Welcome to the Community Call Podcast.
I am Melissa Travers, Director of Community here at BevNET & NOSH, here with my co-hosts Monica Watress and Mike Schneider.
If you're enjoying the show, please follow and review us on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice.
Mike and Monica, so good to see you.
I feel like I just saw you the day before yesterday at the Fancy Food Show in New York.
Briefly, right?
Yeah, well, and we got to see our favorite person, Kartik, at the booth, at the Dushra booth.
So I got my Kartik mention out of the way.
We do love you, Kartik.
I think I told some I was telling somebody that he is mentioned in no fewer than 25 percent of the BevNET podcast episode.
I think you just raised it to 50 percent.
That's my goal.
I don't think we can have a podcast without mentioning Kartik in it.
So, Monica, I noticed that you are wearing my favorite T-shirt of the entire show.
Yes, I'm wearing the Mazaa T-shirt that I snagged from the epic Mazaa party after the Fancy Food Show ended.
Does it say Hazaa Mazaa?
Stand up, stand up so we can see it, please.
I think it says Mazaa upside down and right side up, and it looks like it's saying Hazaa, but it really says Hazaa.
That said, that's what I thought.
It doesn't matter.
It's just it's an awesome T-shirt.
The rebrand is stunning.
It's amazing.
And it's like a really soft cotton T-shirt, too.
It's perfect T-shirt material.
I can't overstate how important when brands you go and do your merch, don't do that like scratchy stiff material.
Don't cheap out.
Get the soft stuff.
Yeah, if you want people to go out there and rep your brand, make it look cool, too.
I'm going to plug one of our fine partners, talk to Brandon at Foundry.
He'll help you.
Does he do our T-shirts?
He'll get you the softies.
Yeah, he does our T-shirts.
Our T-shirts are rad.
Well, it was great to see Mazan.
I love that T-shirt so much.
Yeah, congrats to Yasmeen and Sheila on stunning rebrand.
Absolutely beautiful.
And always such a pleasure to see them in person because they're such lovely human beings.
One of my favorite things from the show, I don't know if either of you had a chance to try this, but it's sweet potato bread.
It was, it's a Korean sweet potato bread.
I think it was in the international section.
The name of it is, as far as I can gather, is Gamza, but it's roasted sweet potato bread.
So it looks like a sweet potato and then you break it open.
And I think it's a combination of mashed sweet potato.
It might be bean paste.
There's no flour in it.
But I spent like 45 minutes this morning trying to use like Google Translate to translate the website.
So that may or may not be true.
I also think they use upcycled potatoes.
They're in H Mart, but it was so good.
Is it like a bao with sweet potato inside or is it a sweet potato with?
You know, that might be a good analogy in that there's this casing that looks like a sweet potato and you break it open and it's this really soft, sort of like bean paste consistency.
It's a bao.
I want that.
It was so delicious.
And you know, Monica, I had to wonder if it would waffle.
I feel like it might.
It sounds like it would.
One of the other items I tried that I thought was really interesting is...
I think that's interesting too.
Yeah, right.
So it's Taste-deli.
I talked to Lisa, the founder of Taste-deli at A Fancy Food.
So it's drinkable konjac jelly.
I brought it home, I tried it, my kids tried it.
And it's almost like a squeeze pouch of Jell-O.
They loved it.
Oh, interesting.
So I kind of want to get the founder of Taste-deli together with the founder of Nusante Newbies because they're both doing squish packs.
And squish packs are, to me, amazing.
But to everybody, you know, from a buying perspective, super-duper challenging.
Nusante Newbies, it's a smoothie.
It's an adult smoothie.
And it's amazing.
It's not just for adults, though.
They're really tasty.
When you say adult smoothie, I mean, does it have, like...
No, it's not alcohol.
It's just for adults.
It's not an adult smoothie.
It's just like not applesauce in a packet, which is what your kids would eat.
They're tough to merchandise, for sure.
I'm sure that that factors into things.
And I think people in other countries are a little bit more amenable to squeeze packs, but I don't think they have enough of a mass audience for people to immediately know.
Yeah, but here's the thing.
Mirka knows about a squeeze pack.
You get it in your Honest Kids, or Juice Box, or whatever it is, or...
Capri Suns.
And then also, like you said, the applesauce squishums.
People know what to do with it.
You give somebody a newbies.
They crush it.
They know exactly what to do with it.
So I don't know.
It's good stuff.
I need to talk to you about Aria's Roti.
How delicious...
It's just so, so, so delicious.
And I feel like it's something that doesn't have a ton of competition.
It's really so delicious.
I feel like there are so many really interesting and innovative kind of sauces.
You know, I'm embarrassed to say that Aria's booth was so crushed when I went by it that we just we didn't get back to it.
That booth was...
Fair enough.
Insanely busy.
It was insanely busy.
Everybody loves their roti.
It was like Park Street on a Saturday.
Any bustonians would know what a disaster that is.
Sorry, Monica.
Park Street.
Park Street, Mac.
That was amazing.
Did you guys try Zeba's new collaboration?
They had some new skews that I thought were really tasty.
The one that had my heart was a banana bread trail mix.
It had raw walnuts, salted plantain chips, and these chocolate coins.
They were very thin, and I thought it was such a nice way to incorporate chocolate into the product.
