A Day In The Life Of…Karen Blackwell

By David Garcia

Manager, Supplier Diversity and Development, Nestle

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PROCUREMENT, TRADE & MANUFACTURING SUMMIT

How do you become a valued supplier to organizations like Nestle, the world’s largest food company that sources everything everywhere, from Panama to Kuala Lumpur? Know more about them and their businesses than they do.

Karen Blackwell, supplier diversity and development manager for Nestle, elaborated on that point in her opening remarks at the third annual Southern California Procurement, Trade & Manufacturing Summit held in Riverside, California, in August.

“When it comes to business, it’s about three things,” said Blackwell. “The first is cost savings, but as a small business you’re not always going to be able to compete on margins. The second is knowing whether you can help the company avoid costs, which is just as important. And third is process improvement. Maybe you can show them a better way to do something. It’s about the horizon, it’s about looking towards the future.”

Addressing the suppliers participating in the conference’s matchmaking sessions, the former Los Angeles assistant deputy mayor for economic development added, “Everyone understands you need to have a value proposition and that you’re going to talk about your capabilities. When you talk to a buyer, you have to understand that if it’s something a company needs, they’re already buying it. So, now, what you’re trying to do is unseat someone by showing additional value. What you want to say is ‘I know you’re doing this, but what I’d like you to do is this because it will be better.'”

With 2,000 brands and operations in 191 countries, creating value—for the company, its shareholders and the communities it serves—and leveraging economies of scale are critical for Switzerland-based Nestle. Its purchasing strategies, which are based on whether sourcing can be most competitively bid at the global, national or regional level, play a key role in creating that value. It’s an approach that is particularly important for the U.S. market, which is Nestle’s largest and where its brands, including Gerber, Haagen-Dazs, Lean Cuisine, Nespresso, Nestea, Pellegrino and Purina, recorded more than $27 billion in 2016 sales.

We need to stay relevant. We need innovation and discovery. Nestlé needs people to bring their best game and their best ideas.

Supplier Diversity and Global Sourcing

In between one-on-one counseling sessions with a handful of conference attendees, Blackwell explained that diverse suppliers “should understand that we intentionally have a global supply chain and that they are competing for our businesses with other companies all around the world.” She added that Nestle holds U.S. suppliers to its global standards for volume, quality, safety and continuity. While that can affect the ability of smaller suppliers to compete on a broader scale, innovation is one area where they may have an edge.

“We put the same demand for lean thinking on our suppliers that we place on ourselves,” said Blackwell, a 12-year Nestle veteran. “We expect them to be subject-matter experts. And we expect them to help drive the process improvements and breakthrough opportunities that will eliminate waste from every aspect of our business while maintaining the superior quality brands the public loves and trusts.”

Building the Diverse Supplier Pipeline

Last year, Nestle purchased $2.3 billion in goods and services from nearly 7,300 U. S. small, women-, veteran- and minority-owned businesses. As Nestle’s sole supplier diversity manager, Blackwell supports that supply chain, which sustains 77 production and 10 research and development facilities in 47 states. It’s why continually sourcing and developing suppliers is a vital part of her responsibilities and one requiring innovative outreach efforts and partnerships with major trade associations and nonprofit organizations.

For example, at last October’s National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Conference + Business Opportunity Exchange in Chicago, Blackwell worked with several NMSDC councils and the Women’s Business Enterprise Council-West to sponsor “Nestle Quest,” a mobile-based scavenger hunt educating diverse suppliers about where they fit into Nestle’s supply chain. Last June, at the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council National Conference & Business Fair in Las Vegas, Blackwell traveled the trade show floor with a group of 10 women business owners, advising them on how to pitch major corporations and Nestle prime contractors and facilitating corporate and WBE-to-WBE introductions. This year, Nestle Healthy Science business leaders and marketing executives will meet in Bridgewater, New Jersey, with 20 strong diverse suppliers for a one-day session focusing on its sourcing and business strategy and ending with capabilities presentations.

As Blackwell stated in her opening remarks, it’s all about suppliers bringing value and a view towards the future. “We need to stay relevant. We need innovation and discovery. Nestle needs people to bring their best game and their best ideas.”

Mike Leone with Leone Photography, courtesy of the County of Riverside Office of Foreign Trade