How to become an Apple supplier (and what its supplier diversity program actually expects)
Apple spends billions with diverse suppliers, but registering on its portal is the easy part. Here's how Apple's procurement and supplier diversity …
The Journal
Working coverage of certifications, corporate procurement, federal contracting, financing, and the operators making each work for diverse-owned businesses. Every piece checked against primary sources.
Apple spends billions with diverse suppliers, but registering on its portal is the easy part. Here's how Apple's procurement and supplier diversity …
Anheuser-Busch buys from a parent company the size of AB InBev, which means two different front doors and a separate path for …
Registering as an American Express supplier takes one form. Getting hired is the slow part. Here's the real registration path, which certifications …
American Airlines has run a supplier diversity program since 1989, but the airline buys on competitive bids. Here's how to register, which …
Adobe onboards suppliers by invitation through Graphite Connect, not an open application. Here's how the procurement system actually works, where diverse-supplier certification …
Registering as an Accenture vendor takes an afternoon, but registration alone gets you almost nothing. Here's the portal, the certifications its supplier …
Registering on Abbott's supplier portal takes an afternoon. Getting a sourcing manager to call you is the real work. Here's the order …
Wells Fargo buys from suppliers through SAP Business Network, and most onboarding starts with an invitation. Here's how registration actually works, what …
Walmart buys from suppliers through RangeMe and its annual Open Call, not a single application button. Here's how the path actually works, …
Selling to Walgreens runs through RangeMe, not a cold email. Here's how product submissions actually work, where supplier diversity fits, and what …
Visa doesn't take cold supplier applications. You register through Ariba once a buyer invites you, and the questionnaire asks whether you're a …
Verizon spent over $6 billion with diverse suppliers in 2023, but registering in the vendor portal is the easy part. Here's the …
U.S. Bank buys from thousands of vendors and runs a real supplier development program for small and diverse businesses. Here's how to …
Registering with UPS takes an afternoon. Getting actual business out of it takes a certification, a sharp capability statement, and patience. Here's …
UnitedHealth Group spends billions with outside suppliers, but the front door is narrow and the diversity language changed in 2025. Here's where …
United runs one of the oldest supplier diversity programs in corporate America. Here's how to register, which certifications open the door, and …
Unilever runs almost all sourcing through one system, USQS, and you usually need an invitation to register. Here's the realistic on-ramp, plus …
Tyson Foods buys from thousands of suppliers, and there's a real registration door for small and diverse businesses. Here's the order to …
Toyota buys more than $3 billion a year from diverse-owned suppliers, but the registration form is just the front door. Here's the …
Target buys from brands that fit a category buyer's plan and can ship at retail scale. Here's how its sourcing, Supplier Engagement …
Selling to Starbucks isn't a single form. Here's how its supplier registration actually works, what categories it buys, and the diversity on-ramp …
Southwest routes all new vendors through one Coupa portal, and registering there is the easy part. Here's how the supplier diversity program …
Salesforce buys from thousands of vendors and runs a real supplier diversity accelerator. Here's the actual on-ramp, which certifications carry weight, and …
Registering as a PwC supplier is free and takes minutes. Getting actual work is the hard part. Here's the real portal, which …
P&G doesn't have a single 'apply' button. You send a profile through pgsupplier.com, get found through SupplierOne, and certification helps. Here's the …
PNC runs supplier registration through a portal, not a sales rep you can cold-call. Here's how the Supplier Engagement & Development program …
Pfizer buys through the SAP Business Network and runs a long-standing supplier diversity program. Here's how registration actually works, what they buy, …
Registering with PepsiCo takes an afternoon. Becoming a supplier they actually buy from takes a certification, a real category fit, and a …
PayPal runs a real supplier diversity program with a low-friction front door: one email and a capability statement. Here's who qualifies, which …
Northrop Grumman doesn't take cold bids. Registration runs through a Supplier Information Form, an invitation, and SAP Ariba. Here's the real on-ramp, …
Nike buys from small and diverse-owned businesses across marketing, tech, construction, and services. Registering in its Business Diversity & Inclusion portal is …