But those are some of my favorite things.
What did you guys go home smacking your lips about?
I started off the show at the chai box and got to talk to Monica Sonny, who is a Monica, so obviously by default is awesome.
Obviously.
But no, Monica Sonny is, she's amazing.
Their chai is, it's wonderful.
They have concentrate.
They have, they have like the, what is it, the sachet?
That you, that you steeped a little bag.
And yeah, we just, we geeked out for a bit and got some good vibes and some great chai.
That was amazing.
Monica, you tried the Lupini pizza, right?
I did try the Lupini pizza.
I thought that was a really interesting concept.
It was crafted by the Italian pizza maker of the year, some award winning pizza guy.
20 grams of protein in a serving.
That's a lot of protein.
I liked it and it tastes like pizza.
It's a lot of fiber too.
Was the crust made of Lupini bean flour?
Yes.
Lupin flour and also wheat.
So it wasn't like a gluten free substitute.
It was just enhanced by this nutrient dense bean.
And right next to that, I know Monica and I have one of the same favorites on three.
One, two, three, freeze cake.
Did you try freeze cake?
I saw you.
I think you posted it on Instagram.
I didn't get a chance to try it.
I was like, all right, frozen, you know, freeze dried cheesecake.
How good can it be?
My brain explodes like my taste buds are like, oh, why didn't we think of this sooner?
That is awesome.
It's like super light in terms of just the packaging, but there's a lot in the pack.
How is it different than astronaut ice cream, for example?
It's it's not it's cheesecake.
Yeah, it's just freeze dried.
It's freeze dried.
It's not ice cream.
It's cheesecake that's freeze dried.
So it's not that different at all, but it is different.
There's so much to love about that brand, starting with the name.
How perfect is the brand name freeze cake?
Brilliant.
There's another dessert brand in that area that I thought was really cool called Pasta Desserts, and it was like this chocolate ravioli.
They had different sweet fillings.
And I thought, I don't know what's going on with desserts these days, but I'm here for it.
I mean, freeze cake is kind of pigeonholed into making freeze cakes, but oh darn.
I mean, think of the amount of cake that is out there that you could try to freeze dry.
Yeah.
I mean, anyone for carrot cake?
Anyone for chocolate lava cake?
Anyone for any of these other?
You could just keep it in the car, keep it in your gym bag.
You could have cake anywhere.
Did you guys try...
I know actually you did Papa's Custard.
Oh my God.
How good was that?
Like Papa himself gives a great pitch.
He's an awesome pitch man, and he gives you this incredible pitch about his family who used to troll him when he was a baby because he looked like he was a dad from birth or something like that.
And he's always been very wise looking, so his whole family calls him Papa.
And then there's his co-founder is Jewel.
Jewel Johnson.
Yeah, this is not the singer.
No, the chef.
And Beat Bobby Flay.
And the custard is amazing.
What was your favorite flavor?
So the one that stunned me was the dragon fruit.
Stunned me.
Right, because dragon fruit is a really kind of tough flavor to encapsulate in a custard, but it had such a nice acidity to it.
It was the lemon.
Yeah, every bite was refreshing and made you want to have more.
It made me feel like I was floating at the end.
It just stayed with me.
And yes, the chocolate and the vanilla are phenomenal, and they've got dairy and dairy-free.
And so they had a lot going on.
And it showed their versatility so well.
Their chocolate coconut was maybe my second favorite or second-first favorite, because it was again such a delicious product.
And to be able to offer something like that to people who don't consume dairy is such an accomplishment.
Well, speaking of no dairy, did you try sweet Elaine's cinnamon buns?
I didn't.
Yeah, Monica did.
Yes, those were very good.
You would never know they were vegan.
And I thought it was interesting that they don't lead with that on the packaging.
They say no eggs, no dairy, but they don't say vegan.
I think it's because of certification, right?
Well, no, it's because they don't want consumers who aren't vegan to see it and think, oh, that's not for me, or that's not gonna taste good.
So vegan consumers who are seeking that out know what to look for.
Everybody else who just wants a delicious cinnamon roll could enjoy it for what it is.
O-M-G, like your mind just...
That whole section of the...
The included section.
The included section was...
On fire.
On fire.
People People was there.
Did you see People People's rebrand?
People People's rebrand.
Amazing.
It was so great.
Did you get the story?
I did, I sure did.
Cause Eliza and Amer told me the story, and Eliza showed me before, I was like, I'm kind of a super fan of People People.
And we talk from time to time on what's coming out, and it's based on the aesthetic of the trucks in Pakistan.
They paint them.
Have you seen this?
Have you seen this aesthetic?
Mm-mm.
You have to Google Pakistan trucks.
Just anyone who's listening to the podcast right now, stop what you're doing, unless you're driving, pull over.
Don't, don't, don't do this while you're driving, but check out this aesthetic.
It's anyone who's stuck in traffic is at least a little bit happy because there's probably a truck around that you can look at.
The art is stunning, and that's part of what, partially what this is based on.
This is what Burning Man wants to be.
I thought also what was interesting about the rebrand or the redesign is that the names of the flavors are meant to be a little bit more recognizable.
So I remember when the three of us were in the studio together trying boot mangla, which I'll never forget.
We were all coughing and choking.
It was so delicious.
