GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer will host its first virtual Supplier Diversity Summit on November 12, the company said Tuesday.

“Focusing on supplier diversity is an important part of our diversity, equity and inclusion journey,” Meijer President & CEO Rick Keyes said. “While we have always valued diverse partnerships, this event exemplifies our commitment to building a more inclusive vendor community which will better serve our customers.”

The Nov. 12 virtual event will focus on the following categories:

• Beauty and personal care
• Over-the-counter and wellness
• General merchandise
• Grocery

Certified minority-, LGBTQ-, woman-, veteran- and disability-owned businesses with retail-ready products in those categories can apply here by Friday, October 9.

“At Meijer, we believe our partners should reflect the communities we serve,” said Jamie Akemann, Group Vice President of Indirect Procurement and Supplier Diversity. “This event gives us the opportunity to partner with diverse suppliers to empower them and provide economic support that will be felt throughout our communities, allowing us to better embody our mission of enriching lives in the communities we serve.”

Meijer is partnering with Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) and its subsidiary product discovery tool, RangeMe, to host this event through the company’s ECRM Connect virtual platform.

Once applications for the event are submitted, Meijer teams will review and select the vendors they would like to meet at the virtual summit. Suppliers not chosen for the summit, will still be accessible through the Range Me registration tool and may be reviewed by Meijer merchants again in the future as business needs change.

While they may not qualify for November’s event, diverse vendors carrying services or products outside of the categories mentioned above are encouraged to submit their information for consideration through the retailer’s prospective vendor page.