Jonathan Charlton, produce category merchandiser at UNFI, Logan, N.J., sent these beautiful photos.
His Produce Artist Award Series submission of his summertime display work comprises one of our early entries.
He shows us that potatoes don’t have to be a blah display. There are enough colors and varieties to have fun with the category, and you can always group them with other interesting items, like artichokes, berries and live basil.
Charlton has some wow-worthy strawberry-mango displays, as well as a strawberry-melon display and a strawberry-pineapple display. And then he gets creative with Rainier cherry pouch bags, coupled creatively with clamshells of blueberries.
The vivid plum section is enough to make you pause and realize it’s stone fruit season.
To enter the summer contest, produce professionals can simply email six to 10 photos of a variety of displays from this season (cherries, stone fruit, grapes, melons, summer veg, etc.) to Artists@ProduceMarketGuide.com.
Include in the email: Your name, role, company and location.
PMG shares many of the entries on its LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts and will also feature some of the best displays in its results webinar. The program is sponsored by Sage Fruit Co.
See who won in each category in the spring contest: Best Produce Manager, Best Produce Merchandiser/Specialist, Best Cherry Display, Best Vidalia Onion Display, Best Sweet Corn Display, Best Melon Display, Best Mango Display and best Berry Display. Watch the winner webinar too.
The deadline to enter is Sept. 12, but earlier entries are encouraged so PMG can share photos throughout the summer (like we just did with Charlton’s entry) to inspire other merchandisers and produce managers across the country.