I was eating it like salsa.
But I think now it's called Garlic Ghost.
So it's meant to be a little bit more familiar to the person whose attention you have for two seconds when they're walking through the hot sauce aisle of the grocery store.
I gotta believe that was a tough call to make.
So they're calling out the specific peppers on each individual skew because they heard from their customers that that's what they're identifying with.
Like they like the specific flavor profile of a specific pepper.
And I think that's interesting because it goes back to what one of Whole Foods Market's trends for 2024 was, which was focusing on a very specific pepper.
But I also think they did a good job of not selling out the heritage too because a lot of what we talk about is, all right, if you wanna go mainstream or you want your garden variety, BevNET mic type consumer to recognize you on shelf or to be intrigued by you on shelf, you've gotta have some word on there that they recognize.
And you know, boot bongo, that's a tough one.
Even though it might intrigue people, and of course, a lot of people will know what that means, but a lot of people won't.
So I think they've done a good job of not selling out their heritage and doing something that's even cooler than what they did before.
And the product is, of course, phenomenal.
We know that.
So if you try it, you're gonna want to eat it.
Mike, I noticed you're drinking pretty tasty.
I need the collagen.
Who doesn't?
But I was chatting with Scarlett at the show.
Of course.
Scarlett Lange, the founder, pretty tasty.
Yes, yes, who won the New Bedford Showdown at BevNET Live recently.
And she had her trophy, actually it was the placeholder trophy, that I think we are letting her borrow until the...
She stole the trophy, Monica.
She asked if she could take it.
It's a good icebreaker.
She's like, I want to put it out at Fancy Foods.
I'm like, okay.
No one's ever taken the trophy before, but yeah, because we give you your own.
Right, well, this is a big trophy, and it's definitely an eye-catcher as you're walking by the booth.
But she was telling me about how so much has happened in the weeks since BevNET Live.
Just winning that award has opened so many doors, and she's gonna have a killer year.
So really excited for Scarlett and the team there.
Pretty tasty.
That's great to hear.
They had such a great-looking booth, and it's such a tasty product.
I'll rattle off a few more folks.
I feel like I wish we had another four hours to-
There's so many that I wanna talk about.
Better Sour, Yoni from Fresh Viz, Sarah Nathan's newish matzo ball soup, shelf-stable matzo ball soup.
Ajiz Lhansa, O-M-G.
Ajiz Lhansa.
Mind-blowingly amazing.
Matt from Lunar Beverages, Bub Love, Fancy Pants, Shires, Bitter Milk.
Bub Love.
I know, right?
There are so many folks that we got to see, so it was so nice to see you all at Fancy Food, and hope to see you again soon.
So many of the brands that we talked to at the Fancy Food Show are focused on starting in small independent stores to grow a following for their brand.
Food Co-ops are such a perfect place to do that.
In this episode of Community Call, I speak with Heidi Traore, Supplier Relationship Development Manager at National Co-op Grocers, or NCG, to better understand how brands can leverage NCG's network of co-ops across the country to amplify their sales and distribution.
Please enjoy.
Heidi, thank you so much for joining us today.
I was just, we were just getting ready to hop on, and I'm so glad I ran into you at Expo West so that we could have this and plan out this conversation.
So thanks so much for being here.
Absolutely, thank you, Melissa.
Super happy to be in community with all of my BevNET folks, BevNET slash if there's any NOSH people on here.
So happy to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Such a pleasure.
Again, I'm so happy to be having this conversation because NCG is such a great resource for our brand partners.
But I think sometimes there's a little bit of confusion around how to best work with the organization so today we're going to pick it apart and really dive in into detail so that everyone can understand how to work well with NCG.
Why don't we start off with an introduction for you and your role.
Could you explain what you do for NCG?
Sure.
So my role over here at NCG is Supplier Relationship Development Manager.
Got a number of things on my desk, probably most applicable for this audience, is I am an introduction to NCG.
So I help brands understand who NCG is, what a co-op is.
I provide like a top line overview of our programs and support our category managers so that, you know, when, because one of the things that we find about NCG, because of our structure, you know, you can come and approach us and think that, oh, hey, this is just like approaching Whole Foods or Fresh Time, which we're very, very similar, but there are some really distinct differences in our business structure.
And we found that that's one of the most challenging things for folks to understand is just how we're structured a little bit differently.
So I'm kind of that intro point for brands.
I manage a lot of our communications out to the industry.
I manage our Inclusive Trade Program, which is NCG Supplier Diversity.
And I'm involved right now in heading up our exhibitor team for our Focus on Fresh event, which is a conference for the exhibitor departments of the store or the exhibitor perimeter departments of the store.
So we have a conference that's coming up that as a vendor showcase, where vendors can get involved with us through that and engage with our member co-ops at that event.
So that's a few things I have going on right now.
Sounds like you're a very busy woman.
Well, I would love to hear a little bit more about the event.
When and where is that?
And how do folks apply register?
Sure.
So, you know, that event is going to serve our co-op staff that are in the, as I said, perimeter department.
So we're talking Deli Bakery, Meat and Seafood, Cheese and Produce.
So if there are brands out there that are selling into like food service or if you, you know, are a produce, obviously, we would love to have you at the conference.
And it's happening late July and early August.
