The Produce Retail Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Produce Retail Podcast
The Produce Retail Podcast is the place for thought leaders in the industry to talk shop. Join us for conversations on strategy, business partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. We'll have regular guests as well as more occasional visitors, and the goal is always to deliver conversations that inform, inspire and ultimately illuminate opportunities for growth. This podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, produce industry enthusiast and founder and CEO of Ashley Nickle Growth Strategies.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this episode Rob Ybarra, founder and CEO of Chico Produce and a 35-year produce retail veteran. Before he moved to the supply side of the industry, Rob spent more than 35 years in produce retail, including stints as director of produce for H-E-B Mexico, Lowe's Pay-N-Save, Coborn’s and Rouses Markets. The focus of this conversation is avocados. When The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle read the headlines about big avocado suppliers declaring force majeure in late May, she wanted to talk with Rob about what happened on that occasion as well as discuss Mexican avocados more broadly. In this conversation, Rob talks about standard volatility of supply versus what unfolded earlier this year; how Chico navigated the sudden increase in prices; how he prepared for and responded to sudden supply and price changes when he was on the retail side; what importers and retailers can learn from what happened in May; the seasonality of Mexican avocados and how oil content and dry matter varies; and his outlook and recommendations to retailers for the rest of the 2026. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to have returning to the show a listener favorite, Anne-Marie Roerink! She’s the principal of 210 Analytics and renowned for her fabulous produce presentations, but in the last couple months she’s actually been at events for all different parts of the store, from meat to seafood to frozen to candy. With that in mind, Anne-Marie is the perfect person to talk with about what’s happening with consumers broadly and what it all means for produce. In this episode, we discuss how continued price sensitivity among consumers is translating in produce; the increasing concentration of produce sales, with a growing percentage coming from the highest-income households; price and value perception of produce compared to “snacks” broadly; the implications of the increase in fixed-weight produce; leveraging trends like fibermaxxing in the marketing of produce; the “changing of the guard” as millennials take over for boomers as the majority shoppers; consumer concern with waste as a financial issue rather than a sustainability issue; social media driving sales; what a continuing lower percentage of sales on promotions demonstrates about retailers' pricing and promotion strategies; the changing dynamics of which grocery channel is the first shop and which is the fill-in; how life stages factor into purchase patterns; how changing demographic realities will influence buying in the coming decade; best-by dates and their effect on consumption; texture as a total-store trend and how produce factors in; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode of the podcast Kevin Climie, senior director of produce, floral and bulk foods at Fortinos. Kevin joins the show to talk about how he chooses locations for store checks — both from a competitive standpoint and on the inspirational side; what's on his checklist to observe when he visits stores; how he looks to learn from other retailers across the country; new items the produce department has offered recently; first-quarter holidays; categories of focus for summer; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We’re delighted to welcome as our guest on this week’s episode Skylar Leonard, produce operations supervisor for Food City. We last had Skylar on the show in 2023, when he was recognized as one of the best produce managers in the country as part of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In his return, we discuss how he made the transition from managing his own store, to doing that while assisting on special projects, to now overseeing produce operations for 12 stores. We discuss how he allocates his time across stores, what he looks for when he visits, how training he received years ago as a new produce manager and mentorship by his supervisor continues to pay dividends for him, the problem-solving aspect of the job that is needed when you’re working in many different environments and with different people, holiday performance, unique SKUs, local TV appearances, and much more. Thanks for listening!
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We’re delighted to welcome to the podcast two of the foremost ripening experts in the country: Dennis Kihlstadius, CEO of Produce Technical Services, and Gary Campisi, president of Campisi Produce Consulting. They discuss both the fundamentals and finer points of banana ripening, including why ripening with external color as the guide only works 80% of the time; how to get a more precise understanding of ripening progress; the three rules of ripening Gary developed during his 25 years at Walmart; how country of origin factors into ripening; what qualifies as a good ripening room; how to sample effectively; where in the supply chain ripening happens depending on the size of the retailer; the importance of bananas as a quality messenger for the overall department; and more. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the conversation! Check out our previous episodes (170 and counting) for conversations across all aspects of produce retail.
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We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode Erin Esensee, director of business development at Decowraps, and Jennie Kellerman Garbarek, sales director for mass market North America at Tessa. Erin was previously the longtime floral director of H-E-B, where she was recognized by IFPA in 2023 as Floral Marketer of the Year, and Jennie is a veteran of SpartanNash, Mariano’s and Roundy’s. In this conversation, they discuss the complexity of the floral department and the reasons why floral leadership should always aim to be working a year in advance. They talk about transitioning in and out of holidays; leaning on suppliers to keep up with the consumer trends; how the global nature of the business plays into planning; the rise of microholidays; the growing popular culture relevance of floral; the increasing presence of private brand in floral; the undervalued practice of getting out in stores and talking to customers and department managers; the still largely untapped opportunity of e-commerce for floral; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Clark Roper, a senior team leader at Chick-fil-A Supply, which is a subsidiary of Chick-fil-A. Clark has been with Chick-fil-A since 2022, but before that, he spent seven years as a produce buyer for Piggly Wiggly. Along with reflections on logistics, category management and more from his retail days, Clark shares his perspective on how Chick-fil-A elicits such remarkable performance primarily from young, part-time employees. He also discusses tools, like the Enneagram and Working Genius, that help identify strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of team members and explains the impact those have made in allowing him to support his team better. If you lead people, this is a conversation you shouldn't miss. Enjoy!
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We're delighted to welcome back to the podcast Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and industry associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. In this episode, Anne-Marie and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss topics stemming from the SEPC's What's New report, which debuted at Southern Innovations. Their conversation covers the continuing growth fruit but downturn for vegetables; the concentration of new units and dollars coming from millennials; the sentiment of that generation toward fruits versus vegetables; how millennials and their children are interacting with produce and to what extent pickiness is influencing purchases; how fresh produce is seeing more competition from smoothies, powders, supplements and bars; how suppliers and retailers can come alongside parents and make vegetables fun for their kids; the emerging trend of "fiber maxing" as an opportunity for produce; what fresh produce can learn from its CPG counterparts on selling the benefits of certain nutrients; what implications the increasing spending power of millennials has for order quantities, delivery cadences, stocking best practices, and more; how kids today respond to marinades, sauces and seasonings and the potential of those "extras" to elevate how consumers experience vegetables; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to have as our guests for this episode Karli Nelson, supermarket sales manager of Chrysal USA, and Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market North America for Tessacorp. In this episode, Karli — also known as the author of the Supermarket Floral Ad Roundup — and Jennie, alongside The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, dive into floral ad trends, how different retailers see the role of floral in the ad, marketing floral beyond the ad, and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to have as our guest for this episode Tim Deubner, a produce and floral manager for Town & Country Supermarket. He’s been in produce for more than a decade now and is dedicated to making his career in the industry and continuing to advance through the ranks. He’s probably one of the best out there at using LinkedIn to share his success stories, explain his thought process in his work, and be candid about his ambition to keep growing in this industry. In this conversation, he visits with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about how he practices thinking like a produce director; how he found and engages with mentors throughout the industry; how he has broadened his skillset since moving from a corporate store to an independent store; how he built a cut-fruit program for his store; how he engages customers both in the store and online; why and how he shares about his work via LinkedIn; how he approaches opportunity buys; which metrics he watches most closely; how he's grown in the three years since he last appeared on the podcast; and more! Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did, and thanks for listening!
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We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Tony Mirack, director of produce, floral and salad bar at McCaffrey's Food Markets. In this conversation with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, Tony discusses his excitement about produce now having the "Wow!" factor thanks to varietal innovation in grapes, stone fruit, kiwi, berries, melons and more; the tricky calculus, given all the new varieties these days, of category management and SKU rationalization; how he measures success (spoiler alert — it goes beyond sales and profit); the information from growers that is most valuable to him; the philosophy that guides how he builds the ad; why he believes growers and shippers should visit their retailers and understand their customers; the power of educating your employees so they can educate your customers; how he allocates his time between strategy and planning and being in the stores working with the store-level teams; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did, and thanks for listening!
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We're delighted to welcome as our guest this week Marc Goldman, produce director at Morton Williams Supermarkets, a 17-store chain that has served New York City since 1952 and was just acquired by Wakefern. Marc has been with Morton Williams the better part of 30 years, and in this conversation he talks about his career; changes he’s observing in the competitive landscape; what he's looking forward to about the acquisition; how he and his produce managers evaluate and evolve the assortment; what he looks for during store visits; the hardest part of the job for a produce manager today; his early experiences learning to lead a team; and more. Thanks for listening!
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We're delighted to have as our guest on this episode Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods for the Food Industry Association, also known as FMI. Before Rick joined FMI in 2014, he spent more than 20 years at Safeway in various leadership roles across marketing, merchandising and operations, and he has overseen all sorts of large-scale special projects in that capacity. In this conversation, Rick and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss why produce saw greater unit sales growth in 2024 than any other perimeter department except deli foodservice; what percentage of retailers are using produce programs as differentiators and how satisfied they are with those programs’ performance; the mindset shift and supply chain improvements that have bolstered the availability of local produce in grocery retail; the role that retail media networks play for grocers currently and how that may evolve — and how fresh fits in; preserving the shopper experience as retail media grows; the growing importance of digital even as the vast majority of purchases remain in-store; the need to merchandise with meals in mind to better meet the needs of shoppers; and other topics including sales per labor hour, electronic shelf labels, stabilization of labor and supply chain challenges, and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation, and thanks for listening!
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We're delighted to bring you three guests in this week's episode: our recurring floral series star, Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market, North America, for Tessacorp, and a veteran of Roundy’s, Mariano’s and SpartanNash; Jake Rupert, director of sales and marketing at North Country Growers and a veteran of Roundy’s and Kroger; and Justin Heffernan, the vice president of sales for Fyffes North America and a veteran of Roundy’s and Jewel-Osco. They have each spent at least a decade on the buy side of the business — Jake almost two decades — and are now on the supply side. In this conversation with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, Justin, Jennie and Jake discuss the relationship between produce and floral; how those departments interact; how leaders tasked with managing across those departments can support both well; how building relationships plays a critical part in setting floral up for success during high-volume periods; leveraging competitive spirit to grow sales across the organization; incorporating floral into storewide events; the role of floral in the ad; the opportunity for greater collaboration between produce and floral; and much more. Enjoy!
If you've been enjoying these episodes on floral, check out the archives for more. Thanks for listening!
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We're delighted to have produce manager Ryan Vann, produce regional supervisor Jason Riggs, and vice president of produce operations Mike Roberts — all from Harps Food Stores — as our guests this week. The International Fresh Produce Association has recognized Ryan as one of the best in the business, naming him among 20 honorees this year for its Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In this episode, Ryan discusses how he got into the business; what the transition was like from his previous industry, foodservice; his development as a leader; what he enjoys most about being in the store; his experience with the Southeast Produce Council's STEP-UPP program; how he evaluates potential in team members; how he breaks up his day and makes time to train his team members; and more. Jason and Mike discuss their internal process for selecting nominees for IFPA recognition; Ryan's contribution not just to his own store but to the broader company; Ryan's ability to identify and cultivate emerging leaders; Mike's commitment to educating produce managers not only on products but on leadership as well — and how his own leadership journey informed that passion; and other topics. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to welcome as our guests for this week's episode — the latest installment in our floral series — Nadia Pregoni, category manager for floral at Stop & Shop; Stuart Vanstaalduinen, sales director at Bayview Flowers; and Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market North America at Tessa. Nadia, Stu and Jennie visit with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about local and imports, including how they're navigating uncertainty around tariffs; the differences in planning time frame between produce and floral; how COVID changed the way floral buying is done; staying relevant and on-trend when growing and ordering happens so far in advance of shipments; the role of seasonality and limited-time offers; what retailers and suppliers can do to make stores true floral destinations; cultivating "plant parents"; the rise of value-added, also known as "giftables"; the role of hard goods in floral; trends they're seeing take shape currently; and much more. Enjoy!
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We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode GiGi Busch, who at the time of recording was a produce and floral analyst for Busch's Fresh Food Market. GiGi has since been promoted into a broader role of content creator, working with the marketing department. Prior to her role as a category analyst, she spent several years as a floral merchandiser. In this conversation with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, GiGi talks about how she stays on top of what's trending; when to throw the rule book out the window; how she prepares to present ideas for new events; her favorite new "micro holidays" in floral; from which other retailers she draws inspiration; how to find and cultivate talent for the floral department; listening as the starting point for developing as a leader; the importance of learning from people across the industry; not making assumptions of what consumers will buy based on demographics; the grand reopening of the Novi location and what went into the design of the produce and floral department; how she, as a member of the ownership family, works to establish rapport with store-level personnel; what her pitch would be to younger people about the opportunities in grocery; and more. Enjoy!
