Jeff Tomassetti, produce and floral director for Buehler’s Supermarkets in Wooster, OH, said, “I feel the biggest cause for higher shrink in the organic category would be the higher retail price points which sometimes scare the customers away. Secondly, I don’t always think the product comes in as fresh as some of the conventional product that turns over quicker.”
A leading reason is the fact that organic fruits and vegetables are grown naturally and are not treated with waxes and preservatives as is conventional produce. This makes them more susceptible to a lower durability of shelf life.
Organic produce is more delicate in many ways. Educating employees about the differences between conventional and organic produce will give them the knowledge required to help get past those shrink barriers.
Here are six areas associated with the sensitivity of organic produce longevity:
Harvesting: The spoilage process of fruits and vegetables can start in the growing fields. Mechanical equipment and the gathering of crops can sometimes induce cultivating damage to organic product. Some of the injured items may slowly begin to decay in packing, shipping and finally at the retail level.
Temperature: Immediate cooling and storage of product is essential. Signs of heat, frost and variable degrees of fresh produce can easily result in damage. Extreme high and low temperatures will speed up deterioration of the product, resulting in shrink. Allowing delivered product to sit out of refrigeration for long periods will speed up bacteria resulting in rapid wilting and spoilage.
Shipping: The transporting of organic produce over long distances can lead to loss of valuable shelf life. That’s why it’s crucial that protecting longevity is important. The refrigeration units must be set and operate steadily at all times during the route.
Handling: This is the most challenging part of protecting and conserving the length of organic produce. The highly sensitive items such as leafy lettuce, cooking greens, mushrooms, berries and the equivalent must be treated with utmost care. Just dropping a case of product on the floor or tossing it on a cart will clearly damage and lessen its shelf life.
Pricing: Since organic produce retails are generally higher than conventional, it must be sold through the system as fast as possible. Extreme retails may create customer resistance. For example, shoppers may forgo buying organic broccoli priced at $3.99 versus conventional broccoli at $2.49. Product that remains idle on display will rapidly lose its buying quality. Reasonable pricing will sell the product faster and help reduce any possible shrink.
Microorganisms: High levels of bacteria will encourage produce to decay. Since organic items are not treated with any preservatives or waxes, the bacteria and mold will damage the product more rapidly. That’s why more care needs to be given to organic items in every way possible.
The popularity and consumer demand for organic produce can be a boost to sales.
For this reason, special care must be taken into consideration when dealing with the category. It’s very important that the organic sensitivity is understood before just stocking the sections.
Educating the work force to the sensitivity of organic product will go a long way. Teaching the proper way of handling it will help in preventing product damage making organic produce training absolutely imperative in order to combat prolonged shrink losses.
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].
