HARPS RECIPE AT NEW UNIT: READY TO CUT HASSLE FACTOR

ROSEANNE HARPER

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Harps Food Stores has made service a priority in the produce department at a new store here.

Prepreparation of vegetables and fruits, open production, added variety and remerchandising to provide different value-added items at different times of the day are part of a winning formula that's generating big sales, chain officials said.

And if success continues here, the new elements will be rolled out to additional stores, they said.

Washed, sliced, diced and chopped vegetables, prepared in-store, are packaged together to give customers serving ideas for dinner. Associates also custom-cut any produce items on request, and telephone hot lines in the department provide easy access to hard-to-come-by recipe ingredients, such as dried cherries or dried, exotic mushrooms.

Such new features are designed to make life easier for today's busy customers, said Dennis Baker, produce merchandiser for the 41-unit, Springdale, Ark.-based Harps.

"I like to describe what we're doing as taking the 'hassle factor' out of meal preparation," Baker added.

The in-store prep of vegetables is new for Harps. The nearest the department had come at other units to giving the customer a product ready for the table was in offering prepackaged salads sourced from outside, he said.

However, cutting out the "hassle factor" by adding service meant that the chain had to add labor.

Four to five associates are on duty during the peak hours, which at this store are 3 to 6 in the afternoon. By comparison, at other Harps stores two or three associates would be assigned to produce during peak hours, Baker said.

The investment in labor has been worth it, however, Baker emphasized. The department's sales here are accounting for 10% to 12% of total store sales, which he revealed is 2% to 3% ahead of other Harps stores that are similar in size and volume.

The program apparently is hitting the mark because its offers a meal solution that is compatible with the produce department's role of being an ingredient supplier.

"Everybody has their own version of home-meal replacement, but I know that around my house there are just two problems with preparing a meal: deciding what to fix and cleaning up afterwards," Baker said. "Take one or both of those problems away, and you've encouraged people to cook."

To help solve the first problem, Harps is creating products like a fall stew mixture, using chopped, washed, peeled baby carrots, and celery and bell peppers, and selling the mixture by the pound.

All the customer has to do is throw them into a cooking pot with some meat and turn on the burner. Those and other such store-prepared combos are all packaged in various sizes of see-through clam-shell packaging.

Green beans and button mushrooms are also packaged together, for example, and priced by the pound.

"It's a good value for the customer. There's no trimming necessary. So, not only does it save preparation time, there's no waste," Baker said.

The price per pound varies according to what's in the particular mixture, but there are three basic price categories. Potatoes and onions would fall into the $1.49-a-pound category, for example, and green beans and button mushrooms, $1.99. Variety beans with certain sliced squashes could be $2.49 a pound.

"We keep it simple. There are just three price categories [for the vegetable combinations]," Baker said, pointing out that makes it easy for the customer and for the associate to handle.

The pricing structure is similar to the type used in some delis where tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches fall into the lowest price category and ham and cheese and turkey with cheese into the next up, and so on.

About 4 feet of a three-tiered produce case at the new store hold prepacked, store-prepared combo items, but Harps tells customers they can get any fruit or vegetable cut or sliced to order.

Industrial-size food processors whir away just behind low-profile produce cases. Even the sinks are partially in view of the customer.

"We took the wall down and opened up the area behind the cases. You can see associates from the chest up right there, washing and chopping vegetables and making fruit trays," Baker said.

"We wanted our associates to be more visible to the customer. We started that in a couple of our remodels before this opening. It used to be that you'd have displays up to the ceiling and then the associate was apt to disappear behind the double doors. Not anymore," he said, adding that the open production, more-service approach will be featured in new and remodeled stores from now on.

If a customer wants a more expensive combination of items than are outlined in the three price categories, such as portobella mushrooms sliced or chopped with another more exotic vegetable, associates are instructed to consult the manager or assistant manager for help with the pricing.

"We'll do anything the customer asks and we haven't been asked yet to do anything we can't do," Baker said.

But in the learning process, the chain found on its own that there are some things that don't work well. Chopping or slicing potatoes hours ahead, for instance is not a good idea.

"We can't peel potatoes and chop them and leave them overnight or all day because they discolor," Baker said. Harps hasn't found a way to conquer that, other than to let customers know they'll wash and slice or chop potatoes for them to order.

"If someone tells us they want to make potatoes O'Brien tonight, we'll wash and chop the ingredients for them for then."

Indeed, Baker pointed out that the in-store cut and sliced vegetables are prepared as close to sale as possible.

"For example, we don't put out the packages of beans and mushrooms and the chopped stew vegetables and others like that until later afternoon." Baker added that those are items designed for take-home in the evening.

In the morning, the produce department displays the value-added items that people are apt to pick up on their way to work.

"We package some vegetables, like broccoli and carrots and cauliflower with a cup of dip. We also put out some stemmed washed fruits in clam-shell packages. We might put two kinds of grapes together and some strawberries," Baker said.

Some of those items are also displayed later in the evening, for customers who can opt to pick them up for the next day's lunch.

All the items that Baker described are displayed in two places: in the produce department itself and at a "meals idea section" that's situated at the front of the store and runs 48 feet in length and has three tiers.

The meat, deli, grocery and produce departments share that space in Harps new store, as reported Sept. 22 in SN. The portion of space in that section devoted to produce is 8 feet in length.

Baker said the meal idea section is "very successful," and sees its biggest volume of traffic in late afternoon and evening. The 45,000-square-foot store is located in a residential area, with no office buildings nearby. "It's totally residential. This is an afternoon and evening store."

Meanwhile, even with its increased variety in several categories, the produce department can't carry everything a customer might need for a recipe. But that's not a problem, Baker said, because a telephone has been installed in the produce department that has four speed-dial connections to suppliers of gourmet, organic and tropical items.

"If a customer needs dried cherries or dried strawberries for a recipe, for example, they can pick up the phone and place an order directly to the supplier," Baker said.

Here's how it works: The customer places the order with the supplier and tells them the store he or she is calling from; then the supplier faxes a copy of the order to the store's produce manager. One case of the product is shipped to the store and the produce manager calls the customer when the shipment arrives.

"The customer can buy as little [of that case] as they want, just one box, if that's all they need. It's our responsibility, then, to sell the rest. We'll display it or send some of the product out to stores nearby," Baker said.

"This is a great service. I haven't heard of anyone else doing that,"Baker said.

Baker thinks the department is also making the shoppers' lives easier by offering increased variety every day too. The produce department at this store carries 485 items, which he said is 150 to 200 more than any other Harps store.