Master your melon merchandising

Merchandising can get pretty creative with hardy melons.
Merchandising can get pretty creative with hardy melons.
(Photos: Courtesy of Brian Dey)

Even though summer is now in our rearview mirror, it’s still hot in many parts of the U.S., and melons are hard to top in their ability to refresh you.

Melons may be summer’s candy, arguably, but it’s available from California, Delaware, Missouri and Texas through October, and year-round in Mexico. The sweet aroma of a ripe cantaloupe is almost as intoxicating and inviting as those dwindling peach displays the next endcap over. It has that ability to stop a customer in their tracks, completely draw them over to a display and, once there, well, the fruit sells itself.

Melons do offer the opportunity to move cases and tonnage through your department. It is a category that a lot of times is both lower maintenance on the floor and in the case of cuts, extremely labor-intensive. Melons in general, however, are a relatively easy category to achieve success with in your merchandising. With just a few simple steps below, you will be on your way to mastering the melon.

Melon mix

Carrying a full variety of melons will net you the best sales. Other than the “big three” — watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew — there are a lot of super-cool melons available for consumers to step out and try something new. Some of the best-tasting melons and eating experiences lie outside of the “big three.” Casaba, Crenshaw, Canary, Santa Claus, Dalia and the more-recent additions of the Kiss melons and the increasingly popular (and awesome display builder) Dino melons will add depth, variety and additional options for your customers.

More often than not, if these melons are available and are merchandised as a group, a honeydew or cantaloupe shopper will either add one of these specialty items to their carts, or maybe trade up into trying something new. For stores that are back into sampling mode, melons are an awesome sampling category, and chunking up newer varieties and offering them out is sure to lead to impulse sales.

Check out these other columns by Brian Dey.

Cutting and overwrapping melons and placing them on your displays will also show the consumer the amazing flesh that awaits. Be sure to write or sticker clear verbiage saying it’s a display melon only and change these out on a daily basis. That’s very important from a food-safety standpoint. One last suggestion would be to print out signage for each variety with its flavor profile on it. This kind of signage might help a consumer decide which melon to buy.

Melon mass

Melons are great to use in mass displays because they are a relatively lower-risk item that can create a lot of impact with the potential size of displays. Melons are relatively easy to stack, and, if they are of the same sizing, fit well into each other and can create nice pyramids.

Bins of watermelons can be placed anywhere in the store (vestibules and outside displays, as well!) and can be topped off with another bin for volume. For smaller stores that might be lighter in volume, dummying up your bin displays on the floor is a great option.

canteloupes
Photo: Courtesy of Brian Dey

Although it might seem like a lot of work, pulling out all of the melons in a bin, laying down some sturdy boxes or crates, placing cardboard over the crates for protection and placing the melons back in the bin makes the selection of a melon easier for your customers and adds some height to your display. It also allows you to check each melon for quality as you lift it out and put it back into the dummied bin. This is also a good practice if you do bins of cantaloupe or honeydew, as these do not handle the weight of a full bin like watermelons can. As always, be sure to cull and rotate melons, discarding any off-quality product.

Cuts, cuts and more cuts

Ingrained in my memory, a summertime staple phrase I heard as a young produce clerk from my first produce manager was to always “cut ahead to stay ahead.” And these words are so very true when it comes to maximizing your melon sales.

Cuts, especially with watermelons, are where it’s at to make some serious coin. Your $5.99 whole watermelon can easily double and sometimes triple, when cut up into quarters, halves, chunks and slices. This is where you can offer both a convenience for your customer and make a ton of margin in doing so.

The key here, however, is to stay ahead and plan your labor accordingly. Always have at least a rack cut ahead and ready to go. On days where you know it’s going to be really hot, have two ready!

Learn more: Melons and Specialty Melons

Mix up your variety, as well. Quarters historically have always been the heavy hitter when it comes to cuts, but halves, overwrapped slices and chunks offer convenience as well.

Be sure to make space in your prep-foods areas or grab-and-go cases, too, for some of the smaller packs for impulse sales and healthy lunch options. While watermelon will be the staple in your cut sections, offering chunked up or sliced cantaloupe or honeydew will also net added sales. Both are staples in building a fruit salad cup with grapes, berries and pineapple. They’re all colorful and refreshing, not to mention they have the potential to be profitable.

But cutting fruit in-store is extremely labor-intensive. Some operations outsource this job because of labor shortages and food-safety requirements. Whichever way you choose to go, having cuts in-house will do wonders for your department sales and will bring back customers for more.  It’s all easy “melon money” to add to your sales and ring up the register.

Photo: Courtesy of Brian Dey
Photo: Courtesy of Brian Dey

Here’s a tried-and-true trick: Half a cantaloupe, scooping out the center seeds, and fill the spot with blueberries. Rubber-band a spoon around it for convenience, and your customer will have a quick and delicious lunch.

Again, proper food-safety measures must be followed when cutting fruit in-store, from immaculate cutting sanitation to temperature requirements. Once melons are processed for sale, it is very important that they remain in proper temps.

One final tip on cuts: When stickering from your scales, try to always put the stickers on the bottom of the melon so that the full flesh of the fruit is on display for your customers to see. It’s a minor detail, but one that will make a big difference.  

— Brian Dey is a three-time winner of Best Produce Merchandiser in PMG’s Produce Artist Award Series. He is senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator at Four Seasons Produce.

 

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