DENVER — Retailer Owned Food Distributors & Associates (ROFDA) plans to expand its national promotional program in 2027, giving consumer packaged goods manufacturers a way to reach at least 2,500 stores through a single approved promotion. The initiative was a focus of the group’s sold-out fall conference, which drew record attendance and brought together the CEOs of all nine member organizations.
ROFDA introduced its National Scale Events program in 2026. It allows manufacturers to work with the alliance’s nine members through a single process, with a minimum of 2,500 participating stores for each approved program. The members and their retail customers retain control of their own operations.
The alliance is also investing in consolidated retail data and analytics to help manufacturers and members track promotional performance and identify opportunities for future programs. Its members, eight wholesale food distributors and self-distributing retailer Brookshire Brothers, collectively represent more than $45 billion in annual retail sales and a network of more than 7,200 U.S. grocery stores.
The conference, held Nov. 2–6 in Indian Wells, Calif., brought independent grocers including Lowe’s Markets, FireLake Discount Foods, Matherne’s Market, Breaux Mart and Houchens Food Group into working sessions with distributor executives and suppliers. ROFDA said participation by major CPG manufacturers expanded, with representatives from General Mills, Nestlé, Clorox, Kimberly-Clark, The Campbell’s Company and The J.M. Smucker Company among those attending.
“Our purpose is straightforward: to help independent grocers become stronger and more competitive,” said Mark Deuschle, ROFDA’s president and chief executive officer. “Bringing retailers directly into these conversations helps ensure that what we’re developing translates into meaningful value at store level.”
Working sessions covered how members will carry out the national promotions, along with merchandising, retail media, data analytics and technology. Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI — The Food Industry Association, and Greg Ferrara, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association, also addressed the conference.
“One of the defining strengths of ROFDA is our members’ willingness to collaborate, even while remaining competitors in their respective markets,” said Amy Niemetscheck, president and CEO of Certco and chairwoman of ROFDA’s board.
ROFDA’s next conference is scheduled for May 10–14, 2027, at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz.
