Returning produce to normal
The common phrase lately has to be “I’m looking forward to getting back to normal.”
Which is hard to envision, even now as the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have reached its zenith. Even with some states cautiously opening up businesses in a limited way. Even as Georgia has opened up consumer traffic even further.
We all have a unique vantage point, depending in which part of the country we reside. In the state of Colorado where I live, grocery stores seem far from returning to normal any time soon.
Grocery aisles may be respectably faced, all right, but still remaining are glaring swaths of empty shelves awaiting numerous SKUs of canned goods, pasta, frozen foods and more. And of course, big shelf voids remain with toilet paper and sanitizing products, despite the “Limit 1 per customer” signs posted since early March.
The produce departments nearby bounced back rather well from the first week or so when the panic buying began. Most everything in produce seems all right. Almost.
However, customers can see hints that things are still not normal in produce.
Instead of neatly stocked fruit, the departments are better defined with rows of bin or bagged product. Apples, citrus, onions and potatoes seem to be what consumers are purchasing. I suppose it’s a sign of the times, when shoppers seem fearful of selecting bulk produce others may have already touched.
It seems that if a produce operation really wants to “get back to normal,” we should indeed strive for what normal usually looks like.
This means merchandising to the exciting spring season we’re in, as normal. Following years of tried-and-true marketing that appeals to customers’ buying senses of color, flavors, varieties and more. I’ve seen several examples of the opposite: stocking vegetables hurriedly from shipping cartons, uncrisped (dirty) and untrimmed. Not at all appealing. Certainly not normal.
I’ve seen improper rotation of fragile product dumped onto displays instead of carefully handled. All, I suspect, with the mindset of “just get it on the shelf already.” Too many sloppy examples that suggest cut corners, based perhaps on reacting to the initial panic buying of many weeks ago.
So, if you want to convey that your produce department is intact and back in the game, it’s best to return to your highest standards of sanitation and prepping, along with rotating correctly and stocking full and level displays. And especially reassure your customers as you did before, with a sincere calm greeting and asking what you can help them find.
That, I think, is a good step toward returning to normal.
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