I think our vendor showcase is happening on August 2nd.
I could be a day off on that.
But if folks are interested in exploring that opportunity, certainly you can reach out to me, and I'd be happy to provide you additional information for Focus On Fresh.
Fantastic.
And will the folks attending the show be the category managers from NCG?
They're from the actual retail cooperatives themselves.
So we're expecting to have about, I think, about 400 staff members there.
And it's the folks who are making buying decisions, perhaps running those departments.
Those are the folks that are going to be at the show.
And these events, so a lot of folks maybe have heard of our Convergence event.
Focus On Fresh is similar to Convergence, but it's for that perimeter department.
So it's where we gather together to focus on how we can grow our business together in those departments.
And that includes our vendor partners for a portion of the event.
Sounds like a great opportunity.
And since you mentioned it, for folks who do want to get in touch, what's the best way to reach out to you?
Sure.
It's my email address, and I'm happy to type it in the chat real quick for folks.
But it's Heidi Traore at ncg.coop.
And that last name is T-R-A-O-R-E for folks who will be listening on the podcast.
Fantastic.
Well, thank you for that.
Let's get into what NCG is.
You mentioned that NCG is slightly different than some of the other resources that folks have in the food and beverage industry.
If you were going to explain NCG to a completely new founder, how would you describe it?
Well, let me back up and I'm going to start with our stats.
So NCG, we are an organization of 164 co-ops with over 200 retail locations in 39 states across the country.
We're at about two points.
Actually, we're just over $2.6 billion sales annually right now.
For CPG folks, NCG, we have programs that you're able to work with us in that look a lot like other retailers.
So we have our CoreSets Category Management Program, and we have our Co-op Deals Promotions Program.
And so our category managers work with CPG brands in those programs to introduce products, work on the best pricing for products.
Through our CoreSets Category reviews, we do a deep dive.
Into the category that reviews product-based price promotion.
So it's looking at all of that.
The category manager develops a category strategy, and then that ties to our Co-op Deals Promotional Program, which we're operating on our members' behalf.
You know, working with the CPG brand, what we can do for you is create efficiencies in your own business processes, because you can get placement, a great level of placement at a single time versus having to go store to store, doing sales calls in each geography.
So you can work with NCG to create efficiencies in your own business processes and reach our members through our communications, through our programs.
Excellent.
You mentioned a couple of things, core sets and Co-op Deals.
Could you dive in a little bit more and explain those two things in detail?
Yeah, sure.
So, of course, that's our category management program.
So the way that that works is our category managers.
Those are the folks at NCG, at the NCG level, category managers and our associate category managers.
Those are the folks that are working with our brand partners on the day-to-day business.
And what they do is they utilize that category review process to do that deep dive into the business.
They're working off of a category review calendar, and we do category reviews for 10 months out of the year, obviously taking that November, December timeframe off.
Digging in with our vendor partners, it's a whole process where they're diving in, they're looking at data to determine what's happening in that category, and they're looking at a bunch of different data dynamics.
So digging into that review calendar, going deep into the assessment, and then working with brokers and brands to plan out kind of like, okay, here are the new item intros, here are the mature item intros, here's the suggested pricing, and then that also includes resets.
So our full-on category reviews, we provide resets to our member co-ops for those.
So it's that A to Z category management.
Within that calendar, we also have new item only reviews.
And what that is, is that's a category review light where our category managers are taking a look at data, but they don't go as deep as a full-on category assessment.
And then with the new item only reviews, they're making recommendations to our member co-ops about what they might want to carry in the store.
And then that's a little bit about that.
We can get into the details more about that too, if you'd like, Melissa.
But then our co-op deals, that's our promotions program that our category managers are operating on.
And that starts with the planning process.
In fact, our category managers are in the process right now, starting to plan for 2025 promotions.
So the way that planning process works is that we have promotion staff, along with our category managers that collaborate, look at, you know, okay, here are the promotions that we need for 2025 to meet the co-op shoppers needs.
And we plot out kind of like a path for the overall promotions.
And then each category manager has their component of that path.
And they work with the brands in their categories to plan promotions for the entire year.
And, you know, we find that in doing an annual promotions process, what that does is that creates efficiencies for us because we're running that roadmap for the entire year, and we're not having a lot of, you know, switching of promotions from month to month.
That creates a lot of disruptions in the business, creates a lot of extra work for everyone.
So we're planning up front, creating that efficiency, and clotting our path for the year.
Does that mean that all brands submit their promotions for the whole year at once?
Yes.
Partners that are working with our category managers in the Co-op Deals program, we do ask them to submit a promo planner for the entire year, and then the category managers go in, they're looking at all of those planners, following up with vendors to make plans for what they want to have on promotion, what needs to be on promotion at the right time, right promo periods, right seasonality, with the right pricing and discounts to meet the needs of the Co-op shopper.
And are the deadlines specific to what your category is?
For promotions, no.
So promotions, that's category agnostic.
For our category review, obviously that operates on the review calendar, and so there's specific deadlines for specific categories.
So rounds one through round ten for category reviews, and there are specific deadlines for specific categories.
Makes perfect sense.
So if I was going to oversimplify it, CoreSets is to determine which products and brands enter into the program, and the second part of that, the co-op deals, is a promotional sort of strategy.
Well, CoreSets, that's that product place price promotion, right?
