Retailers Look to Tell Grower Story

[Guest guest]

The local food trend may be getting all of the press, but today's consumers

are also demonstrating growing interest in the origin of their food no

matter what the source. Large growers and shippers have an opportunity to

connect with shoppers at the retail level by working with produce managers

and dietitians, according to Kim Kirchherr, corporate dietitian for

Jewel-Osco/Supervalu<http://supermarketnews.com//profiles/top75/supervalu11/>,

and Doug Riley, assistant vice president of produce operations for

Hy-Vee<http://supermarketnews.com/profiles/top75/hy-vee11/>.

Kirchherr and Riley both presented during the “Empowering Retail Staff as

Ambassadors for the Grower-Shipper Story” session sponsored by *SN* and the

Lund Co. here at the United Fresh Produce Association's 2011

convention and expo last week.

“It's not all about just getting the product out of the field and into the

store anymore,” Riley began. “It's about getting the product out of the

field, into the store and into the consumer's hands, and the consumer coming

back for more.”

Riley explained that Hy-Vee puts a lot of work into educating its retail

personnel, its more than 160 dietitians and its 50 executive chefs. Hy-Vee

regularly invites growers and shippers to come to a store and talk to groups

of personnel about growing practices, and the company has also received

several invitations by growers for produce managers to come to their farms

and see their operation first-hand.

“Those produce managers then come back into our stores, and they're excited,

they're pumped,” Riley said. “Hopefully, they'll go back and tell the

customers what they saw. They understand the product. They know how it's

grown. Those people are your best ambassadors when it comes to talking to

your customers.”

Grower-shippers can also inform produce managers about their products via

websites, or by providing signage and POS materials, Riley said. And, they

should never overlook dietitians as a resource for reaching consumers.

“Dietitians can be a huge asset for you and the education of your

customers,” Riley said, noting that healthy eating advice generally has a

strong produce component.

Kirchherr's presentation expanded on this topic. She advised grower-shippers

to become familiar with how dietitians worked with different companies. Are

there a few corporate-level dietitians setting up events throughout a chain,

or does the company have a network of dietitians at the store-level, like

Hy-Vee? This can impact how different companies should be approached with

educational materials or new programs.

And, Kirchherr encouraged grower-shippers to use social media sites like

Facebook to connect with nutritionists and shoppers. Citing one recent

example, she explained how a simple Facebook post can generate great

feedback.

“On St. 's Day, all I put up [on Jewel-Osco's Wild Harvest Facebook

page] was, ‘What's your favorite green fruit or vegetable?’ Within an hour I

had so many people responding back. … The conversation was very robust about

both fruits and vegetables. And what was interesting, they didn't just tell

me what fruit or vegetable, they told me how they liked to eat it in some

cases.”

One of the benefits of using social media sites is that it facilitates a

two-way conversation with shoppers, Kirchherr explained. Rather than pushing

the healthy eating message, questions like, “Have you ever had a grilled

vegetable sandwich?” can encourage shoppers to respond with ideas. Or,

dietitians and department managers can use the Facebook page to inform

shoppers of upcoming sales on specific items, and link to recipe suggestions

and nutritional information.

“People slowly start to tell you what they're interested in doing,” in terms

of cooking, recipe ideas and nutritional information, she said. “It's really

a fun conversation to have.”

To facilitate these types of interactions, grower-shippers can start by

providing dietitians photos of their products, along with information.

“Dietitians love to get recipes,” she said. “And we love to hear from you

about what messages we can say that are USDA and FDA approved. … Tell us

about that. We'll spread the word for you.”

LINK <http://supermarketnews.com/Produce_Floral/retailers_grower_0509/>

--

Ortiz, MS, RD

*The FRUGAL Dietitian* <http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>

Check out my blog: mixture of deals and nutrition

Brainstorming New Food Products [Hilarious

Animation]<http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2011/05/06/brainstorming-new-food-produ\

cts-hilarious-animation/?utm_source=feedburner & utm_medium=email & utm_campaign=Fee\

d%3A+Fooducate+%28Fooducate%29>Synovate

– Take online surveys and win prizes – strongly

recommend!!<http://thefrugaldietitian.com/?p=19111>New

movie: Dietitian meets the Mis-guided Health Food

Clerk<

* " Nutrition is a Science, Not an Opinion Survey " *