Walgreens on the Lookout for Diverse Suppliers

Virtual Supplier Diversity Summit scheduled for April 5-8

1/24/2022

Walgreens Searching for Diverse Suppliers

Walgreens’ virtual summit will focus on products across grocery and household, beauty and personal care, health and wellness, and general merchandise, among other categories.

Diverse vendors have the opportunity to get their products stocked on Walgreens shelves in their local areas during the retailer’s upcoming Supplier Diversity Summit. The virtual event, taking place April 5-8, will focus on products across grocery and household, beauty and personal care, health and wellness, and general merchandise, among other categories.

The Supplier Diversity Summit will gather diverse businesses and entrepreneurs from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to build more locally relevant and diverse product offerings for Walgreens customers and deeper collaboration with new suppliers for the future. Walgreens is searching for suppliers that are at least 51% owned, operated and managed by individuals who are disadvantaged, disabled, military veterans, LGBTQ+, minorities and/or women.

“As a leading partner in reimagining local health care and well-being for all, ensuring that we create equitable opportunities for diverse suppliers to drive economic impact in the communities we serve is imperative,” said Carlos W. Cubia, SVP and global chief diversity officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. “This year’s summit will connect us with diverse suppliers that will ensure we remain relevant to our customers and communities with products that meet their unique needs. We look forward to a successful event.”

For the summit, Walgreens is working with Solon, Ohio-based ECRM and its San Francisco-based subsidiary, RangeMe. All sourcing and product submissions will be made through RangeMe, while ECRM will qualify suppliers, create curated meeting schedules and facilitate face-to-face virtual meetings with Walgreens. All meetings will be conducted through ECRM’s virtual meeting platform, ECRM Connect. Vendors can find additional information about the virtual event and apply to join here.

Other retailers working with ECRM on virtual supplier summits to introduce new products into the marketplace include Hy-Vee on Feb. 16-18, Meijer on March 29-31 and Sam’s Club on April 5.

ECRM has also opened registration for its 2022 Global Market: Spring Buying Days, which will take place March 28-April 1. The virtual product-sourcing experience will once again bring together buyers and product suppliers from around the world across all major food and CPG categories.

Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens is included in the Retail Pharmacy USA division of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. The drug store chain operates nearly 9,000 retail locations across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving about 9 million customers daily. Walgreens is No. 5 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.