Nestlé USA buys from thousands of vendors and runs a supplier diversity program with a specific front door. Here's where to register, …
Morgan Stanley sources from diverse and small businesses, but getting in isn't about filling out one form. Here's the registration portal, what …
Mondelez buys across seven procurement categories and runs an Economic Inclusion and Supplier Diversity program for certified diverse businesses. Here's the realistic …
Registering with Microsoft is free, but it doesn't get you a contract. Here's how Microsoft procurement actually works, which certifications it recognizes, …
Merck spends more than 10% of its purchasing budget with diverse and small businesses. Here's the real registration portal, the certifications that …
Medtronic buys from diverse suppliers through one registration portal and a specific set of certifications. Here's how to get into the system, …
McKesson buys from thousands of vendors, and the front door is a portal called STARS. Registering is the easy part. Here's what …
McDonald's spent about $3.5 billion with diverse-owned suppliers and hit its 25% goal early, then retired the goal in January 2025. Here's …
Tier 1 is what a corporation buys from you directly. Tier 2 is what its prime suppliers buy from you. Here's how …
Mastercard runs a supplier inclusion program for certified diverse businesses, and a separate procurement track for everyone. Here's who qualifies, what it …
Selling to Marriott runs through two doors: the corporate supplier portal and Avendra, its procurement partner for hotels in the Americas. Here's …
Lowe's takes new product pitches through RangeMe, not a cold email. Registration puts you in the system, it doesn't win you a …
Registering with Lockheed Martin takes a web form. Getting a contract is a different process entirely. Here's how LM actually selects suppliers, …
Corporate supplier diversity programs spend over $200 billion a year, and digital work is in scope. Here's which certifications buyers count, who's …
Selling to Kroger runs through two different doors: Supplier Hub for every vendor, and a separate diverse-supplier track. Here's how each works …
Trash, recycling, and environmental services are some of the steadiest diverse-supplier categories there are. The work is recurring and the buyers are …
Kraft Heinz buys from two doors: a SupplierOne diversity intake and SAP Ariba onboarding for active vendors. Here's which one to use, …
Uniforms and branded apparel are a recurring, easy-to-track spend category, which is exactly what supplier diversity teams want. Here's how a certified …
KPMG buys hundreds of millions in goods and services a year, and it does take diverse suppliers seriously. Here's where to register, …
A diverse-owned language services company has a real edge in supplier diversity programs, but only if you get certified for the right …
Kimberly-Clark won't add you because you filled out a form. Here's how its Supplier Engagement program works, which certifications it recognizes, and …
If you run a diverse-owned 3PL or warehouse, the certification you pick should follow your buyer. Here's how corporate and government logistics …
Kaiser Permanente buys through a single vendor portal and runs its supplier diversity work under a program called Impact Spending. Here's how …
Contract security runs on labor, low margins, and trust. Diverse certification opens doors at corporations and agencies, but only if you know …
JPMorgan Chase spends more than $2 billion a year with diverse suppliers, but getting added to its Supplier Network is a starting …
A diverse certification gets a roofing contractor a meeting. Bonding, EMR, and a clean prequal packet win the job. Here's where the …
Registering as a J&J supplier takes minutes. Getting in front of a buyer takes a real strategy. Here's how their supplier inclusion …
A diverse-owned plumbing or mechanical shop has two buyers most contractors ignore: corporate facilities programs and public agencies with subcontracting goals. Here's …
John Deere buys through one front door: the JDSN prospective-supplier application. Here's what it asks, what Deere actually screens for, and where …
Corporations and their ad agencies spend real money on diverse-owned production firms, but the work goes to shops that get certified, registered, …
Hyatt buys most of its goods through a group purchasing org, not a public portal. Here's where supplier registration actually happens, how …
Painting is a trade where a diverse certification opens real doors, because GCs, paint manufacturers, agencies, and Fortune 500 facilities teams all …
Humana runs a real procurement portal and a long-standing supplier diversity program. Here's how registration actually works, which certifications open the diverse-supplier …
Office supplies and promo are classic indirect-spend categories, which is exactly why corporate supplier diversity teams want diverse vendors here. Here's how …
Registering on Honeywell's SupplierOne portal takes an afternoon. Getting bought is the hard part. Here's how the diversity program works, which certifications …