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We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Bob Veilleux, vice president of produce and floral operations at Vallarta Supermarkets. Bob’s previous stops have included Gelson’s, Gerrity’s, El Rio Grande Latin Markets, LaMontanita Co-op, and Sprouts. In this conversation, Bob and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss how Vallarta has shifted how it goes to market in produce; the role of name brands in their departments; the consumer research findings that informed their changes in specs; how relevant his previous experience with Latin markets has been in this role; which retailers Vallarta views as competition; how they invest in customer service as another differentiator; how they educate not only members of the produce team but also operations through field trips and trade shows; what they're prioritizing in the produce departments of the new stores they're opening; the importance of high-end fixtures in those stores; what impacts they are seeing from tariffs and how Bob approaches the uncertainty of that situation; how shoppers are looking at price versus quality in the current economic environment; how he got his start in the industry 38 years ago; how his time as a store manager and store director shaped his approach to leadership and why he considers those roles the most important in the grocery store today. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more discussions featuring executive perspective, check out this playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Everyone in grocery retail wants a richer understanding of what’s happening with the consumer — what they’re thinking about and talking about, the questions they’re trying to get answered, the changes they want to make. Retail dietitians, who have in-depth conversations with customers on a daily basis, have excellent perspective in this area. With that in mind — and thanks to a generous assist from the International Fresh Produce Association's Katie Calligaro, who helped convene this group in advance of IFPA's Consumer Connection Conference — we're delighted to feature in this week's episode a roundtable conversation with Laura Brown, director of nutrition for Kroger Health; Stacy Bates, director of wellness and nutrition strategy at H-E-B; and Allison Primo, health and wellness strategy manager at Schnuck Markets. Laura, Stacy and Allison discuss what's top of mind for consumers when it comes to nutrition and wellness; what they're hearing from shoppers on current events topics like food additives, seed oils, GLP-1s, SNAP restrictions and more; the role they play for their organizations in making sure health and wellness messaging breaks through even as their companies also need to communicate about value, convenience and other purchase drivers; how economic pressure is influencing the way consumers are shopping; the importance of shifting the mindset around what healthy eating means and making that relevant for all cultures; how they build relationships throughout their organizations to bring a nutrition lens to different teams and business activities; the increasing significance of trust with consumers as grocers produce more of their own products; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to have as our guests this week produce manager Dan Weis and store manager Michael Gillespie of The Fresh Market. In the grocery industry broadly, many companies try to be everything to every shopper, but The Fresh Market has a unique approach, focusing on premium meal solutions, special occasions, and holidays. Sampling plays a significant role, and the expectation (enabled by a collaborative culture) is that team members create a shopping experience of "impeccable hospitality." In this conversation, Michael talks about what attracted him to The Fresh Market, how he judges his own performance beyond financial metrics, the importance of asking team members about what ideas they have to drive the business, how they're seeing shoppers of different income levels respond to the current economic pressures, how the store recently tackled a challenge to showcase its full catering and special occasion capabilities for New Years, and more. Dan discusses collaboration across departments, the store's fresh-cut assortment, cultural aspects of the company he appreciates, and recent success stories from the produce department, including an innovative value-added idea he suggested and piloted that later was rolled out company-wide. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes of The Produce Retail Podcast that feature produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome for this week's episode Blaine Heilman, a produce industry veteran who’s entering a new career chapter as a consultant and sales director of Transcend Leadership Collective. Blaine’s previous roles have included president of sales at Sage Fruit, senior sourcing manager at Walmart, and director of domestic sales at Rainier Fruit Company. Our regular listeners know that leadership and people management have been recurring topics on this podcast, and in this conversation Blaine details her first experience of going from individual contributor to team leader, the growing pains she encountered, the tools she found useful in her learning and development, the structured approach she later found in Walmart's leadership program, and why and how she wants to support other industry members in their own leadership journeys. Blaine discusses navigating common challenges for those moving into leadership for the first time, from managing people older than you, to setting expectations for change, to wanting to be liked, to repairing relationships when needed, and more. For new leaders in particular, this conversation will be invaluable, and for older leaders, it will be an excellent refresher and opportunity to share with younger leaders in the success planning pipeline. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
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In this third installment of our 2025 floral series, we're delighted to have as our guests Bradley Gaines, business director of floral for United Supermarkets, Market Street and Albertsons Market, and Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market, North America, for floral supplier Tessacorp. Our regular listeners will recall that Jennie also has a retail background with stops including Roundy’s, Mariano’s and SpartanNash. In this conversation, Bradley, Jennie and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss best practices for staffing floral departments, from internship programs to hiring criteria to skills to teach. Bradley and Jennie also talk about the potential of AI for use in training new employees, how younger team members bring value to the team, the benefits of starting all new hires in the floral department, and the value of career training programs — which include floral and meat — that allow high school students to hit the ground running when they start full-time jobs with the company. Bradley also takes listeners behind the scenes on how posting on TikTok has increased awareness of and engagement with United's floral offerings; he discusses his initial reaction to the idea of embracing TikTok, what got him on board with the idea, the kind of content the team creates, who takes the videos, who posts them, collaboration with the marketing team, and more. Bradley and Jennie also cover the topic of e-commerce as a growing channel for floral. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
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We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this episode Brian Numainville, a longtime grocery retail veteran, consumer research expert, and the principal of The Feedback Group. Before founding that organization, he worked for nearly two decades at the Nash Finch Company, which merged with Spartan Stores in 2013 to become SpartanNash. In this conversation, Brian covers The Feedback Group's latest research on the online grocery shopping experience, how it differs across channels (supermarkets, mass merchandisers, discounters, Amazon, etc.), and what the implications of those results are for produce. Brian and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discussed whether online purchasing of produce has plateaued, what factors could drive it up in the coming years, what barriers still remain to more produce being purchased through online channels, and what grocers could change to create a better online experience. Brian and Ashley also explored a fascinating rabbit trail — AI in grocery and what it could mean for online grocery and produce. If you're looking for a bird's-eye perspective on grocery, produce, online shopping and AI, this conversation with Brian is one you won't want to miss. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Matt Quiring, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nature Fresh Farms, for a deep dive on greenhouse commodities: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries. Matt discusses current trends and opportunities on the horizon for each category; what he's observing as far as growth of branded product sales versus private label; the shrinking middle ground between value offerings and premium offerings; the emerging opportunity of retail media; what he sees retailers that get the most out of category management insights doing differently than their peers; a practical tip on getting more shelf life out of cherry tomatoes on the vine in clamshells; merchandising opportunities for greenhouse commodities; the company's recent, vibrant rebranding of its product lineup; and much more. Enjoy!
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome back for the second installment of our floral series Jennie Garbarek, sales director of mass market, North America, for floral supplier Tessacorp, along with Michael Schrader, floral director of Schnuck Markets. Michael is a lifelong floral professional and highly respected in the industry. He was recognized as Floral Marketer of the Year in 2016, and he has also served as chair of then-PMA’s Floral Council. Jennie is also a veteran of the retail side of the business: her previous roles have included floral buyer for Roundy’s, category manager for floral at Mariano’s, and floral merchandising manager at SpartanNash. She is a member of the IFPA’s Floral Council and an advisory board member for Floriexpo. Michael and Jennie join the show to tackle a broad topic: building a floral program. They talk with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about what that entails at different levels, from a small independent just starting out in floral or broadening a modest program, to a standard supermarket looking to advance its offering, to a grocer that wants to make floral a signature department and be a market leader in that area. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more discussions featuring executive perspective, check out this playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest this week Ed Keefe, executive director of produce, floral and bakery merchandising and operations for Eickhoff ShopRite Supermarkets. Ed visited with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about the origins of his "Drop the Leash" philosophy; how he stays current on what the people in his stores need and how he can set them up for success; past remerchandising projects, department remodels, and the process of managing change; what he gained when he left the company (which he still loves) where he spent 30 years; the growth of fresh-cut produce and prepared foods; his path in the industry and how his construction background has been an asset; recent successes for Super Bowl and Valentine's Day; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more discussions featuring executive perspective, check out this playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Back by popular demand, we have a special guest on this week's episode — Dave Dunkak, a longtime executive in mobile computing and AIDC, frequently recognized throughout his career for setting sales records, leading successful teams and developing people ... and he's also the father of The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle! Dave and Ashley talk all things negotiation, including understanding the difference between what each party needs from a deal versus what each party wants from a deal; discerning the trustworthiness of the other party; engaging in creative approaches; taking opportunities, when appropriate, to educate rather than convince; turning down the temperature when the other party gets heated; deciding when to walk away from a deal; preparing and researching both the company and the person you'll be negotiating with; viewing this whole area as an opportunity for collaboration rather than something that you win and the other party loses; and much more. Enjoy!
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Jennifer Anazawa, director of trade and category development for Mission Produce. Jennifer joins us to discuss what's happening in the avocado and mango categories. She talks about the growth of bagged avocados; consumer insights that support offering ripe fruit; price sensitivity of avocados and the variables that affect it; the influence of promotions; what the retailers who best leverage category insights do differently than the rest; why flexibility is key to maximizing avocado sales; what retailers need to know about how consumers buy avocados in advance of the Super Bowl; the surprising amount of mangoes that are bought on impulse; the opportunity for ripe fruit to be a differentiator for retailers; the difference between what retailers consider ripe and what many shoppers consider ripe; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
Housekeeping Item: Because Mission Produce is a publicly traded company, we want to note that the views that Jenn expresses on this podcast are solely her own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Mission Produce. Jenn is speaking from her own perspective and on her own behalf for this conversation.
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listeners looking to leverage floral as a growth area in 2025 are in for a treat: retail veteran Jennie Garbarek will join The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle on the show each month this year to discuss all facets of floral at retail. Jennie’s previous roles have included floral buyer at Roundy’s; category manager for floral at Mariano’s; and floral merchandising manager at SpartanNash. She is a member of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Floral Council and an advisory board member for Floriexpo. Jennie has had experience further up the floral supply chain as well, and she’s currently the sales director of mass market, North America, for floral supplier Tessacorp.
In this episode, launching 30 days in advance of Valentine's Day 2025, Jennie takes listeners behind the scenes of preparation for the biggest day of the floral year. Topics include planning, which begins about a year in advance; ordering, which Jennie explains is best done early as possible and in close partnership with growers; logistics, which inevitably involves fighting for truck space and air freight; staffing, which Jennie notes is most effective when employees are assigned specific roles for the big day; assortment, which should be carefully tailored knowing that nothing specific to the holiday will move after the day of the event; merchandising, which should adjust throughout the day based on stock levels; the transition out of the holiday — Jennie advises a "clean break" — and more.
You'll be hard-pressed to find a better deep dive on floral at retail than what Jennie will be providing this year. Tune in and let us know if there are topics you'd like us to cover. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we do!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest this week Amanda Oren, the vice president of industry strategy for grocery atRELEX. For any listeners who don’t know, RELEX is a platform that uses analytics and forecasting to help retailers optimize their supply chain and store operations so that what’s arriving at stores or being produced in stores matches demand. Amanda has more than 20 years of experience in grocery, including with companies like Good Food Holdings — which listeners will probably know for its association with banners Bristol Farms, Metropolitan Market and Lazy Acres — and also Foodland and Grocery Outlet. If you check out Amanda’s LinkedIn, you’ll see she’s done a lot of what I like to call “big picture” work — process improvement, change management, strategy. So today we’re going to get Amanda’s perspective on some big-picture storylines in grocery and what they mean for produce. We’re going to talk about competing with discounters, about the Kroger-Albertsons merger, about private label, and about inflation and price competition. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest this week Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many folks in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. Speaking of SEPC, Anne-Marie recently presented her What's New! report at Southern Innovations, and she and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle dive into the findings in today's conversation, covering topics including how inflation of recent years continues to influence consumer mindset and spending; why grocers are leaning into loyalty programs; the power of above-and-beyond merchandising for holidays in particular; the influence of trending TikTok items on category sales this year; the opportunity of presenting full meal solutions (with varying levels of prep work required) together in the store; the need for retailers to develop plans for when good things happen (like viral produce trends) just like they make plans for when bad things happen (outbreaks, emergencies, etc.); how consumers are "replacing" restaurant meals; and much more. Thanks so much for listening and hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more insights from Anne-Marie, check out her previous appearances on the podcast.
- What produce can learn from the growth happening in deli
- Packaged produce, value-added, generational trends and more
- Consumer trends, produce merchandising and marketing
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guests for this week's episode Nicole Grant, director of customer development, and Rose Palacios, director of shopper marketing and merchandising — both from Driscoll's — for a deep dive on the berry category. Rose and Nicole discuss how broader industry trends are showing up in berries, including private label and supplier brands; value and premium options; conventional and organic product; smaller and larger pack sizes; in-store versus online sales; and more. Given the increasing number of SKUs in the category, Nicole and Rose advocate for increased space for berries and lay out the process of making that business case to retailers. They note that key metrics vary by retailer, and along with growing sales there may also be pressure to increase units (which can influence pack size strategy), market share and more. Rose and Nicole also observe that there's a significant opportunity for category education of the many newer people on sales floors post-COVID, and they give examples of how Driscoll's can come alongside retailers if that's an area they see as a way to get better. Nicole and Rose also share how they got into produce, the kinds of projects they handle in their respective roles, and how their teams collaborate. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
With this week's episode, we're delighted to bring you three excellent guests, all from The Giant Co. To celebrate the recognition of produce manager Chris O'Brien by the International Fresh Produce Association, we're visiting with Chris, regional fresh sales manager Anthony Deni, and director of produce and floral Chris Keetch. We hear from Chris O’Brien about his reaction to winning the award; how he got started in produce; when he realized he could have a career in produce retail; how his leadership style has changed over the years; when he realized that in his current role he could have an impact well beyond his own store; and the training role he’s been serving in lately. Anthony discusses what makes Chris deserving of this recognition; areas in which he's seen Chris grow; and recent projects on which Chris' work has impressed him. Chris Keetch covers the process for selecting nominees; Chris O.'s role in building the bench of produce talent; a new training program that gets people on the sales floor quicker and aims to develop them as produce experts; the importance of nominating people for IFPA recognition; and why he describes Chris as a "merchant operator." Hope you enjoy the conversation!
To hear more from Chris O'Brien, check out the IFPA's five-part webinar series featuring roundtable conversations with groups of this year's winners. The webinars are co-hosted by IFPA's Joe Watson and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle. The recordings are hosted on this page. https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/retail/retail-produce-manager-award-winners-webinar-series/
For more episodes of The Produce Retail Podcast focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest for this week's episode Leigh Vaughn, director of produce and floral for Associated Food Stores. In this conversation, Leigh takes us behind the scenes of category reviews, from the data his team examines in preparation for supplier meetings; to his recommended do's and do-not's for hopeful vendors; to the roles that logistics, cost of goods and innovation play in the evaluation of suppliers; to the makeup of the group that suppliers meet and need to connect with; to how Leigh's team uses the IFPA Global Show to find new items and connect with new vendors; and much more. Enjoy!
For more from Leigh, check out this earlier episode.
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guests this episode Daniel Spivey, national director of fruit for Sprouts Farmers Market, and Reyna Graves, national director of veg and floral. Daniel and Reyna discuss topics including seasonal fruit destinations that drove record sales this summer; switching to more segregated merchandising of organic; riding the wave of the cucumber sandwich trend that started with a TikTok video; how they view private label when it comes to produce; the importance of supplier partnerships and innovation; the implications of more online sales for in-store processes; convenience and floral; what their roles entail and how they collaborate; how Sprouts finds and sources items that shoppers can't get anywhere else; their willingness to test new products at all levels of scale; the transition from fall to holiday season; and more. Enjoy!
For more conversations featuring executive perspective, check out this playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guests on this episode Schnucks produce manager Aaron Carroll, produce sales merchandiser Meghan Hauck, and vice president of produce Mike Tipton. Aaron has been recognized this year by the International Fresh Produce Association as one of the best in the country. In this conversation, Aaron, Meghan and Mike visit with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about Aaron's remarkable creativity in merchandising, how he leads his team, his contributions beyond his own store, how he continues to learn and develop, the attributes that make him an excellent manager, and more. They also discuss career pathing and how the company works to build the bench of produce leadership, along with some leadership best practices they've learned over the years. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
To hear more from Aaron, check out the IFPA's five-part webinar series featuring roundtable conversations with groups of this year's winners. The webinars are co-hosted by IFPA's Joe Watson and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle. If you can't catch a webinar live, the recordings are hosted on this page. https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/retail/retail-produce-manager-award-winners-webinar-series/
For more episodes of The Produce Retail Podcast focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re delighted to have as our guests for this episode Tops Markets produce manager Brad Franklin and produce and floral field specialist Cole Bickal. Brad has been recognized this year as one of the honorees of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In this conversation, Brad discusses his start in the industry, what he finds most engaging about his work, the growth he’s made in floral, the balance of increasing sales and decreasing shrink, and more. Cole talks about the attributes that make Brad a significant asset for the company, including his role as a district trainer and his endless curiosity about ways to improve his department. If you’re headed to the IFPA’s Global Show, look for Brad at the Retail Awards Reception on Friday, Oct. 18!
