In the Trenches: The heat of summer brings on produce selling
In the Trenches: The heat of summer brings on produce selling
Back in the 1960s the summertime heat waves used to be referred to as lazy, hazy days. In fact, a song titled, Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer was made popular by singer Nat King Cole.
I just returned from a road trip through the Central Valley of California meeting up with some fruit and vegetable growers. The temperature while driving to Bakersfield, CA, reached 116 degrees. That high temperature reminded me when the markets would report heat damage in several products — such as lettuce or broccoli.
It’s well known that high temperatures can cause problems with fresh produce, but the summertime heat can also have a positive impact by stimulating sales for retailers. Summer has shoppers seeking more produce items for backyard BBQs, grilling, patio parties and camping.
Summer selling starts with promotions. The main thing is to highlight the freshness and superior quality of the items being promoted in ad programs, which will have a positive influence in drawing shoppers to the produce department.
The next step is to choose the items that fit into shoppers’ needs. That calls for seasonal product such as berries, grapes, melons, stone fruit, sweet corn and vegetables that are ideal for grilling. Those items will have a huge influence in generating summer sales, and the object is to persuade customers to return to the same produce department repeatedly knowing the emphasis is on maintaining fully stocked displays of summer items they prefer the most.
Growers, shippers and suppliers are always ready and able to fill orders for retailers. One of those grower-shippers is Pandol Bros., known for its superior quality grapes.
John Pandol, director of special projects for Pandol Bros., based in Delano, CA, said, “the harvest forecast powers up in July and is on offense until Thanksgiving. Pandol has its portfolio of varieties that work for us while some retailers have their variety specific buying calendar planned.”
Looking at the retail side, here are comments from two very good merchandising experts known for their outstanding selling methods over the years.
A significant part of selling is in the way we communicate with the customers. The words and expressions used can mean the difference in selling maximum amounts of produce to shoppers.
Dan Avakian, better known as Dan the Produce Man, who once owned and operated a successful fresh produce market store, disclosed his method. “I sourced a lot from local farms, often bringing in corn that was picked that very morning or stone fruit that had been on the tree just 24 hours earlier,” he said. “I would brag to customers that yesterday this peach was still on the tree. Or using a tagline that I stole from T. Benzler, an organic farmer: ‘So fresh it doesn’t even know it’s been picked!’”
Vince Mastromauro, a produce director and merchandising expert for Sunset Foods in Highland Park, IL, revealed one of his summer selling methods.
“We have started to incorporate tote bags of stone fruit packed in our stores and set up as a front-end secondary display to capture that grab-and-go customer. We also display the tote bags in the department as well for the Gen X, Z and Millennial customers who prefer to grab and be on their way after shopping for other produce items.”
Avakian added, “I built big, eye-catching displays with signs highlighting the freshness and flavor. I also created produce character cards, illustrated by a local artist for kids to collect. Every week, they’d run into the store to see which new one was out. We hosted school field trips, and each student got a $5 produce-only gift card to take home, and their parents would bring them back into the store, and nine times out of 10, they bought a lot more than just $5 worth, so they would use up the gift card and then spend money, and we gained new customers that way.”
There are several methods for selling during the crazy, hazy, days of summer.
One is to extend summer items like sweet corn and stone fruit on secondary displays. Another method is the use of tote bags as Mastromauro detailed. Still another way is to create a marketing tool as Avakian used. A way that always adds excitement is an outdoor parking lot extravaganza sale.
These are only some of the ways to move massive amounts of fresh summer produce through the retail system, which will boost sales, profit and tonnage for every retailer.
Ron Pelger is a produce industry adviser and industry writer. He can be contacted at 775-843-2394 or by e-mail at [email protected].
