Getting your foods to the shelves of a natural grocery store is more than just gaining acceptance by the store owner or keeper. It may include taking care of the product while on the shelves and doing your marketing yourself. These potential inclusions depend on the terms of the agreement between you and the store owner.
On this note, here are four steps to take to sell your foods to a natural grocery store.
Establish a Unique Brand
Branding loosely refers to the uniqueness of your business, and it’s the first requirement to meet before you can sell to a grocery store. You honestly don’t expect a store to shelve products that have no traceable affiliation.
Therefore, you have to create a unique logo that will be used to identify your foods and other offerings. This makes it easy for a consumer who may be interested in buying more than one of your product lines from the store.
Also, you have to make durable packaging for your products. Foods are perishable items, and they spoil more quickly if you fail to package them well. A storekeeper won’t accept foods that are poorly packaged.
Create and Procure Necessary Documents
When selling to natural grocery stores, you need three important documents. They are:
The Product Sheet
This document tells the story of your product. It should contain a captivating 4-color picture of the foods you’re selling on the main page and offer information on your business, the ingredients used, and the nutritional value of the foods.
The Pricing Sheet
This file contains the number or case quantity, price of each case, and ways to contact your business to make an order.
Nutrition Label
Typically, the law exempts a manufacturer from having a label if they haven’t sold over 100 000 cases of their products within 365 days. However, it’s within the rights of a grocery store to demand that your products carry a nutrition label before they are accepted. In addition, it’s typical for consumers to check the nutrition labels on products to ascertain the sodium, fat, and calories per serving.
Ensure That Your Products Meet Set Standards
Various stores have different ingredient standards to measure if your offerings meet the criteria. You should take this step before finalizing your recipe or fixing an appointment with a store owner. Check across numerous stores to have an idea of what is generally acceptable at natural grocery stores.
Pitch Your Products
Pitching your products follows after taking all the steps above. When you’re ready to do this, fix an appointment with the potential client. You must be able to pitch your product impressively within 3-7 minutes. If you’re unable to prepare or deliver a good pitch, hire a sales rep that’ll handle all pitches for you.
When done with pitching, you’ll have to submit your product sheet, price sheet, and product samples. Should the store approve your proposal, you both can arrange a payment system. Demonstration details and sale price promotions are up to you and the retailer.