Wholesale Grocery Suppliers’ Note Prepackaged Veggie Meals’ Market Potential

By all accounts, there are more than 20 million Americans out there living a vegetarian lifestyle and many of them would love to see more prepackaged meal options in stores that attend to their dietary needs. On top of that, many of them are part of the highly coveted Millennial Generation. That said, wholesale grocery suppliers would do well to consider answering the large and loyal demographic’s demands. This includes supplying channel members with organic, vegan, non-GMO and gluten-free prepackaged foods as there seems to be a great deal of cross-over potential as well. To reach those ever growing, prepackaged market segments, we’d recommend building an up-to-date database of qualified prospects.

The easiest way to assemble a list of pre-qualified prospects is to start with a convenience store directory that contains accurate contact information for a multitude of rack jobbers, brokers, distributors and head buyers. Then make contact via e-mail to whittle down the field. Prospects that respond favorably to the initial e-mail could eventually be pursued more aggressively using a variety of means. Let’s take a face-to-face sales blitz as a prime example.

Wholesale grocery suppliers could use the directory to set up a series of meet-and-eats that include samplings of the vegetarian prepackaged items that they’re hoping to place in stores. It would be a good, cost-effective, efficient way to bring a group of qualified prospects together and make a compelling sales pitch. Interested parties could then be invited to one-on-one sit downs where suppliers’ sales agents could attempt to close sales.

At Convenience Store Distributor Directory, we have the solid, reliable information that wholesale grocery suppliers need to get started on their databases. It’s delivered instantaneously in Excel format using the e-mail given at the time of purchase. Furthermore, it’s updated using the same format and delivery method twice a year. So maintaining the database, once it’s up and running, should be no big deal. To learn more and start pushing your vegetarian prepackaged offerings today, please contact us.

Ready to Work with Food Wholesale Distributor Companies?

For people just starting out, selling farm fresh ingredients and specialty foods on a large-scale is confusing. The barriers of market entry alone can be hard to understand. This is especially the case when non-direct marketing channels are involved. For example, privately owned restaurants may not demand that their suppliers provide labels on all products whereas convenience stores, grocery chains and food wholesale distributors companies do. With that said, we’ve put together a short list of what many food wholesale distributors expect and included information on how suppliers can reach them when they are ready to do business:

In general, food wholesale distributors expect suppliers’ products to have labels and packaging that meet industry standards. They should also meet any certification requirements typically associated with applicable product categories and be covered under the supplier’s product liability insurance. In addition, the supplier must be poised to explain why his or her product is better or at least equal to the leading brand. On top of that, the company’s sales team must offer the distributor attractive, wholesale pricing. He or she has to be able to fulfill large orders on time, to exact specifications, and handle all related activities professionally too. By related activities, we are referring to tasks like invoicing and preparing accurate bills of laden.

If a supplier is able to meet all of those industry requirements, the next step is to invest in a top-notch directory. The directory should contain food wholesale distributor companies’ contact information in a workable, easily digestible form. That way, suppliers can begin prospecting and qualifying sales leads without having to go through the time and expense involved in building a lead pool from scratch. To learn more about the best food wholesale distributor company directories there are on the market today, please contact us. At Wholesale Grocers Directory, we have access to, and information on the people, programs and businesses that food sellers need to know.