The intentional produce manager
Steve Patt is a part of the leadership team for Tourtellot and Co. He has worked for or with independent grocers for nearly 50 years.
Last month, I advocated for the elevation of produce managers within the supermarket hierarchy to better reflect the critical role they play. In this column, I’ll explore how those newly elevated produce managers should approach each day as they slip on their green jackets and aprons.
In my time as a produce manager, nearly every day started off the same way. I would walk straight from the time clock to the meat backroom for a muddy cup of what passed for “coffee” and then trudge over to my department. The morning ritual never really changed – bad coffee, followed by checking to see who called out sick and what time the truck would arrive. I would then grab two empty banana boxes and head out to the floor for the fun-filled morning cull.
There was something comforting in the predictability of it all, but as I came to discover, comfort leads to complacency, and complacency leads to, well, not much.
I am certain this scenario, or something similar, plays out in some of today’s independent produce departments. Sure, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks have improved the coffee situation. However, reaching the fullest potential of every produce department requires looking at how produce managers actually manage – not from routine, but from intentionality.
Purposeful approach
What do I mean by managing with intentionality? Simply this: that every action, every decision and every thought process is an intentional one pointing at a single goal – to be the absolute best produce manager, managing the absolute best produce department, that I can. There is no room for whims, off-the-cuff decisions or shortcuts in the mission to be the best.
What if produce managers looked at each day as an adventure?
Suppose that before anything else, they started each morning objectively looking at their department – perhaps as if they were a customer – and asked themselves this question: What is it that I can do today to make this the most exciting, sales-driving produce department that it can be?
What if, instead of running to the schedule or the crisping station, a produce manager stood at the front of the department, in the same place a customer would first encounter fresh produce, and took some time to let the creative process work its magic?
I can hear the pushback – because too often I expressed it.
Produce managers can’t afford to spend time or labor budget “thoughtfully creating.” My answer to that is they cannot afford not to. If the mission is greatness, then a few minutes spent in creative thought is a prudent investment.
No manager can achieve their fullest potential alone. It takes management and ownership with a mindset that welcomes a disruptive, questioning attitude. It takes a wholesale partner with the chops to deliver outstanding values through daily opportunities, and it takes a department team singularly focused on achieving the mission to be the best.
Role of upper management
With regard to store management and independent owner-operators, let me simply say that it is time to let the produce managers run free. Allow them the latitude to explore and a safe environment in which to fail.
If produce managers are free to express and execute in a creative fashion, just stand back and watch as customers engage and embrace the excitement that comes from the intersection of unpredictability and value.
Equally important to becoming an intentional produce manager is the relationship between the wholesale company and the retailer. Does the wholesaler not only understand but completely support the retailer’s mission to be the best? Does the produce supplier understand the necessity for both unsurpassed quality and below-market opportunities? They are not mutually exclusive – a good wholesaler can do both with equal success.
This important relationship must transcend the traditional wholesaler-retailer dynamic and become one of mutual trust and benefit. Success lifts both entities. Retailers and wholesalers need not be adversaries.
If a wholesale distributor is truly invested in the retailer’s mission, and the retailer has faith in the wholesaler to deliver results, amazing things can happen. I have seen it too many times to not believe in the power of good relationships.
Follow the leader
The third piece is the development and motivation of the produce staff – and of the three, this should be simplest to achieve. That’s not because it is less important; a strong team is essential to any mission’s success. It is easiest to achieve simply because any team is the reflection of its leader.
If a produce manager is upbeat, confident and enthusiastic about becoming the best, then the team will mirror that. If a produce manager appears lethargic, downcast, defeated and ensnared by predictability, the team will reflect that.
Produce managers look to the people to whom they report for encouragement, creative freedom and appreciation, so produce managers should strive to deliver that same support and attention to their own staffs.
Finally, to the produce managers: remember always that action is the fundamental key to success. Every morning, make the intentional decision to be great. Decide to not take the easy road but to do the hard work to become a great produce manager.
Engage and challenge management and your wholesaler. Be active, be creative, be adventurous, and yes, occasionally fall down. Do this, and watch as the success you’ve worked so hard for become a reality.
