How To Get Into Super Fresh
- 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
How To Get Into Super Fresh
SuperFresh is a supermarket brand owned by Key Food Stores which operates in suburban areas of New York City and Northern New Jersey. The company currently operates ten supermarkets. According to the company, SuperFresh’s focus is on delivering a better shopping experience – consisting of a variety of high quality grocery items and a superior value to its customers.
This retailers offer special deals to its customers on several basis. As a special offer, SuperFresh offers customers a 5 percent senior citizen discount Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as a 10 percent uniformed worker discount every day.
Founded in Brooklyn in 1937, Key Food Stores Co-Operative Inc. includes more than 260 primarily member-owned and corporate grocery stores with $2.7 billion in annual sales. The retailer also focuses on focus on Asian groceries and merchandise. The wide it offers opens it to many vendors who bring in several kinds of products as long as they are in line with company policy and standards. The company sources many products directly from the farm and also locally.
This company has a reputation for quality products and customer-friendly prices and its procurement standards are quite high. To get your products into this store, you need to get on the RangeMe platform as the buyers of the company use the platform to source new products. You can create a free profile to get started. The platform works by getting you connected to potential buyers who would see the range of products you have on your supply dash.
Being a vendor may require some form of distinctiveness from other suppliers. Look at your products and see what you are offering differently. If not different, go back to the drawing board and see how you can rebrand or bring out a distinction.
For a distributor, this is an established wholesale grocer 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. You can create a buzz in the local market by offering awesome products and ensuring that you are known for every move you make in the market.
Also try pitching to a top official who can take interest in your products and get it tested by other persons in charge of procurement. As the grocery offerings of this retailer are quite large, there is room for a lot of products to be supplied. If your products are quite popular in the local market, it will be easy for you to easily pitch to this retailer. You have to bring your product to top quality to help you with the pitch of the product.
Contact Super Fresh
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 Super Fresh
There are several ways to get a product placed in Super Fresh. 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 Super Fresh, 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 Super Fresh.
1. Start with the right questions.) Before you try distributing your product to Super Fresh, 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 Super Fresh would be interested in selling your product? If you can strike a deal with Super Fresh, can you handle the production volume? Do you want to sell directly to Super Fresh, 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 Super Fresh? Can you sell your product at a reasonable enough profit to cover the packaging, shipping, commissions, marketing and wholesale distribution? Check Super Fresh 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. Retailers like Super Fresh = 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 is the right store for your product.) The relationship between you and Super Fresh starts with you browsing their store for competing products. If Super Fresh already has a similar product, it is going to be very difficult to get your product picked up. Spend some time at your local Super Fresh 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 Super Fresh.
If your company is minority or women owned, check Super Fresh website and see if they offer specific opportunities for those designations.
4. Pitch your product to Super Fresh. Decide whether it will be you or a representative to present your product to Super Fresh. 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 Super Fresh, 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 Super Fresh. The percentage of commission verses, however generally a broker will take around 5% to represent your product too Super Fresh.
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 Super Fresh, please give us a call for a recommendation. It could save you a huge headache and a lot of money.
5. Complete the required Super Fresh paperwork. Often Super Fresh will have you go through an application process. However, before submitting the paperwork required by Super Fresh, you should contact a buyer at Super Fresh 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 Super Fresh 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, Super Fresh 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 Super Fresh, 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.
Submit Your Product Now
(est. time 3 minutes)