Month: February 2024

The online marketplace capitalizes on recent consumer trends to bring up-and-coming brands to convenience stores nationwide.

TEMPLE, Texas — McLane Company Inc., one of the nation’s largest distributors and an industry-leading partner to retail and restaurant brands nationwide, recently announced the launch of Emerging Brands. Emerging Brands is the latest in McLane’s expanded offerings for convenience stores and allows retailers to quickly diversify their product selection with new, innovative, and trending brands.

“Consumers today are more conscious than ever about their choices and have come to expect a personalized shopping experience,” said Vito Maurici, McLane’s customer experience officer. “With its flexible model, Emerging Brands provides retailers of any size a best in class, innovative platform to capitalize on the increasing demand for unique products and to tailor their offerings to what their consumers are looking for.”

Research from McKinsey & Company revealed that one in three shoppers are consciously searching for new brands and products to try. Emerging Brands brings differentiation and variety to retailers by expanding access to local, new-to-market, small-batch and values-driven products, including those not in distribution. Retailers can quickly diversify their product offerings with trending products in popular categories like alternative snacks, salty and sweet snacks, and packaged sweets and candy.

In addition to expanding access to a greater variety of products, Emerging Brands allows retailers to test out new products quickly 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 is made possible by technology partner Mable, and will allow retailers to browse intuitively by searching, filtering and sorting products by location, dietary preference, brand values, category and more. Customers can also add products to their favorites and receive highly personalized order recommendations based on the collection.

“Mable’s partnership with McLane provides a frictionless eCommerce platform that seamlessly connects emerging brands with retailers” said Arik Keller, founder and CEO of Mable. “Our drop ship model and integration with McLane’s product systems allows customers to procure emerging brands the same way they do McLane’s warehouse brands. We’re excited to bring this program to market together.”

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.

Industry Veteran Terry Levee Named Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance

TEMPLE, Texas – McLane recently announced the appointment of Terry Levee as its new senior director of food safety and quality assurance. Levee brings over 35 years of expertise in food safety, quality assurance and regulatory affairs. His extensive background, including his most recent role as senior director of food safety and regulatory compliance for Giant Eagle, well-positions him to lead McLane’s food safety team and support the company’s newest retail foodservice endeavor, McLane Fresh, and its well-established restaurant distribution business.

“Terry’s appointment reinforces our continued focus on upholding the highest standards in food safety. We look forward to Terry’s leadership carrying forward and further enhancing our food safety practices, ensuring our retail and restaurant partners receive the best-in-class service they have come to expect from McLane,” said Larry Parsons, McLane’s chief administrative officer.

McLane’s commitment to excellence in food safety is long-standing. The company has invested more than $1 billion in developing and maintaining a custom cold chain system across 80 distribution centers nationwide and has over 5.6 million square feet of refrigerated and frozen warehouse space. With a state-of-the-art temperature-controlled and regulated fleet of more than 3,900 tractors and 6,100 trailers, McLane maintains cold chain integrity from distribution center to delivery. McLane’s food safety program also achieved BRC Global Standard (BRCGS) for Food Safety certification. BRCGS is the leading provider of global supply chain assurance programs recognized worldwide. The program regularly utilizes independent audits to ensure product integrity and safety, meeting global food safety initiative standards.

“We anticipate that Terry’s addition to our team and his impact on our food safety program will be nothing short of extraordinary. The expertise and leadership showcased in his previous roles have left an indelible mark on those companies, and we believe he will continue his strong track record here at McLane,” said Parsons.

Levee’s appointment comes as current Senior Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Sam Richardson, plans to retire in March after 48 years with the company. Mike Rose and Michelle Viverette, experienced food safety professionals with McLane, have also been promoted to director, food safety and senior manager, food safety, respectively.

To learn more about McLane’s food safety operations including custom cold chain solutions, multi-temperature storage and shipping capabilities, visit mclaneco.com/distribution-expertise. To learn more about McLane’s tailored retail, restaurant and e-commerce solutions, visit mclaneco.com.