Getting Started

To help you initiate your relationship with SUPERVALU, we suggest that you do the following:

• Visit one or more of our stores to compare your product or service to what we currently offer our customers.
• Evaluate your product in terms of value:
  •     How will it help SUPERVALU customers?
  •     What will they find useful or enjoyable about your product?
  •     Which item(s) should your item replace and why?
  •     Is your cost and suggested retail price competitive?

Additionally for retail sale items:

• Does your product have the required Universal Product Code (UPC) number for scanning, billing and inventory purposes from the Uniform Code Council? (937) 435-3870 www.uc-council.org
• Most food products for retail sales require a nutritional facts label. Please check with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more information on labeling requirements and exemptions. 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332). Specifically for food items, the following site will provide you an in-depth look at a sample label www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdnewlab.html
• NAICS is a unique, all-new system for classifying business establishments. It is the first economic classification system to be constructed based on a single economic concept. Economic units that use like processes to produce goods or services are grouped together. This "production-oriented" system means that statistical agencies in the United States will produce data that can be used for measurlng productivity, unit labor costs and the capital intensity of production; constructing input-output relationships; and estimating employment-output relationships and other such statistics that require that inputs and outputs be used together.
  

You'll be asked to mail in any materials you have regarding your product or service. Once we receive your initial information, we will evaluate it and have the proper individual(s) contact you.

Evaluating Supplier Potential
We look at several factors when evaluating a supplier:

• Product supply - do you have adequate product in your pipeline to answer potential consumer demand?
• Product support - promotional support is necessary when introducing a new product to consumers. Do you have a promotional plan for your product that includes some or all of the following: advertising (TV, radio, and/or print), coupons, in-store product sampling and point-of-sale (POS) materials?
• Product quality - SUPERVALU is committed to providing quality products to its customers at value pricing. People expect the best and we work to provide it. Your product must meet certain standards before we will offer it to our customers.
• Past performance - What is the sales history of your product; where is it sold today? If you are a former supplier to SUPERVALU, we examine your performance when evaluating a continuing relationship. Specifically, we look at the following factors: competitive pricing, consistent quality, on-schedule deliveries, extraordinary service, and a willingness to go above and beyond in time of need or emergency.