So it's all of those, it's the shelf management piece of this, how you're managing shelf for all of those P's.
And then, yes, co-op deals is the promotional program.
I think now is a great time to kind of look further into detail into the CoreSets piece of that.
So if I'm a brand and I've submitted my product using the category review process, and I'm accepted, what does that mean?
Let's actually talk about distributors for a minute, because that will kind of frame some of this stuff.
Today, NCG, our primary supply agreement is with UNFI.
The bulk of our programs operate through UNFI.
We do work with direct vendors.
That's going to be in really select segments of the business and in very specific scenarios.
So that will help this conversation.
So brand is accepted at NCG.
If you're not at UNFI and our category manager wants you to come into the CoreSets program, we will partner with you to get your items set up at UNFI.
And what that looks like is us going to UNFI and saying, hey, we want to include this brand in our CoreSets program.
We need you to add them at the warehouses.
And then the brand goes to UNFI and says, hey, UNFI, NCG wants me in their CoreSets program.
I need you to set me up.
So that's kind of like the initial process if you're not at UNFI.
Then brands work with us in our vendor portal and our partner connection vendor portal.
So for the category reviews, there's an initial process where brands submit an Excel version of their information for the category review and samples.
So that's that front end of the process.
Once the category manager says, yes, I want to work with you, brand, let's get you into the CoreSets, you then enter your details into our vendor portal.
So there's that initial submission step, and then there's the step where you go into the portal.
From there, we're working our processes internally to develop our communication tools, our communication and then the tools that our category, sorry, our co-ops use to manage this program at store level.
You're included in what we would call our CoreSets opt-out event.
So the way it works with NCG is that, you know, we don't plus out.
NCG's ownership structure is our co-ops are independently operated, and they are owned by the shoppers that shop at the co-op.
And the co-op exists to serve the communities that it exists within.
Local co-op, consumers own the co-op, and consumers sit on the board of directors.
So the local co-ops are basically owned, controlled, and owned and controlled by the folks that own it, the community, right?
And then those co-op stores, in the same way that the community, people in the community own the co-op, those co-op stores own NCG, and they formed us so that they could be more competitive with big chains, right?
What we do is we bring the economies of scale to co-ops so that they can operate as a chain and be competitive with some of those larger retailers that are out there.
It's important to know that structural piece because that's a big differentiator for us.
So unlike other retailers where you have like plus out options, we can't do that with our member co-ops.
We work in collaboration with our member co-ops, and the programs that we're operating, the Core Sets and Co-op Deals programs, we're really developed to serve them.
And so the way it works with our Core Sets program is that we're providing all of this information to our member co-ops.
We're managing all of that communication out to them.
Then they go in and they do their product selections for the products that they want to carry during that Core Sets rounds.
NCG, we have agreements for how our members, that our members must utilize in operating our programs.
And in those agreements is also NCG's responsibility in operating those programs on our members' behalf.
So we're collaborating closely together.
So when you're working with NCG and Core Sets, you won't get 100% placement, and we know that right out the bat.
But you will get a certain, you know, you will get a concentrated bit of distribution at a single time through our programs.
And so, let's see.
So we've got our opt-out process.
Yes, go ahead.
Let me, I just want to clarify.
When you say plus out, do you mean force out?
Is that the same terminology?
Okay, gotcha.
Yes, exactly.
Yep, we don't force out products.
We can't do that because we collaborate.
So then our members are making their own product products.
They make their decisions about what they're going to carry ultimately in the store, but they are required to carry a certain percentage of the items that come through the core sets.
And then, so they're doing their opt-outs.
Our category managers then, once the opt-outs are all done, we communicate back to our vendor partners that we've accepted in the process and say, okay, here's what it looks like for you.
Here's the placement that you got.
And then this is the piece where, you know, while NCG, we're a great benefit and we create efficiencies in your business process, it's really useful to have a street force.
Because, and that's like sales reps that call on the local retailer.
Because with us, we know we're not going to get 100% placement at a single time.
So to have that additional sales force that can go out and help you get that additional placement in those co-ops that may not have opted into your product.
Plus, the other reason why it's important to have street force is that we do have a couple warehouses within our chain, UNFI warehouses like Hudson Valley and Lancaster, where we only have a couple co-ops pulling from.
And we know that it takes retail movement for a brand to be successful at UNFI.
So we're pretty upfront with the brands that we're working with in our programs that like, hey, you're going to need to go out and build additional retail movement in these warehouses if you're coming into our programs.
And you don't already have that because we know, we want you to be successful at UNFI.
It's not just about like, hey, let's get you into UNFI and run a promotion or get you on the shelf.
And then, hey, we're done.
No, NCG is really into long-term relationships for us.
So we provide that report to you.
And then we work with UNFI to get the products shipped into our co-ops.
We're doing that whole admin piece, like that, you know, you're not out writing turnovers and placement deals for this.
All of that stuff is happening through NCG.
And then we send all of that back to UNFI, product is shipped out to retail, and then the reset services folks show up during that reset month and are physically resetting those categories for those full-on category reviews.
And we are working with UNFI's reset support services to support our resets in our co-ops.
So it is, you know, our programs are always developed with like a benefit.
What's the benefit of our member co-ops?
