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him out in challenging times.
“If I have oversupply, I call the corn
buyer, ‘I’m in trouble... I’m going to have 15,000 boxes of corn staring me in the face in a week.’ The buyer reassures me, ‘Just keep me informed and we’ll run a 40-store ad and clean your corn up.’ No other chain store can do that. It takes two weeks to get an answer back from the other guys,” he emphasizes.
H-E-B was having a shortage of local products in certain categories. It went to
the Winter Garden shipper and asked if he would be willing to work with H-E-B in building a broader assortment. “We wouldn’t have several product lines if not for H-E-B, and a big portion of those go to the chain and support the local deal. In times where we have good supply and weather cooper- ates, we’ll supply 75 percent of their needs on that item. We know H-E-B will be there to buy 60 or 70 percent of those items so we don’t have to worry about our livelihood. We don’t have to try and sell to other places
when we are over,” he says. “I can pick up a phone if I have different items, or a local farm near me has something else, and the buyer at H-E-B will try it and support the buyer at the local community.”
Even if H-E-B has to pay the farmer more, they’ll do it to support the deal, according to the Winter Garden farmer. From advertising and promotions to working with individual stores on special merchandising programs that may include a visit by the grower, H-E-B makes a point this product comes from a local farm, he explains.
“H-E-B does a lot locally, not just for sales, but also shows the community who these farmers are and helps consumers understand the whole supply chain and the growing issues we face. Consumers see produce has a place in this area from a labor standpoint, a water standpoint and an environmental protection standpoint.”
As far as food safety is concerned, H-E-B has instituted a comprehensive program. “From the start of our relationship,” says the Winter Garden grower, “they came to our facility, testing critical control points and working with us, and from there it evolved into a whole system. To be an H-E-B supplier, you need to be certified and get third-party audits. You also must go through an educa- tional food safety training program specific to H-E-B, which includes Best Practices for food safety and sustainability long-term for our area.” The grower describes his experience: “With other chains, it’s my way or the highway, but H-E-B takes more of an educa- tional approach and works with local growers to get them up to speed.
“We were already doing these food safety requirements, but some of the small growers learn from H-E-B what needs to be done. They guide you,” says the south/west San Antonio grower. “When you’re a little local farmer, you get nervous when you get a call from Hugh Topper, but fortunately, I’ve always been recognized for a job well done.”
In Your Backyard
Locally grown also extends to H-E-B’s outdoor garden section, called Texas Back- yard, a unique subsection of the supermarket that features many plants and foliage items grown in Texas.
“We’ve Got Texas Roots,” displayed on a prominent welcoming sign, parlays a familiar H-E-B theme, figuratively and literally. The concept maximizes specialized knowledge of the Texan terrain, highlighting unusual plant varieties and informing customers on how to
38 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2011