Event to connect emerging suppliers with McLane experts and top retail brands

TEMPLE, Texas — Today, McLane Company announced its Emerging Brands supplier event at the NACS Show in Las Vegas, taking place on October 9 from 5 – 6:30 p.m. PST at the McLane Booth (N2204). The event invites values-driven and better-for-you brands connected to diverse communities to engage with McLane leadership and connect with representatives from leading retail brands and top c-store companies.

The event will feature interactive discussions led by McLane experts, designed to help suppliers break into the industry, stand out and make a lasting impact, including:

Starting Out – Meet McLane’s Emerging Brands expert, Nadine Claeys, and suppliers from the Emerging Brands community to learn how a new supplier can start working with McLane

Standing Out – Hear from Michelle Patterson, McLane vice president of marketing and communications, and our brand experts about strategies for making brands and products unique and memorable

Getting There – Ask McLane’s senior merchandising team, Cassandra Matos and Chris Skelly, questions about supply chain planning and supplier programs that help brands succeed

Attendees can flow through the tables and take advantage of the open format, offering flexibility to engage at their own pace. Samples from Emerging Brands products will also be available.

Emerging Brands is one of McLane’s latest and broadened offerings for convenience stores, enabling retailers to quickly diversify their product selection with fresh, innovative and trending brands. In addition to expanding access to a more extensive variety of products, Emerging Brands allows retailers to quickly trial new products with low order minimums, rapid processing and warehouse-less drop shipping, utilizing the same order and payment methods they use to buy products from McLane’s warehouses.

The digital marketplace now features more than 150 brands and over 1,000 products, and allows retailers to browse intuitively by searching, filtering and sorting products by location, dietary preference, brand values, category and more. Beyond product variety and personalized order recommendations, Emerging Brands attracts a diverse supplier community. Today, the marketplace features 46% women-owned, 21% black and POC-owned and 3% veteran-owned businesses. Since its introduction last year, Emerging Brands products are now carried in more than 1,000 retail locations throughout the U.S. with more coming online soon.

“Through this event, we aim to enhance diversity within our supplier community by highlighting Emerging Brands that share our vision for innovation and quality,” said Michelle Patterson. “Whether you’re a woman-owned or veteran-owned business or a brand with a unique product, this event is open to new and existing suppliers interested in exploring potential partnerships and expanding their reach.”

McLane offers customizable solutions for retail and restaurant customers from ordering and fulfillment to equipment and in-store merchandising, aimed at eliminating barriers of entry for smaller retailers and solving logistical challenges for large chains. More information on Emerging Brands and other convenience store solutions from McLane is available at mclaneco.com/cstore-solutions/emerging-brands. To learn more about McLane and its retail, restaurant and e-commerce solutions, visit mclaneco.com.