To hear more from Brad, check out the IFPA's five-part webinar series featuring roundtable conversations with groups of this year's winners. The webinars are co-hosted by IFPA's Joe Watson and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle. If you can't catch a webinar live, the recordings are hosted on this page. https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/retail/retail-produce-manager-award-winners-webinar-series/
For more episodes of The Produce Retail Podcast focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guests for this week's episode produce manager Bishop Tart, supervisor Josh Smith and vice president of sales and marketing Price Mabry to talk about Bishop's recognition by the International Fresh Produce Association as part of the Retail Produce Manager Awards Program Class of 2024. Bishop talks about his start in the business (working with his dad, a produce manager himself for 40-plus years); where he focuses his time and what he delegates to his team; planning and executing show-stopping seasonal displays; his philosophy on cross-training rather than having team members specialize; the growth of fresh cut; and more. Josh and Price explain what set Bishop apart for the nomination this year and detail how Corner Market has made IFPA recognition a point of pride and competition between stores — and they provide an update on how Corner Market's previous two winners have advanced in their careers since receiving their awards.
To hear more from Bishop, check out the IFPA's five-part webinar series featuring roundtable conversations with groups of this year's winners. The webinars are co-hosted by IFPA's Joe Watson and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle. If you can't catch a webinar live, the recordings are hosted on this page. https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/retail/retail-produce-manager-award-winners-webinar-series/
For more episodes focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome back to The Produce Retail Podcast longtime executive Scott Schuette. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. He’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. He’s also been so kind to be a regular on this podcast and share his perspective on all kinds of executive topics, from managing across divisions to developing the annual budget to writing to the ad — and many, many more.
On this week's episode, Scott and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle tackle a topic that also featured prominently in the first-ever State of the Produce Manager report — the topic of how much leeway produce managers have to make decisions for their department. Scott gives examples of successful retailers all along the spectrum, from ones that tightly control presentation from a corporate level to ones that give produce managers significant discretion. He also discusses his views on which decisions should be made at the corporate level and which should be made at the store level. Scott also talks about store segmentation as a way to keep assortment and merchandising relatively consistent while still accounting for differences in customer bases and store layouts.
Scott also notes the role of operational leadership and effective communication about standards. He discusses how produce managers can earn more leeway to make decisions and the importance of letting them experiment and learn from their successes and failures. Scott also brings up the leeway produce managers have in how they develop their team members and the opportunity they have to adjust their style as needed and personalize their approach to the personalities of folks in their department.
For more conversations featuring executive perspective, check out this playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode of the podcast Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known in produce and across the broader grocery landscape for her insightful reports and presentations on what's happening in different parts of the store and what's happening in the world of the consumer — how and why they say they're shopping the way they are. In this conversation, Anne-Marie shares the trends she's seeing in deli and prepared foods and what produce can learn from the growth happening in that department, including the opportunity retailers have to capture what would be restaurant trips; the willingness of shoppers to make a separate trip to a different retailer for a specific foodservice offering; how retailers can build the basket during those replacing-a-restaurant-meal occasions; the different ways retailers are delivering convenience through the deli and how departments like produce and meat need to be proactive to collaborate so they don't get skipped when convenience is the priority; why grab-and-go meals like pizza often don't include mushrooms and how creative retailers are making pizzas customizable — and including more produce; how operational realities (and sometimes department silos) present challenges for some of the most aspirational cross-merchandising opportunities; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest on this episode of the podcast Brendan Haslam, director of strategy and category management for Bolthouse Fresh Foods, which is best known for carrots. Brendan takes us behind the scenes of his work digging into sales data to identify opportunities for the retailers his company serves. He discusses the importance of earning the trust of customers by making recommendations that take into account their whole category, not just what they do with Bolthouse. He talks about assessing assortment, pricing and promotion by comparing the sales results of a given retailer with others in their market and beyond. He provides a window into the cadence and process of category management conversations. Brendan also covers his background in the profession and in produce, the characteristics that he has seen dovetail with success in category management, recommendations for people who want to explore careers in this area, and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome three guests for this week's episode: produce manager Alicia Lewis, produce merchandiser Mike Harrington, and vice president of produce operations Mike Roberts, all of Harps Food Stores. Alicia has been recognized by the International Fresh Produce Association this year as one of the best in the business as an honoree of the Retail Produce Manager Awards program, and so we talk with Alicia about when she knew produce could be a career for her; how she developed her understanding of the numbers side of the role; how she approaches training her team; how she balances running the department at her store and helping with training and remerchandising at other stores as well; and much more. Mike and Mike discuss what led to Alicia's nomination for this award; the attributes that make her stellar in her role; the importance of utilizing top-notch produce managers beyond their stores to make the whole company better; setting produce managers up with opportunities to continue to grow in their roles; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest for this week's episode Leigh Vaughn, director of produce and floral for Associated Food Stores. Leigh has been with AFS for 16 years now and was with Lee’s Marketplace for 13 years before that. In this week's conversation, he and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss how Leigh got started on the retail side of the business, including how he would assess employees' potential for the produce department; how he made the transition to wholesale and works with produce supervisors and managers for the stores AFS serves; the resources that AFS provides those stores, including a traveling regional produce seminar and a learning management system, and how those have been/are being developed; the opportunities AFS is creating for produce department employees to earn certificates and explore the career paths available to them; how AFS sets up for success its remodels and new store openings; the incorporation of more innovation refrigeration, including the ROI on that equipment; the increase in cross-merchandising between departments and the breaking down of silos that's needed for more of that meal solutions presentation to occur; the growth of fresh-cut produce, the labor required for it, and the decision-making process on what to do in-house and what to do at a commissary; and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest this week longtime produce executive Dorn Wenninger. His most recent role was senior vice president of produce for UNFI, and before that he was vice president of produce and floral for Walmart. Before he moved to the buy side of the business, he worked for renowned suppliers Driscoll's and Chiquita. He was also a member of the inaugural board of directors for the International Fresh Produce Association. Over his time in the industry, Dorn has developed a keen interest in indoor agriculture, and he's also passionate about digging into industry data and finding opportunities for action – so those will be the two major buckets for today's conversation.
Dorn and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss why Dorn has been a student of indoor ag for 14 years now; how the vertical and glass segments are different and the opportunities he sees for them; the factors that will influence investment in CEA in the near term; the growth that greenhouse SKUs have seen within the packaged salad category, which has otherwise been down; the significant market share of CEA in packaged salads in certain regions; the few non-CEA SKUs within packaged salads that are growing; opportunities that the data shows in specialty and organic; how to use your center-store assortment to identify potential gaps in your produce assortment; the importance of combining data deep dives with walking stores and having conversations with associates; how up-and-coming produce leaders can become more comfortable with data and learn how to leverage it better; why he's been exploring floral as a key area for growth; and much more.
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest on this week's episode Lou Rotell, director of produce and floral for El Rio Grande Latin Market. The company recently set a new Guinness World Record for the largest fruit display, which featured avocados for Cinco de Mayo. Lou and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss the brainstorm that got the ball rolling on the plan for a record-breaking display; the testing of different approaches for the architecture and placement of the display; the coordination between departments across the store and between produce, marketing, logistics and other internal divisions to make the event a holistic success; the collaboration with suppliers on specifications, volume and pricing; the role of center-store suppliers and their sponsorship of the event; the discussion with Guinness on requirements to set the record; the plan to distribute the avocados to other stores after the record was set to avoid any waste; the definition of success for a special event like this one; and the way the project boosted morale among associates in the store and provided an opportunity for greater collaboration between divisions. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to bring in as our guests today Jose Cartamil and Tom Foss, two veteran produce merchandisers who now work for Carlson AirFlo Merchandising Systems. Tom and Jose bring a unique perspective on the produce retail landscape. They each worked for many years as produce managers and merchandisers – Tom with Rainbow Foods and Roundy’s, Jose with Publix, Target and Supervalu – and in their current roles they work with retailers across the country, so they’ve got deep expertise in the nitty gritty of the department and also visibility into many different banners and formats. They discuss how they began their careers in produce; what they're observing in stores now as far as trends in assortment, merchandising and marketing; how they were trained when they first started in the produce department and how they trained others when they became more senior; what they believe the opportunities are for produce retail as a whole; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to bring out of the archives today a conversation from a couple years back with Alex Jackson, vice president of procurement and sales for Frieda's Branded Produce, about the origin of Love Your Produce Manager Day, a holiday that Frieda's created back in 2012. Before that discussion, The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle also shares a few words about her appreciation for the many talented, dedicated, zealous produce managers she's observed and visited with over the years. We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we wish you a belated Happy Love Your Produce Manager Day!
For episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’ve got a special treat for you today – a roundtable discussion with three retail dietitians who, along with being nutrition experts, have excellent insight into the consumer and are incredibly plugged into marketing at their companies. Our panelists are Harmons registered dietitian nutritionist Melanie Taylor, MS, RDN, CD; Raley’s nutrition strategist and corporate dietitian Yvette Waters, MS, RDN, CISSN, RYT; and Kroger director of nutrition Laura Brown, MS, RDN, LDN. Moderated by The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, this group discusses topics including how consumer purchasing behavior has been influenced by lingering inflation; how RDs are using — or considering using — AI in their work; how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are showing up in their conversations with consumers and the challenges their use can pose to increasing produce consumption; which topics they see resonating with shoppers and the platforms they're using to connect with them; how they work to get their vision executed in stores; what dietitians can do for consumers that many people may not realize; what they're most looking forward to at the International Fresh Produce Association's upcoming Consumer Connection event, and much more. Last but not least, speaking of IFPA — a big shout-out to director of marketing and communications Katie Calligaro for bringing this group of RDs together for today's conversation. Melanie, Yvette and Laura are part of IFPA's retail dietitian network, a unique and important way IFPA engages the industry. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to The Produce Retail Podcast! Our esteemed guest for this week's episode is Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many folks in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. Speaking of SEPC, Southern Exposure just happened, one of the first major shows of the year, and Anne-Marie presented FMI's Power of Produce report, the go-to source each year on current consumer and sales trends in the industry. In today's conversation, Anne-Marie and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss topics including how inflation influenced consumption in 2023 and continues to do so in 2024; how sales of fixed-weight produce are growing despite consumer concern about plastic; innovation in produce, from product attributes to merchandising; how different generations are finding recipes and meal planning; why traditional grocery is losing share of spend to channels like discount, mass merchandisers and club and how that could change in the future; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest today Dan Weis, a longtime produce retail veteran who's been working in grocery stores for most of his life — including as a young kid tagging along with his dad on Saturdays! Dan has spent the majority of his career, more than 30 years, at King Kullen, a family grocer serving Long Island, New York. Dan was a produce manager there for 17 years and then a produce and floral supervisor there for 15 years. More recently, after he and his wife moved to Florida to be closer to their daughters, Dan also worked for Publix. The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle wanted to visit with Dan because he’s someone who really loves the business and is zealous about creating an excellent experience for the customer. In this episode, Ashley and Dan discuss leadership, department resets, the importance of communication and education, merchandising philosophy, career transitions, a few of Dan's highlights over the years, and his recent attendance at the Southeast Produce Council's Southern Exposure. Enjoy!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Claudia St. John, the founder and CEO of consulting, recruiting and training firm The Workplace Advisors. As regular listeners might recall, The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle recently published the first-ever State of the Produce Manager report, and career pathing was one of the topics covered. To learn more about what career pathing entails, how different companies are approaching it, and the value it brings an organization, Ashley reached out to Claudia, whom she saw present back in 2021 at the Southeast Produce Council's Southern Innovations event. In this episode, Claudia also discusses the what the status of the labor market means for how companies need to approach their workforces; what employees today want; what career pathing looks like in practice; why training and other investment in employees in supervisory roles is so critical; the importance of developing "soft" skills; the ROI equation for investment in people; the correlation between happy employees and happy customers; the factors that play into job satisfaction for Gen Z; voluntary sabbatical programs; and more. Enjoy!
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We've got an extra-special guest on this week's episode of The Produce Retail Podcast — longtime sales director and manager Dave Dunkak, who also happens to be the dad of host Ashley Nickle! Dave is in a different industry, but he has extensive experience navigating some of the key challenges that many in produce retail face: Along with developing people, Dave has for many years had P&L responsibility, so he’s very well-versed in balancing the long-term goals of building a team and a business with the short-term goals of beating last year’s sales numbers. As regular listeners will know by now, Ashley recently surveyed 200 produce managers for the new State of the Produce Manager report, and one of the areas of interest among that group was more training in people management and leadership. With those topics in mind, in this episode Ashley and Dave discuss attributes of strong managers; the critical discipline of holding team members accountable; how to maximize your time developing the team and prioritize with whom you spend that time; how to lead career path discussions with your team members; balancing work time and family time; empowering team members and how important that is to retention; making the difficult decision to transition people off the team when necessary; and value of a good old-fashioned phone call. Enjoy!
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have returning to the podcast as our guest today Josh Padilla, a veteran produce director who most recently led the produce team at Marketplace Bermuda. Josh has also led produce at Citarella in New York and at Gerrity’s in Pennsylvania. His career has also included Krasdale Foods, Whole Foods Market, and Pathmark Supermarkets. In today's episode, Josh provides his perspective on some of the topics that surfaced from the first-ever State of the Produce Manager report: forced distributions and how produce leadership can ease the aggravation that distributions can cause for produce managers; how different organizations structure reporting between merchandising and operations; how merchandising and operations should collaborate and why they sometimes lock horns instead; how labor for produce fits into the bigger picture of labor for the overall store and metrics that leadership gets judged on; the need for more leadership/people management training for produce managers; the opportunity to get creative with incentives to encourage efficiency and to increase retention; and much more. Enjoy!
