Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer magazine.
Whole Foods' decentralized buying approach often gets credit for the grocer's ability to partner with small, local manufacturers. But it's a pain for suppliers.
Just about every manufacturer we talked to as part of an extensive profile on Whole Foods complained about their buying process, a function handled by 11 different regional offices.
While it's hard enough for small, start-up companies to present to 11 different buyers, the criteria for acceptance varies widely from region to region.
"It's like pitching to 11 completely different companies," says one manufacturer. "Everything is seemingly dependent on the whims of the individual buyer."
Moreover, "These buyers seem overwhelmed by the amount of work they're expected to perform and are often unresponsive to requests from manufacturers hoping to present a new item" — a sentiment we heard over and over again. For new vendors in particular, "Getting an appointment is extremely difficult."
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But even for those lucky enough to be granted an audience, meetings are a challenge. "Whole Foods only allows vendors to present once a year," says another manufacturer. "You're given 30 minutes or less to present — one buyer actually set a timer and stopped us when it went off, regardless of where we were — and you're asked to put everything on one page, which allows very little insight into the category or the brand. Most often, they don't even have time for sampling."
It's no surprise, then, that most manufacturers applauded Whole Foods' announcement last month that responsibility for buying packaged foods, detergents and other non-perishables would shift from regional buyers to a team in Austin, a move designed to reduce costs and boost clout with vendors.
While some worry the shift will weaken the chain's ability to tap into the unique needs of individual marketplaces, "I think it makes sense in center store," says Don Stuart, managing partner at Cadent Consulting. "You don't want to lose that local touch, that connection to the community, but Whole Foods can leverage the perimeter for that. I think it's a good balance and represents a big step forward."