AJ’s Fine Food
AJ’s Fine food was founded by Andrew Joseph Bayless, in 1985, was formerly named AJ Bayless after its owner. It is a supermarket that has its major industry in the gourmet section. It formerly had its headquarters base in phoenix, Arizona, but has since moved to Mesa, Arizona.
AJ’s Fine Food, ran into debts, and in the late 1980s was declared bankrupt. The gourmet supermarket was then acquired by Bashas, a family owned grocery store chain established in 1932, and primarily located in Arizona. Its headquarters is sited at Chandler, Arizona.
Under the ownership of Bashas, the store has matured from an every one accessible gourmet supermarket, into an upscale gourmet and specialty grocery chain. Its middle class and blue collar neighborhoods were converted to Bashas’ food city format.
AJ’s Fine food, now primarily deals with chef prepared entrees, an extensive wine collection with trained cellar staff, and specialty baked goods.
Distributing to this type of retailer can be very beneficial. Especially if your goods are those of exotic content and of high quality. AJ’s Fine Food has been made into the upscale gourmet section of the Bashas’ chain of companies, which in itself has made a nameworthy of note for itself.
The supermarket business in the United States is one that tries to connect with the individual customer. This means, the supermarkets try to address the needs and interests of individual customers. This is by offering local, international, and metropolitan products. You can get spices, meat, wine, food, and so many other food products from this type of store.
For a distributor, this is an established store that can get your products to move as fast as possible. With the awesome varieties they offer and the established customer base, it can be easily deduced that there are customers already dedicated to what they sell. However, this is a big retailer and there is a high standard for the products they take and thus, it may not be that easy to push your products in there. This is why networking can be very useful.
On the local sourcing of food products, AJ’s Fine Food has been on the forefront of selling locally sourced food products and imported food items. Their wine, spice, and produce selection make them a leader in the retail and grocery business niche.
Despite the large number, AJ’s Fine Foods doesn’t focus strictly on national brands. They are well known for their specialty items. It’s not the amount of a particular item but the depth of the brands offered. The focus has switched from the dry and canned goods to prepared foods and produce. Local, organic, and natural foods have also gained a spot on their shelves.
Though the company has been taken over, it is still expected that the standards which the former owner had always upheld would still be in practice. Just as many retail outlets, AJ’s Fine Food is one that was set up to serve the needs of several people in the community.
How to get your product into AJ’s Fine Foods
- Understand you client: Before you spend a lot of time and money creating a product, you should know if anyone will want to buy it. Learn more about Market Research
- Learn if it’s protectable: Know if you can defend your product against cheap copies if it gets knocked off. Learn more about Copyright and Patent your product
- Test your product: Make sure that there’s a demand for your product and the customer understands what you are selling when it’s on the shelf and nobody is there to explain it. Learn more about Product Testing
- Perfect your pitch: Before you speak to decision makers, know your numbers, know your retailer and know your logistics in and out. Learn more about Pitching Your Product
- Don’t do it alone: If you haven’t been successful in retail before, a secret of success is that you can’t do it alone. Having great sales staff, customer support and marketing partners can take you from zero to success faster than if you tried on your own. Learn more about Retail Partnerships
Contact AJ’s Fine Foods Buyer
Do not trust any “list” of buyers.
Typically retail buyers change either companies or positions every few years. This strategy helps retailers know that their buyers are not taking “kick-backs” and are selecting the very best product for the very best position each time.
Buyers are typically held to a very rigorous standard of sell-through volume that they must hit and because of this they are risk averse. Your job as a supplier or vendor is to convince them that the buyers going into the stores not only know about what you’re selling but are actively seeking the product in the store currently.
How to Submit a Product to AJ’s Fine Foods
There are several ways to get a product placed in AJ’s Fine Foods. However, most entrepreneurs only dream about getting their product distributed to major retailers, few actually do it. We have experienced a significant rise in interest since the show Shark Tank started airing on NBC. Mr. Checkout has had the pleasure of working with a few Shark Tank success stories such as KISStixx and 180 Party Cups which are now currently being distributed around the country to stores like Walmart, Target, Kroger, 7-Eleven and more.
If you envision your product would be a good fit for AJ’s Fine Foods, we have a few steps to help you get your product on their shelves.
Here are the 6 steps you need to take to have your product placed in AJ’s Fine Foods.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to AJ’s Fine Foods, you need to ask yourself a few basic questions. Do you need to build demand for your product, or is there already a demand for it? Do you know that AJ’s Fine Foods would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with AJ’s Fine Foods, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to AJ’s Fine Foods, or do you want to license your product to a manufacturer that will handle distribution?
2. Be prepared to profit.) Does your product offer enough of a profit margin for AJ’s Fine Foods? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check AJ’s Fine Foods’ guidelines for other fees that you will have to build into the cost of your product in order for you to be able to turn enough of a profit to make the effort worth your while. If you work with a discount retailer, they will try to strip your profits down to zero in order to keep their prices as low as possible.
The typical breakdown of margins are: If a products costs $1 to produce, that product will retail for $4. That product that retails for $4 will wholesale for $2 to distributors and stores that purchase direct. Big box retailers like AJ’s Fine Foods may offer to pay $1.25 to the manufacturer if the product costs $1 to produce. That is the typical profit margin.
3. Determine if AJ’s Fine Foods is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and AJ’s Fine Foods starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If AJ’s Fine Foods already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local AJ’s Fine Foods to see what kind of products they are selling, speak to the manager and see if he thinks your product will sell well in their store. Picture in which zone your product would best fit on the shelf and keep in mind that the most precious asset that these big box stores value are their shelf space. Keep this information in mind when you are preparing your presentation to AJ’s Fine Foods.
If your company is minority or women owned, check AJ’s Fine Foods’ website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to AJ’s Fine Foods.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to AJ’s Fine Foods. Your presentation depends heavily on your strengths as a businessperson as they will most likely ask financial questions and logistics questions.
It’s common for companies to hire a broker to pitch their product to AJ’s Fine Foods, as it will be more likely that your product will make it to the next stage if the individual pitching your product has industry knowledge or a personal relationship with AJ’s Fine Foods. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to AJ’s Fine Foods.
We at Mr. Checkout have experience dealing with brokers and know that there are several retail brokers that have poor business practices that can potentially damage your brand. If you are seeking a legitimate AJ’s Fine Foods broker, please give us a call for a recommendation. It could save you a huge headache and a lot of money.
5. Complete the required AJ’s Fine Foods paperwork.) Often AJ’s Fine Foods will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by AJ’s Fine Foods, you should contact a buyer at AJ’s Fine Foods and let them know your intentions. Having a contact inside of the company will potentially move your application more smoothly through the process.
6. Anticipate the need for increased volume.) Having AJ’s Fine Foods agree to stock your product will most likely mean a significant increase in volume. You should be prepared to ramp up your production and informing your manufacturer of this opportunity.
Having production, logistics and distribution to sync is not only difficult, it requires a significant amount of time invested in customer relations. Also, AJ’s Fine Foods may have stipulations in the contract that may penalize you for delays in shipping and production. Have an attorney explain all contracts to you if you don’t understand the terms.
If you’re looking to sell your product to AJ’s Fine Foods, be sure to thoroughly assess the marketplace, carefully prepare for production growth, and take full advantage of resources available to help you grow your business.
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