Goodbye summer, hello fall in the produce aisle
“Though we gotta say goodbye for the summer ...”
That classic Bobby Vinton song line reminds me of summer love interests that never carried over once school started, that were never much to begin with, and those that only existed in my mind.
It also reflects a pivotal point in the produce aisle: the switch from summer to fall merchandising.
On one hand the end of summer (which is actually not until late September) marks the end of long days of handling pallets of melons, stone fruit, local fare, and other labor-intensive summer merchandising. We get a breather.
On the other hand, the end of summer means that along with reduced tonnage comes a reduction in sales. Lower sales mean fewer labor hours. That hurts as you have just as much work to do setting up your produce department, just as much effort needed to close shop, keep things rotated and clean – and not near as many hours to maintain standards.
Say the fading summer sales, “Do you miss me yet?”
So, farewell to summer, hello to fall. Keep your chin up though. Fall is, of course, a welcome season too. Fall is all about the harvest bounty. Images of bubbling hot jonathan apple pies adorned with sugary laced lattice tops. It’s knee-deep fall leaves amid jack-o-lantern pumpkins, ornamental gourds, sweet fall grapes, hard squash for baking and crunchy apples for school snacks and candy apples.
All that’s missing from that scene is the little moths fluttering in the lights at the Friday night football game.
It’s time to remerchandise the produce department for fall. A good merchandising plan can be executed in one concerted overnight effort to completely transform your stand from summer to a fall look.
Fall is a fun change. Stores dig out stored bushel baskets to call attention to produce displays and line these up in all sorts of configurations with added props of checkerboard fabric and burlap, for just a couple of examples. Or, add fall décor to accent displays using straw bales, corn stalks and more to project the harvest look.
You get the drift.
Fall in the produce aisle should include all the apples that your warehouse or distribution center offers; keep inventories close and rotate daily. Late fall citrus is just around the corner too, so plan adequate space allocation for navel oranges and grapefruit. Keep the wet rack in top shape too. Just as people are hungry for menu changes, they’ll respond in kind if you have a full line of fall pears displayed. The rich fall fresh produce colors and aroma are enough to tantalize shoppers.
Comfort foods spark sales too. Expand facings and call attention to your root vegetable categories, such as with new crop potatoes and onions, carrots, celery and all the soup fixins, which help boost sales as the days get cooler. Not to mention the winter holidays are on the horizon as well.
As for my fractured, goodbye-to-produce summer lyrics … So let us make a pledge to regroup in May. And if we don’t, we’ll be, uh, remiss.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years’ experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.
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