Diverse Powered Brands and IMI Announce Strategic Partnership to Connect Spirits Buyers with Diverse Suppliers

The collaboration offers an innovative solution for operators in the RFP beverage selection process, enabling them to easily discover and vet brands with diverse ownership, management and production.

New York, NY, September 16, 2024 – Diverse Powered Brands™ (www.diversepoweredbrands.com), the leading centralized global B2B digital platform for diversified beverage suppliers, and Incentive Marketing, Inc. (IMI) (www.imiagency.com), a leading beverage marketing agency for hospitality, e-commerce and retail clients, announce a strategic alliance to provide a solution for operators looking to leverage diverse private label brands managed and produced through the Request for Proposal (RFP) process using IMIManage RFP PRO™.

National on/off-premise and e-commerce operators now have access to an online RFP (Request for Information) tool that helps them vet and select beverage orders for national and/or regional corporate beverage programs. IMIManage RFP PRO™ is the tool to manage this process. Already used by dozens of operators and containing brand data from hundreds of beverage suppliers with IMI clients, RFP PRO is now available to all network operators, regardless of agency affiliation.

Diverse Powered Brands (DPB) is the industry’s trusted source for diversity status verification for established, large, national and international brands, as well as regional, local and emerging brands. Using the IMIManage RFP PRO™ platform provides easy access to industry-leading brand data and DPB certifications, where available.

Operators receive free access to DPB and the platform’s advanced search tools, which include searching across multiple diversity attributes, including intersectionality, and is the only centralized digital platform with standard data fields and templates designed in partnership with on- and off-premise domestic buyers and international F&B supplier diversity leaders.

Company and Brand Profiles include comprehensive visual brand histories with videos, photos, biographies of owners, leaders and manufacturers, distribution status including wholesaler information, third-party certifications and self-declaration forms, saving you valuable time on sourcing.

An in-person Pitch Day at Target (www.target.com) in Minneapolis confirmed that DPB provides the data and visualizations that shoppers need to make informed decisions and save countless hours of browsing. All five national wine buyers relied solely on DPB to discover, research, and select diverse suppliers. Of the thirteen brands invited to pitch, Target selected seven diverse suppliers for its spring 2024 lineup.

“Target is fortunate to have a very diverse guest base that values ​​newness and innovation. A digital catalog like Diverse Powered Brands™ is an incredible tool for our buying teams to find the products our guests are looking for,” said Jenn Holterman, director of wine and adult beverages at Target. “Target is working on ways to promote diverse suppliers and become a leading retailer for diverse and female-owned brands—this is an incredible tool and partnership to help us do that!”

“Many large corporations have strong supplier diversity programs, but until now, exploring and vetting qualified, diverse suppliers in the alcoholic beverage industry has been extremely difficult,” says Deborah Brenner, founder and CEO of Diverse Powered Brands. “This alliance is expected to increase operational efficiencies for alcoholic beverage operators while meeting their diversity goals and creating a successful path to market for diverse suppliers.”

Larry McGinn, Partner and President of IMI Agency, emphasized the significance of the alliance, noting, “We are excited to announce our new strategic alliance with a trusted source in our industry to provide an innovative solution for all industry operators. This alliance represents a significant step forward in our commitment to offering the highest quality services and products to meet the evolving needs of our hospitality, e-commerce and retail clients. Together, we are committed to driving innovation and excellence in everything we do, and we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead with Diverse Powered Brands.”

To learn more about the alliance, please contact us at [email protected] or visit www.diversepoweredbrands.com.

About Diverse Powered Brands:

Diverse Powered Brands™ is the leading centralized global B2B digital platform connecting diverse suppliers, buyers, supplier diversity managers, wholesalers, importers and investors across the alcoholic beverage and hospitality industry. As a trusted industry resource, Diverse Powered Brands provides a seamless, easy and informative way to discover diverse suppliers across all alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage categories, all on one platform. In addition to being an innovative marketing and discovery tool, Diverse Powered Brands acts as a startup incubator, acting as a springboard for early-stage companies and startups by providing valuable educational resources, virtual masterclasses led by industry experts and virtual or in-person pitch days with buyers, wholesalers and investors. To learn more and sign up, visit www.diversepoweredbrands.com.

About IMI:

IMI Agency (Incentive Marketing, Inc.) is the largest fiduciary beverage marketing agency across the hospitality, e-commerce and retail channels. We specialize in Building a Better Beverage Business™ for our clients through cutting-edge marketing and promotions programs, interactive food and beverage merchandising and operations tools, staff training, and recognition/reward programs. IMI programs create brand value and opportunities for consumers while increasing food and beverage sales and profits for our clients. For over 30 years, we have maintained one goal: to manage in the best interests of our clients. We exist as an extension, a partner—to simplify the complex, to be transparent, and to offer a unique perspective that goes beyond the bottom line. Visit IMI Agency at www.imiagency.com.