CVS Pharmacy Announces 2022 Supplier Diversity & Minority Owned Summit

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Feb. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Pharmacy today announced its second annual Supplier Diversity & Minority Owned Summit, hosted from April 5 - 8, in partnership with ECRM and RangeMe. This summit is part of CVS Pharmacy's ongoing efforts to bring a broader assortment of products from diverse suppliers and brands to customers – and work with those suppliers and brands to ensure mutual success through customized support and resources.

CVS Pharmacy currently carries more than 100 diverse-owned brands across front store categories and is committed to increasing that selection with enhanced merchandising protocols for diverse suppliers. Within beauty and personal care, for example, CVS Pharmacy has made significant strides in amplifying its commitment to build out diverse-owned assortments. It has recently added several new Black-owned brands and nearly 200 items from new and existing Black-owned brands, with many more launching across the category in 2022.

"We're at our best when our priorities and actions reflect the needs of the communities we serve," said Andrea Harrison, VP of Merchandising, Beauty & Personal Care at CVS Health. "We'll continue to feature the brands and trends that speak to the diversity of our customers while simultaneously offering the value, innovation and trust they expect from the products across our aisles."

The 2022 summit will focus on products across beauty, grocery, personal care, health, wellness, household and general merchandise. Vendors can learn more and apply to join the virtual event by visiting www.rangeme.com/cvsdiversity through February 14, 2022.

To further support CVS Pharmacy's commitment to increasing its selection of diverse-owned brands, new tools and processes have been created to ensure increased diverse spend and a more inclusive supplier and product landscape, including: 

• CVS Merchandising, in partnership with the CVS Health Enterprise Procurement Supplier Diversity team, has hosted a Supplier Diversity in Merchandising program annually for the past four years to identify new diverse suppliers and assist in eliminating barriers to starting in retail.
• CVS Health's Supplier Diversity program hosts an annual Executive Learning Series, which provides training in a wide variety of skills around pitching and landing expanded retail distribution of products, including the opportunity to engage in individualized executive coaching.
• CVS Pharmacy merchandisers attend supplier diversity advocacy conferences, such as National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) and Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), to meet with diverse suppliers.
• CVS Pharmacy works to reinforce the diversity of both product assortment and suppliers throughout its planogram process to deliver relevant offerings to the communities it serves.

Additionally, with the goal of achieving mutual success, CVS Pharmacy offers unique opportunities to smaller diverse suppliers entering mass retail, including:

• Providing resources, training and mentoring for new and/or growing diverse suppliers as they gain a foothold in the retail environment.
• Developing refreshed intake forms to ensure specific supplier needs are appropriately flagged and accommodated.

At this Supplier Diversity & Minority Owned Summit, all sourcing and product submissions will be made through RangeMe, the industry-standard online product discovery and sourcing platform. ECRM will then create curated meeting schedules and facilitate face-to-face virtual meetings with the merchants, so that suppliers can present new and innovative products and solutions for CVS Pharmacy customers. All meetings will be conducted on ECRM's virtual meeting platform, ECRM CONNECT, on April 5 - 8. ECRM's team will help ensure that the meetings are executed with the utmost efficiency.

About CVS Pharmacy
CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health, is America's leading retail pharmacy with nearly 10,000 locations, including over 1,700 pharmacies inside of Target and Schnucks grocery stores. We are committed to delivering innovative health solutions that create a simpler, more accessible experience for patients, customers, and caregivers. CVS Pharmacy is the only national pharmacy to remove tobacco products from its shelves and has taken a leadership role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by making testing and vaccinations available at locations across the United States. For the latest product and service offerings, visit www.cvs.com or download the CVS App.

Courtney Coelho
401-465-9209
[email protected]

SOURCE CVS Health