Get On Board with Summer Produce Selling

Produce people are early risers. We’re in the markets before dawn, first in the stores, and we live and breathe this business.

Right now, the summer selling door isn’t just open—it’s wide open. Summer delivers berries, stone fruit, cherries, melons, grapes and sweet corn. Eating habits shift, and shoppers pour more of their food dollars into fresh items. The color, excitement and volume of the produce department peak during these months.

Growers, shippers and buyers are reporting strong supplies of stone fruit, melons, grapes, corn and other warm-weather favorites. The season has flipped. Winter is out, summer is in, and every produce employee should be on stage and ready to perform. When the doors open, it should feel like lights, camera, action—with displays built to sell.

Summer fruit deserves aggressive, oversized, expanded displays. But why do some retailers cut back other categories, assuming they won’t move? Old thinking still pushes apples, oranges, grapefruit, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage and similar items into the background because they are considered “winter items.” That mindset is outdated. Consumer behavior has changed.

Some retailers still operate as though people stop cooking when summer arrives. That may have been true generations ago, but today we have air conditioning, microwaves, smart appliances and outdoor grills. Cooking has never been easier or offered more options, and the popularity of cooking shows and food-focused social media has only added to consumers’ interest in preparing meals at home.

The old habit of hiding apples and citrus on a back table all summer is obsolete. The modern approach is to display them like they’re meant to sell—because customers will buy what they see prominently presented. Put up a 15-case auxiliary display of Gala apples instead of placing half a case in a wicker basket, and watch what happens. Bigger exposure creates incremental sales.

Growing produce sales today requires thinking bigger. When exciting new seasonal items arrive, give them the space and attention they deserve—but don’t abandon the proven sellers that can keep ringing the register all summer long.

What do you think? Write to me at ronprocon@gmail.com.