Because ultimately it's about the health of the co-op organizations and sales growth.
And our programs really are designed to help support that sales growth.
And when co-ops grow, the brands on their shelves grow.
So you can see that we're all collaborating together to make a win-win situation for us all, right?
Absolutely.
I have a question from Josh Ryszynski.
He wants to know what criteria are you looking for when choosing products for your core set?
Sure.
And this is going to be a little more, you know, general, because it varies based on the category.
That's really category dependent.
You know, like what's going on in the category, and that's where the category managers are diving in, doing that full-on assessment, looking at, you know, what products are in the set.
They're looking at what's trending, what's falling out of favor, you know, what are the attributes that shoppers are looking for today?
What are the pricing variables?
Where do co-ops need to be at with pricing to be competitive?
What is that promo price that needs to be competitive?
And the other thing that they want to see, especially if you have a new item that you're coming to us with, it's that uniqueness.
What makes you different, right?
There's so many need to products out there that sometimes they'll just look at a product and they'll be like, that doesn't fill a new need for the shopper.
So it's like, what's going to serve the shopper best?
Based on how they're shopping today with all of those other components around it.
So you mentioned data is something that's important to your category managers.
What kinds of data are they looking at and what kind of data are the category managers looking for from brands when brands are pitching in to NCG?
So initially that Excel form that I talked about, that's almost like a spec sheet.
And that's that initial look at item detail level.
What are your items, UPC codes, pack sizes?
What's your pricing?
What are your attributes?
What are your certifications?
All of that stuff, anything that they might need to know to make a decision.
And then they're looking for samples, as well as the visualization piece of it, kind of like a little sales deck to make those initial decisions.
That's like the intro.
Hey, I'm interested in submitting for the category review.
Here's all my basic information.
And then our analyst team internally, here at NCG, we have a team of analysts, and those folks are putting together that category assessment.
And that goes into, gosh, we're looking at so much information in there.
So we look at it from a category perspective, category, subcategory, items, and then how the products and brands are performing.
Like I said, who's trending, who's falling off.
We're looking at those attributes.
And if brand partners are coming into Core Sets, one of the things that we love to see from brand partners is any consumer insights that you have that can be useful to us.
Well, we do have access to consumer insights.
It's always helpful to see what brands are saying about how consumers are shopping their products in store and what the needs and needs dates of the consumer are.
So it's all those item details.
And then it's digging into pricing, right?
At that level.
And we look at our own pricing with what's going on in Co-ops today.
We also look at external pricing from other competitors to see that's like measuring where are the price points that work really well for these products on the shelf every day.
And the promotional price points.
So, you know, with our category managers, it's pretty awesome because we are a pretty transparent organization.
And our category managers are experts in their programs, and they're experts in our programs, and experts in the categories that they manage.
And they're really motivated by shared success.
So it's that, again, it's that collaboration and working together.
So that's kind of how they're operating.
And as I said before, we're really into those long-term relationships.
It's not just about a one and done.
On the shelf, one promotion, you're done.
Now, we want to develop long-term growth, long-term solutions together, where we're all going to win together in the business.
How often does an updated core set's planogram or document or communication go out to your co-op partners?
To our stores?
So it's a monthly process, as it is with our promotions program.
So every month that there's a category review, there's that information going out to our member co-ops where they're engaging in our programs.
Same thing with promotions.
Those communications are going out every single month where they're doing that engagement.
But along with that, we have supportive communications that go out on a weekly basis, which is our, we have weekly updates out to different stakeholders within our co-ops.
And those folks operating the co-op deals programs, folks that might be a grocery manager or a wellness manager, those are the folks who are getting those regular kind of more general supportive communications around the programs.
And something's shifted.
Say we already sent out our June promotions, and later on we find out there's some supply issue from a partner that goes into that additional communication so that if there's shifts that are going to happen to the programs, it's kind of like your up-to-date notice.
And then there's some more overarching things like, hey, our diverse supplier report is available and you can find it here kind of stuff.
So that's what the communication path looks like for our member co-ops.
I would think that your team receives so many submissions, so many samples.
How do brands know if they were not accepted into NCG's corsets?
You know, they're running the process, and built into the process is a notification.
But it happens later on in the process for us, right?
Because you submit, and then our category managers are working all the data, working the assessment, doing their meetings and stuff with brand partners.
So it's a little later in the process, but we do notify folks who submitted for the review that whether you were accepted or whether you're not accepted.
And I think it's our associate category managers who are handling that, but you will hear back from us.
Which is so much appreciated.
It's certainly not always the case, so I know that's appreciated.
But let's say, hooray, I am accepted.
You mentioned that your co-op partners can opt out of products that perhaps they think won't be the right fit for their store.
You also mentioned a street force so that you have boots on the ground to go to co-ops and try to sort of help support there.
If a co-op opts out, would somebody going into the co-op be able to change that decision, or is that decision finite?
It's possible they could potentially change the mind of the co-op.
Ultimately, it is up to the co-op, and so a brand could go in and get that placement deal directly with the co-op after core sets.
Gotcha.
And then once the co-op opts back in, then do they communicate that back to NCG, and then the brand participates in the promos and everything else?
That stuff would happen naturally.
That deal is written at street.
So if there's a street rep in the co-op, the co-op didn't opt into the item for core sets, street rep is out there.
