How to get your product into Casey’s General Stores
Clean stores, friendly and accommodating employees, and a wide selection of freshly prepared items – these are what make Casey’s General Stores stand out in the convenience store industry.
Founded in 1959 by Don Lamberti in Iowa, Casey’s General Stores Inc. started establishing stores in small communities with populations of 5,000 or less; making sure that there is a Casey’s right around every corner.
Today, Casey’s General Stores has over 2,000 stores in 16 states such as Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Michigan.
Americans continue to clamor over Casey’s General Stores’ myriad of fresh and tasty food items including Pizza, appetizers, subs, wraps, burgers, sandwiches, breakfast items, salads, baked goods, sweets, and beverages. To make sure that their customers only get the highest quality products, the management of Casey’s makes sure that they partner with only the best vendors/suppliers in the market.
Do you think you have what it takes to be a Casey’s vendor? Here’s how to send in your proposal:
Send an email to marketing.newvendor@caseys.com containing information such as your name, company name, telephone number, address, and product information. Your files must not exceed 5MB. You can also send the abovementioned details along with your product sample via mail. Send it to:
Casey’s General Stores Inc.
ATTN: New Vendor
P.O. Box 3001
One SE Convenience Blvd.
Ankeny, IA 50021
Once received, Casey’s General Stores Inc. will then review your product and information. If they will take interest in your product, they will contact you through one of the members of their marketing department. If you get no feedback from them, you can resubmit after six months.
For more information, you may visit their website www.caseys.com.
Submit Your Product to Caseys General Store Foods
Skip the cold outreach. Mr. Checkout presents products to corporate chain buyers and also works a network of thousands of independent retailers that build real reorder proof. Tell us about your product below and a real person will read it.
How to get your product into Casey’s General Store
- 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 Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store
There are several ways to get a product placed in Casey’s General Store. 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 Casey’s General Store, 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 Casey’s General Store.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Casey’s General Store, 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 Casey’s General Store would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Casey’s General Store, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Casey’s General Store, 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 Casey’s General Store? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Casey’s General Store starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Casey’s General Store already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Casey’s General Store website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Casey’s General Store.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Casey’s General Store. 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 Casey’s General Store, 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 Casey’s General Store. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to Casey’s General Store.
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 Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store paperwork.) Often Casey’s General Store will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Casey’s General Store, you should contact a buyer at Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store 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, Casey’s General Store 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 Casey’s General Store, 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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