ATLANTA – Through its reFresh initiative, NACS has been helping c-store operators realize how they can satisfy consumer demand for healthy options by selling more fresh products, especially fruits and vegetables. Wednesday, an education session will drive home opportunities for selling fresh produce by emphasizing how stores can capitalize on this promising category.
“We wanted to be more specific on how you get the produce and merchandise the produce,” Jeff Oberman, moderator of “How to Get and Sell Produce,” said in discussing the session. “We feel this initiative will help grow all fresh in-store service sales. When you merchandise fresh fruits and vegetables, it will help you merchandise sandwiches, wraps and all fresh items.”
NACS published Building the Business Case for Produce at Convenience Stores, an in-depth study about selling fresh produce. Highlights of that information have been condensed into Fit for Fresh, a two-page document that focuses on how to buy, store and market fruits and vegetables (both reports are available at nacsonline.com/refresh), and three speakers Wednesday explained some of those options.
A starting point is to find a quality, consistent and reliable supply chain to provide the products. Explaining access to a regional and local approach to distribution was Kelly Jacob, vice president of retail and emerging channels for PRO*ACT, LLC.
The first step for an operator should be to make sure a store is positioned to successfully sell fresh produce. For example, if a c-store is near a large grocery store selling produce, it may not be able to compete with that grocery retailer. The next step is to prepare the c-store for fresh produce by making sure the store is clean, has refrigeration and can properly display produce.
“Our company is a national network of local distributors. We are experts at refrigerated, cold-chain managed products,” Jacob said. “A lot of operators get their fresh product from a c-store wholesaler or somewhere else. Others put it in their trunk and bring it back to their stores. That is not the best way to manage fresh, cold-chain products. There is a degree responsibility in building a fresh program. If you want it to grow you need to have fresh quality products to offer consumers.”
Holly Veale, product director–foodservice for the McLane Company, discussed Fresh Produce+, a national program for delivering consistent, high-quality produce.
Partnering with Robinson Fresh, a national produce supplier, McLane offers two fresh produce options to c-store operators. One option offers a traditional program where operators purchase produce and are responsible for spoiled product. In the second option, operators pay a higher purchase price but are not responsible for spoilage, Veale said.
“We have seen about a 50/50 split with retailers who are comfortable with accepting the higher spoils rate understanding they can recoup that in their retail costs and the other half are excited about the guarantee offer. That is a step we are taking to make produce easier for the operators.”
McLane also has developed a four-page guide to teach operators best practices for handling produce, rotating dated produce and merchandising.
“We take an active stance in helping them sell that product,” Veale said. “We have an obligation to our shared industry that we are giving operators what they need.”
Presenting the view of an operator was Andy Lunt, vice president of store operations for Chronister Oil Company, dba Qik-n-EZ. He reviewed how the 12-store chain gradually entered the fresh produce market and has since started its own distribution center for several fresh products.
“We initially formed a co-op with a local produce company,” said Lunt, who started in the grocery industry. “As it grew, we have since opened a distribution center for fresh donuts, bread, produce and fresh frozen meats. We have expanded our lines in fresh areas that we get to stores two to three times a week.”
That business model may not work for everyone, he said, but he encouraged c-store operators to explore their options.
“We use local distributors for produce and a lot of those fresh products,” Lunt said. “We knew the potential was there and that it was a direction we wanted to go. The big challenge for the smaller retailer is how to get it done and done profitably.”