Does your produce department have a reputation?
By this I mean, how do you suppose your department is regarded? By those in your company, those on your store management team, and especially by those in your neighborhood – your customers?
This is important because you either have a “good” reputation, or perhaps a not-so-stellar reputation.
The difference lies in many points. If you could be a fly on the wall, listening to customers talk about your store, and specifically your produce department, what would you think if you heard comments such as: “They’re always out of everything, so I do my ‘main’ shopping at (list competitive store here) … If you’re looking for quality, for gourmet items, forget it … I bought a watermelon there once, tasteless, I avoid that store …”
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Do you hear those comments? If you ever do, that’s your reputation on the line. And it isn’t pretty.
A store with a better reputation? That’s when you hear more positive comments: “They always have what I need … The produce there is so fresh, and the clerks so knowledgeable, they always help even though they’re busy … They have the best produce variety … the best selection … They do a great job with produce at ‘my’ store …”
So much of a good reputation begins with that last set of phrases: Variety. Selection.
Variety means that you’re unafraid to stock as many SKUs as possible, especially in the specialty/gourmet/tropical sets. When a customer shops and walks past a fully stocked fresh herb set, for example, they may not buy much (if any) of your line. But you stock it, every SKU. You replenish and rotate faithfully, keep it fresh — that’s a small snapshot of your reputation on the line. It’s visible, clean and fresh and aromatic.
This makes an impression whether you realize it or not.
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Same goes for the other specialty produce that you carry — which on the surface you may not consider makes a difference — such as fresh sprouts. Alfalfa, bean, sure. How about radish sprouts? Carry most of the variety mushrooms in your order guide? Most of the items available for the tropical specialty set? Do you stock variety radishes, root vegetables, “tender” seasonal offerings such as fiddlehead ferns?
Selection, on the other hand, means that you have ample inventory of each item to shop from. Customers like to choose from 20 pepino melons, not just a handful, especially if the handful is aged and needs to be tossed.
When you consistently maintain a produce department with as full of a variety and ample fresh selection (with minimal backstock) as you are capable of, your customer traffic will increase, sales will follow, and your shrink will be held in check.
And your reputation for having the best produce around will blossom.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years’ experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.
