This is the first episode in our new buyers series and today we’re joined by Mitch Orland, VP of Merchandising and Procurement at Earth Fare. Earth Fare is a health and wellness supermarket with 20 locations in 8 states in the Southeast US. Mitch has deep food industry experience including being a restaurant owner and former Executive Chef at Earth Fare, and he now manages a 15 person merchandising team at Earth Fare.
Listen in as Mitch shares about:
- How Earth Fare’s product submission process including category reviews
- Best practices for engaging with buyers from email content to timing follow up
- How brokers add value for buyers
- Different models of distributing to Earth Fare from self-service to local distributors to UNFI
- Best practices for promoting with Earth Fare, educating employees, and in-store demos
- How and when a brand’s on-shelf performance is evaluated by the Earth Fare team
- Industry trends
- And more!
And stay tuned at the end for a story from Startup CPG founder Daniel Scharff about recently getting into Earth Fare with Machu Picchu - and thanks for Mitch for that great idea - he wanted you all to also hear from a brand that recently worked with Earth Fare, which I found really helpful. Now let’s hear from Mitch!
Episode Links:
- Earth Fare website
- Mitch’s LinkedIn
- Brands mentioned: Hickory Nut Gap, Sunburst Trout Farms, JAMBAR, Upcycled Food Association, Force of Nature
Social Nature Links:
- Social Nature website
- Social Nature team email: marketing@socialnature.com
- Learn from & get to know the Social Nature team:
- Episode #87 How Natural Shoppers are Responding to Inflation with Social Nature's Jessica Malach
- Episode #50 The Data Behind the Modern Wellness Consumer with Social Nature's Jessica Malach
- Overview of Digital Sampling with Social Nature founder Annalea Krebs
- Episodes that mention Social Nature campaigns:
- Episode #66 Sharing is Caring: How Alison Cayne & Haven's Kitchen share cooking confidence and industry knowledge (Social Nature discussed at 41:15)
- Episode #86 From Target Buyer to Nationally Launching Upcycled Pet Brand Shameless Pets with James Bello (Social Nature discussed at 37:33)
Promomash/Crisp Links:
- Try Promomash + Crisp free for 30 days here
- Webinar recording: Promomash + Crisp Present: The Next Big Thing in WFM Demo Analytics
- Webinar recording: Distributor Data 101: 5 Things Brands Should Be Tracking and Why
IFT Links:
Show Links: