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RETAIL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
have a cantaloupe on its last day, we could peel it, clean it, cut it up and put it in the salad bar, and it’s at its peak sweetness. We also know if we sold that and it got to your home and sat in the fridge for a day or two, which would be a typical expectation, it’s not going to make it.”
There is no set “trigger mechanism” for what path a product might take; rather, it is dependent on numerous changing
variables akin to each store situation. Hy-Vee’s dedicated in-store, fresh-cut oper- ation is well-positioned to accommodate these scenarios. “There are many items we produce at the store level that fall under- neath the produce department, including our fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, fresh- squeezed juices and infused waters with fruit and herbs, and the commodities for our smoothie bars in our latest stores, as well
as all the salad bar products,” says Bremser. “We cull produce every morning,” says Abbott, who oversees perishables at the Waukee, IA, store. “Normally, the salad bar selections are done beforehand. Managers train employees on what product would go to the bin for composting or separated out to trim or cut up for other products in the store. Anything we wouldn’t sell to the
consumers, we wouldn’t cut up.”
PRODUCE BUSINESS / MAY 2017 / 49
Erin Good, registered dietitian for the Waukee, IA store nds myriad ways to win over both kids and adults to the healthy world of produce. Hy-Vee dedicates registered dietitians to its stores across the chain. [See “Small Steps, Giant Steps” on page 47.]