Hospitals don't buy from a vendor list. They buy through GPOs, distributors, and prime vendors. Here's how a diverse-owned medical supplies business …
Honda spends about $3 billion a year with minority- and women-owned suppliers. Here's how their procurement actually works, where to register, and …
Diverse-owned agencies win work differently than product suppliers. The certification gets you in the database; relationships and a tight category story win …
Selling to The Home Depot starts with one of two front doors: the New Product Submission portal or the Supplier Pipeline diversity …
Market research and analytics is one of the better service categories for a diverse-owned firm to win on, because buyers can scope …
Hilton buys through Hilton Supply Management, not the hotels. Here's the right door to register at, what their supplier diversity program rewards, …
Consulting is a relationship sale, and supplier diversity gives a diverse-owned firm a reason to be in the room. Here's which certifications …
You can't just sign up to sell to Google. Enrollment runs through SAP Ariba and starts with an invitation. Here's how the …
A diverse-owned law firm doesn't win panel work by being certified. It wins because a general counsel found it, vetted it, and …
Goldman Sachs runs a real vendor diversity program, but you don't register your way in cold. Here's how the firm actually sources, …
Grounds maintenance is one of the most contracted services in the country, and most of it is bid out on recurring cycles. …
GM doesn't take cold applications for direct work. Here's how its Supplier Acceleration program and SupplyPower portal actually work, what the 2025 …
Selling IT or software to enterprises as a diverse-owned firm is its own game. Here's which certifications buyers actually count, where the …
General Mills buys ingredients, packaging, logistics, and services from thousands of vendors, and runs a supplier diversity program that dates to the …
Mechanical work gets bought differently than products. For a diverse-owned HVAC firm, the certification that matters depends on who's writing the check. …
Registering with Ford takes an afternoon. Getting sourced takes a capability statement, the right certification, and patience. Here's the real path, and …
HR, payroll, and benefits administration is a labor-spend category, which makes it one of the easiest ways for a corporation to move …
Registering as a FedEx supplier is free and takes an afternoon. Getting bought is the hard part. Here's how the FedEx Supplier …
Hotels buy through a handful of supply-management arms and group purchasing organizations. Get certified, register where they actually look, and you're in …
Retailers and agencies spend billions on freight every year and actively recruit diverse carriers. The certification that opens corporate doors isn't the …
Certification gets you in the database. Food safety paperwork, the right buyer, and a tight first job get you the contract. Here's …
Staffing is one of the easiest categories to sell into a supplier diversity program, and one of the most crowded. Here's how …
Flooring is one of the most subcontracted trades in commercial construction, which makes it a strong fit for diverse-owned shops. Here's which …
Registering as a Disney supplier is free and runs through one portal. Getting Disney to actually buy from you is the hard …
Fleet maintenance, fuel, upfit, and vehicle services are categories where corporate buyers actively want diverse vendors. Here's which certifications pay off, who's …
Registering on Delta's supplier portal takes an afternoon. Getting an actual contract takes a certification, a sharp capability statement, and patience. Here's …
A diverse-owned event or meeting services firm has a real edge with corporate buyers, but only if you get certified, get found, …
Deloitte buys billions in outside services every year, and it still registers small and diverse vendors. Here's where to register, what changed …
If you run a minority-, women-, or veteran-owned electrical firm, certification only matters if it puts you in front of the right …
You can register your business with Dell in an afternoon, but registration isn't a contract. Here's how Dell's supplier and diverse-supplier process …
Construction runs on two different diversity systems: government DBE work tied to DOT-funded projects, and corporate MBE/WBE spend flowing through primes like …
There are three different ways into CVS Health depending on what you sell, and its supplier diversity program changed quietly in 2025. …
Print and signage is one of the most reliable categories for diverse suppliers because every large company spends on it. Here's which …
Costco buys through regional buyers and a Supplier Inclusion program it kept after the 2025 DEI vote. Here's the real path in, …
Comcast NBCUniversal spends over a billion dollars a year with diverse suppliers, but registering in their portal is the easy part. Here's …
