Fresh Produce Picks Up The Pace
Healthier eating trends are inspiring food retailers to sharpen their selections, presentations and marketing.
There's a fresh food revolution afoot. It started underground — literally — and with any luck, it will change for the better the way Americans eat. We're talking, of course, about the buzz surrounding Brussels sprouts and berries, sweet potatoes, and dark, leafy greens. Fruits and vegetables are finally getting the attention they deserve, and supermarkets are playing a vital role with produce departments that captivate, educate and make eating healthfully easier than ever.
While the knowledge that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a healthier one isn't new, fresh produce is making headlines and penetrating mainstream modern American mealtime like never before.
In November, after 13 years of using the same "Points" system, Weight Watchers unveiled the new "PointsPlus," in which most fruits and vegetables now have zero points.Then last month, for the first time in 15 years, the USDA released a proposed rule to update the nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch Program that would require school cafeterias to offer more fruits and vegetables. Even the mainstay of American fast food, McDonald's, made produce news with the January debut of its Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, which features two of the three recommended daily servings for whole grains and about a half-cup of fruit.
Parking Lot Produce
As demand for locally grown fresh produce swells, farmers' markets have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity among American consumers. While a number of retailers have taken a cue from this trend with in-store produce departments designed to have a farmers' market feel, others, like specialty food and cookware retailer A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, N.C., have taken an out-of-the-box approach.
Two years ago, the retailer began sponsoring the South Estes Farmers' Market in its parking lot twice a week. The farmers' market runs year-round, and during the summer, fresh produce overflow moves inside the store near the deli, explains marketing and communications director Deborah Miller.
The fresh fare in the parking lot has proved a perfect companion to A Southern Season's specialty food and cookware. "We'll see customers leaving the farmers' market to come in here and supplement the fruits and vegetables they bought with groceries, and vice versa," notes Miller.
The presence of fruit, even as a topping, in fast-food culture is noteworthy, but it's celebrity chefs who may give the produce-as-center-of-plate concept real legs. HartmanSalt, the recently launched newsletter from Bellevue, Wash.-based market research firm The Hartman Group, names vegetable-centric cuisine as one of its top food trend picks for 2011. Pointing to the popularity of Meatless Mondays at Mario Batali's restaurants and an increasing number of eateries around the country, HartmanSalt further predicts that the trend of "over-the-top localness" will result in "an influx in higherquality, more consciously produced vegetable dishes at prepared food departments, food service, and in CPG products in the coming year."
These are all signs of progress, but as any purveyor of produce will tell you, we're not there yet. Education, recipes and sampling remain critical to success in the produce department, as does offering the highest quality and greatest convenience possible.
Produce Drives the Store
If the trend at a growing number of restaurants is to offer more locally grown, produce-packed meals, the trend at retail is to make produce the heart and soul of the store. At Hubbell & Hudson Market and Bistro in The Woodlands, Texas, the idea behind the artfully displayed and carefully vetted bounty of fruits and vegetables isthat "produce drives sales in the whole store," as CEO Cary Attar notes. Hubbell & Hudson's produce department occupies 3,000 square feet and features some 450 SKUs.
"It's designed as a farm-to-market produce department," says Attar, adding that the department focuses on local, natural and organic high-quality produce that's strictly in season. The emphasis on organics is communicated via a sign in the produce area that keeps a running tally of how many organic items are in the department each day. That number is usually around 150.
"We think produce is a primary driver of the grocery store visit, so we put a lot of effort into merchandising, marketing and sampling our produce," says Attar. The store routinely samples four items at all times, a number that jumps to eight or 10 in the summer.
The retailer also puts time, energy and creativity into a fresh juice bar in the produce area, which Attar believes brings customers in for their daily juice fix. On any given day, the bar offers 20 kinds of juice, from hand-squeezed orange juice to more exotic offerings like Meyer lemon jalapeño lemonade made with organic sugar.
Fresh Ed
While health-conscious consumers may want to add more fresh produce to their diets, they don't always know the best way. Education can be the key to turning customers' good intentions into significant fresh produce sales.
St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets, a family-owned grocery chain with more than 100 stores in seven states, has elevated the concept of consumer education to the Ivy Leagues. In 2007, the grocer joined forces with Los Angeles-based wholesale produce company Frieda's Inc. to bring "Frieda's Produce University" to Schnucks customers. Since then, Produce University has been held several times a year on Saturdays at all 105 Schnucks and Logli stores. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on University days, produce managers sample and educate customers on everything from Asian pears and mini sweet peppers to persimmons and ji-cama.The sessions feature seasonal produce and tasty ways to prepare them.
"Produce University is a very successful program," says Paul Simon, Schnucks senior communications specialist. "Our mission at Schnucks is to be the food experts, so the program is effective in highlighting our produce teams as knowledgeable resources for our shoppers."
The program has had other benefits, like ensuring that nobody's going to beat Schnucks produce managers when it comes to fruit and veggie know-how. "The long-lasting results of Produce University are more education among both our teammates and our customers, and ultimately that is our goal," notes Simon.
Craving Convenience
Retailers and suppliers alike concur that one of the top trends in fresh produce for 2011 is convenience. "While consumers are focused on health and wellness, they are also motivated by the convenience of value-added fresh-cut items," says Dionysios Christou, VP of marketing for Coral Gables, Fla.-based Del Monte Fresh Produce. "We are seeing significant growth in channels that have been typically reluctant to sell perishable fresh products in the past and now want to offer their customers healthier, fresh products." Christou also sees grab-and-go fresh-cut produce as an important component of the convenience trend, with the result being a boost in demand for single-serve packaging and sizes.
"People are now looking at produce, not just as an ingredient, but also in terms of snacking," notes Doug Kling, SVP/CMO of Eatontown, N.J.-based Village Farms, a supplier of greenhouse-grown hydroponic produce. While he, too, sees consumers taking a more proactive approach to their health and wellness, Kling says ultimately it comes down to offering convenient choices, likening the scenario to a candy bar, which if it provides items that are easier to grab than fresh-cut veggies, will likely win out in terms of customer traffic.
But savvy retailers who recognize that produce is not only better for their customers, but also for their bottom lines, are successfully tipping the scales in favor of fresh produce. "We're seeing retailers stepping up in many ways, with recipes and creative merchandising geared to health and wellness and high-energy, low-fat foods," notes Kling. "We expect to see more of these family-focused, wellness-driven initiatives in the coming year."
Progressive grocers are also building produce sales with compelling displays, the freshest product, inspired education, and the convenience that consumers demand.
At Hubbell & Hudson, delivering convenience means offering timesavers and exceptional service. The market features a Prep Us area out on the store floor where pre-peeled garlic and shallots, peeled and diced carrots, celery, onions and more are available for time-pressed customers. "If a customer wants us to peel and dice a carrot for them right there, we'll do it!"exclaims Attar.
