Team Focus on local suppliers reveals small is beautiful
Karen Todd was given the task of setting up a specialised trading team when Asda first recognised that local sourcing was a tremendous opportunity for the company.
Asda has always stocked local products in Scotland and Wales, but four years ago customer research showed that consumers all over the UK wanted to see more regional produce on shelves.
“Customers were able to request what products they wanted to see in store and in all cases they were asking for a local product,” says Todd.
Todd joined Asda 15 years ago as a home economist, after getting a degree in home economics and working briefly with a small chocolate company. While at Asda she moved into trade product marketing for fresh and frozen food, later becoming brand manager for the takeaway concept.
When the local sourcing team was set up she was the sole member. However, this has grown and she now heads up a team of five – soon to become six – to manage the 250 local suppliers that are now working with Asda.
The first major task for Todd when she was setting up the unit was to define ‘local’ by working out how to divide up the country. Once that job was done she had to find the suppliers. “Stores are my biggest source of information – they are obviously local so are the best possible resource,” she says. “We used to get 40 or 50 suggestions each week for local products, but we have refined the system. The store filters suggestions and now the quality of ideas we get is very high. I also work very closely with regional food groups whose members often become our local suppliers.”
Local suppliers tend to be very small, so Todd has had to come up with solutions to make it possible for them to deal with a major multiple. This has included setting up single store supply arrangements, improving communications and working out tighter payment agreements.
Karen Todd was given the task of setting up a specialised trading team when Asda first recognised that local sourcing was a tremendous opportunity for the company.
Asda has always stocked local products in Scotland and Wales, but four years ago customer research showed that consumers all over the UK wanted to see more regional produce on shelves.
“Customers were able to request what products they wanted to see in store and in all cases they were asking for a local product,” says Todd.
Todd joined Asda 15 years ago as a home economist, after getting a degree in home economics and working briefly with a small chocolate company. While at Asda she moved into trade product marketing for fresh and frozen food, later becoming brand manager for the takeaway concept.
When the local sourcing team was set up she was the sole member. However, this has grown and she now heads up a team of five – soon to become six – to manage the 250 local suppliers that are now working with Asda.
The first major task for Todd when she was setting up the unit was to define ‘local’ by working out how to divide up the country. Once that job was done she had to find the suppliers. “Stores are my biggest source of information – they are obviously local so are the best possible resource,” she says. “We used to get 40 or 50 suggestions each week for local products, but we have refined the system. The store filters suggestions and now the quality of ideas we get is very high. I also work very closely with regional food groups whose members often become our local suppliers.”
Local suppliers tend to be very small, so Todd has had to come up with solutions to make it possible for them to deal with a major multiple. This has included setting up single store supply arrangements, improving communications and working out tighter payment agreements.
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