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Research Outline

Prepared for David P. | Delivered January 17, 2021

Grocery Buyers

Goals

Provide a list of grocery buyers for the leading grocery retailers in the U.S., including the buyers' contact information.

Early Findings

The top 5 grocery retailers in the United States are Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Target, and Albertsons, according to the National Retail Federation. Initial research shows these retailers do not make their buyer lists public. Buyers for Walmart, Costco, Kroger and Target may be found on LinkedIn, but overall the information found on individual LinkedIn pages is inconclusive to which grocery category the buyers and senior buyers are responsible for.
  • Walmart does not make their buyer lists available in the public domain. Their corporate website only provides a web page with specific instructions for applying to become a vendor. Multiple sources show that registering a product through the application process is the first step in selling a product to Walmart.
  • Likewise, Costco does not publish a list of their grocery buyers in the public domain. Additional research of third-party websites, as well as relevant grocery industry reports, does not provide any evidence that a list of current grocery category buyers is available in the public domain. The company's corporate website provides detailed instructions for potential vendors to follow in order to introduce a product into Costco stores. Their website provides several phone numbers to call for potential food or sundry product suppliers, based on which region of the country the product will be introduced. The page also lists several international numbers to call for foreign companies. The correct contact number is only determined based on specific regions.
  • Mr. Checkout explains that the first step to becoming a vendor to Costco is to call their corporate phone number listed on the company's website, corroborating the information provided on Costco's corporate website. Their article also explains that grocery retailers frequently change their buyers' category responsibility.
  •  Eric Thompson is listed as a dry grocery buyer for Costco in the Seattle area. Confirmation of being the specific product buyer is not possible. His contact information is provided on his LinkedIn page but does not include an email or phone number.
  • Kroger stipulates that potential vendors must register on the company's vendor portal before being eligible to become a supplier. Their corporate website does not specifically state how the appropriate grocery category buyer would contact potential vendors after the registration process is completed. There is no evidence that a list of buyers for specific grocery categories exists in the public domain.
  •  Matt Horn is listed as a corporate grocery buyer at Kroger, but his LinkedIn profile does not give a definitive list of which grocery products fall under his responsibility. His contact information is listed on LinkedIn but does not include an email or phone number. Additional research through third-party sites, articles referencing him, or interviews given do not include further contact information.
  •  BizFluent explains that contacting a buyer is not necessary to introduce a product at Target. There is no evidence in the public domain that a buyer list for Target's grocery categories exists.
  • Chain Store Guide claims to be "the industry's leading provider of accurate retail & restaurant leads directories & databases used by industry professionals to get their products on store shelves and contract services with the major industry chains." Their buyer guides are available for purchase through their website.
  • Additionally, Forum Publishing offers a buyers guide specific to grocery stores and is available for purchase through their website.