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Do you ever get frustrated because it seems like certain team members just don't care about the work as much as you do? If you're trying to move people from the "just a job" mentality to a place of pride and ownership, give this conversation a listen. Our guest is Wendy McManus, leadership coach and founder of Connect 2 Potential. Wendy has a long history in the produce industry, including serving for more than a decade at the National Mango Board before she started her own business six years ago. The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle wanted to bring Wendy in for a conversation on leadership, and here’s the reason: When Ashley surveyed more than 200 produce managers a few months back for the new State of the Produce Manager report, she asked about areas in which they’d like more training or education. Leadership, or people management, was a big one. A critical part of leadership is helping the people on your team understand that their role is essential and how they approach it matters, so Wendy discusses in this episode the power of knowing your purpose in your work. It’s a unique angle on the topic of leadership and one that's broadly applicable. Enjoy!
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you're a regular listener, you might recall we surveyed more than 200 produce managers a while back and recently released the first-ever State of the Produce Manager report based on the findings of that survey. One of our takeaways was on the importance of career pathing for produce managers. In today's episode, we bring in an expert on this topic: consultant, author and keynote speaker Dave Mitchell, to whom The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle first reached out several years ago after attending one of his keynotes. Dave was so kind to come on the show and apply some of his wisdom to the world of produce retail. This is a conversation you don't want to miss. Enjoy!
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this episode Scott Horner, owner of EMP, Everything Matters Produce. Scotty has a long history in produce retail, starting with about 20 years as a produce manager for Ahold, Shaw’s, Big Y, and Tri Town Foods. Since then he’s been a merchandiser, supervisor, specialist and broker for fresh foods, and he started his business in 2021. He also shares his knowledge on LinkedIn through merchandising photos and informational videos. The focus of one such video was labor — a topic that The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle just explored at length in the first-ever State of the Produce Manager report — and a discussion about that challenge is what starts today's conversation. Scott talks about how labor percentage has changed over the years; how the lack of hours devoted to training is creating a talent vacuum; how his mentors taught him the business side of produce; the value of training associates to be true sales professionals who know their products; the case for trusting your produce managers to make certain decisions; performance indicators to consider along with labor percentage; how to encourage associates to deliver great customer service; managing to ensure a positive team dynamic; and much more. Enjoy!
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We talk a lot on this podcast — advocate, quite frankly — about the amazing returns that come from investing in training and education for frontline professionals, particular produce managers. In this week's episode, we bring back Kevin Climie, senior director of produce and floral at Fortinos, to discuss how the banner's 24 stores differentiate themselves with next-level floral departments — including how they invest in training and education for their floral managers. Fortinos is under the Loblaws umbrella but functions as an independent, so all Fortinos stores are franchised and have individual owners. Other topics Climie covers in this episode with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle include the layout and location of Fortinos floral departments and the role they play for the banner; how the company began its collaboration with local higher-learning institutions to train and educate floral team members; the growth of floral for Fortinos in recent years; seasonal must-haves and trends in floral; willingness to pay among floral consumers and pricing structures that resonate; monitoring for new items and the role that supplier partnerships play; how product can be repurposed in floral just like it can in produce; preparation for Valentine's Day on the procurement side and the store operations side; and much more. Enjoy!
Here's that playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest on this episode Donovan Jackson, manager and buyer for Seed to Table, an independent grocery store in Naples, Fla. Check out Donovan's LinkedIn for a glimpse at the top-notch merchandising that characterizes this unique store. In his conversation with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle, Donovan covers topics including his career path; his philosophy on the role of merchandising in customer experience and sales; the organization's leadership and trust in his vision for the department; the team that allows him to bring that vision to life; training and teaching in the department; how quick turns mostly make shrink a non-issue; how Seed to Table is a go-to in the community for gatherings beyond grocery shopping; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have Mike Roberts, vice president of produce operations at Harps Food Stores, as our guest on this episode of The Produce Retail Podcast. Mike, a former produce manager himself and a longtime champion of professionals in that role, joins the show to discuss with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle the importance of produce managers; how he works to support them at Harps; which issues are easy for him to solve for them and which are more difficult; how he stays in the loop on what those frustrations are; how the produce manager role has changed over the years; and his experience as a produce manager back at the start of his career.
Also in this conversation, you'll hear Mike and Ashley reference the new State of the Produce Manager report, which Ashley designed and authored with input from industry-leading produce directors. Based on a survey of more than 200 produce managers, the report delves into questions including:
- How much leeway they have to make decisions for their department.
- Whether they believe they have the necessary resources to serve customers well.
- In which areas they want more education or training.
- How they feel about their work.
- What they know and want to know about the career path opportunities available to them.
For inquiries about the full State of the Produce Manager report, please reach out to Ashley Nickle at ashley@nicklegrowthstrategies.com or on LinkedIn.
For more episodes focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week we're bringing you one more episode to wrap up 2023 and set up 2024. Over the last few weeks, we've been looking back at some of the excellent conversations we've been delighted to host on this podcast. This episode, which features some of the highlights from our Leadership & Training playlist, includes snippets from discussions with Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator of Four Seasons Produce; Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods at FMI The Food Industry Association; Tami Martin, human resources director at Black Gold Farms; Armand Lobato, longtime produce retail professional and columnist; and Scott Schuette, a veteran executive whose tenure has included stops at Fresh Thyme Market, Sprouts Farmers Market and Bashas'.
Here's that playlist dedicated to conversations with produce managers and topics particularly relevant for this critical group.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Produce Manager Perspective
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As 2023 draws to a close, we're taking a few weeks to look back at some of the excellent conversations we've been delighted to host on this podcast. This episode, which features some of the highlights from our Produce Manager Perspective playlist, includes snippets from discussions with Food City’s Skylar Leonard along with produce supervisor Travis Jones and local grower Tony Slaughter; Bre Norris of The Giant Co. and her store manager Al Carcifi; Strack & Van Til’s Mitch Harris and produce director Andy Muller; and Hy-Vee's Greg Kimmel and vice president of produce and floral operations John Griesenbrock.
If you check out the full Produce Manager Perspective playlist, you'll find we've also visited with professionals including Rubinette Produce Market's Josh Alsberg; Haggen's Laura Marquand and produce sales manager Brent Chambers; Tops Markets' Chris DeMarie and director of produce and floral Jeff Cady; Corner Market's Olin Williams and vice president of fresh Price Mabry; John Truncale of Brattleboro Food Coop and Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator of Four Seasons Produce; and Armand Lobato, longtime produce retail professional and columnist who gave excellent insight on a critical and universally relevant topic: managing when stores are understaffed.
Here's that playlist dedicated to conversations with produce managers and topics particularly relevant for this critical group.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As 2023 draws to a close, we're taking a few weeks to look back at some of the excellent conversations we've been delighted to host on this podcast. This episode, which features some of the highlights from our Merchandising & Marketing playlist, includes snippets from discussions with Jonna Parker, the fresh foods team lead at Circana; Diane Scalisi, director of omnichannel marketing for Driscoll’s, and Danelle Huber, senior marketing manager for CMI Orchards; Anne-Marie Roerink, principal of 210 Analytics; and Brian Numainville, principal of The Feedback Group.
If you check out the full Merchandising & Marketing playlist, you'll find we've also covered these topics in our conversations with folks including Chris Blackwood, Harold Carroll and Stephen Daly, produce retail veterans with Military Produce Group; Roberto Bolivar, produce specialist for Dave's Markets; Luke Rose, merchandising supervisor with Proffer Produce; Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce; retail dietitians Joni Rampolla of The Giant Company and Kimberly Asman of Weis Markets; and Scott Schuette, a longtime produce retail executive whose previous stops include Sprouts, Fresh Thyme Market and Bashas'
Here's that playlist dedicated to conversations that touch on merchandising and marketing, both with folks in retail and consumer and retail trends experts who bring a bird's-eye view of the industry.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As 2023 draws to a close, we're taking the next few weeks to look back at some of the excellent conversations we've been delighted to host on this podcast. This episode, which features some of the highlights from our Executive Perspective playlist, includes snippets from discussions with Caitlin Tierney, then the senior director of produce for local and innovation with Sprouts Farmers Markets; Kevin Climie, senior director of produce and floral at Fortinos; Shawn Peery, national vice president of produce at Albertsons; Mike Tipton, vice president of produce and floral at Schnuck Markets; and Scott Schuette, a longtime produce retail executive whose previous stops include Sprouts, Fresh Thyme Market and Bashas'.
If you check out the full Executive Perspective playlist, you'll find additional conversations with Josh Padilla, then the director of produce for Marketplace Bermuda; James Breuhl, vice president of fresh for Rouses Markets; Jesse Himango, then the assistant director of produce for Fresh Thyme Market; and Mimmo Franzone, vice president of merchandising for Longo's.
Here's that playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome back to the podcast Jack Sjogren, sales director at Alco Designs, which specializes in fixtures. Jack recently joined Alco after nearly 20 years at Hillphoenix, where he was most recently the design center manager and provided expert perspective for retailers on lighting and refrigeration in various departments of the store, including produce. In this conversation, The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle visits with Jack about how fixtures have been optimized for easier handling and easier cleaning; the versatility available in recent designs; the practical considerations of different finishes for fixtures; the role fixtures play in resets; how retailers can revive the look of a store without doing a complete overhaul and replacing everything; and much more. Enjoy!
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to bring you a returning guest for this episode: Cody Masters, vice president of culinary and the executive chef for Everson Spice Company. His work includes tracking trends and helping both retailers and grower-shippers develop new flavor profiles for their fresh produce and other offerings. In today's conversation, Cody and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss which departments he looks to for flavor inspiration; how including compound butters or seasoning packets in meal kits and value-added produce packs can address key consumer needs; how the recent success of street corn kits demonstrates the opportunity; the logistics behind identifying and delivering the right seasoning blends for different applications for a retailer; the challenge of getting space for trial of new products; how retailers could adopt signature flavors on a seasonal basis for use in departments throughout the store; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation and thanks for listening!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Mike Tipton, vice president of produce and floral at Schnuck Markets. Schnucks recently announced a pilot program called Fresh Produce Now, which allows customers using the grocer's app to receive notifications when favorite local produce items arrive at their store. Mike and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss Foodshed.io, the organization partnering with Schnucks on the pilot, and how the grocer "met" Foodshed.io several years ago and engaged the company for its logistics, compliance and procurement coordination with local growers. Mike also talks about the role of local for Schnucks, particularly local produce, including highlights of the Midwest local season. He also covers how the grocer will gauge the success of the Fresh Produce Now pilot, plans for next summer, and possible applications for the technology beyond calling out local. Ashley and Mike also discuss digital shelf tags and how that technology will evolve in the coming years. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's not every day you get to hear from someone who's been in the business for half a century, but today is one of those days! Strack & Van Til produce manager Mitch Harris was recognized this year as one of IFPA's 2023 Retail Produce Manager Award winners, and he was honored along with the rest of his class on Friday at a special reception at the Global Produce and Floral Show in Anaheim, Calif. The conversation you’ll hear today with Mitch and produce director Andy Muller was actually recorded this summer, and we're confident you'll enjoy it. One of The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley's Nickle's favorite quotes from Mitch in this episode was the following: “My customers are my friends, and I treat them that way.” Thanks for listening!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle is in Anaheim, Calif., for the Global Produce & Floral Show, and in this short-but-sweet episode she recounts some areas of learning from the event's retail tour, which featured visits to Super King, Gelson's and Grocery Outlet. She also discusses the value of store visits for both retailers and suppliers even when someone's not on hand to answer questions. We'd love to hear what you look for when you visit stores. What areas do you study? What insights are most valuable? Send Ashley a note on LinkedIn and let us know. Enjoy!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest this week longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. He’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. He’s also been so kind to be a regular on this podcast and share his perspective on all kinds of executive topics, from managing across divisions to developing the annual budget to writing to the ad — and many, many more. In this week's episode, Scott and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss best practices for active and passive sampling, including timing, location, supplies, food safety and more; ways to fund sampling and demo events; the value of sampling for repeat sales and customer experience; the importance of sampling for items of variable quality, like seasonal items and items for which the retailer carries multiple brands; the value of sampling as a tool for training associates on key items; which items might not be a great fit for sampling; ways the produce department can partner with other departments in the store to expand sampling into full cooking demos; and much more. Thanks so much for listening, and enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome back to the podcast Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and industry associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. In this episode, Anne-Marie and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss topics including consumer willingness to pay; consumer perceptions about grocery prices; private brands versus national brands in produce; occasions for which consumers are willing to splurge; the opportunity for certain produce items to be marketed as healthy indulgence; health and wellness talking points that resonate; how consumers are using ChatGPT for meal planning; and much more. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Josh Padilla, director of produce for Marketplace Bermuda. Josh has also led produce at Citarella in New York and at Gerrity’s in Pennsylvania. His career has also included Krasdale Foods, Whole Foods Market and Pathmark Supermarkets. In this conversation, Josh and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss his tenure at Marketplace Bermuda, including getting acquainted with the culture and consumer base when he started in the role; improving quality by switching suppliers and prioritizing established brands; broadening assortment to include specialty items and, through local partnerships, floral products; navigating the logistical challenges of being on an island; creating a departmental communication strategy; handling buying and category management as well as strategic duties; connecting as a leader with people of different personalities and backgrounds, and much more. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Josh Alsberg of Rubinette Produce Market. Josh was recognized this year by the International Fresh Produce Association as part of its Retail Produce Manager Awards Program. In this conversation, Josh and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss why Josh started the market; his background in the produce industry; building relationships with local farms; managing the market's wide, unique and frequently changing assortment; adjusting merchandising based on what's in season; making sure team members are familiar with unique items; teaching the community about seasonality and produce on a monthly TV segment; and working with schools to allow kids to experience more produce variety with innovative activities like the Great Apple Taste Test. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Kevin Climie, senior director of produce and floral at Fortinos. Fortinos operates 23 – soon to be 24 – locations in the Greater Toronto, Hamiliton area. Fortinos is under the Loblaws umbrella but functions as an independent, so all Fortinos stores are franchised and have individual owners. In this conversation, Kevin and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss how he keeps up with trends; how he finds and trials new items; how new items factor into the shopping experience at Fortinos; how he approaches assortment overall; the role foodservice plays for Fortinos; how he got into produce and his career path; and much more. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome back as our guest this week Jonna Parker, the fresh foods team lead at Circana, formerly known as IRI. Jonna specializes in analyzing sales data, consumer trends and other sources of information to find and explore opportunities for fresh foods, including (of course) fresh produce. In this episode, Jonna and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss the conventional promotional cadence and how that pattern sometimes works against traditional grocers when it comes to seasonal items. Jonna offers a different perspective on when and how it makes sense to use price and promotion to drive sales. She also discusses a metric called dollar trade efficiency, which reveals what percentage of sales for an item being promoted were truly incremental. Jonna and Ashley also talk about how to retrain consumers who have learned to only buy certain items on promotion. In addition, Jonna covers how stores can leverage produce to win more trips. She also addresses consumer perceptions that the cost of food is still too high, despite inflation having fallen. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome! This week's episode is not a normal episode for us — but it is the announcement of a project about which we're incredibly excited. We've launched a produce manager survey. It takes about eight minutes to complete. It’s completely anonymous – no individual name or company name required. The goal is to understand what kind of resources and support produce managers are currently getting; what factors influence satisfaction and enjoyment of the work; and what areas they want more help or education. We’d had excellent participation already, with numerous and incredibly insightful responses. Already we’re seeing trends that point to specific ways that retailers can better support their produce managers. Once we close the survey, we’ll develop a report on the results, we’ll create a special podcast series that will go deeper on the results, and we believe it will be a valuable resource for the industry, thanks to the contribution of all the folks who participate.
