Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.-based Meijer, a U.S. grocery chain that operates over 250 stores nationwide, is seeking Best Aquaculture Practice (BAP)-certified seafood and other sustainable products at an upcoming summit the company is hosting.
The grocery chain recently announced that the second annual Sustainability Summit, which will take place virtually from 11 to 13 October, aims to expand on last year’s inaugural event “to give even more vendors nationwide the opportunity to showcase their environmentally focused products for Meijer merchants to consider offering on shelves,” the company said in a press release.
“At Meijer, we understand that to be a good company, we must be a good neighbor, which is why we’re interested in meeting new vendors to further integrate sustainability attributes into our product offerings and daily operations,” Meijer Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Dan Sanderson said. “We want to provide our customers with the great products they’re looking for while also being mindful of the impact those products make within our communities and the world around us.”
The relationships Meijer aims to build with environmentally conscious suppliers include seeking products in both food and non-food categories. In order to meet its sustainability standards, Meijer merchants are targeting 38 different certifications on vendor products across a range of categories, such as ones regarding manufacturing and procurement processes.
For example, seafood merchants are looking at vendors who have BAP certification, and the retailer's grocery and consumable merchants are looking for vendors who participate in the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program – an initiative that validates standards on forests, climate, and human rights and livelihoods.
Meijer is also seeking products across all categories that have sustainable packaging attributes.
Certified vendors with retail-ready products can apply by 25 August for consideration.
For the summit, Meijer is partnering with Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) and will use its subsidiary product discovery tool, RangeMe, to host the event through the company’s ECRM Connect virtual platform.
After receiving applications for the event, Meijer teams will review and select the vendors with whom they would like to meet at the summit. Suppliers not chosen for the summit will still be accessible through the RangeMe registration tool and may undergo review by Meijer merchants again in the future as business needs change, the retailer added.
Photo courtesy of Meijer
