Kate Weaver is the supplier diversity manager for Peapod Digital Labs, which provides support to Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, and other Ahold Delhaize food retail banners.
Weaver will sit on the retailer panel Sourcing With a Focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, taking place Wednesday, October 6 at 11 a.m. as part of Fancy Food 24/7. Weaver recently discussed PDL’s DEI strategy with SFA News Daily.
How do you ensure supplier diversity at Peapod Digital Labs and how does this affect the product sourcing decisions made at the supermarket level?
Peapod Digital Labs is the digital, e-commerce, and commercial engine that provides support to Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop. Our Supplier Diversity program is a part of the Vendor Strategy Group, that is nestled inside the Commercial Strategy Team at PDL. By positioning the program this way, PDL is ensuring that supplier diversity is included in all initiatives - inclusive of merchandising, eCommerce, Private Brand, etc. – and that it is top-of-mind for PDL leaders.
As far as the products that end up on the shelf, the local brands of ADUSA all have their own merchandising teams, each with their own merchandising strategies and objectives. PDL’s Supplier Diversity Team acts as an internal broker of sorts, and provides recommendations, insights and most importantly, matchmaking opportunities.
PDL is unique in the sense that it also has its own internal merchandising function. The SHIP2ME, Ahold Delhaize’s online marketplace (that will be launching soon) has its own go-to-market strategy. Our e-commerce team has been super open and receptive to diverse-owned suppliers that we have recommended to them. They are looking for drop-ship capability, as well as innovative product offerings.
Peapod Digital Labs recently launched an accelerator for diverse-owned suppliers. Please tell me about it and its first cohort.
We are a few sessions into our 6-session program, and it’s been going great. PDL’s Accelerator for Diverse-Owned Suppliers has 11 suppliers as a part of its first cohort. While they are all vastly different in what they provide ADUSA, some are products on the shelf, such as snacks or beverages, some are marketing suppliers, etc., they do have common threads that run through them. For instance, they are all certified, diverse-owned suppliers. They are also all current suppliers somewhere within the local brands of ADUSA, but it’s important to note that none of them have business across all of ADUSA (at least yet). The objectives of our program is that we are 1) sharing insights with Accelerator participants about the ADUSA brands in order to strengthen their partnerships; 2) sharing functional best practices from subject matter experts to help the Accelerator participants develop their businesses; and 3) we are building awareness and adoption of Supplier Diversity across the ADUSA brands and promote our commitment in this space.
Are consumers looking for products from BIPOC-owned businesses?
Retail Business Services, the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, commissioned a multi-pronged research project last year. RBS partnered with Hootology, a WBENC and NGLCC certified, diverse-owned consumer research firm. In the initial piece of research that Hootology conducted, they found that 49 percent of the customers (that were polled within the ADUSA footprint) said that “More products from diverse-owned businesses, including Black, Women, Veteran, LGBTQ+, etc., would be something that they would be interested in seeing in their grocery store”.
Is it a challenge to convey the diverse ownership of food products at the shelf level?
It really depends on the specific retailer’s in-store communication strategy. One ADUSA brand, Giant Food, made headlines last December when it launched over 3,000 tags indicating diverse-owned products to be placed, at the SKU level, in their stores. It was a monumental task that involved many associates, not to mention, the support of the community. Conscious consumerism is at an all-time high and many customers are simply seeking transparency about the products and services that they buy on a regular basis. Ownership of a company can be seen as an additional product or brand “attribute.” That being said, other retailers may choose to promote products from diverse-owned suppliers in other ways, such as their weekly advertising circular. Stop & Shop, another ADUSA brand, has highlighted multiple diverse-owned suppliers this way through their print media that reaches 7.7 households each week. All the brands of ADUSA, however, including Peapod Digital Labs, utilize social media to educate and amplify diverse-owned suppliers.
Related: Report: Food Industry Executives Prioritize DEI; Racial Equity Challenge Finalists Named.