When the cool, crisper temperatures of fall set in, your shoppers’ cooking habits will shift from the grill to the oven. Of all the seasonal transitions that take place in the produce department, summer to fall presents some unique opportunities. It’s a time to excite your customers with new seasonal produce.
The fall harvest brings a whole new assortment of delicious and healthy fruit and vegetables with its own color wheel. Deep colors like oranges, reds, purples and greens are especially prominent in the cooler months and make for striking displays. Apples, pears, broccoli, squash and greens are fresh and ready to highlight, changing the look and feel of the produce department. Pay close attention to the increased movement on popular vegetables as well, including kale varieties, root vegetables, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and Brussels sprouts.
Also, seasonal produce can take some of the strain off your customers’ wallets. Capitalize on seasonality and abundance with fall crops by passing on volume deals from your suppliers to your customers through exciting promotions.
Below are some key considerations to ensure that your produce merchandising is up to date.
Stone Fruit and Summer Commodities
Stone fruits and other summer produce items are nearing the end of season. As the produce department makes its shift to fall commodities, is there still one last opportunity to take advantage of seasonal promotions on summer commodities? Yes! Keep in mind that taste and quality are defining attributes to determine if the promotion will be successful. Have direct communication with growers/distributors about taste and product quality. There are times where discontinuing summer product varieties a week early proves better for the customer in the long run.
Apples
Apples will become your new sales and margin driver in the fall, as you transition from stone fruit displays to great local and “new crop” apple varieties. As you focus on your local apple assortment, be sure to take advantage of promotional opportunities on customer favorites like Honeycrisp, Opal, Kiku and Jazz. Local apple quality can be hit or miss, especially when it comes to new varieties and organics, so be sure to provide feedback to your local distributors and orchards — let them know if they should have pressed that new apple into their latest cider batch. Speaking of cider, don’t forget to feature a selection of local apple cider.
Pumpkins
October is obviously the pumpkin’s time to shine. Shop around to be sure that your retail price is competitive and keep an eye on your inventory leading up to Halloween. Communicate with your local suppliers and aim to run out of pumpkins before October 31. Resist the temptation to scatter pumpkins around the floor of your department at random. Instead, carve out space and display a variety of shapes and sizes in a bin or two for easy shopping.
Potatoes, Onions and Hard Squash
As mentioned, the weather is beginning to cool, and your customers will transition from grilling to roasting almost overnight. This makes fall the perfect time to promote potatoes, onions and a wide variety of hard squash to encourage folks to stock up on these hearty staples. Local supplies on these items should be coming in now as well, so display them prominently.
Cranberries
Don’t forget Cranberries! Cranberries pair extremely well with fall fruits and vegetables, and have a versatility factor that should not be undervalued. Displaying cranberries with other fall produce items along with recipe or serving suggestions is an excellent way to inspire customers to add cranberries to their fall meals.
Value-Added Items
Cubed hard squashes, root vegetables, diced or chopped onions, diced or chopped celery, and mirepoix are just a few fall produce value-added items that serve the customer very well. Adding these items to your product mix will add a convenience factor that your customers will definitely appreciate.
Floral
For those co-ops that have floral departments, and floral presence, fall is a great time of year to present those colors — terra cotta, orange, rustic tones to name a few. Don’t forget the mums!
Other Considerations
The shift in local vegetable availability can benefit the co-op as well. As farmers markets, CSA distributions and your customers’ backyard gardens wind down for the season, your sales on items like tomatoes and greens should rebound a bit. Make sure that you are ready with strong assortment and quality.
While watermelon, corn on the cob and the fruits of summertime may be history for another year, there is plenty of fresh, seasonal produce to delight your customers with the colorful and delicious harvest of fall.
