instore - March 2016 - (Page CI10)

Product Category Spotlight: Retailing Fresh Fruits By Bob Sims ccording to a 2014 Nielsen Global Survey, 91 percent of Americans say they snack daily. Coupled with the current trend of eating healthy, a new c-store category has taken shape and begun to grow. According to Nielsen's "Snack Occasions and Trend Spotting," from September of 2014, fresh fruit tied chocolate as the top snack selected out of 32 different snack options. Vegetables were not too far behind and fell just below ice cream and gelato. US convenience store produce sales increased 10.3 percent to $362 million in 2014, nearly four times the overall 2.7 percent growth rate of US produce sales. A Assessing Fit Fresh fruit goes beyond the typical cstore procedure of ordering non-perishable packaged goods and putting them on a shelf to sell. C-stores need to look at produce in a different way, and suppliers and distributors should help retailers in the navigation. "We want our retailers to be successful. That starts with educating them on this new and emerging category and making sure they understand that category," says Sharon Kuncl, vice president of merchandising at Eby-Brown. Suppliers and retailers must first fig- Assessing a C-store For Fresh SOURCE: NACS 10 * MARCH 2016 * commissary INSIDER Full Disclosure When working with retailers on a fresh fruit program, producers and suppliers must make sure their customers understand how the program will work in the store. Customers need to know the differences between fresh fruits and the c-store products they are used to working with. "It's going to take an amount of time to make this category profitable," Kuncl says. "It's going to take somewhere between 30 and 90 days to actually make profit versus loss. We want to make sure that our retailer knows what they're getting into on the front end and that they're committed to fresh, long term." Support When working with a convenience store on a fresh fruit program there are two critical areas to assess: Customer demand/ demographics ure out whether or not a fresh produce program fits in with a particular store. While it's definitely a consideration for all c-stores, some retailers might not be in the right environment for a fresh program to flourish. "Because each location is unique, we need to talk to them about where fresh fits into that landscape," Kuncl says. "If we determine that the store is fit for fresh, we want to continue that conversation by talking about their fresh commitment." To maintain good business on the retailer and producer/supplier ends, it's important for suppliers to provide their retail customers with any tools and advice at the supplier's disposal. A retailer that sees success as soon as possible and can grow the fresh fruit business will continue to use the supplier that helped them get there. A company that offers its customers all the resources it has proliferates the fresh fruit category overall which leads to growth for everyone involved. Resources required to eﬀectively merchandise and market your fresh produce Merchandising for a fresh program is one of the most important aspects of operation in the c-store environment. Eby-Brown wants to make sure retailers have the right floor displays, counter racks, storage and refrigeration necessary to support whatever fresh products that will go through a location, Kuncl says.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of instore - March 2016

instore - March 2016
Editor's Note - Going Green
Table of Contents
News - On Our Radar
Cover Story - Efficient Equipment
Commissary Insider - Insight Insider: Hill Country Bakery builds a brand name
Food Safety: Monitoring cross-contamination
Equipment: Reducing Waste
Product Category Spotlight: Retailing Fresh Fruits
Technology: Inventory Tools
Research and Development: Cleaner Eating for the Mobile Consumer
Product Knowledge - Seasonal Salads
Merchandising - Summer Picnics
Specialty Insights - Imported Cheese
Equipment & Packaging - Bakery Packaging
Promotions - Ads on the Go
Product Trends
Product Showcase

instore - March 2016