I’m a produce writer, but not a very good poet. In school I didn’t grade well in the world of couplets, stanzas, prose and ballads. Still, I’m inspired by the art. More about this later.
What I have been busy with in the past two weeks is talking about shrink.
Specifically, I’ve focused on shrink because it is that important. As summer plods on and temperatures rise, product lines expand. Many produce categories are especially susceptible to excess shrink due to their volatile nature, their higher-than-average respiration rate: Stone fruit, berries, melons – the list goes on.
Summer is peak produce volume, and upcoming August? The highest shrink month. Longfellow once penned, “When I compare, What I have lost with what I have gained…little room do I find for pride…”
Training is arguably the most effective tool against shrink. As your veteran employees take vacation time, labor gaps are typically filled with less-experienced hands. Ensure these folks are trained in the basics of product care, stocking and more to minimize shrink potential.
Ordering usually tops the list when it comes to how best to combat shrink. You want to have enough product to avoid out-of-stocks, but too much produce can quickly become shrink. Give this all-important task the time needed to carefully consider your needs; besides factors such as expected business, consider: What’s coming off ad, what’s on ad, and what’s coming up for next week’s ad, price, product quality and shelf life, merchandising allocation and placement, to name a few.
Maintain the Cold Chain is more than an internal rhyme. A lot goes on between harvest and your cooler to ensure your produce load arrives in optimal temperature. Quality and shelf life can break down if left parked on a warm receiving dock or anywhere else where the temperature is compromised. Keep it cold.
Rotation is also high on the how-to-control-shrink list. When a produce load arrives, rotate in the backroom and cooler. With each stocking trip, emphasize faithful rotation of displays. Max Ehrmann wrote in Desiderata: “…Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans…”
Proper product prep. All right, that three-word opening is called an alliteration. In the produce realm, taking care of the goods is job one. Fresh produce should be handled carefully, trimmed minimally, protected from excessive temperatures (too hot OR too cold), protected from damage, and never, ever dumped.
Our old friend Robert Frost once wrote: “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”
I’m hopeful the ongoing thoughts about shrink have found worthy expression here. (Aren’t you glad I didn’t put this together, sparing you my usual feeble limerick attempt of opening with, I know a young fellow named Vin…?)
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years’ experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.