"Basically" Farming
A
| Helpful hints for new
I and existing farmers
PtNNSIATE
What Retail Produce
Marketing Is About!
John Berry
Agricultural Marketing Educa-
tor
Lehigh County
Cooperative Extension
The incentive to be a retail
marketer is obvious. The closer
you can get to retail customers,
the more retail dollars go in your
pocket instead of the middleman.
If you want to sell retail, you
have to provide services the
wholesalers, packagers, distribu
tors and retailers provide.
This article reviews some of
the key details of operating a di
rect-to-the-consumer produce
marketing enterprise.
Visual Display
Fresh produce is responsible
for creating the image of a store.
Proper presentation of products
increases sales. Shoppers receive
a positive impression if products
are top quality, clean, and taste
fully displayed.
Remember that high-quality
products are the strength of pro
duce markets.
A lively, well-stocked produce
department entices the customer
to buy and increases sales and
profits. Think of yourself as an
artist, with several palettes of col
ors to choose from: visual (color,
contrast, shape, size), smell
(herbs, fruits), and touch (soft or
firm).
Make displays that look like
they came from the farm. Wood
en crates or boxes work well. Bas
kets are beautiful; slant them to
ward the customer.
Even an attractive tablecloth
can add to your sales. Stair-step
ped displays create an array of
depth, color and texture; how
ever, they may not be easy for the
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customer to reach or easy to re
stock.
Utilize vertical space by hang
ing products from slings or hang
ers.
“Pile it high and kiss it good-
bye!”
Full, well-stocked displays
make customers want to come
and get it. Customers don’t like
taking the last of something from
a bare, picked-over display; they
want the best.
A cornucopia of produce con
veys abundance, prosperity, and
quality. Never overstock, how
ever, to prevent the risk of crush
ing tender items on the bottom.
For most products, avoid pil
ing them higher than six or eight
inches they might bruise or
tumble. Avoid steep pyramid dis
plays, for instance, where prod
ucts continuously roll off the top.
Stock fully, but not so picture
perfect that customers hesitate to
disrupt the display by removing
produce. Removing one or two
may even help customers start
buying.
Make it easy for the customers
to reach for the produce. Your
display should be no more than
an arm’s reach in depth, and be
tween knee- or waist-level and
eye-level in height. Don’t put
your merchandise on the ground.
Instead of placing your boxes
flat, try slanting your produce to
give the customer a more pleas
ing visual sense of your product.
Organize products in related
groupings. Such groups might in
clude dessert items, salad items,
cooking vegetables, apples and
pears, etc. Displaying compatible
products together serves as a sug
gestion for additional purchases
and uses of the products.
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Place high demand items in
strategic locations throughout the
market. Large displays attract at
tention, so use bulk displays to
generate sales, especially for
high-volume seasonal crops such
as apples or com.
Use color and texture to en
hance eye appeal. People enjoy
food with their senses, so displays
must be eye- and sense-appeal
ing. Mix a row of radishes be
tween the mustard and kale, to
matoes between the lettuce and
cukes, or intersperse peaches
with blueberries to create daz
zling color displays.
Good color groupings:
• Red and yellow or green
• Light green with yellow or
purple
• Dark green with red, orange
or yellow
If you don’t have a lot of vari
ety, create a color mixture with
flowers or signs.
Creative touches can enliven a
produce display, e.g., carrot
wheels, fresh flower bouquets,
garden-like groupings of lettuce
and greens, baskets in displays,
or hand stacked yams.
Seasonal themes work well on
dry tables, such as fall squash
and yam displays, or summer
time berries. Produce has its best
flavor, holding qualities, and
overall value in season, when it is
available at its greatest volume
and lowest price.
Price signs
Prices should be clearly
marked on or near the display.
Most shoppers are in a hurry and
will not search out the manager
to find out how much something
costs.
Restock displays frequently,
rotate products as needed, and
remove damaged, decayed, or
unsaleable products promptly.
Unsightly produce left on your
stand not only detracts from
sales, but it leaves the customer
with the notion that you sell rot
ten produce. If you’d buy it, leave
it, if not, pull it out.
10 Rules Of
Customer Service
Of course, an abundant supply
of customers makes retailing a
little easier.
One component of ensuring a
steady stream of buyers is effec
tive customer service.
Good customer service skills
can be learned. As you consider
the following customer service
guidelines, remember back to
a particularly pleasant, or
unpleasant, customer service
encounter you may have ex
perienced.
1. The customer is never
an interruption to your work.
The customer is. your real
reason for being in business.
Chores can wait.
2. Greet every customer
with a friendly smile. Cus
tomers are people and they
like friendly contact. They
usually return it.
3. Call customers by name.
Make a game of learning
customers’ names.
See how many you can re
member.
4. Remember, you are the
company! As an owner and
an employee, the way you
represent yourself to your
customer is the way your
Some Models Cut
and Mix Hay
Where’s The Beef?
From left, Andy Marchevsky, president of Lebanon Val
ley Farmer’s Bank; John Moose, senior vice president of
agriculture lending group; Mike Firestone, senior vice
president of agriculture lending group; and Rink Ashby,
Fulton Bank CEO, serve food to farmers from Eliza
bethtown, Mount Joy, and surrounding areas during the
annual customer appreciation event this week.
Photo by Nicki Lefever, special corresponent
John Moose, senior vice president of Fulton Banks’s
agriculture lending group, serves a beef sandwich to Ray
mond and Emma Gruber of Mount Joy. The
among 450 local farmers Invited to Fulton Bank and Leba
non Valley Farmer’s 17th annual beef roast at the Eliza
bethtown fairgrounds. Bank employees served beef sand
wiches, corn-on-the-cob, and hand-dipped ice cream to
show their appreciation to their customers.
Photo by Nicki Lefever, special correspondent
business will be perceived by that
customer.
5. Never argue with customers.
The customer is always right (in
his or her eyes). Be a good listen
er; agree where you can, and do
what you can to make the cus
tomer happy.
6. Never say “I don’t know.” If
you don’t know the answer to a
question say, “That’s a good
question. Let me see if I can find
out for you.”
7. Remember, every dollar you
earn comes from the customer’s
pockets.
Treat them like the boss.
8. State things in a positive
way. It takes practice, but will
help you become a better commu
nicator.
9. Try to get your customers to
remember a good experience at
your market.
10. Always go that extra mile.
Always do just a little more than
the customer expects.
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New Members
Appointed To
USD A Committee
WASHINGTON, D. C. Ag
riculture Secretary Ann M. Vene
man recently announced the ap
pointment of five new members
to the U.S. Department of Agri
culture’s Advisory Committee on
Emerging Markets.
Newly appointed are: Gail R.
Carlson of Arlington, Va.; Ger
alyn C. Contini of Baton Rouge,
La.; Harriett A. Paul of Tallahas
see, Fla.; John F. Tarburton of
Dover, Del.; and James J. Will
rett of Malta, 111. These new
members will join the other 15
members currently serving on the
committee.
The committee reviews fund
ing proposals under the Emerg
ing Markets Program, which is
managed by USDA’s Foreign Ag
ricultural Service. This program
supports private and govern
mental projects to promote U.S.
agricultural exports in emerging
economies.
The committee also
advises USDA on the
U.S. private sector’s ef
forts to enhance food
and rural business sys
tems in developing
countries. Congress
reauthorized this pro
gram in the 2002 Farm
Bill.
Committee members
must have expertise in
international agricul
ture, trade and develop
ment, especially as they
relate to emerging mar
ket economies. They
serve without compensa
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