How supermarkets can school produce shoppers

The successful merchandising of fruits and vegetables is a multi-faceted endeavor.

While offering fresh and high-quality produce is vital for attracting and retaining customers, retailers seeking to optimize sales also need to instruct shoppers on such factors as product handling and ways to incorporate produce in meal planning, said Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods for Arlington, Va.-based FMI — The Food Industry Association.

That includes steering shoppers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate web page, which includes produce in its nutritional guidance, and the USDA’s FoodKeeper app that details how consumers can store produce to extend product life, he said. “Shoppers are buying less produce in each transaction to avoid food waste,” Stein said.

Other instructional vehicles include QR codes that shoppers can scan with a smart phone and receive meal ideas, preparation suggestions, recipes, and storage recommendations for produce, he said. Retailers also can post videos to their web pages that suggest ways to incorporate produce into different eating occasions, Stein said.

In addition, stores can provide online tips from registered dietitians that encourage shoppers to add produce to their carts while providing further product content via blog posts, he said.

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Simplifying shopping can trigger greater interest in fruits and vegetables as well, Stein said. That includes cross-merchandising produce with other meal components while spotlighting well-being attributes, teaching shoppers about portion sizes, and offering creative ways for consumers to incorporate produce into more dayparts, he said.

While 51% of shoppers eat fruit at breakfast, only 27% include vegetables in the meal, Stein said. In addition, 72% of consumers have vegetables at dinner but only 38% include fruit. “Snacking, whether in the afternoon or evening, is another opportunity for shoppers to increase their produce consumption,” he said.

The most effective merchandising strategies will consider the dayparts in which a particular store’s shoppers consume the most produce and the demographics of the consumers, Stein said.

High income households with children, for instance, are more apt to purchase value-added products that are pre-washed or pre-cut, he said. Such shoppers typically eat fresh produce daily, shop frequently, snack on produce, and deemphasize price while valuing convenience, Stein said.

“Produce is universal, with nearly every demographic purchasing and eating selections in one form or another,” he said.

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Retailers also can appeal to freshness-oriented shoppers by highlighting a product’s seasonality and spotlighting locally grown items, Stein said, noting that 36% of shoppers indicate that seasonal items will prompt sales, and 20% say locally grown produce will spur purchases.