Produce merchandising is key

Tom Baffes and his staff were emphasizing fresh produce at County Fair Foods in Chicago before it was cool. Of the store’s approximately 8,000 square feet, he estimates that fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables occupy about one-third of the space.

“We’ve always stressed produce ever since my dad opened this store 48 years ago,” he said. “We needed something to set us apart from some of the bigger stores.

“That’s the nice thing about this produce explosion. We’ve been on the leading edge of it, so it’s really worked out well.”

The wow factor
As a result, County Fair Foods puts a lot of care into displays and merchandising. And that, said Ron Pelger of Missouri-based FreshXperts in a recent opinion piece, is a necessity.

“Shoppers entering a produce section must be immediately smacked in the face with something exciting,” Pelger wrote. “That something is the trigger that needs to set them off into a ‘buying frenzy’ that encourages purchasing other items not on their shopping list.”

At County Fair Foods, Baffes said, fresh cuts set the pace for the rest of the produce department.

“A lot of average supermarkets might not even have a fresh- cut section, and if they do, it might be a section where they are just ordering items from the warehouse,” Baffes said. “We have two full-timers and a part- time girl that devote all their time to fresh-cut produce.

“We make a couple of stir- fries with peppers, and it’s a convenience thing. People don’t have to buy three or four different whole red, yellow or orange peppers.”

Sampling is essential, Baffes said, to draw customers in and let them taste new items firsthand.

“Our produce manager is very good about sampling right there with the customers,” he said.

Signage is important, Baffes added, as is having knowledgeable employees.

“People really appreciate it when you can ask a produce clerk a question and they can come up with the answer.”

Offer quality
Mark Glanville, long-time produce manager for a Hannaford Bros. store in Scarborough, Maine, until he took a new assignment as a fresh bakery analyst, said ordering for maximum freshness was one of his strategies.

“Ensuring displays are full and fresh to meet peak traffic” is another recommendation from Glanville, who said he also watched the weather and adjusted stock accordingly.

“Warm weather usually equals more fresh-cut melon sales,” he said.

Cross-merchandising
In today’s competitive economy, said David Dozier, a co-owner at GFF Foods in Moore, Okla., you can’t rely on grandpa’s merchandising techniques.

“Back when I started many moons ago, you could just throw it out there,” he said. “Now you’ve got to really display it, have good merchandising, cross merchandising with other departments and pricing.”

Dozier said that in his store, the fresh-cut items sell briskly to families in which both parents work and to older adults.

“The older people tell me that as you get older, you cannot use a knife like you used to, they have arthritis, and all they have to do is open the container and it’s prepared for them,” he said.

FreshXperts vice chairman Anthony Totta, a marketing and business development consultant, also stressed the importance of cross promoting.

“Now that we have QR code technology, we encourage our clients to use it to cross coupon with comparative items,” he said. “For instance, if it’s cut salad mixes, to maybe tie in tomatoes, seedless cucumbers and sweet bell peppers.

“Or, we would use QR codes to tie them to recipes and cooking preparation ideas.”

Totta said FreshXperts consultants have also encouraged their greenhouse clients, for example, to reach out to partner processors to implement cross-couponing.

Bottom line, Glanville said, is not to overlook any aspect of the shopper’s experience.

“It’s all in the salesmanship,” he said, “using good product knowledge, sampling, attractive displays, advertising, great P.O.S. and signage.”