It's basically like writing a turnover, right?
It's like, let's write this placement deal right here in the co-op.
So that can be a follow-up.
And then we are relying on spins data.
We work with spins data.
So once that brand is selling in our co-ops, it starts to show up in spins data.
And if brands aren't showing up in our spins data yet, brands can register to be in spins.
There's no cost to register to be in spins.
But what we find sometimes is that really early folks especially might be selling in one or two co-ops, but we can't see them in our data yet.
So once the products are selling in the co-op, our category managers are seeing that data in spins.
And then so the co-ops, because of the nature of our programs, if we're already working with that brand in our programs, that information is showing up in our communications to all of our member co-ops, regardless of whether or not they opted in to your product.
So once those promotions start flowing through, they see that brand in the promotions information.
And for our promotions, our member co-ops are required to, you know, run our promotions, reflect the sales SRPs during the advertised promo period.
So, you know, once stuff starts flowing through our programs, there's all of that advertising support around it, and co-ops are required to reflect those promotions at store if they carry the product on shelf.
And if they don't carry the product on shelf, they are required to offer a special order option if those products aren't showing up on the shelf in the store that are running through the co-op deals promotions.
And what else would you recommend a street force do?
I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is if you are running a promotion, do you recommend the street force go into the co-ops and check to see that the promo is running the way that you might if you are working with a traditional retailer?
They certainly can.
They definitely can do that.
If, however, brands are going into our co-ops and auditing, in our vendor portal, we do have auditing guidelines.
So folks will want to take a look at our auditing guidelines before going in and auditing any promotions.
Because these programs operate through NCG and they've been negotiated at that NCG level, brands, if there's something wrong in the store, you come back to NCG.
You don't necessarily find somebody in store and say, hey, this is supposed to be on promotion.
Why isn't the sign up?
That kind of thing.
You come back to NCG and you say, saw that we were on promotion in the A period.
There was no sale sign up.
It was up just at the regular price.
What's going on here?
And then NCG, we follow up with our member co-ops.
So that's how that audit process works.
But in our Partner Connection vendor portal, you will find auditing guidelines.
And if you're a current partner, then you will have credentials for a partner connection.
So another thing about our portal is kind of going off on this, on whatever direction we're going here.
But another thing about our vendor portal is not everybody receives permissions to submit for our programs.
So in order to submit for our programs in our Partner Connection vendor portal, our category managers have to say, yes, I'm working with that brand in our programs, turn on their permissions to submit corsets, category reviews and co-op deals promotions.
And what instigates that decision from the category manager to turn on that functionality?
Sure, that's them saying, yes, I want to work with this brand in corsets, we're bringing them in through corsets, or yes, I want to work with this brand in our co-op deals promotions.
That's like when the brand has green light, yes, we're actually doing this, we're putting together a plan, we've taken a look at your business, we want to work together in our programs, let's go.
And I guess to further dig into the question, that green light, how does a brand get that green light?
Is it being picked up or opted in to buy a number of co-ops?
Is it being in a certain number of DCs?
How do brands get that green light?
Core sets, right?
Because that's an item intro function for us.
That can be, you're not in any retail co-ops yet, or maybe you're in a certain number of retail co-ops, but when the category manager says yes for core sets, it's looking at all that data, deciding who's coming into the core sets.
That's when that happens, is when the category manager says yes based on all the data and they want to work together.
For our promotions program, if a brand has a certain level of retail distribution in our co-ops and there's no category review on the review calendar, our category managers will start working with you on promotions before the core set.
And then if a core set comes up after we're working together on promotions, it's at that time then that the brand would come into the core sets program.
So we can start working with brands prior to being included in the core set because with the core sets, we're not reviewing 100% of our categories every year.
It's based on the dynamics and the positioning of the business.
Some categories might run every year, and those are those super important categories that change a lot that we need to touch more frequently.
You actually just brought up a really great point.
If I'm a brand in my category, maybe doesn't come up at all this year, do I just have to wait till next year or can I reach out to NCG and see?
Typically, it would be like an off-cycle cut-in, but is there some sort of option like that with NCG?
Yeah, actually, Melissa, in addition to this, which I love being here so much, thank you for having me, but we host two times a month a session called Get to Know NCG, and that kind of gives you a broad overview.
Coming out of those webinars, there is something that we call a GTK item information form.
So if there's no category review for you on the calendar and you don't already have a relationship with the category manager, you can submit your items through that process.
You complete a form, and it's much like the Core Sets form where we're asking for all of your spec information, and then we're asking for that visual, your shortest retail pitch deck.
People can send that to me by the 30th of any month.
I take that to the category manager, and I'll take a look at the business.
I'll dive into the data and say, oh, is this brand selling in any of our coops?
If yes, how is it performing?
How many coops is it in?
What regions is it in?
And then I'll take that information to the category manager and say, here's the current dynamics of this business.
They submitted through the GTK item process.
What would you like to do?
Do you want to work with these folks?
Do you want them to submit for a future review?
Maybe there's a review coming up in the next year.
Do you want to start working with them on promotions?
Or should they go out and continue to try building sales with stores directly?
Or do you want to start working together in our promotions program?
If they've got enough traction under them and enough sales and placement across our co-ops, category managers will make the decision to start working with stores in our promotions program before the category review.