Know a produce manager who should be involved or someone who can mobilize their team? Send them this link — https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D7TRRLC — or reach out to The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle with any questions. You can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle/
To listen to our previous episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guests this week produce manager Laura Marquand and produce sales manager Brent Chambers of Haggen Food & Pharmacy. Laura has been selected as one of the International Fresh Produce Association's 2023 Retail Produce Manager Awards Program honorees, so we talk with her and Brent about some of their 2022 highlights — including a major remodel and the implementation of computer-assisted ordering — along with how Laura got into produce, what she enjoys most about the work, how her influence goes beyond her own store, and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest this week longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. He’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. He’s also been so kind to be a regular on this podcast and share his perspective on all kinds of executive topics, from managing across divisions to developing the annual budget to writing to the ad — and many, many more. Today we brainstorm around meal solutions merchandising and the opportunity for retailers to get better at helping shoppers answer their "What's for dinner?" "What's good to snack on?" "What should I do for date night?" "What can I get the kids to eat?" questions. We touch on the role of traffic patterns in this effort around the 30-minute mark of the conversation, so if you're short on time, feel free to start there. Thanks so much for listening, and enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How do you make sure your shoppers get exactly the produce they want even when they're not the ones selecting it? That's the big-picture challenge for produce and online grocery. In this episode we discuss what the common issues are and the different ways grocers can mitigate them. Our featured guest in this episode is longtime grocery retail veteran and consumer research expert Brian Numainville. He’s the principal of The Feedback Group, and before founding that organization he worked for nearly two decades at the Nash Finch Company, which merged with Spartan Stores in 2013 to become SpartanNash. In this conversation, Brian discusses topics including personal shopper training, quality control, better item descriptions and images, substitution practices, and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What's the next frontier for produce supplier-retailer partnerships? Along with pursuing in-store opportunities like signage, display bins and contests, many suppliers also participate in the wealth of digital marketing opportunities that retailers can offer. In this episode we're joined by Diane Scalisi, director of omnichannel marketing for Driscoll’s; Danelle Huber, senior marketing manager for CMI Orchards; and Ashley Pigo, ecommerce marketing manager for RPE; for a discussion on how that's happening now and what the formalization of these opportunities — thanks to the rise of retail media networks — means for produce.
Ashley, Danelle and Diane discuss with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle how they decide which shopper-facing retailer channels to invest in; how those opportunities have evolved in recent years; how getting involved in this space requires suppliers to make new contacts within their existing customers; how budgets are changing to account for the growing number of digital options; whether produce suppliers are expected to participate in these channels (as is the case with CPGs); and what retailers should consider to allow more involvement from fresh suppliers in these channels that form their retail media networks. Settle in and get ready to learn. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest this week Jonna Parker, the fresh foods team lead at Circana, formerly known as IRI. Jonna specializes in analyzing sales data, consumer trends and other sources of information to find and explore opportunities for fresh foods, including (of course) fresh produce. Jonna and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss the role of brands in grocery broadly and in produce specifically; what hugely successful fresh brands like Driscoll's and Boar's Head have done to establish strong reputations as well as awareness; the LTO opportunities presented by the seasonality of produce; considering "brand" as more than logo/company but simply what differentiates one product (or one retailer's assortment) from the next; seasonal occasions and current trends of which produce should take advantage; how retailers can be desirable partners for the best brands; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ever wanted to do more cross-merchandising with cheese but not sure which ones actually pair well with which produce items? Fortunately, our fabulous recurring guest and longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette has some fromagerie (a.k.a cheese department) experience to go along with his extensive produce experience! He was even recognized as Specialty Food Retailer of the Year, as you might recall if you're a regular listener of the pod. In this week's episode, we put Scott's cheese expertise to work as he shares insight on which cheeses and fruits to merchandise together, key promotional times on the cheese calendar during which produce can "tag along," practical cross-merchandising considerations like refrigeration, and much more. Unless you're a fromagerie veteran yourself, you're certain to learn something new from this conversation — and you'll want to go buy some cheese to go with your produce. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guests on this episode award-winning produce manager Chris DeMarie and vice president of produce and floral Jeff Cady of Tops Markets. Chris, recognized this year as part of the International Fresh Produce Association's Retail Produce Manager Awards Program, discusses his career path in produce; why he enjoys the challenging nature of the work; his store's recent remodel and how sales have continued to flourish ; the recent growth of categories including Hispanic and fresh-cut; and more. Jeff talks about what Chris set apart this year, his influence across the organization as a whole, what his recognition means for Tops, and more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this week's episode Shawn Peery, national vice president of produce for Albertsons. Listeners who participate in "Produce LinkedIn" may have noticed that Shawn has been posting to the platform frequently this year, sharing photos of the produce teams at the many stores he visits to recognize their work. In this conversation, Shawn and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss three main topics: 1) store visits — how many Shawn makes each year, what he looks for during them, what he learns from them, and how he follows up on the conversations he has during them; 2) social media — what prompted Shawn to start highlighting more publicly the great work he sees in stores and what the feedback has been on that effort; and 3) sharing success stories — how the company finds and spreads innovative ideas across divisions and how it challenges leadership to always be generating more. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today's episode features a conversation with Food City's Skylar Leonard, one of the produce managers recognized this year by the International Fresh Produce Association's Retail Produce Manager Awards program, and produce supervisor Travis Jones, along with one of Food City's favorite local growers, Tony Slaughter. Skylar, Travis and Tony visit with The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle about the local program, including the partnership with Tony and the move two years ago to direct store delivery; Food City's fresh-cut program and the incorporation of local product into that offering; Skylar's career path and memorable moments (including some creative in-store radio announcements); merchandising wins; Skylar's role in training and developing others in the company; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today’s discussion, the fifth and final in this series with longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette, covers a smorgasbord of topics – cross-merchandising, pricing, signage, assortment – but with different examples than those we've covered previously, including digital merchandising in-store, dedicating multiple end-caps to the same item, inspiration from the meat and seafood departments, and more. In case you haven't heard by now, here's the origin story of this collection of episodes: Scott and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle got to talking about the time-honored practice of checking out your competition for ideas you could borrow and repurpose for your own stores, they ended up with so many examples that turning the conversation into a bonus series for the podcast was a no-brainer. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guests for this episode Hy-Vee produce manager Greg Kimmel and vice president of produce and floral operations John Griesenbrock. Greg was selected by the International Fresh Produce Association as one of its 2023 Retail Produce Manager Award Program honorees. In this conversation, Greg talks about how he got into produce; advocating for great items; the realization early in his career that being a produce manager at Hy-Vee was an opportunity to take ownership of a department and run it like your own business; fun events this past year; keeping the department layout fresh; behind-the-scenes details that make a difference, and more. John speaks to what makes Greg the whole package as a produce manager, from his passion for fruits and vegetables to his ability to educate team members to his excellent customer service. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss assortment, including including creative packs done in-house and what you can learn by examining space allocation for different categories and SKUs at stores near you. Today's episode is the fourth in a special series with Scott; when he and Ashley got to talking about the time-honored practice of checking out your competition for ideas you could borrow and repurpose for your own stores, they ended up with so many examples that turning the conversation into a bonus series for the podcast was a no-brainer. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guests this week Corner Market's Olin Williams — selected this year as one of the International Fresh Produce Association's 2023 Retail Produce Manager Award winners — and vice president of fresh Price Mabry. We discuss how Olin got into the business, his career progression at Corner Market, how he approaches training, the new programs he has championed and grown in his department, the role he plays in setting the standard for the company when it comes to displays, success stories from the past year, and more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omny.fm/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley discuss cross-merchandising, including examples inside and outside the department; best practices for making sure out-of-department displays stay fresh and full; the role of fixtures; experimentation with those incremental SKUs; and more. Check out Ashley's LinkedIn page for cross-merchandising examples that Scott and Ashley gathered to illustrate a host of best practices in this area. Today's episode is the third in a special series with Scott; when he and Ashley got to talking about the time-honored practice of checking out your competition to see what ideas you could borrow and repurpose for your own stores, they ended up with so many examples that turning the conversation into a bonus series for the podcast was a no-brainer. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guests this week The Giant Company's Breanna Norris — selected this year as one of the International Fresh Produce Association's 2023 Retail Produce Manager Award winners — and her supervisor Alan Carcifi. We discuss how Bre got started in the business; what she enjoys most about her work; some of her biggest accomplishments of 2022; customer service; and more. Alan chimes in about some of the attributes that make Bre excellent, including her work on a recent new store opening and the record-setting result; her approach to training and how she makes others throughout the organization better; and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Seeking creative ways to better communicate to shoppers the value in your department? Check out the LinkedIn page of The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle for pricing examples that longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette gathered to illustrate a host of best practices. In this episode, Scott and Ashley discuss pricing by the each and by weight, composite pricing, multiple pricing, flat price points, and much more. This episode is the second in a special series with Scott; when he and Ashley got to talking about the time-honored practice of checking out your competition to see what ideas you could borrow and repurpose for your own stores, they ended up with so many examples that turning the conversation into a bonus series for the podcast was a no-brainer. Enjoy!
If you're hungry for more insight on this topic, check out this episode from our archives, when Scott and Ashley dive even deeper on pricing strategy.
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest for this episode Roberto Bolivar, produce specialist for Dave’s Markets. Roberto’s career has also included tenures with Lucky’s Market, Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Smith’s. Roberto has also been generous about sharing photos of his work on LinkedIn, not only the beautiful finished displays but some of the behind-the-scenes photos as well, which is awesome for other produce professionals looking to learn different techniques and ideas. In this conversation, Roberto discusses fresh-cut; floral; merchandising with margin in mind; giving team members the information they need to support department goals; memorable customer service; inventory best practices; and much more. Hope you enjoy the discussion as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Looking to maximize your use of the "silent salesmen" that live in your department? Check out the LinkedIn page of The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle for signage examples that longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette gathered to illustrate a host of best practices. In this episode, Scott and Ashley discuss types of signs, prioritizing which items get special signage, placement of signs, what information to include on signs based on the goals for different items, and much more. This episode is the first in a special series with Scott; when he and Ashley got to talking about the time-honored practice of checking out your competition to see what ideas you could borrow and repurpose for your own stores, they ended up with so many examples that turning the conversation into a bonus series for the podcast was a no-brainer. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on the podcast we're delighted to bring you a roundtable conversation with three produce retail veterans: Military Produce Group merchandising manager Chris Blackwood and MPG produce specialists Harold Carroll and Stephen Daly. MPG serves as an extension of the Defense Commissary Agency teams, working in partnership with DECA by assisting the stores with ordering, quality control, display building, training, resets, openings, and more. Chris, Harold and Stephen discuss how they got into the world of produce, what their roles entail, how the specialist team stays connected and collaborative, their favorite merchandising occasions, recent holidays, what they'd tell young people looking for a career about the produce industry, and more. Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome to the podcast today Ashley Finster, a longtime food marketing executive whose remarkable career has included strategy, brand building and category management work across produce (including the launch of the behemoth mandarin brand Cuties), meat and CPG. Ashley could share insight on dozens of topics, but today we’re focusing mainly on category management, and this is why: In an earlier episode, we spoke with Jesse Himango, most recently the assistant director of produce at Fresh Thyme Market, about category management on the part of the retailer. We at the podcast find category management a compelling topic – it’s an area with significant influence, after all – and so we wanted to offer some additional perspective about category management from the supplier side of the table. Ashley Finster is the perfect person to deliver that insight. If you're a retailer, you'll find ways that you can help your suppliers support you better with data. If you're a supplier, you'll get no shortage of ideas on how to build your category management capabilities and prioritize to get the most for the budget you have. Thanks as always for listening and we hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For this episode, we're delighted to welcome James Breuhl, vice president of fresh for Rouses Markets. James has been at Rouses for 17 years, the last seven in his current role. He and host Ashley Nickle discuss the grocer's new "Hi Foodie" campaign that's been driving sales, basket size and online engagement, including how the grocer selects items to feature and how it promotes those items in its other channels. James also talks about how the company's commitment to and marketing of Louisiana strawberries represents making the most of a whole host of opportunity areas: local, exclusivity, strong grower partnership, limited-time offers, spin-off items for cross-merchandising, and more. James also describes an opportunity he sees to marry fresh and CPG in certain instances to develop unique items and leverage branding in both directions, like blending Louisiana strawberries into Wisconsin cheese to make a strawberry cheddar, for example. He also described his vision for the next generation of sampling as that opportunity returns post-COVID. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this week's episode, we're delighted to welcome as our guests John Truncale, produce manager of Brattleboro Food Coop, and Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator of Four Seasons Produce. John was recognized in 2021 by the International Fresh Produce Association (then United Fresh) as a Retail Produce Manager of the Year Award winner, and Brian is one of the foremost experts in promotional planning, merchandising, events and more.
