Retailers have been in unchartered territory with the many first-time dilemmas they have had to deal with during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While at the start of it, there was no COVID-19 crisis playbook they could reference, in the interim Cornell University has put together a course it believes will be just that for grocery industry leaders. The National Grocer’s Association (NGA) Foundation has partnered up with the Ivy League institution to host a five day virtual leadership program called “Head Start” to help leaders address the challenges of leading a retail business through the pandemic. The program, sponsored by PepsiCo, is a high impact learning opportunity that is designed to complement the NGA’s annual Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) and will consist of five days of intense, interactive instruction by a mix of respected academic and industry leaders. The brand-new program, which will be take place on October 19-23, was developed by Cornell’s executive education team and will be specifically geared towards crisis management, innovation and adaptability. It is open to alumni of the ELDP and mid- to upper-level executives with large spans of control and responsibilities who may be candidates for ELDP.
“Due to the pandemic, the NGA Foundation was not able to hold its five-day intensive Executive Leadership Development Program this year,” stated Maggie White, director of the NGA Foundation. “Instead, thanks to PepsiCo, we are pleased to announce Head Start, an entirely new program that is the perfect booster shot for graduates of ELDP looking to hone their skills in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Upon completion of the program, all participants will receive a digital certificate from Cornell.
Walmart is hosting its seventh annual Open Call event, an exciting and unique opportunity for selected entrepreneurs to meet with Walmart buyers and potentially get their products in the hands of millions of its customers. This year, more than 4,800 businesses representing 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and Mozambique applied for the chance to pitch a Walmart merchant, a 44 percent increase in submissions from last year. Approximately 850 small and medium-sized businesses received their official invitations to pitch Walmart merchants at Walmart’s annual merchandising event on October 1 which for the first time ever due to the ongoing pandemic, is going virtual. Participants in this year’s event could secure deals ranging from a handful of local stores to supplying hundreds of stores and Sam’s Clubs as well as Walmart.com and Walmart Marketplace. In addition to the one-on-one pitch meetings with Walmart buyers, participants will have an opportunity to hear directly from Walmart executives and learn from company leaders during smaller breakout sessions designed to inform, empower and encourage supplier-hopefuls. Additionally, because of the virtual nature of the event, many of the sessions will be open to the general public which makes the program accessible to more businesses and convenient for them to participate regardless of location.
“During this year of unprecedented challenges for U.S. businesses, Walmart remains committed to sourcing products made, grown, or assembled in the U.S. By Investing in products that support American jobs, we are able to bring new exciting products to our customers, support new jobs in our local communities and invest in small business across the country.” said Laura Phillips, Walmart senior vice president for global sourcing and U.S. manufacturing. “Walmart’s annual Open Call event gives us a unique occasion to identify new suppliers who can meet our customers’ needs with unique and innovative products manufactured or produced in the U.S. For the first time, this year’s Open Call event will be virtual, enabling even broader participation from potential new suppliers. We know how important this opportunity is for many small businesses, especially this year, and we are looking forward to seeing the new product submissions and meeting potential new suppliers.”
Also doing its part to support small businesses is Giant Food, which is expanding its relationship with Washington, DC-based food and beverage accelerator, Union Kitchen. In addition to the first eight products from the food and beverage incubator that the Landover, MD-based retailer added to its roster in May (8 Myles, Mas Panadas, Compass Coffee, Revol Snax, Poppy’s Stuffed Bagels, Snacklins, Tasty 6, and Veggie Confetti), Giant will be adding three more member brands: Walt’s Waffles, Spoil Me Rotten Dog Biscuits, and EAT Pizza. The locally made products will through Giant Delivers, the local grocer’s rebranded home delivery service formerly known as Peapod by Giant.
“As the leading grocery retailer in the Washington DC market, we are eager to continue to work with an organization like Union Kitchen to expand our offerings and support their mission of helping to grow local startup food brands,” said Gregg Dorazio, director of e-commerce for Giant Food. “At Giant we’re committed to offering our shoppers more locally sourced options and our relationship with Union Kitchen is a great example of the innovation these entrepreneurs bring to our community.”
Equally (if not more so) making the move to reinvent itself with its new branding is sister retailer The Giant Company, which, with its latest ad campaign, “For Today’s Table,” it is showing its audience what is at the core of the organization: the customers themselves. Instead of using actors in its newest commercial, the Carlisle, PA-based grocery chain enlisted real families to be focus of the ad. Five households, all actual Giant and Martin’s customers, are featured: The Gorals from Jamison, PA, The Lys from Lansdale, PA, The Byrds from Hagerstown, MD, The Butts from Pennsburg, PA, and The Esteps from Harrisonburg, VA. To capture real life, each family was asked to film themselves over the course of several weeks, capturing the good, the unexpected, the challenging and everything in between. The result was hours of footage as the families moved through daily life: morning routines, mealtime, playtime, celebrations and more were all caught on film. Additionally, the ad spot uses a new version of the classic Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song, “Teach Your Children” sung by Hannah Reese, a Giant Company team member that ties all of the family vignettes together.
“To really capture the essence of For Today’s Table, we wanted to create something that was authentic and relatable, and there was no better way to achieve that than by showcasing our real customers and their families,” said Matt Simon, chief marketing officer, The Giant Company. “Our decision to move away from actors, scripts and staged scenes in favor of real stories from real people speaks directly to what today’s customers are seeking as they make decisions about where to shop and who they turn to when it comes to caring for their families; they want a real brand. It’s our hope that they’ll see themselves in these families and The GIANT Company as their partner in making life a little bit easier and helping them get back to what matters most.”
The result is an authentic-feeling vignette that offers an intimate and relatable peek into the raison d’etre for the retailer itself.
Until next month…
Karen can be contacted via email at: [email protected]