There is a collective scurrying going on across the supply chain to prepare for a wave of increased seasonal demand and more occasions. With summer approaching, the produce industry anticipates a continuation of the pandemic trend of everything being turned into an occasion at home as a way to create some normalcy in an abnormal time.
Occasions happen every day, and fresh produce plays a key part in planned and unplanned occasions alike. Occasions can be filled with less healthy options – after all, if there is an occasion, it must be a celebration of sorts. But finding ways to make fresh produce fun and put it at the center to those experiences can be an extra reason to celebrate.
Recently food trends on a certain social media platform have been all the rage, from tomato and feta cheese pasta to weaved bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. These trends create occasions, and they can happen so fast that supply cannot keep up with demand, as in the case of the tomato and feta cheese pasta craze. Although brief, the cherry and grape tomato category exploded to triple digit increases in just a few days.
We can plan for established occasions, but we don’t know what we don’t know as far as what consumer experiments are gaining traction and becoming occasions of their own. It is important for all levels of retail decision makers to be aware of the micro trends in food and how they might be able to leverage them.
Aside from these social media food trends, there are the more commonly known seasonal occasion trends. On a hot day in summer everyone knows enjoying a cold ripe watermelon is an occasion in of itself – but how many retailers sell whole cold watermelon? There’s an opportunity to create an occasion without the customer having to plan for it.
In PMA’s Retail with the Experts webinar May 20, we will uncover many more occasion opportunities around seasonal fresh produce.
Global Retail Week
PMA will also be hosting June 7-10 a virtual Global Retail Week. This program is your opportunity to hear from retail and industry thought leaders on retail trends across Europe, Latin America, China and the U.S. and Canada. The daily sessions will include breakout discussions for conversation between attendees and panelists.
Among the topics slated for the event are the impacts of e-commerce in the produce retail space, how technology is changing retail and addressing food waste, and what are the future trends for retail.
Retail Merchant Innovation Award
When PMA launched its Retail Merchant Innovation Awards in early 2020, who could have known a pandemic would alter how and when the awards were announced. Originally slated to be presented at Fresh Connections Retail, which had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, these awards recognize directors and vice presidents of produce who through planning and strategy increased consumer trust and confidence, as well as sales performance, through a unique or year-round promotional strategy for produce. Winners will have educated the consumer and their team and shown increased value to their customers.
Four incredible retail fresh produce leaders were recognized in 2020: Scott Bennett with Jewel-Osco, Mike Tipton with Schnuck Markets, Bridget Bennett with the Defense Commissary Agency and Jeff Cady with Tops Markets.
The 2021 award nomination period is underway now and will conclude August 20. Winners will be selected based on company and store count. Nominations can be made by industry peers or company representatives following the award requirements. Winners will be presented with their award at Fresh Summit in New Orleans in October.
This column is part of a series by Joe Watson, who spent 30-plus years as the director of produce for Rouses Markets and was named Produce Retailer of the Year and to The Packer 25 in 2014. Joe now serves as a vice president of member engagement and as the retail and foodservice subject matter expert for PMA.