In this conversation, John and Brian talk about gearing up for summer, working with local growers, going big on displays, seeing employees grow in their work and take pride in their displays, and much more. They also share their observations of how inflation is affecting organic sales and how they’re responding as shoppers trade down. These two gentlemen have worked together the better part of a decade now, and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle got to visit Brattleboro last year on a trip dedicated to putting in some work as Brian's unofficial merchandising assistant, so this episode — in addition to covering lots of timely topics — has a bit of a family reunion feel to it. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re delighted to welcome as our guest for this episode Jesse Himango, assistant director of produce for Fresh Thyme Market. Jesse’s career has also included tenures at Gordy’s Market, SpartanNash and Cub Foods. In this conversation, Jesse talks about analyzing and experimenting with assortment, price and promotion during his time as a category manager; the need for tightening retails as shoppers trade down on certain items amid high inflation; the transition from an in-the-weeds role to a big-picture role; best practices for launching new products; ideal time frames for new product trials; the value of brands in produce; getting produce more involved in the retailer’s channels to the shopper; how a retailer chooses which product stories to tell; merchandising produce in the e-commerce landscape; leadership lessons from Scott Schuette; the different roles Jesse has worked in during his career; learnings from his early years as a young produce manager; assigning roles to produce department team members; the evolution of automated ordering systems and adjusting to using that technology; and more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For this week's episode, we're delighted to feature a conversation with Armand Lobato, a longtime produce manager who has also spent time as a supervisor, buyer and in other roles in the produce world. Armand and host Ashley Nickle discuss how produce managers can best handle understaffed situations — either temporary or chronic. Armand talks department priorities; utilizing team members as efficiently as possible; enlisting help from elsewhere in the store; advocating for more hours from the store director; taking your case for more hours to the produce higher-ups; creating flexibility in produce department roles to help recruitment and retention; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring produce manager perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Marketing & Merchandising
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, we’re delighted to bring back for an encore this conversation with Mike O’Brien about leadership and mental toughness. Mike served as the vice president of produce and floral for Schnuck Markets for many years before transitioning to the supply side, where he is now the vice president of sales and business development for Monterey Mushrooms. We recorded this a while back, but Mike’s insights are infinitely relevant, with practical application for anyone in a leadership role. He discusses the various ways mental toughness manifests on a day-to-day basis, from showing up with confidence, to resolving conflicts productively, to embracing and encouraging others to pursue balance in their lives. Mike tackles the toughest and best part of being a leader: interacting with the people you’re leading. Listen to this episode for practical takeaways to apply and plenty of book recommendations as well. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're thrilled to welcome back to the podcast Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many in the produce world for her insightful reports in collaboration with IRI and industry associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. In this episode, Anne-Marie discusses how social and digital channels influence in-store sales; how promotional activity across the country is trending and what the expectations are for the rest of 2023; why the berry category continues to grow in units as well as in dollars despite inflation; and why light consumers of produce say they don't eat more. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re delighted to have back with us on the podcast Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce. Today’s topic is actually inspired by the time host Ashley Nickle got to watch up-close as Brian worked on the wet rack at one of the stores he serves. His speed and precision in that high-maintenance part of the department called to mind the importance of balancing the need to merchandise with finesse and the reality that there’s only so much time to get it all done. Brian discusses time management and prioritization of segments of the department; how the triage process looks different depending on whether you come into a department in bad shape or one that’s running smoothly; and the powerful impact of continuing to engage with customers even in the midst of tending to the physical tasks of the job. Thanks as always for listening and hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re delighted to revive for today’s episode a conversation that we recorded about a year ago to celebrate Love Your Produce Manager Day (which is coming up April 2). Alex Jackson is the director of sales and procurement for Frieda’s Branded Produce, which created this special holiday. Alex shares the origin story behind Love Your Produce Manager Day and how the company works to engage, train and support produce managers year-round. Some of the examples Alex gives really evoke that ideal supplier-retailer partnership, that next-level collaboration that can yield so many benefits for both businesses long-term. You’ll find lots of practical takeaways in this discussion. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome as our guest this episode Lesley Daniels, the account development director for Health Family Project, previously known as Produce for Kids. She develops and executes all of the organization’s in-store cause marketing programs. Earlier in her career, Lesley was the senior manager of private brands and strategic sourcing for Giant Eagle, and she also worked for the Kraft Heinz Company.
In this episode, Lesley and host Ashley Nickle discuss 1) what CPG companies are doing with in-store and digital merchandising that produce companies could learn from; 2) what retail merchandising and marketing opportunities tend to be paid versus unpaid and how produce companies can collaborate with their retail partners better; 3) how Healthy Family Project works with retailers to support each one’s unique needs since operations and communication structures vary so much; 4) what she's seen be effective in supporting retailers in follow-through and execution; and 5) examples of some of the in-store successes Healthy Family Project has experienced with its retail partners lately.
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For this episode, we're delighted to welcome Mimmo Franzone, vice president of merchandising at Longo’s, and Brianna Shales, marketing director at Stemilt Growers. Mimmo has been at Longo's nearly two decades and was elevated to his current role after more than a decade as the director of produce and floral. Brianna has been part of Stemilt's marketing team for more than 15 years, including the last two as director. In this conversation, they discuss the long partnership between their companies, including the ways deep connection has been fostered over the years, the cadence of conversation between the organizations, the processes that go into a successful new product launch, and much more. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re so pleased to have back with us again Scott Schuette, a longtime produce retail veteran who has generously been a recurring guest on this podcast. Over the course of more than 35 years in the industry, Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. In this episode, Scott tackles the topic of managing across divisions. He discusses how to foster ownership and collaboration across the support team, the procurement team and the store operations team – easier said than done since each group has different roles, responsibilities and priorities. Scott discusses ways to minimize and address conflicts between teams; establish chain of command and communication expectations; foster conversation and teamwork so that wins are shared; and delegate intentionally to maximize talent development and involvement. This discussion is an excellent listen for anyone in management. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did – and as always, thanks for listening!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re delighted to resurface this week for the podcast a conversation we recorded just about this time last year with three superstar retail dietitians: Emily Parent, health and wellness manager for Coborn's; Megan Sedivy, health and wellness strategy manager for Fresh Thyme Market; and Carrie Taylor, lead registered dietitian nutritionist for the Living Well Eating Smart Program of Big Y Foods. Megan, Carrie and Emily have also been Retail Ambassadors for the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s Have a Plant campaign, and PBH connected them with The Produce Retail Podcast last year for a wide-ranging conversation on their roles, how they interface with shoppers, how they partner with the produce department, which channels are easiest to connect with sales growth, how they function as marketers as well as dietitians, their favorite collaborations with produce to date, and much more. Whether you’re a retailer or a supplier, you’ll find plenty of practical takeaways from this discussion with three really impressive women who are helping grow sales and consumption of fruits and vegetables. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.
More Playlists
- Executive Perspective
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For this week’s episode we welcome the intrepid Caitlin Tierney, senior director of produce for local and innovation at Sprouts Farmers Markets. Caitlin – whose previous stops have include 99 Cents Only Stores, Mastronardi Produce, SpartanNash and Bayer, among others – provided tons of great detail on the new Rescued Organics program from Sprouts, including the role it plays in the overall produce assortment (0:25), finding the right SKUs and grower partners (6:36), pricing and pack size strategy (1:38), marketing and merchandising (5:12 and 12:32), internal awareness campaign (14:01) and more. Caitlin also provided great perspective on her focus areas of local and innovation, including discussing a new sampling campaign at Sprouts (22:56) – see a shopper looking at an item for 3 seconds or more, offer a sample, and then offer it to anyone else around, too! – and how the company’s culture makes that kind of service possible (26:56). This is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Enjoy!
For more episodes featuring executive perspective, check out this curated playlist dedicated to conversations with current and former vice presidents of produce, directors of produce, and other executive roles.
More Playlists
- Merchandising & Marketing
- Leadership & Training
- Produce Manager Perspective
Podcast Background
This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
Get Involved
The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle, a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette takes us behind the scenes of what it looks like to build a floral program from the ground up. The story starts with a CEO’s ultimatum: Figure out how to make floral a profitable department, or the company is getting out of the floral business. Scott details the process of defining the role of the program; determining assortment; finding ways to leverage occasions and new products to create excitement in the department; optimizing procurement and operations to support the program; fine-tuning merchandising and pricing; deepening partnerships with floral suppliers; and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, we’re delighted to feature as our guest Luke Rose, a merchandising supervisor with Proffer Produce. Luke takes us through his career journey, including how he got his start in the industry; his early experiences at Publix and how those informed his view of customer service; mentors who made a lasting impression on him; and lessons he has learned about hiring for merchandising roles. Luke also discusses retail produce as a trade; how he honed his merchandising skills over the years; how he manages a team remotely; questions he asks while interviewing job candidates; and much more. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce, is back again to talk planning for spring! We discuss seasonal assortment, including key SKUs to drive excitement; reset timing and process; why spring is the ideal time for creative cross-merchandising and collaboration with other departments; leveraging fresh-cut and prepared foods dishes to drive produce sales down the road; areas to review with your team as the seasonal shift happens; and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We know consumers are all about flavor, and our guest this episode is a true flavor expert. Cody Masters is the vice president of culinary and the executive chef for Everson Spice Company. His work includes tracking trends and helping both retailers and grower-shippers develop new flavor profiles for their products. With shoppers constantly searching for new items and eating experiences, retailers can set themselves apart by partnering with suppliers who go above and beyond to develop new flavor profiles – or retailers can work toward more compelling flavors with the fresh-cut and prepared items they create in-house. Cody takes us behind the scenes of how he works with produce suppliers, gives us some tips on trends for 2023, discusses the need for the plant-based movement to focus on actual plants (like fruits and vegetables!), and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Our featured guest in this episode is longtime grocery retail veteran and consumer research expert Brian Numainville. He’s the principal of The Feedback Group, and his organization recently produced a fascinating report on consumer perceptions and realities when it comes to grocery shopping. Before Brian started with The Feedback Group, he worked for nearly two decades at the Nash Finch Company, which merged with Spartan Stores in 2013 to become SpartanNash. In this conversation, Brian discusses how different generations are evaluating and talking about grocery stores and their satisfaction with the shopping experience. He goes in-depth on the advertising and marketing vehicles that retailers are using to engage shoppers, which ones are seeing growth, and how stores should prioritize and tailor content for the channels they use. Brian also talks about the many ways shoppers have been responding to inflation. Another intriguing point from the report that Brian shares is a perhaps surprising statistic about how consumers believe grocers are faring profit-wise in this inflationary environment. It’s a conversation you won’t want to miss. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Get ready for a deep dive on macro trends of 2022 with Jonna Parker, the fresh foods team lead for IRI. A little background on IRI for those not familiar with the organization: IRI collects and analyzes consumer purchase data and tracks shopper grocery habits. They also study channel shifting, product trends, marketing approaches, and much more. Jonna specializes in fresh foods, so beyond produce she has expertise in meat and seafood, prepared foods, baked goods and beyond. She’ll be pulling back the curtain on what’s happening in other fresh departments and how produce can learn from those trends. She’ll also provide perspective on her go-to message to retailers for marketing and advertising – “solutions versus silos” – and how consumers are responding to private brands versus national brands in fresh foods. This is a conversation that’s definitely worth a listen. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Our resident expert in promotional planning, merchandising and training is back again – it’s Brian Dey from Four Seasons Produce! Brian joins us to talk about how retailers can support shoppers in their New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier in 2023. He also talks about how greater price sensitivity among consumers could influence how they split their produce dollars between bulk, packaged, value-added and fresh-cut. Brian also discusses areas in which the produce department can leverage January and February for a fresh start of its own, including sanitation, training, assortment and even attitude.
If you’ve seen Brian’s superb displays, you won’t be surprised by his closing challenge to retailers, in which encourages them to experiment and push their limits in the new year. After all, as he puts it, “The greatest risk is not taking one.” Thanks as always for listening, and we hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What we at The Produce Retail Podcast like to call “Fresh Start Season” is upon us! Is there another time of year when folks approach the produce department with more gusto, committed once again to embrace and stick to healthier eating habits? Supermarkets are in a privileged position to support consumers in those lofty aspirations, even after the strict New Year’s Resolutions begin to fade. One of the roles that can be a fantastic resource to stores (and particularly produce departments) is the retail dietitian. Our featured guests today, on our third Retail Dietitian Roundtable, are Joni Rampolla with The Giant Company and Kimberly Asman with Weis Markets – brought together for this conversation by the Produce for Better Health Foundation, which has built a great network of retail dietitians to help grow fruit and vegetable consumption.
In this episode, we talk with Joni and Kim about how they’re creating and distributing content that supports shoppers in their quest for healthier eating not only during “Fresh Start Season” in January and February but throughout the year. As you listen to this episode, consider how your department can leverage some of the great resources these folks provide, whether your organization has a retail dietitian or not. If it does, brainstorm about how you can make their content another touchpoint with shoppers in your department. If it doesn’t, feel free to borrow the ideas in this conversation about easy ways consumers can eat more fruits and vegetables and explore how you can share some of these tips with your shoppers.
