3 Best Practices to Expand Produce Sales

The pandemic brought an evergreen consumer demand to the forefront: Consumers want their food fresh and healthy, but they want it convenient, too.

Maintaining this balance is of the utmost importance in the produce section, especially as the category continues to grow. Here are three best practices to keep customers happy and profits high.

1. Leverage better-for-you appeal

The pandemic keeps health concerns top of mind, bringing many consumers to reflect on their diets and to seek better-for-you options. This bodes well for the fresh and frozen produce categories; regardless of a shopper’s individual dietary restrictions and preferences, fruits and vegetables will likely be a staple.

Consumers’ health-oriented priorities can help inform grocers’ merchandising strategies. Offer recipe inspiration for in-season produce, for example, or call out health benefits specific to certain fruits and vegetables.

2. Increase convenience

Shoppers are as busy as ever, and for some, taking the time to seed a pomegranate or to slice a melon isn’t an option. As a result, convenience is driving outsized growth in ready-to-eat produce. A report from the Freedonia Group projects that sales of RTE salads and pre-cut produce will continue to increase in coming years, in turn driving demand for produce packaging by 3.5% annually through 2024.

Seek quality packaging to maintain peak freshness of precut options, as well as other timesaving solutions—pouches with easy-carry handles and steam-in-the-bag capabilities, for example, can reduce prep time for fresh or frozen produce to a matter of minutes.

3. Maximize shelf appeal

Beyond health and convenience, great quality and value remain paramount among consumer priorities. This goes beyond the produce itself; consumers look at how fruits and vegetables are packaged as they assess freshness and quality.

Turning to a leader in packaging solutions, such as TC Transcontinental Packaging, can help ensure that fresh and frozen produce looks great on the shelf and tastes great when shoppers enjoy it at home.

TC Transcontinental Packaging offers an array of premade bags and pouches that grocers can customize to their shoppers’ needs and preferences. Features including resealable zippers, easy-carry handles and steam-in-the-bag capabilities, as well as opportunities for grocers to customize packaging with store branding, help ensure that produce looks as good as it tastes—and that consumers will come back for more.

To learn more about how TC Transcontinental Packaging solutions can help expand produce sales both now and in the future, visit  www.tc.tc/packaging