Editor's note: This is an article from The Packer's Ideas in Merchandising, published in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Consumers view today’s produce department
By Carol Rosen
Today’s produce department is probably the most advanced it has ever been. The produce manager and his superiors are constantly improving it, but how do their customers feel about it? To find out Ideas in Merchandising asked 20 women selected at random from 14 different cities across the continental United States.
Fifteen of the women who responded were housewives and five worked. Of these five, two were unmarried. Grocery shopping experience ranged from nine months to 43 years and family size varied from one to eight or sometimes nine.
Two unmarried working girls said they rarely enter a produce department. Miss Jodi Cobb, a photographer from Wilmington, Del., eats out all the time. “It’s too much trouble to cook just for myself,” Miss Cobb said.
Miss Sandy Vail, an Amarillo, Texas, journalist shops only for meat and eggs. “When I go to a grocery store,” she said “I go straight to the meat counter because meat and eggs are all I eat.”
Mrs. Robert Goetzsinger, a high school teacher in Kansas City, Mo., buys fresh vegetables for salads. “Otherwise I buy vegetables in frozen pouches; they are easier, already seasons and less clean up is needed.”
Mrs. Leo Figg buys fresh for its nutritional value. Mrs. Figg, a Texas native who works in Kanas City, buys salad vegetables and fresh fruits, but she doesn’t “…like the taste of fresh vegetables and I wouldn’t buy them because we don’t like them.”
Mrs. Figg said, displays and demonstrations did nothing for her. “I look at the fruit not at the display.”
This is the attitude of the majority.
Thirteen of the women surveyed said they bought fresh produce for the nutritional value, want, need flavor or because there were children in the family.
Mrs. Lloyd Delinger, Dayton, Ohio, said “Demonstrations pressure you into buying things you don’t want or need.” Dislike of demonstrations was almost universal.
However, some women did feel that displays influenced them. They said a clean, neat and fresh looking display made them buy.
In all previous panels The Packer has been associated with and attended women have always expressed great dissatisfaction with packaging. This study was no exception. All of the women (including five from three Eastern cities) were adamant and said “I want to pick my own” when asked if they would rather have packaged or bulk.
Mrs. James Gould of Kansas city used to buy packaged merchandise. “Before the stores got those plastic bags, I bought packaged. But with the little bags now I can pick it out myself. I would much rather do that.”
The women felt that went they bought packaged they were taking a chance on getting bad merchandise. Mrs. Burt Drydan, a St. Louis bride who has shopped for nine months said “I’d much rather pick it out myself, considering last week I got stuck with a dozen rotten apples.”
Mrs. Leo Rigsby of Nashville, Tenn., likes bulk because “I like to feel the merchandise and you can’t feel it through the trays.”
“I want to pick out my own – you can see it better and know that the bottom isn’t all brown. I would rather pay for something good and have it last the week,” was the answer from Mrs. James L. Grubb, a housewife and mother of six from Winchester, Mass.
A Wilmette, Ill., housewife, Mrs. Ben Fisher, also doesn’t like packaged merchandise. “I’m tired of buying all produce manager’s waste,” she said.
Mrs. Robert Neal of Tucson, Ariz., prefers bulk because,” I want to buy a certain amount and packages usually have too much.”
“They don’t get soft as fast when you pick them yourself. The merchandise in packages gets soft much faster than the loose merchandise,” said Mrs. Figg.
The women were asked what general improvements the produce department needed. Their feelings were divided. Half said they saw no problems and had no complaints. The other half felt improvements were needed, mostly in prices and quality.
“The produce departments are really bad. All the chain store shave left are leftovers. In order to get better fruit I have to go to fruit markets,” said Mrs. Fisher.
Mrs. Grubb is discouraged by both price and quality. “Things are bad, the lettuce is hollow inside and is usually brown on the edges and I have to throw about a quarter of it away. This means I don’t buy as much and limits the quantities of what I do buy. I am not satisfied with vegetables, not at all.”
“Lettuce is out of sight and so are oranges. Celery is bad here in the Midwest and it runs that way all through the year. However, grapefruit is good right now,” commented Mrs. Jack Erwin, a Kansas City housewife.
Mrs. Stephen Lucas, an Allentown, Pa., shopper, who has been shopping for 43 years, is dissatisfied with prices and additives. “Prices should be less; if they were I’d buy more. Things are just too expensive. Also, I don’t think things are display well, and they do too much waxing. Why, you can’t pick up an apple or cucumber that hasn’t been waxed. I wish they would think about the people who like to eat the peeling on the cucumbers.”
“I’m less concerned about looks than I am about prices. I would rather wash and trim something myself and spend less money on it. But I do feel that the stores around here offer a pretty good selection and try to look clean and appealing,” were the feelings of Mrs. Larry Pierce from Sonoma County, Calif.
The women were all pleased with the job the checkers were doing. Most said produce at the checkout was handled carefully and correctly. Mrs. Don Kennedy, Lincoln, Neb., who shops for a family of four, said, “If they don’t do a good job, I find a store that does, but usually if you tell them, they do a better job next time.”
Convenience foods apparently are here to stay. Most of those interviewed felt they would rather have the fresh, but because most produce items are seasonal they have to buy canned and frozen. The preference for frozen vegetables was much higher than the preference for canned vegetables, however.
“Now that we can afford it we only buy fresh. In the summer I take a lot of fresh and freeze it myself,” says Mrs. Gould. “For some reason it just tastes better.”
Mrs. Erwin says the problem with fresh is its perishability. “I would rather have canned because you don’t have to eat it all at once. However frozen has a better quality and flavor.”
“My husband is picky so I have to buy either fresh or frozen,” was Mrs. Drydan’s answer. Mrs. Victor Wipke of St. Louis would rather have fresh. “Sometimes, but not all the time I have to use the convenience foods. They are already seasoned and it was much faster when I’m working.”
“It depends on how I’m using it,” said Mrs. Glenn Dobbs of Tulsa, Okla. “For fruit and jello salads, I would much rather used canned.”
Mrs. Pierce leaves it up to prices. “It depends on the price – most of the time it is cheaper to buy the can. Besides, I have read surveys which say you get just as much nutrition from canned and frozen as you do when you cook fresh.”