Whenever the beginning of summer rolls around and I start to see the first sign of peaches and nectarines arriving in the stores, it always reminds me of my early years of working part-time in the produce department after school. The one thought that usually enters my mind was when our produce manager used to get excited about selling summer fruit.A front entrance display of stone fruit. He had us moving around the produce department at breakneck speed changing displays and gearing up for that initial shipment of fruit to arrive. Peaches normally made the scene first and that display was front and center to the rest of the department. Other fruit followed and that was the general kick-off of our summer selling season.

I checked out supermarkets this spring and noted that some were right on target by displaying summer fruit in the front location as customers entered the produce department. On the other hand, a few stores still hedged and displayed only a few items in limited quantities in other areas of the department.

As a produce director, I always instructed produce managers to place the front page advertised feature at the department entrance. It was meant to express an instant value to the shoppers. However, times and trends change. Merchandising methods also change as we learn more about different shopping habits and the special desires of consumers. It’s all about today and now.

I’m a firm believer in constant change rather than the same styles and routines. The same monotonous merchandising methods can become blurry and eventually boring resulting in very little growth. And since produce merchandising is my proficiency, I always turn the pages of “the way it was” to “the way it is now and the way it should be.”

What do consumers want in produce right now? What are they most interested in for their money? What do we need to do in delivering it to them?

Health is a big issue today and consumers are turning to eating additional fresh fruits and vegetables more now than ever before. They want fresh, top quality, good taste, clean, natural, and nutritious produce — and they’re willing to pay the price for it.

Summer fruit consists of all the heavy hitters — melons, grapes, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, berries and cherries. Each has different varieties attached to them, which increases the opportunity for those incremental sales.

When it comes to merchandising summer fruit, try doing it differently this year. The norm has always been to set up a stone fruit section, grape section, berry section, melon section, etc. in various areas of the department. That’s fine, but perhaps using the department entrance area as well for selected summer fruit items may have increased effect and lead to higher volume sales that could help meet those challenging budgets we all must follow this year.

Here are a few reminders to help you increase summer fruit tonnage:

Entrance Display: The first approach into produce should always be set up for an instant sale before shoppers even get into the department. Set up this display space very aggressive with two or three summer fruit items. Each item carries a high-volume sales ring and can give you that edge in meeting or even exceeding budgeted requirements.

Alternate Items: You may want to display red grapes, white grapes, and cherries one week. Display peaches, plums, and nectarines another week. Cantaloupes, honeydews and personal-size watermelons scheduled for another week. Then strawberries, blueberries, etc. The main idea is to rotate the summer fruit items each week at the entrance to excite shoppers into buying plenty right off the bat when they approach the department.

Cherries: The Northwest cherry deal only lasts seven to eight weeks, so make sure they are planned for that entrance display more often. Use a secondary corrugated display unit placed in other good traffic areas like at the checkouts for incremental sales.

Grapes and Berries: These two items carry a tremendous combined sales impact. Berries alone are over 18 percent of all fruit sales. Go with some massive grape and berry displays at the entrance and boost your sales immensely.

Melons: Cantaloupes and watermelons are the big sellers. They can also be placed on that front entrance display. Melons are a high volume tonnage category. Build it up massive.

Peaches, Plums, Nectarines:  These combinations always generate high-volume sales and profit. Place your best-selling varieties on that entrance display and watch them go to work for you.

Fresh-cut Fruit: Don’t forget that fresh-cut fruit cups are in huge demand during the summer months. Plan on full wall case displays from morning to evening.

Keep in mind that the entrance display must have that aggressive and massive presentation in order to impact the customers into buying. To prevent shrink, use false-bottoms that will still allow that full super-colossal appearance.

This year, display your summer fruit front and center at that entrance into your produce department. It will do the job in helping achieve your sales and profit goals.

Ron Pelger is the president and CEO of RonProCon, a consulting firm for the produce industry, and a co-founder of FreshXperts LLC, a group of produce professionals. He can be reached by phone at  775/853-7056 or 775/843-2394 (mobile) or by email at [email protected].