You can also check out PBH’s Hacks to Habits research for additional ideas to suggest. More produce consumption means healthier consumers and healthier sales as well. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations from early on in this podcast series, as longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette takes us through his process of planning and goal-setting for the coming year. Scott and host Ashley Nickle recorded this conversation heading into 2022, but as we get ready to begin 2023, his words of wisdom are just as relevant. Scott discusses developing goals and plans for the year ahead; communicating and gathering support for those goals across your teams; learning from the wins and losses of the previous year; and preparing for success in areas including supply chain, training, assortment and more. Hope you enjoy the conversation, and we wish you the happiest of new years!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re switching up the format today with a multi-segment episode for you. First up, host Ashley Nickle talks about a few products that were featured at the International Fresh Produce Association’s big show back in October. Next, starting around the 10-minute mark, we feature a conversation with two longtime directors of produce who are now with IFPA after 30-plus-year careers in retail: Joe Watson, formerly of Rouses Markets, and Anthony Barbieri, formerly of Acme Markets. Joe and Anthony discuss their friendship over the years; adjusting from retail life to association life; how they got involved in volunteer leadership during their retail careers; the ways that IFPA can offer value for retailers who engage with the association; reflections from their decades in retail; the importance of building positive cultures; and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re delighted to bring you a deep dive today into two topics that are totally new for this podcast: refrigeration and lighting in the produce department. We’ve got an expert in both areas with our guest Jack Sjogren. Jack is a design center specialist for Hillphoenix, so he works with grocery retailers to make departments both aesthetically awesome and optimized for revenue and profit. In this episode, Jack discusses trends in refrigeration and lighting, the influence each has on shopper experience, maintenance and flexibility of equipment, determining return on investment, how he expects produce departments to continue to evolve in the coming years, what he recommends retailers consider as they undertake remodel or new store projects, and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you’re a regular on the produce tradeshow circuit, you’ve probably seen a stellar presentation by today’s guest. Anne-Marie Roerink is the principal of 210 Analytics and well known to many folks in the produce world for her insightful reports in collaboration with IRI and industry associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. Anne-Marie also does lots of work across other segments of grocery, so she’s the perfect person to talk with big-picture outlook for the year ahead as we close the book on 2022. Anne-Marie will discuss how consumer behavior is being affected by rampant inflation; the package size and price dilemma that produce faces; how promotional activity is looking compared to previous years; creative promotions and in-store marketing that she is seeing in response to the current challenges; and much more. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Did we mention November is National Career Development Month? We’ve got one more special crossover episode for you from The Produce Talent Podcast, this time featuring Rick Stein, the vice president of fresh foods at FMI, The Food Industry Association. Prior to joining FMI in 2014, Rick spent more than 20 years at Safeway in various leadership roles across marketing, merchandising and operations, and he has overseen all sorts of large-scale special projects in that capacity. With Rick’s extensive experience, we’re excited to get his perspective on a large-scale opportunity for produce, which is bringing people into the grocery retail industry and helping them see the tremendous opportunity of a career in it. In this episode, Rick discusses expectations of the Gen Z workforce; considering pay and benefits and schedules and training in pursuit of better retention; storytelling around what it means to work in the grocery industry; and much more.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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November is National Career Development Month, so this week we're delighted to bring you a crossover episode from The Produce Talent Podcast. Tami Martin, director of human resources for Black Gold Farms, takes us behind the scenes of the company's highly successful internship program. She discusses how the program was developed, how the company recruits for it, how it compensates interns, how it onboards them and supports them throughout their time with the company, how the company prepares its employees to supervise interns, how the company has benefited from the program, and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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If you're reading this, I'm assuming you've already forgiven us for the shameless produce pun in the episode title. (And if it made you laugh, we should be friends!) All joking aside, citrus season is such a highlight of winter that we didn't want to wait until after the conclusion of fall to discuss it. Compare your plans and preparation for citrus season to these best practices offered by Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce, and you'll very likely find a great nugget to add to your checklist of ways to increase sales this winter. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest this week produce manager Chelsea Austin. She discusses her career and how it's taken her from from Meijer in Michigan to The Fresh Market in North Carolina to TheMarketPlace in Bermuda. We talked about how she got started in produce, when she realized it could be more than just a job, the mindset she embraces toward leading a team and serving customers, and more. Chelsea also covers what she's learned so far in her first year in Bermuda, including similarities and differences in merchandising, shopper preferences, occasions, logistics, assortment, trends and more. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did! Thank you as always for listening.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to bring you another conversation with Four Seasons Produce senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator Brian Dey on the nuts and bolts of holiday planning — including reminders to not neglect the nut category, to spread out on herbs and spices, to work ahead on any deep-clean projects, and to plan on how you'll let your team know you appreciate them even as they're working hard on the holidays. As always, discussions with Brian are chock full of practical takeaways, and here's one more: the seasonal merchandising guide that Four Seasons puts out each quarter, with convenient checklists and category deep dives that cover different varieties. You'll be glad you gave it a look! Thanks as always for listening, and enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette returns for Part 2 of our discussion on creating the annual budget. Building on the conversation from Part 1, we cover questions including how aggressive to be in your budget asks; how to create room for experimentation with different fixture, technology and category projects; how both internal and external partnerships can help you develop accurate ROI forecasts; how to live up to the budget once you get final approval; and many more. Check out Part 1 for the first part of our discussion, which covered setting budget timeline milestones; tailoring your asks and projected outcomes to the big-picture goals of the company; partnering with other departments within the organization as well as with manufacturers and suppliers; gathering the appropriate level of detail to support your budget requests; and more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're thrilled to continue spotlighting the outstanding produce managers recognized this year by the International Fresh Produce Association. Today's episode features an energizing conversation with Big Y produce manager Rich Spader and merchandiser Wade Michels, who was recognized with the same award back in 2018. Rich tells the story of his journey in produce, what he enjoys most about the work, how he found out about the award, his plans for making the most of the Global Produce and Floral Show, and much more. Wade gives more detail on what makes Rich great at his job, what it is about the culture of Big Y that has led the company to have many winners of this award over the years, what receiving this recognition in 2018 did for his career, and more. We thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and hope you will, too!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's that time of year once again — the 25 honorees of the International Fresh Produce Association's Retail Produce Manager Awards Program have been selected and are gearing up to attend the event formerly known as Fresh Summit, now the Global Produce & Floral Show. Tamra Barnes of Harps Food Stores is one of the outstanding produce managers being recognized, so she and vice president of produce operations Mike Roberts joined us to discuss how Tamra got her start in produce, the story of how she was selected to run her first department, what Mike and the Harps team found so impressive about her performance that they nominated her for IFPA recognition after only a couple of years in the role, and much more. We hope you enjoy the conversation and look forward to hosting more of the superstar produce managers being honored by IFPA in the coming months!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette is back! This week (and next week) he's delivering a deep dive on the wide-ranging and critical topic of how a director or vice president of produce creates the annual budget for the division. In this episode, Scott talks about setting budget timeline milestones; tailoring your asks and projected outcomes to the big-picture goals of the company; partnering with other departments within the organization as well as with manufacturers and suppliers; gathering the appropriate level of detail to support your budget requests; and much more. Scott had so much great insight that we're breaking the discussion into two parts. Check back next week for Part 2, and thanks so much for listening!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Corner Market vice president of fresh Price Mabry is back for more! Price, who was on the podcast just a few weeks ago with his award-winning produce manager Tyler Doggett, returned to take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the company's newest store before its grand opening. Along the way, he and podcast host Ashley Nickle talked vendor partners, programs, assortment, employee engagement and more. Price also discusses growing up in the grocery industry, his career path through produce, and making the transition from leading produce to overseeing all of fresh. You can enjoy visuals from the tour by checking out this video on Ashley's LinkedIn. We hope the conversation is as much fun for you as it was for us!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out our archives to hear from folks including Mike Tipton of Schnuck Markets and Mike O’Brien – previously of Schnuck Markets and now with Monterey Mushrooms; Mike Roberts with Harps Food Stores; Kevin Byers with PCC Community Markets; Mark Kruchinsky with Gerrity’s, and many more. Thanks for listening!
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We're delighted to be joined on today's episode by Juliemar Rosado, director of retail and international marketing for the National Watermelon Promotion Board. The NWPB hosts a merchandising contest every year that encourages stores to move more watermelon not only by building big, creative displays in July and August but also by incorporating all manner of digital marketing tools into their plans, from social media features to website promotion to ad flyer QR links that send shoppers to recipes. Juliemar discusses great examples the board has seen from participants over the years, how the group evaluates entries, sales increases that respondents have reported, the benefits that go beyond those immediate year-over-year increases, and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's that time of year once again — the 25 honorees of the International Fresh Produce Association's Retail Produce Manager Awards Program have been selected and are gearing up to attend next month the event formerly known as Fresh Summit, now the Global Produce & Floral Show. Tyler Doggett of Corner Market is one of those honorees, and he and vice president of fresh Price Mabry join the podcast to discuss how Tyler got his start in produce; what he enjoys most about the work; the attributes and accomplishments that prompted Price and the company to nominate Tyler for this recognition; what both are most looking forward to about having Tyler attend the show in October; and much more. We hope you enjoy the conversation and look forward to hosting more of the superstar produce managers recognized by the IFPA in the coming months!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Four Seasons Produce senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator Brian Dey returns to the podcast to discuss all things fall, with topics including peak-season categories like apples, pears, hard squash and potatoes; SKU walks and assortment adjustments; the impact of big-picture challenges like inflation and labor on strategy and merchandising; tote bags, multiple pricing and other best practices; and more!
If you enjoy this conversation with Brian, be sure to check out our discussions with him in previous episodes, including those focused on planning and executing seasonal resets and strategically going big with displays.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're excited to welcome longtime produce retail executive Jay Schneider as our featured guest this episode. Jay is the head of buying for the U.S. marketplace for the grocery delivery service Gorillas, and prior to that he enjoyed a more than 20-year stretch at Acme Markets, including more than a decade as produce director. In this conversation, Jay discusses how he helped Gorillas create the infrastructure for produce for its U.S. business, from quality control, to assortment, to promotions, to working with suppliers in a different type of business model, and much more. He also covers the differences of working for a traditional grocer versus a startup, and he provides insight on how Gorillas has continued to build its business in the U.S., focused on the New York City market, while other fast-delivery startups have bowed out. Thanks so much to Jay for the incredible perspective — hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guests on this episode retail dietitians Lorena Kaplen of H-E-B, April Sins of Rouses, and Carrie Taylor of Big Y for a roundtable discussion on promotional plans for National Fruits & Veggies Month. We want to give a big shout-out to the Produce for Better Health Foundation for bringing this group together! PBH develops resources to help retailers bring National Fruits & Veggies Month to life in stores and online and works with many retail dietitians as part of that effort. In this conversation, Lorena, April and Carrie cover their promotional plans for National Fruits & Veggies Month; the timeline and collaboration behind the scenes leading up to it; where they get the content they use for this program; some of the most popular elements of National Fruits & Veggies Month promotions from previous years; and what new elements they're most excited about. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
If you're interested in learning more about the work of retail dietitians, check out our previous retail dietitian roundtable from earlier this year that featured Carrie Taylor of Big Y along with Emily Parent of Coborn's and Megan Sedivy of Fresh Thyme Market. You can also find more examples of RDs involved in innovative marketing in this April episode with PBH's retail accounts manager Annette Maggi.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Industry veteran Armand Lobato, who has spent time as a produce manager, produce supervisor, produce buyer and more over the course of his career, joins us again to discuss an easily overlooked part of the produce manager role: managing people. The technical knowledge and skills required of the position — understanding commodities and seasonality, business essentials like inventory and shrink, deal-breakers like food safety and more — are so numerous that they can sometimes overshadow the core responsibility of any management role: helping your team members be as successful as possible. Armand discusses a range of topics within this realm, including different management styles, managing people older or more experienced than you, making sure the performance review is a positive, "no gotchas" experience, training best practices (like what to carry on the sales floor at all times) that stand the test of time, and more. Armand's anecdotes from his days in stores — including his reflections on the best leader he ever worked for and why he made such a lasting impression — will provide practical ideas that can easily be put into action. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week's episode features the second part of a conversation with longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette on the topic of creating excitement in the produce department — with the goal to improve the experience both for shoppers and for team members. This segment of the discussion focuses on the latter, as Scott gives examples of benefits and workplace adjustments that could help retailers retain the people who are so pivotal in creating a great atmosphere for shoppers. In last week's episode, Scott discussed other ways to create excitement in the department, from bringing in new items to investing the corporate produce budget differently. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas, and he’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year, so he brings excellent perspective on all these topics. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out our archives to hear from folks including Mike Tipton of Schnuck Markets and Mike O’Brien – previously of Schnuck Markets and now with Monterey Mushrooms; Mike Roberts with Harps Food Stores; Kevin Byers with PCC Community Markets; Mark Kruchinsky with Gerrity’s, and many more. Thanks for listening!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week's episode features a conversation with Scott Schuette, a longtime produce retail veteran who has generously joined this podcast frequently to discuss topics including writing the ad, breaking down barriers between departments, pricing strategy, and many more. Today our conversation with Scott focuses on creating excitement in the department on a variety of fronts, from bringing in new items, to merchandising more aggressively, to changing how the corporate produce budget is invested, to providing training and resources for employees. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas, and he’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. Enjoy his perspective in this episode and join us next week for more from Scott in the Part 2 episode!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out our archives to hear from folks including Mike Tipton of Schnuck Markets and Mike O’Brien – previously of Schnuck Markets and now with Monterey Mushrooms; Mike Roberts with Harps Food Stores; Kevin Byers with PCC Community Markets; Mark Kruchinsky with Gerrity’s, and many more. Thanks for listening!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you're familiar with Ashley Nickle, the host of this podcast, you know she's a huge fan of display contests for driving engagement among shoppers and store teams. If you listen to today's conversation with produce supervisor Ricky Holman and store director Todd Hollingsworth of United Supermarkets, you will know why she believes in this strategy — because innovative retailers like United use it to great success! Coming off a Fourth of July watermelon contest, Ricky and Todd discuss the planning that went into the event on a regional level and on the store level; their strategy with contests in general; the impressive lift they saw from this year's huge push on watermelon; and the effect they find contests have on driving positive competition and improved performance between stores. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out our archives to hear from folks including Mike Tipton of Schnuck Markets and Mike O’Brien – previously of Schnuck Markets and now with Monterey Mushrooms; Mike Roberts with Harps Food Stores; Kevin Byers with PCC Community Markets; Mark Kruchinsky with Gerrity’s, and many more. Thanks for listening!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode, we're delighted to have as our guests two longtime industry leaders, Mike O'Brien and Mike Tipton. Mike Tipton is the vice president of produce and floral at Schnuck Markets, and Mike O’Brien held that same role for 15 years before moving to the supply side, where he is now the vice president of sales and business development at Monterey Mushrooms. Mike and Mike discuss with host Ashley Nickle a wide array of topics, including labor, inflation, merchandising, value proposition, the produce department of the future, their takeaways from the recent Retail Conference, and more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out our archives to hear from folks including Mike Roberts with Harps Food Stores, Kevin Byers with PCC Community Markets, Mark Kruchinsky with Gerrity’s, and many more. Thanks for listening!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to have as our guest on this episode Timothy Deubner, a produce manager at D&W Fresh Market who has been in the industry for nearly a decade. We visit with Tim about customer service, training a team, working at stores in different stages, managing a fresh-cut program, keeping the department fresh from a merchandising standpoint, looking ahead to other roles he wants to explore in the industry, and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, longtime produce retail executive Scott Schuette provides a deep dive on the ad writing process. The conversation covers topics including the roles in this process of procurement, category management, operations and executive leadership; the factors that influence what items get included; the process of collaborating and negotiating with other departments for more space in the ad; the ideal hybrid timeline for ad planning; the use of historical data and forecasting software in the process; the use of paper flyers versus digital ads; and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. It is hosted by consultant and produce industry enthusiast Ashley Nickle.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode of The Produce Retail Podcast, we visit again with the esteemed Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce. Brian and host Ashley Nickle have visited on many produce topics over the years, and for this conversation they have two new ones: Ashley's trip to the Northeast to tag along with Brian in stores and see his work in person, and Brian's trip to the Pacific Northwest to see cherry harvest, sorting and packing in person. Their review of these highly educational trips covers merchandising, customer service, best practices in an array of areas, and beyond. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode of The Produce Retail Podcast, we're delighted to bring you a conversation with Emily Gee, the associate director of marketing for AeroFarms, and her dad Don, who worked in retail produce for more than 35 years. We discuss how Don got into produce and what he enjoyed most about being a produce manager, including customer interactions; Emily's memories of her dad working in that role and talking produce while she was growing up; what changes Don has observed in stores over the years; what Emily's perception was of opportunity in the produce industry before she got into it; how having a produce manager for a dad has shaped how she works with retailers; and much more. I guarantee you'll enjoy this conversation as Emily and Don reminisce together and share their observations on the industry!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode of The Produce Retail Podcast features a conversation with Mark Kruchinsky, a produce merchandiser and trainer at Gerrity’s Supermarkets. Mark has been with the company for more than 25 years. In this conversation with host Ashley Nickle, Mark discusses his career path and what has made Gerrity's a place he's been happy to stay throughout his career; how his role with Gerrity's has grown in recent years; exciting projects ranging from local grower partnerships to creative department updates; and how an emphasis on high-flavor items and unique in-store innovations help Gerrity's deliver an engaging experience for its customers.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're delighted to welcome back industry veteran Scott Schuette! Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. Throughout his career he's received honors including recognition as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. In this discussion, Scott and host Ashley Nickle talk about how retailers can use a vast array of marketing and merchandising tools to get shoppers considering different meal combinations and new-to-them items. We love the broad topic of meal inspiration because execution on it creates a more dynamic shopping experience for the customer and builds the basket as well. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to The Produce Retail Podcast! Get ready for a great conversation with Kevin Byers of PCC Community Markets. Kevin leads the produce division for the company, so his work spans everything from financial and category strategy, to people management and training, to new department design and merchandising, to grower relationships and procurement. Kevin speaks with host Ashley Nickle about why PCC prioritizes field trips for its team members (even amid staffing challenges), how stores are looking to return to sampling, how PCC communicates with shoppers about its value proposition in a time of big inflation, what's coming up for summer, retaining people in the produce department, and more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
