Supplier Diversity is the name of the external diversity initiative. The charge of the department is to indentify and engage minority and women owned businesses that have the capacity to provide a good or service to the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company. The supplier diversity initiative aims to enhance the procurement process by developing strong business relationships with a talented group of minority and women business enterprises that offer quality products and services, excellent customer service and competitive costs.
The community targeted by this initiative include: African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American and Women business owners. The need of this community is to have equal access to corporate procurement opportunities enabling them to compete for opportunities that will facilitate the growth of their businesses and the economic empowerment of their communities. These businesses typically employ people from their communities. In the case of minority owned businesses, they typically employ more minorities. When minority and women owned businesses get the opportunity for compete fairly for business and they win, they are able to employ more people from the community and pump more money into the local economies. The goal of the Stop & Shop initiative is to open up as many of our opportunities to these businesses by proactively reaching out to this community, teaching them how to get engaged and coaching them before meeting with the decision-makers. Should they win a bid and become a Stop & Shop vendor, we continue to coach and mentor these vendors to give the the best opportunity for success and longevity with Stop & Shop.
The short-term goal is to become more inclusive in our efforts. We want to find ways in which to get more companies involved. There are certain business sectors that are "controlled" by big business making difficult for smaller companies to crack the code. Examples include: law, corporate real estate, marketing and construction. These disciplines, to different extents, have been traditionally underserved by minority and woman owned businesses to companies like ours. We want to change that.
The long-term goal would be to make supplier diversity an everyday part of our business that doesn't need a department to provide the focus and leadership. It would simply be built into our business model. It's a big goal but we're hopeful.
As it relates to supporting the community, our short-term and long-term goals are the same - to drive money into our neighborhoods to economically empower those neighborhoods, businesses and families that work at those businesses.
Please describe the ways in which this Initiative extends beyond the scope of the duties and responsibilities in the organization's every day activities.
Most companies that are involved with supplier diversity are involved because they are forced to by the federal government or by their customers. Stop & Shop has no one forcing them to participating in this effort. Our rationale is that we benefit from the growth of the members of the communities we serve. Their success is our success.
Please describe the results, anticipated or actual, of this program.
In 2009, Stop & Shop spent approximately $74 million with 178 different vendors. 74 of those vendors provided items that we sell in our stores. The rest provide goods and services that we need to run our business (construction, equipment, refrigeration, etc). The vendors that provided the items that we need to run our business saved us approximately $1 million in 2009. The vendors that provided items for us to sell in the stores generated in excess of $30 million in sales. This is a clear example of the value of investing in your community.
Additional Comments
Stop & Shop is committed to developing mutually beneficial and successful partnerships with Minority and Women Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) by incorporating them into the everyday process of category reviews and product or service bids. The supplier diversity initiative aims to enhance the procurement process by developing strong business relationships with a talented group of M/WBEs that offer quality products and services, excellent customer service and competitive costs.
To get engaged in the Stop & Shop supplier diversity program, M/WBEs simply have to visit the Stop & Shop supplier diversity website (www.aholdusa.com/supplierdiversity) and select the “Our Process” link. There they will find complete instructions informing them how they can get engaged as a potential vendor. Additionally, they will find a link to current bid opportunities and instructions as to how to proceed should they see something of interest that pertains to their business. Finally, Stop & Shop hosts up to six supplier diversity vendor fairs per year where potential vendors get the opportunity to meet face-to-face with sourcing managers and decision-makers. Stop & Shop has had great success with these events, at times signing contracts with up to 25% of the vendors attending. This type of access and level of engagement is not typical in the world of supplier diversity and less typical in New England.
Stop & Shop also actively engages not-for-profits whose mission it is to connect M/WBEs with corporations. Stop & Shop holds board seats on the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council and the Center for Women & Enterprise (Boston). These organizations help Stop & Shop to identify business-ready M/WBEs and Stop & Shop works with these organizations, sharing current opportunities to do business with Stop & Shop as well as leading various workshops aimed at helping to develop M/WBE businesses. Stop & Shop attends a number of M/WBE sourcing events each year, consistently soliciting vendors to get involved with their supplier diversity program.
Finally, Stop & Shop looks at its MWBE supplier base annually to identify vendors that could benefit from development opportunities. When it makes sense, Stop & Shop funds a scholarship to the Tuck School of Business for one of their minority business programs. The programs help the attendees focus on the development and implementation of a customer-focused strategic plan.
In closing, Stop & Shop sees supplier diversity as a strategic imperative. Since the inception of Stop & Shop’s formal supplier diversity program, M/WBEs have contributed millions in sales and taken millions out of Stop & Shop’s cost of doing business. Additionally, Stop & Shop has pumped millions of dollars into our communities by engaging M/WBEs. Everybody wins with Stop & Shop supplier diversity.
