How To Get Into New Seasons Supermarket
Founded in 1999, New Seasons Market is a chain of privately-owned grocery stores operating in the Portland, Oregon metro area, southwestern Washington, Seattle, and northern California. Some of the products offered are organic and produced locally in the Pacific Northwest, but conventional groceries are also sold.
Founded by three families and 50 of their friends in 1999, and majority acquired by private equity firm Endeavour Capital in 2013, the company currently operates 18 stores in the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area, including Hillsboro, Beaverton, Happy Valley, Vancouver, Tualatin, and Lake Oswego; one store in San Jose, California; one store in Mercer Island, Washington, and one in Ballard, Seattle, Washington.
This is a company where customers would always want to do their shopping. The company donates 10% of the profit after tax to non-profits. This is a laudable venture and this alone has kept many customers as loyal customers to the retailer.
On it offerings, the store is a supermarket and it ensures that the customers get nothing short of the best in grocery, food items and household items.
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. The company’s stores offer natural and organic grocery products, such as organic produce products; bulk food and private label products; dry, frozen, and canned groceries; meat and seafood products; dairy products and dairy substitutes; prepared foods; bread and baked products; seafood; and beverages.
The uniqueness and the innovativeness of New Seasons Supermarket set it apart. It isn’t like the normal food chain where things are dull and not interesting, customers have enjoyed this food chain and they have written about it online. A customer noted on yelp.com that: “The people here are really friendly and helpful. I definitely enjoy coming here every time I need more produce or meat. Plus, their hot food is big portions and it doesn’t cost a lot. I usually come here for their burritos, which compared to chipotle and qdoba, is up there.”
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.
On the local sourcing of food products, New Seasons Supermarket 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. This store has been in the business for years and has its established sourcing angles. Its constant support of local products has helped it cement its brand in the community as people can easily resonate with it.
How to get your product into New Seasons Supermarket
- 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 New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket
There are several ways to get a product placed in New Seasons Supermarket. 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 New Seasons Supermarket, 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 New Seasons Supermarket.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to New Seasons Supermarket, 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 New Seasons Supermarket would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with New Seasons Supermarket, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to New Seasons Supermarket, 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 New Seasons Supermarket? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and New Seasons Supermarket starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If New Seasons Supermarket already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket.
If your company is minority or women owned, check New Seasons Supermarket website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to New Seasons Supermarket.) Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to New Seasons Supermarket. 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 New Seasons Supermarket, 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 New Seasons Supermarket. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product to New Seasons Supermarket.
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 New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket paperwork.) Often New Seasons Supermarket will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by New Seasons Supermarket, you should contact a buyer at New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket 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, New Seasons Supermarket 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 New Seasons Supermarket, 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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