Ahold USA Earns Diversity Distinction

Ahold USA has been named to DiversityBusiness.com’s 11th annual “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities,” ranking No. 47 in the United States. The grocer will be honored at a special awards ceremony at DiversityBusiness.com’s 11th Annual Multicultural Business Conference now underway in Washington.

DiversityBusiness.com, a multicultural B2B online website, asked more than 750,000 businesses 10 questions relating to diversity, based on such factors as volume, consistency and quality business opportunities given to women and minority-owned companies.

“Diversity plays a vital role in business today,” noted Jeff Martin, EVP merchandising and marketing at Quincy, Mass.-based Ahold USA Retail. “Supplier diversity is an integral part of our business, and we embrace it with a proactive commitment to developing business opportunities with small, local diverse vendors.”

For the past four years, Ahold USA and its supermarket divisions have held a Supplier Diversity/Regional and Small Business Trade Show, with the aim of bolstering the ties among agricultural, minority and retail industries. Attendees can meet with Ahold USA’s procurement teams to discuss future business opportunities with the company.

Ahold USA, part of Ahold, an Amsterdam-based international food retailing group that operates quality supermarkets in the United States and Europe, supports four regional divisions that operate more than 750 supermarkets in 13 states and the District of Columbia: Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover, and Giant Carlisle. Additionally, Ahold USA operates online grocer Peapod.