Category Captain: Avocados: Chiquita

In the past year, Chiquita has focused on gaining distribution for its Fresh & Ready Avocado, an innovative value-added product positioned to better meet consumer needs. The brand’s proprietary technology extends shelf life and provides uniform ripeness.

An important part of the success of the Fresh & Ready avocado program is ensuring proper handling of the avocados, which must be kept refrigerated to retain optimal freshness and have the longest possible shelf life. Since this is a new way of handling for retailers, Chiquita Category Management created a tracking tool, the FRA Quarterly Broker Recap, to compile information collected during the in-store auditing process.

Chiquita has both an internal retail operations team and broker relationships that allow it to visit all stores that carry Fresh & Ready Avocados on a regular basis. During such visits, the auditor collects information that allows for feedback on the care and handling of the avocados, the quality on display, pricing, and point-of-sale materials. The auditor works with the produce manager in-store, and the sales team can address any issues found during the visit to minimize the impact to sales velocity and ensure the best possible consumer experience.

The raw data is then rendered in the form of a one-page recap able to be shared among sales, retail operations, brokers and retail customers. The report quickly gives an overall compliance score that can indicate where further training and attention is needed, with pie charts drawing the eye to where improvements can be made.