The Produce Retail Podcast

Listeners looking to leverage floral as a growth area in 2025 are in for a treat: retail veteran Jennie Garbarek [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-garbarek-a98bb845?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAAmcSxQBHGQv4OOnKdrwDe-UICh1ZhR3opI] will join The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle on the show each month this year to discuss all facets of floral at retail. Jennie’s previous roles have included floral buyer at Roundy’s; category manager for floral at Mariano’s; and floral merchandising manager at SpartanNash. She is a member of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Floral Council and an advisory board member for Floriexpo. Jennie has had experience further up the floral supply chain as well, and she’s currently the sales director of mass market, North America, for floral supplier Tessacorp. In this episode, launching 30 days in advance of Valentine's Day 2025, Jennie takes listeners behind the scenes of preparation for the biggest day of the floral year. Topics include planning, which begins about a year in advance; ordering, which Jennie explains is best done early as possible and in close partnership with growers; logistics, which inevitably involves fighting for truck space and air freight; staffing, which Jennie notes is most effective when employees are assigned specific roles for the big day; assortment, which should be carefully tailored knowing that nothing specific to the holiday will move after the day of the event; merchandising, which should adjust throughout the day based on stock levels; the transition out of the holiday — Jennie advises a "clean break" — and more. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better deep dive on floral at retail than what Jennie will be providing this year. Tune in and let us know if there are topics you'd like us to cover. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we do! See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

We're delighted to have as our guest this week Amanda Oren, the vice president of industry strategy for grocery at RELEX. For any listeners who don’t know, RELEX is a platform that uses analytics and forecasting to help retailers optimize their supply chain and store operations so that what’s arriving at stores or being produced in stores matches demand. Amanda has more than 20 years of experience in grocery, including with companies like Good Food Holdings — which listeners will probably know for its association with banners Bristol Farms, Metropolitan Market and Lazy Acres — and also Foodland and Grocery Outlet. If you check out Amanda’s LinkedIn, you’ll see she’s done a lot of what I like to call “big picture” work — process improvement, change management, strategy. So today we’re going to get Amanda’s perspective on some big-picture storylines in grocery and what they mean for produce. We’re going to talk about competing with discounters, about the Kroger-Albertsons merger, about private label, and about inflation and price competition. Hope you enjoy the conversation!  Podcast Background This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more. Get Involved The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle], a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn. [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle]  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

We're delighted to have as our guest this week Anne-Marie Roerink, the principal of 210 Analytics. Anne-Marie is well known to many folks in the produce world for her insightful reports and presentations in collaboration with Circana and associations like the International Fresh Produce Association and the Southeast Produce Council. Speaking of SEPC, Anne-Marie recently presented her What's New! report at Southern Innovations, and she and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle dive into the findings in today's conversation, covering topics including how inflation of recent years continues to influence consumer mindset and spending; why grocers are leaning into loyalty programs; the power of above-and-beyond merchandising for holidays in particular; the influence of trending TikTok items on category sales this year; the opportunity of presenting full meal solutions (with varying levels of prep work required) together in the store; the need for retailers to develop plans for when good things happen (like viral produce trends) just like they make plans for when bad things happen (outbreaks, emergencies, etc.); how consumers are "replacing" restaurant meals; and much more. Thanks so much for listening and hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!  For more insights from Anne-Marie, check out her previous appearances on the podcast. * What produce can learn from the growth happening in deli [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anne-marie-roerink-principal-of-210-analytics-on/id1585765956?i=1000664607917] * Packaged produce, value-added, generational trends and more [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anne-marie-roerink-talks-packaged-produce-value-added/id1585765956?i=1000649662196] * Consumer trends, produce merchandising and marketing [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anne-marie-roerink-talks-consumer-trends-produce-merchandising/id1585765956?i=1000631239283] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

We're delighted to welcome as our guests for this week's episode Nicole Grant, director of customer development, and Rose Palacios, director of shopper marketing and merchandising — both from Driscoll's — for a deep dive on the berry category. Rose and Nicole discuss how broader industry trends are showing up in berries, including private label and supplier brands; value and premium options; conventional and organic product; smaller and larger pack sizes; in-store versus online sales; and more. Given the increasing number of SKUs in the category, Nicole and Rose advocate for increased space for berries and lay out the process of making that business case to retailers. They note that key metrics vary by retailer, and along with growing sales there may also be pressure to increase units (which can influence pack size strategy), market share and more. Rose and Nicole also observe that there's a significant opportunity for category education of the many newer people on sales floors post-COVID, and they give examples of how Driscoll's can come alongside retailers if that's an area they see as a way to get better. Nicole and Rose also share how they got into produce, the kinds of projects they handle in their respective roles, and how their teams collaborate. Hope you enjoy the conversation! For more episodes featuring marketing and merchandising perspective, check out this curated playlist [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/merchandising-marketing-the-produce-retail-podcast] for plenty of thought-provoking discussion.  More Playlists * Executive Perspective [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/executive-perspective-the-produce-retail-podcast] * Leadership & Training [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/leadership-training-the-produce-retail-podcast] * Produce Manager Perspective [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/produce-manager-perspective-the-produce-retail-pod] Podcast Background This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more. Get Involved The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle], a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn. [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle]  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

With this week's episode, we're delighted to bring you three excellent guests, all from The Giant Co. To celebrate the recognition of produce manager Chris O'Brien by the International Fresh Produce Association, we're visiting with Chris, regional fresh sales manager Anthony Deni, and director of produce and floral Chris Keetch. We hear from Chris O’Brien about his reaction to winning the award; how he got started in produce; when he realized he could have a career in produce retail; how his leadership style has changed over the years; when he realized that in his current role he could have an impact well beyond his own store; and the training role he’s been serving in lately. Anthony discusses what makes Chris deserving of this recognition; areas in which he's seen Chris grow; and recent projects on which Chris' work has impressed him. Chris Keetch covers the process for selecting nominees; Chris O.'s role in building the bench of produce talent; a new training program that gets people on the sales floor quicker and aims to develop them as produce experts; the importance of nominating people for IFPA recognition; and why he describes Chris as a "merchant operator." Hope you enjoy the conversation! To hear more from Chris O'Brien, check out the IFPA's five-part webinar series featuring roundtable conversations with groups of this year's winners. The webinars are co-hosted by IFPA's Joe Watson and The Produce Retail Podcast host Ashley Nickle. The recordings are hosted on this page. https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/retail/retail-produce-manager-award-winners-webinar-series/ [https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/retail/retail-produce-manager-award-winners-webinar-series/] For more episodes of The Produce Retail Podcast focused on produce managers, check out this curated playlist [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/produce-manager-perspective-the-produce-retail-pod].  More Playlists * Executive Perspective [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/executive-perspective-the-produce-retail-podcast] * Leadership & Training [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/leadership-training-the-produce-retail-podcast] * Marketing & Merchandising [https://omny.fm/shows/the-produce-retail-podcast/playlists/merchandising-marketing-the-produce-retail-podcast] Podcast Background This podcast is designed to cover all things produce retail: strategy, partnerships, planning, training, leadership, communication, merchandising and beyond. Scroll through our episodes list to find conversations with vice presidents and directors of produce, merchandisers, produce managers, retail dietitians and more. Get Involved The Produce Retail Podcast is hosted by Ashley Nickle [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle], a former trade journalist turned consultant. Have an idea for a topic or a guest? Give her a shout on LinkedIn. [http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynickle] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.