Inaugural 2021 DAP participants achieved significant growth and strengthened partnerships with key retailers

CHICAGO – Nov. 3, 2022 – IRI®, which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, today provided an update on the recent success and strong momentum of the company’s Diversity Advantage Program (DAP), which empowers women- and minority-owned consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to grow.

“The inaugural program has achieved fantastic results for the many participating businesses owned by members of underrepresented groups,” said Boris Oglesby, executive vice president and practice leader, IRI. “We are grateful for the support of IRI’s employee volunteers and our many retailer partners, who have dedicated significant time and resources to this initiative. We are also excited to welcome the 2022 cohort of businesses into the program and look forward to providing the data, insights literacy training and expertise needed to help them grow their sales and market share, and achieve ongoing success.”

For the past year, DAP has offered complimentary access to consumer and shopper insights data and applications, literacy training and consulting services to 27 participating companies, delivering material benefits for each business. Notable successes include:

  • BLK and Bold Specialty Coffee, a specialty coffee manufacturer, tapped into the opportunity for premium, specialty K-cups in the single-cup coffee category with a leading retailer by identifying stores with the highest propensity for purchases and quantifying sales impact. The retailer subsequently increased potential distribution for BLK and Bold by 450 stores.
  • Mented, a new women-founded cosmetics company, leveraged a detailed consumer survey to better understand the cosmetic shopping preferences of a leading retailer’s customers. Insights derived from the survey helped guide Mented’s strategy, which contributed to a sales increase of more than 80% and a doubling of its average weekly distribution at the retailer.

Pernell Cezar, Co-Founder & CEO for BLK and Bold, commented, “DAP has unlocked incredible opportunities for our business that never would have been attainable without access to the valuable sales and consumer insights that IRI provides. As a result of the program, BLK and Bold has accelerated growth and is well-positioned for continued success. I am very grateful to IRI and the participating retailers for dedicating their time and resources to this effort.”

IRI’s Diversity Advantage Program was developed by IRI employees who wanted to create a fair and equitable consumer goods ecosystem. The program empowers rising minority- and women-owned consumer packaged goods companies to achieve positive organizational growth. DAP is supported by more than 200 IRI employee volunteers and includes 11 retail partners across the United States and the United Kingdom.

To be eligible to participate in DAP, companies must have $1 million to $25 million in annual sales and be recommended by a participating retailer. Click here for more information about the program or email DAP@IRIworldwide.com for information on how to apply for the 2023 program.


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