Now, you mentioned off-cycle as well, and our category managers do consider items off-cycle.
That's much more rare, and that is going to be in right segments where you're bringing something wholly new to the business.
You're serving a brand new need that's not out there already.
Perhaps you're bringing unique spec, unique packaging.
You're bringing a new form of packaging in.
You're bringing a cost advantage that's so great.
The category manager just has to see it.
Those are the types of items that we want to see right away.
Folks can reach out to me if they're unsure about, hey, is this something that would be an off-cycle?
Folks can reach out to me directly, and I'm happy to help you assess what route you should take coming into NCG.
Those webinars that you mentioned, what's the best way for our audience to sign up for those?
Sure.
So folks can go to our vendor portal, and that is partnerconnection.ncg.coop.
And on that homepage of Partner Connection.
They're going to find a section that says, New to NCG, start here.
Attend a Step 1 Get to Know NCG webinar.
And there's the registration links are right there.
I have another question for you about readiness.
When is a brand ready to work with NCG?
Actually, that's one of the things that I'll do on behalf of our category managers is like if they're interested in an emerging brand, but we're not able to tell right out of the gate whether we think the brand has all of those components that it needs to be successful in a relationship with the regional and national retailer, I'll do a brand readiness assessment on their behalf.
Really, as you mentioned, NCG, we're a national, we represent a national picture, but we have regions as well.
So we have three regions within NCG, East, Central and West.
So we have regional options to work with us, and we have national options to work with us.
A brand, really, when a brand is ready to manage that level of business, when a brand is fully commercialized, fully funded, ready to manage a UNFI-type distributor relationship, so thinking about the admin resourcing, the people that you're going to need to manage that relationship, the funding as far as marketing programs that you're going to need to manage that relationship, really able to manage at that level, same thing for us, right?
It's when you are fully commercialized, ready to go to market, fully funded to manage retail introductions on a regional or national level, manage retail marketing programs on that regional or national level.
And then it's having the staff, right?
Because we talked about, you know, administrating NCG in our vendor portal, so that takes resources.
And we expect regular communication from our vendors if there are disruptions to the business.
If there's, you know, like I mentioned earlier, like supply issues with something that we have set up, we expect you to notify us and not just our members, because we are managing that communication to our members.
So it's really key to continually communicate with NCG so that we can communicate with our members.
So it's, you know, it's having those components in place, the staffing, to having that street force is really useful, not only just because you can help round out potentially your placement at coops, but the other really cool thing about coops is that coops staff have a lot of product knowledge and, you know, we don't deter brands from going in and creating relationships with our member coops because knowing the brand, helping shoppers understand the brand, you know, folks in the coop, they are answering questions in the aisle, they're answering emails, they're answering questions on the phone, by social media, that's that stuff that's happening at the local coop level.
So the more that they know about the brands that are selling on their shelves, the more empowered they are to better serve their shoppers.
So that's where like, you know, we don't deter from brands doing that.
In fact, you know, we encourage people to go out and create relationships with our coops, as well as with us.
I laid a lot out there.
Where do I need to get more specific on this?
So if I, you know, I'm a brand, I realize I'm not ready for NCG, I'm not ready even for the East.
So then is the best approach to go out co-op by co-op and make those connections, get the product accepted into those co-ops, and then once I reach a critical mass, do I then reach out to NCG and start then when I feel a little bit more secure?
Yeah, absolutely.
So we have a great story about this one.
So for instance, you know, brands that are just starting out at that local level, one of the things that, you know, we've heard from multiple of our brand partners is they love the ability to go out and work with that local co-op because one of the cool things about working with the local co-op, and this is going to depend on the co-op, right?
There's some co-ops that are more resourced than others in this space.
So for instance, take Siete.
Siete first started working retail with Wheatsville Co-op in Austin, Texas.
They were making some products locally, brought them into the co-op, and started having discussions with the co-op buyer there.
At that time, Wheatsville Co-op was Siete's first retail partner, and working with the co-op directly, because of that local relationship, Siete was able to do some testing, right?
The co-op buyer worked with them to do testing on shelf, helping them kind of understand, okay, to get to the next level, here's what you need to do.
So our co-ops at that local level can offer you that really rich feedback and some of those retail testing-type environments that you might not get from coming to an NCG and saying, hey, I want to start at a regional level, right?
It's just that different situation if you're more of an emerging brand that's not ready to go to a regional or national retailer.
So working with those local co-ops can be super beneficial.
Horosui, another one that worked, and Tucson Tamale, actually another one too, where those folks started at their local co-op and then grew the business, eventually came into NCG as regional partners, and then now they're very successful national partners that are in a number of different retailers beyond co-ops and NCG.
So NCG in the right situations can be that right tipping off point for your brand.
It's kind of mind-boggling to hear that, for example, a brand like Siate started at the Wheatsville Co-op One Store when we see so many emerging brands, sometimes launching nationally with a retailer, but it's such a great example of why co-ops serve such an important function in an emerging brand's growth.
And thank you so much for joining us today.
You gave out so much great information.
I wanted to make sure that we unraveled everything that we could, and you did such a fantastic job.
Heidi Traore, thank you so much for joining us and talking to us about NCG.
See you next time.
Thank you, Heidi.
Thank you.
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