Accounting is one of the easiest professional services to buy from a diverse-owned firm, and one of the hardest to break into …
Colgate-Palmolive buys from diverse suppliers through its Supplier Inclusion program and registers them on SupplierGateway. Here's what it accepts, how registration works, …
The Coca-Cola Company runs a real supplier diversity program and a registration portal called STARS. Registering is the easy part. Here's how …
Clorox buys through two doors: direct materials and indirect goods and services. Here's how the registration actually works, what its supplier diversity …
Citi spent over $1.3 billion with certified diverse suppliers in 2022, then quietly reworked its DEI program in February 2025. Here's how …
You can't just fill out a form to sell to Cisco. Onboarding is invitation-led through Smart Buy on Ariba, and a diversity …
The Cigna Group buys billions in goods and services and runs a diverse-supplier program with roots in the 1970s. Here's how registration, …
Registering with Chevron takes an afternoon. Getting work takes more than a profile. Here's how Chevron's supplier registration and supplier diversity program …
Caterpillar buys billions in parts and services every year, but its front door is a profile form most suppliers fill out wrong. …
Capital One runs two front doors for new vendors: Ariba Discovery for any prospective supplier, and a separate diverse-supplier registration that feeds …
Becoming a Boeing supplier starts with a capability assessment in the ESLC portal, not a sales pitch. Here's the registration path, the …
Best Buy buys through a partner portal, not a cold pitch. Here's how the supplier paths actually differ, where a diversity certification …
Bank of America spends over $2 billion a year with diverse suppliers and runs one of the oldest programs in banking. Here's …
3M buys through a single front door called Supplier Direct, and the only way in as a new vendor is the Introduce …
LGBTBE is a corporate certification, not a federal one. Here's who qualifies, how the NGLCC process works, what it costs, and which …
Minority business grants are real, but rarer and more competitive than the ads suggest. Here are the legitimate sources, what they actually …
MBE certification is a key, not a contract. Here's the honest case for and against it for corporate work, what it costs, …
Cleaning is one of the few categories where a diverse certification actually moves a buyer's hand. Here's which certifications matter, who buys, …
Selling to Amazon as a diverse supplier means two different things. One is becoming a vendor to Amazon the corporation. The other …
Big corporations spend billions a year with certified diverse suppliers. Getting into their programs follows a pattern: get the right certification, register …
Corporate buyers find diverse suppliers in a handful of specific places. Get listed where they search, fix your profile, and reach the …
RTX registration takes minutes, but registration is not a contract. Here's how RTX's supplier diversity and small business programs actually work, and …
A DOBE is a disability-owned business enterprise certified by Disability:IN. Here's who qualifies, how the process works, and which corporate supplier programs …
Oracle buys from a 650,000-supplier database it filters by certification before inviting anyone to bid. Here's how registration and the supplier diversity …
NVIDIA doesn't run a public supplier-diversity portal the way RTX or Microsoft does. Here's the honest path in: the Partner Network, the …
Intel spends billions with diverse suppliers, but the registration portal isn't a bid list. Here's the certification and intake path that actually …
IBM has bought from diverse suppliers since 1968 and still targets 5% of addressable spend. Here's the actual on-ramp: how registration works, …
HP Inc. runs a diverse-supplier registration most owners fill out wrong. Here's the actual form, the certifications it accepts, and how to …
HCA Healthcare buys through HealthTrust, its group purchasing organization, not a single vendor form. Here's the actual path in, what credentialing requires, …
EY buys from diverse-owned firms through its Inclusive Procurement team, but there's no public bid board. Here's the registration path, what certifications …
ExxonMobil spent more than $6.8 billion with diverse U.S. suppliers in 2024. Registering in their diversity database is free and takes an …
Elevance Health spent over $1.2 billion with diverse suppliers in 2024. Registration runs through SAP Ariba and takes an afternoon. Getting picked …
Registering as an AT&T supplier is a 20-minute form. Getting an actual contract is a multi-year relationship. Here's the real process, what …
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Most of what gets covered here turns into a question of which certification you should pursue first. The eligibility quiz checks your business against every certification we track and returns a ranked list with the buyers each opens.