Page 22 - January_2019

Walgreens adds produce for the lunch crowd, on and on.
None of these specialty concepts may, by themselves, drive the model supermarket out of business, but as long ago as 1993, this author wrote a column in this same magazine, titled Death by a Thousand Cuts, that pointed out the obvious. Retail is a high xed-cost business, so if each of these concepts take a half a point or a point or two of business, that is 20 percent of the stores’ volume off the top. That translates
not into a 20 percent reduction in pro t; it translates into the supermarket going broke.
So, the best minds on marketing produce need to be thinking of this Omni-Channel
The best minds on marketing produce need to be thinking of this Omni-Channel future by thinking of how they can re-orient their sales teams to focus on discreet retail categories and speci c companies.
22 / JANUARY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
future by thinking of how they can re-orient their sales teams to focus on discreet retail categories and speci c companies. They need to think about building their compe- tencies in areas that will allow them to sit down with a dollar store and develop a product that can meet the price point. They need to sit down with a computer-order- ing-and-delivery service and be able to offer products that will make it through the last mile and not lead to rejections or dissatis ed customers.
It is a big shift in mindset. For the produce industry to thrive in the brave new world of Omni-Channel retailing — to move from selling loads of a fruit or vegetables to selling 99 Cents Only Stores or Amazon Go — the industry must focus on the channels, not the product.
Failure to re-orient will be a substantial handicap as the future unfolds. pb