United Fresh and NACS Release New Resource for Store Owners

As consumer demand and sales for fresh produce at convenience stores continues to grow, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the United Fresh Produce Association have published a new resource looking at distribution options available to store owners.

“Convenience Store Distribution Options for Fresh Produce” provides an overview of the various options available to retailers seeking to increase their fresh produce offerings. Consumers are increasingly looking to convenience stores for fresh produce for snacks and meals, whether bananas, cut fruit or prepared salads. Nearly half of all consumers (48 percent) say that convenience stores are a place where they can get fresh produce, according to a 2015 national consumer survey conducted by NACS. At the same time, convenience retailers also are stocking more fresh produce. More than three in four NACS members (77 percent) say that they now sell fresh produce. As a result of these trends, sales of fresh fruits and vegetables in convenience stores grew 14.4 percent in 2015, more than five times the overall 2.7 percent growth rate of produce sales in the United States, according to Nielsen.

Depending on their resources and business model, the 154,000 convenience stores in the United States have very different distribution approaches to get products to their stores — and these approaches affect how they obtain fresh product. Further complicating the issue, many chains have grown through a combination of acquisitions and the building of new stores, making it tougher to implement a one-size- fits-all approach across all stores within a company.

“This latest resource is designed to provide an overview of the options available to retailers so that they can examine what approach may work best for their business — or even at individual locations. It also is an excellent resource for others interested in the channel so that they can best understand the challenges and opportunities related to obtaining fresh produce,” says Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives.

The new publication is the third deliverable from the partnership that NACS and United Fresh formed in June 2014 to identify best practices to grow produce sales in convenience stores. The groups published two documents in 2015: “Building the Business Case for Produce Sales at Convenience Stores” and “Are You Fit for Fresh?” a 10-point checklist that looks at critical areas to assess whether a specific store should grow its fresh produce offer. NACS and United Fresh also were among the groups that worked with The Food Trust to develop its 2015 resource, “Healthy Food and Small Stores: Strategies to Close the Distribution Gap in Underserved Communities.”