You know and I know that engaged store-level people make all the difference. It’s my experience that the more you learn about produce and the supply chain and the industry overall, the more engaged you become – and some of the best retailers out there have told me the same.
One grower-shipper I spoke with mentioned that his company likes to give trips to its operations as prizes for display contests. The retention rate for the retail team members who win those trips, as you might imagine, ends up being significantly higher than the average.
As much as we’d love for every produce department employee to get to visit an apple orchard or a lettuce field or a greenhouse, however, we know that’s not reality – but there are lots of other great ways to educate and engage your store-level team members.
Industry associations are an excellent place to start, and Pear Bureau Northwest – also known as USA Pears – is one example. If you scroll to the bottom of their homepage and click “Retail Trade,” you will find a smorgasbord of assets for learning about the category, chief among them USA Pears University. The interactive online program covers growing regions and varieties, handling and receiving, merchandising best practices and nutrition. Store employees who complete the course receive a $15 VISA gift card.
The Retail Trade section of the site also includes information on sampling, conditioning, marketing and other topics, and a huge library of point-of-sale material is available. Other commodities have similarly awesome resource centers thanks to organizations like the National Mango Board, the National Watermelon Promotion Board, the California Avocado Commission, the Idaho Potato Commission, Avocados From Mexico, Fruits From Chile, the California Strawberry Commission and more.
If you’ve got team members you think might be open to engage more deeply and make produce their career, even small incentives could be just the push they need to learn a little more and fall in love with produce. And when that happens … well, those old sales records better look out!