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TRANSCENDING FUNCTIONALITY
How changing up displays, adding mobility can move more fruits and vegetables. BY DOUG OHLEMEIER
The art of display is becoming a more prominent factor in today’s produce department. As stores’ physical space isn’t expanding, retailers are trying to squeeze more stock-keeping units into the same limited departmental capacity while creating new shopping traffic patterns. Retailers are erecting
new types of displays and are also investing in refrigerated displays. Because produce is the most vivid and colorful product in grocery
stores, it requires color-correct lighting to show its full potential.
“The produce department has the color, texture and fun shapes and sizes that draw shoppers to want to pick up and touch the product,” says Marjorie Proctor, marketing and design specialist with Dover Food Retail, headquartered in Conyers, GA. Whether displayed in a refriger- ated case or a dry produce display, creative inserts can be used to create a feeling of bountifulness and freshness. “Produce can be displayed in graceful striking patterns, pyramidal forms or neatly partitioned bins to tidy rows, and keep product organized to help trigger impulse buying
and discover the great diversity in the produce department,” she says. The importance of produce displays and the refrigerated equipment used to store and keep product fresh shouldn’t be overlooked when a
retailer reviews the merchandising strategy.
“The produce category typically drives a shopper’s perception of
a grocery retailer’s ‘freshness’ and ‘quality’ proposition,” says Harry Newton, director of sales and marketing for Structural Plastics Corp., which is based in Holly, MI. “Well-designed and fabricated produce displays that are fast — ones easy to assemble and versatile — provide an efficient solution for creating innovative produce merchandise presentations, promotions and cross-sell storytelling opportunities that
L-R: FIRST TWO PHOTOS COURTESY OF MERCHANDISE FOOD LLC THIRD PHOTO COURTESY OF DOVER FOOD
help increase store traffic, sales and build loyal customers.” Highlighting the sensitive products is important to the overall produce operation in terms of maintaining freshness. “Keeping the produce at the correct temperatures and the displays offering the ability to better present the produce for quicker turns are both very important with refrigeration,” says Gaines Chamberlain, business development
manager for Blanc Display Group, based in Dover, NJ.
Space needs to be allocated efficiently. “One of the biggest opportu- nities I see is people using their vertical space effectively,” says Jonathan Raduns, retail strategy and food merchandising advisor with Merchan- dise Food LLC, in Cherry Hill, NJ. “When you think about Manhattan real estate, we need to think of every square inch to create impressions and impact and drive peoples’ purchasing behavior. I see a lot of that space being used ineffectively, especially in spaces that have limited refrigeration. Sometimes, there’s a lot of wasted space gapping between
shelves.”
Displays can serve as sales representatives. “There are missed oppor-
tunities in produce,” says Chris Schotsman, vice president of sales and marketing for Cayuga Displays, Ontario, Canada. “We leave the customers to their own devices. Nobody is actually selling something to them.” By showing what produce items can help with health issues such as diabetes, Schotsman notes how displays can help promote produce’s health benefits. “There are many new produce items, ethnic items, etc., that people have no clue how to use or eat,” he says. Staff and/or infor- mational signage can assist shoppers, says Schotsman.
As people eat with their eyes, if the display is attractive and possesses all the elements of signage information, pricing and accessories, it will
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