ECRM Launches European Arm

ECRM has launched a new business unit to assist European retailers and distributors in discovering new and emerging global brands in the food, health and beauty care, and general merchandise categories.

Based in Utrecht, Netherlands, ECRM Europe seeks to mirror the success of its U.S. counterpart by hosting Efficient Program Planning Sessions (EPPS): private, prescheduled face-to-face meetings between buyers and sellers.

The new business unit consists of a team of multilingual sales and account management staff. ECRM already has been hosting EPPS in Europe for the past several years.

“Innovation and creativity are increasingly being developed by emerging and midlevel suppliers that don’t readily have easy access to European retailers and distributors outside of their own countries,” said ECRM VP of International Liz Lantz. “ECRM’s European sessions provide these suppliers with greater access to these buyers and, in turn, enable the buyers to find new and unique products that will help differentiate their businesses.”

To best serve its European customers, ECRM has engaged international business consultant Michael Wheeldon to help create the European business unit and develop the ECRM Europe team of sales managers and account managers, each of whom speaks several languages and is familiar with European retail markets. On the retail sales team, which works with retailers and distributors across the continent, Linda Bijsterbosch is international retail director, speaking Dutch, English, German and French, while Mihaela Savu is retail development manager, speaking Romanian, Italian and English. On the supplier sales team, which works with sellers, Una Bolger and Julio Sismanoglu are international sales managers, the former speaking English, German, Dutch, Portuguese and French, and the latter speaking English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.

Click here for more information on ECRM's EPPS events in the United States and abroad.