are "diversity qualified or minority owned."

Dive Insight:

The ongoing push to boost supplier diversity comes at a time when grocers and retailers aim to boost their assortment of merchandise with owners from marginalized populations.

Albertsons' first virtual program last May, which was done in partnership ECRM and its subsidiary RangeMe, along with Quantum, brought in nearly 1,000 diverse suppliers interested in working with the grocery chain. 

For its second virtual summit focused on diverse suppliers, which happened earlier this month, the grocer sought out businesses that "are over 50% owned and controlled/operated by a U.S. citizen and one of the following categories or ethnicities: African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender, Service-Disabled Veteran or Female."

ECRM’s Diversity & Minority Owned Food & Beverage Program from April 5-7 is seeking, but not limited to, brands that are ethnic minority-, LGBT-, veteran-, woman- or disability-owned, and "disadvantaged business enterprise."

The program runs during the company’s "Diversity Week," according to a press release. The week will feature two panels with retailers — including Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Kroger, Meijer and Walgreens — and virtual sessions between retailers and suppliers to discover and evaluate products and resources.

ECRM said its Diversity Week last year attracted more than 640 buyers and almost 500 brands, and that its platform hosted more than 3,800 curated meetings. 

Sam's Club is working with ECRM for not only its supplier diversity summit on April 5, but also a separate event on the same day for private label suppliers. The club retailer told Modern Retail these are its first open calls for suppliers. 

For its supplier diversity summit, the retailer is looking for companies that meet the criteria of being "a U.S. privately held company that is 51% owned, managed, and controlled by a woman, minority, veteran, disabled veteran, person with a disability or a member of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Peapod Digital Labs, which is also working with ECRM and Range Me on its four supplier events, said it's looking to scale and speed up onboarding products from diverse-owned suppliers with more efficient processes.

The e-commerce engine of Ahold Delhaize USA is seeking "[c]ertified minority-, LGBTQ+-, woman-, veteran- and disability-owned businesses" that have products fitting certain categories. The first event is set for March 14-18 and the rest of the events, which don't have announced dates yet, will be in May, July and October.

Several grocers, including Meijer, Kroger and Schnuck Markets, have unveiled initiatives during the pandemic to boost supplier diversity. Albertsons noted that access to working capital is one the largest hurdles for small businesses and said it is attempting to solve it through an early payment program in partnership with C2FO.