A couple of produce clerks stocking the packaged salad section were heard to say: “Geez, how long does it take to make a salad, anyhow? About five minutes? People that buy this stuff are so lazy!”
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Armand Lobato |
More likely, value-added items sell because people are just the opposite. They’re busy. Many people hold down two or more jobs. They may not splurge for the high-ticket whole meals sold in the deli on a regular basis, but spending just a bit more for a packaged salad or snack-size cut fruit works nicely. Trading a few bucks for precious time is an acceptable exchange.
Convenience is certainly the biggest selling point of value-added. Isn’t that why single soda bottles sell so well in cold cases near the checkout stands? After all, wouldn’t it make much more economic sense to walk to the unrefrigerated aisle, get a more cost-effective pack, take it home and wait four hours for it to get cold?
But as we all know, human nature never did make much sense.
Another line of reasoning for not underestimating convenience food lines is customers knowing that every bit of what they buy is edible. No shrink, so to speak, on their part.
Tacking on to all the advantages convenience items provide is the likelihood of having more variety. A customer could buy a single watermelon — or they could buy a half cantaloupe, along with a cut honeydew or quartered watermelon and thereby save refrigerator space and have more to choose from.
As temperatures reach near or into triple digits, summer is the time to take this thought process even further.
I walked through a store near Salt Lake City recently and was thoroughly impressed. The produce department had loads of cut melons in iced fixtures. The stone fruit could have taken up space in the refrigerated section but was wisely merchandised away from this cold, flavor-killing zone.
Instead, this secondary upright case was stocked with cold citrus, juices, berries and apples. They promoted lots of in-store, cut vegetable and cut fruit chunks in a multideck cold case, in packs that varied from single-servings (great for the lunch crowd) all the way to trays large enough to feed a crowd.
Suffice it to say, they were ready for summer business.
In all fairness, some stores don’t sell convenience foods nearly as well, but that is no reason not to provide a good selection. Many times, merely having a fresh assortment of cut melons, for example, will be all the “window” a customer needs to see that the fruit is ripe and in season. Seeing this helps spark sales of whole melons that may not have happened otherwise.
Convenience, time and assured quality. Defined, that’s value, added, to the product.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 30 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions. E-mail armandlobato@comcast.net.
How do you sell fresh-cut or convenience foods in your produce department? Leave a comment and tell us your opinion.