Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

If you are in the United States, be prepared to pay hefty slotting fees. There's so much competition for the valuable shelf space in supermarkets that the only way in is to buy it.

Of course, once you're in, you have to hold your distribution by promoting frequently and boosting volume any way you can. There are a dozen others with great products waiting in the wings for you to fail, and they'll pay the slotting fee if you falter. The supermarket isn't about to take any chances.

I'd suggest you set up appointments with a few buyers to get some idea of how they work, what they consider when they make their decisions, and what they would recommend for you. Ultimately you'll have to talk to these folks regardless, so why not start by asking for their advice?

For anyone in the food business trying to get into grocery stores you can either pay a slotting fee (as mentioned above) or...

You can establish a relationship with a broker. Brokers have relationships with distributors and buyers. If a broker believes in your product (meaning he/she thinks there is money to be made there), he/she will push your product. Brokers will of course get a percentage of each order as a fee.

Moreover, it would not hurt to get some free publicity for your product. Familiarize yourself with trade publications and then write good press releases. Follow up the press release with a call or email to the editor of the trade publication. You never know who will see it and be interested. However, this method does work better for specialty products. I have had some success doing this with gourmet food products.