You're in for a treat! This episode of The Produce Retail Podcast features a wide-ranging conversation with Mike Roberts, vice president of produce operations for Harps Food Stores. Mike discusses the big topics, like how Harps is tackling inflation and labor shortages, and he provides a rundown of programs and items that will be creating excitement in the stores this summer. Mike also tells the story of how the company found a stone fruit supplier during the pandemic — via Zoom — that is helping Harps take their category to the next level. This is a conversation you don't want to miss. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode of the podcast features a conversation with Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, the president and CEO of the Produce for Better Health Foundation. PBH recently held its annual Consumer Connections Conference, where it brings together people from a number of professions who interact with consumers about food at different touchpoints – from retail and foodservice, to food bloggers and social media influencers, and beyond. One of the presentations at PBH was about the power of habits and how as an industry we can leverage that to get people eating more fruits and vegetables. Ashley Nickle, host of the podcast, believes it’s a conversation with big marketing and merchandising implications and big potential for influencing consumers in an incredibly positive way. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of The Produce Retail Podcast, industry veteran Scott Schuette and host Ashley Nickle continue their discussion of opportunities they observed while visiting stores in the Phoenix area earlier this spring. The focus of their conversation today is collaboration between departments on the store level and on the corporate level. Scott explains why barriers often arise and what strategies he's seen be successful at knocking those barriers down. He and Ashley discuss the types of programs that can benefit from partnership across departments, from food waste reduction to cross-merchandising to ad planning to marketing and more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include seasonal resets, approaches to training, pricing strategy, space allocation, category deep dives and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Industry veteran Scott Schuette and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle discuss a slew of topics that arose during their recent in-person tour of five stores in the Phoenix area. Scott covers opportunities he noticed in the areas of space allocation and promotion items, and he and Ashley share their observations of the fresh herb and floral categories and approaches they believe could increase sales for those items and grow overall basket size to boot. We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we'd love to hear what's working for you in these areas!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you’re a regular listener, you know that Brian Dey of Four Seasons Produce is a recurring guest on our podcast here, and for very good reason. He’s been so generous to visit us now and again and share his insights on merchandising, retail strategy, training and much more. For this episode, the topic is training. We discuss how to acclimate new hires in the department, what a typical timeline is for getting someone up to speed, how to tailor training to the individual, why introducing new hires to the people of the department is just as important as introducing them to the fixtures, best practices and nuts and bolts, and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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Interested to hear how retailers like Harmons, Loblaws, Hy-Vee, H-E-B and Rouses are deepening their connection with shoppers and encouraging more produce consumption in partnership with their retail dietitians? You've come to the right place! Our esteemed guest this episode is Annette Maggi, the retail accounts manager for the Produce for Better Health Foundation. (You can read more about her impressive credentials at the link.) Annette works closely with retail dietitians across the country on strategy for increasing produce consumption and sales. Many of those RDs were at PBH’s annual Consumer Connections Conference this week, and Annette shared about some of the creative ways they are working with the produce, e-commerce, marketing and other divisions in their companies to not only drive produce sales but help people shift their habits to automatically include more produce.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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Industry veteran Armand Lobato, who has spent time as a produce manager, produce supervisor and produce buyer over the course of his career, joins us again to discuss best practices when it comes to signage in the produce department. From providing meal inspiration to highlighting seasonal items to creating an engaging shopping environment, signage is a big deal. Thanks to Armand for the deep dive on this topic, and we hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
With summer quickly approaching, Four Seasons senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator Brian Dey is back to talk about planning and executing seasonal resets. In this episode, he delivers big-picture perspective on what these resets achieve for the department and customer experience, and he discusses strategy on when to make the seasonal flip, how to use resets as powerful training occasions, how to approach signage and much more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode features a wide-ranging conversation on pricing with industry veteran Scott Schuette. Over the last 35-plus years Scott has served in leadership roles with Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and Bashas. He’s been recognized as Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. In this discussion (which was recorded before inflation got as crazy as it is right now) Scott and host Ashley Nickle discuss the huge variety of factors that go into pricing, from competitive landscape to neighborhood demographics to shopper psychology to supplier partnerships. We also talk about organic and conventional pricing, about value-added pricing, and about how pricing strategy varies by category.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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On this episode, our guest is Amelia Freidline, who worked on produce industry trade publications for more than a decade and is an immensely talented editor, designer and writer, as well as a photographer and poet – and she happens to be a fabulous and creative home chef. Over the years she and host Ashley Nickle have talked often about how they use different produce items, and it’s their belief that these conversations – about their past experiences with food, how their opinions on certain items have changed over the years, how they use them, what keeps them from engaging with certain recipes, what draws them to certain recipes – all of these topics can help marketers of fresh produce to get in the consumer mindset and maybe even find some inspiration for how to merchandise and market with the daily experiences of people in mind. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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Welcome to the first crossover episode of The Produce Retail Podcast and The Produce Talent Podcast! Our special guest, Ashley Candebat, is the dean of Rouses University. We know that finding and keeping great people is an enormous opportunity for produce retail and for the produce industry more broadly. Rouses Markets, which is experiencing significant growth, is making professional development and engagement a priority. Rouses University is the program they've designed to give their associates room for and a roadmap for growth. Now you might be thinking, "Okay, you've hit all the requisite buzzwords ... but how does it work, exactly?" Ashley fills us in on all the details in this conversation about training and development for now and later.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week’s episode features a roundtable with three superstar retail dietitians: Emily Parent, health and wellness manager for Coborn's; Megan Sedivy, health and wellness strategy manager for Fresh Thyme Market; and Carrie Taylor, lead registered dietitian nutritionist for the Living Well Eating Smart Program of Big Y Foods. Megan, Carrie and Emily are also Retail Ambassadors for the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s Have a Plant campaign, and PBH connected them with The Produce Retail Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on their roles, how they interface with shoppers, how they partner with the produce department, which channels are easiest to connect with sales growth, how they function as marketers as well as dietitians, their favorite collaborations with produce to date, and much more. Whether you’re a retailer or a supplier, you’ll find plenty of practical takeaways from this discussion with three really impressive women who are helping grow sales and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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Produce manager Kay Greenley, whose beautiful displays you can check out on LinkedIn, joined host Ashley Nickle the day after a wild Valentine's Day-Super Bowl week to discuss this year's February holiday mashup, how her team prepared and how the unique combination of occasions played out in her store. Kay also discussed her career in produce, how she learns and grows in her role, how she leads her team, why she's a big advocate for a strong made-in-store value-added program, which categories she's excited about for this spring, and more. Enjoy!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Back by popular demand! Brian Dey visits The Produce Retail Podcast again this week to discuss a timely topic as trade show season gets ready to kick into high gear: making the most of these industry events. Brian, the senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce, discusses how he prepares for shows, who he aims to spend time with at the event, how much of his time is scheduled in advance and how much is "free" time, and what his process is for follow-up post-event to make sure all the new connections and ideas are pursued once the day-to-day grind begins again. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce, joins host Ashley Nickle to discuss one of his favorite topics. Big displays look fabulous in photos, but there's a whole lot of planning, calculation and communication that goes into that final product — and for the best results, the display is just one part of a broader effort to create excitement in the store. You're sure to find some actionable takeaways in this conversation. We hope you enjoy it as thoroughly as we did!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re just a few months away from Love Your Produce Manager Day, so it’s time to start thinking about how you can take the opportunity to celebrate the store-level heroes near you! Frieda’s Specialty Produce created this occasion 10 years ago in recognition of the role produce managers play in supporting their category. In this episode, director of sales Alex Jackson talks about the origin story of the holiday and how the company works to engage, train and support produce managers year-round.
Also in this episode, with tropical avocados in season, we visit with Desiree Morales and Chris Gonzalez from WP Produce, which markets the Desbry brand, to hear about the history of their family business, trends they are seeing in the category, and the launch of their direct-to-consumer platform Tropical Fruit Box, a segment that saw big growth after the company debuted it near the start of the pandemic.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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Speaking of old-school … sales and display contests have been around forever in produce, but they’re still a powerful tool that can contribute to a whole host of big-picture goals for retailers. Our guest today is Scott Schuette, an industry veteran who’s received honors including Produce Retailer of the Year and Specialty Food Retailer of the Year. In this episode, Scott and host Ashley Nickle discuss how contests can not only grow your sales but also engage and recognize your store-level team members, deepen your partnerships with suppliers, deliver an exciting shopping experience, and much more.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We’re only human, so naturally the new, shiny ways to do business more efficiently have captured our collective attention! In the produce industry, data and analytics have become smarter and more easily applicable to store-level ordering and other business processes, providing more precision in forecasting. That being said, we all know there’s a human element to produce. So how do we still take advantage of the opportunities that AI tools will have a harder time spotting? Steve Patt, director of business development for Tourtellot and Co, talks about blending the old-school and the new-school for a differentiated in-store experience. This is particularly relevant for independent retail, but there are also larger operations that continue to prize the human element and reap huge benefits from that approach.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you’re in the produce industry, you’re learning by osmosis every day: about consumers, about categories, about trends, about customers, about colleagues – the list goes on. Those daily interactions and observations form a huge part of the foundation we need for success, but there’s also much to be gained by intentional about your professional development. From programs to mentorship to trade show opportunities to reviews, industry veteran Scott Schuette discusses how he’s built his knowledge base over the years, even once he reached the executive level.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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Get ready to take some notes! Leadership is a favorite topic for produce retail veteran Mike O’Brien, and over his three-plus decades in the business he has found that mental toughness is one attribute that great leaders from all types of organizations share. So how does mental toughness manifest in the day-to-day? From showing up with confidence, to resolving conflicts productively, to embracing and encouraging others to pursue balance in their lives, Mike tackles the toughest and best part of being a leader: interacting with the people you’re leading.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
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The topic of onboarding is such an important one, particularly in the current labor environment, that we decided to get another great perspective on it. We discussed onboarding last episode with Brian Dey, and this week we're covering it with Armand Lobato, a longtime produce manager who has also spent time as a supervisor, buyer and in other roles in produce. What should those critical first few days and weeks look like for someone dipping a toe in the waters of produce retail? Armand shares his suggestions in this episode. Check out last episode's conversation with Brian for even more ideas. And as always, thanks for listening!
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, Four Seasons Produce merchandiser Brian Dey and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle tackle the topic of onboarding. They discuss qualities of ideal produce department candidates, training timelines, communicating standards, making new employees feel welcome, and more.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Recent topics include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more. Enjoy!
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Struggling to find and keep people in your produce departments? As you're probably aware, you are not alone. Labor is a significant challenge for a huge number of businesses right now, so leadership teams across the country are strategizing on how to become a more attractive destination for employees. What is your company doing? In Episode 6 of The Produce Retail Podcast, industry veteran Steve Patt and host Ashley Nickle discuss the importance of selling the potential of a role in produce, sharing with your people the critical part they play in the larger produce industry, recognizing and rewarding their progress and areas of specialty, and much more.
This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Previous topics this month include planning and goal-setting for 2022, customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more. Enjoy!
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Episode 5 of The Produce Retail Podcast features a conversation with industry veteran Scott Schuette on developing goals and plans for the year ahead, communicating and gathering support for those goals across your teams, learning from the wins and losses of the previous year, and preparing for success in areas including supply chain, training, assortment and more. This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Previous topics this month include customer service, creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more. Enjoy!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 4 of The Produce Retail Podcast features a conversation with industry veteran Armand Lobato on practical ways that store-level team members can deliver great customer service by being proactive and exceeding expectations in their interactions on the sales floor. This new podcast series is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. Previous topics this month include creating theater in the produce department, managing shrink, deepening partnerships through field trips, and much more. Enjoy!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week the FDA announced an onion recall in connection to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 650 people, and the news prompted an important question: As a retailer, how do you respond to a recall in which your product wasn't involved? Even when the recall was issued by a supplier that your company doesn't buy from, your sales in that category may suffer. How do you communicate effectively with your shoppers to mitigate the damage? Ashley Nickle talks with Mike O'Brien — who had to make those decisions for many years as a vice president of produce — to get his perspective on the topic in this bonus episode of the Produce Retail Podcast.
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Produce merchandising master and industry leader Brian Dey joins Ashley Nickle on Episode 3 of The Produce Retail Podcast to discuss the power of special events to drive present and future sales, team and customer engagement, and in-store experience and loyalty. It's another fun, energizing conversation in this new podcast series designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. Enjoy!
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Produce retail veteran Mike O'Brien joins Ashley Nickle on Episode 2 of The Produce Retail Podcast, a new series that covers all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. In this discussion, O'Brien and Nickle start with tackling the topic of shrink — how to approach it in a holistic way, who's responsible for optimizing shrink, how much we should really be focusing on shrink anyway, and more. The conversation also bounces around to include training, retention, career pathing and beyond. Enjoy!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Produce retail veteran Scott Schuette joins Ashley Nickle on the debut episode of The Produce Retail Podcast, a new series that will cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. In this episode, Schuette and Nickle discuss the value of field trips (like one recently hosted by the Idaho Potato Commission); how learnings from those visits can inform and bring value to the rest of the retail organization and its customers; how field trips foster deeper partnerships and opportunities for better business; the shift from buying based on price alone; and much more. Enjoy!
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Passionate about produce retail? You're in the right place! This new series, hosted by Ashley Nickle, will feature conversations about strategy, business partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and much more. We'll have excellent recurring guests and exciting occasional visitors as well. The goal of all our conversations is to inform, inspire and ultimately illuminate opportunities for growth. See you in early October for our debut episode!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.