Holidaze — that crazy retail flurry will be upon us before we know it.
I ran into an old produce manager pal recently while grocery shopping. Now he’s a seasoned assistant store manager. We caught up briefly about old times, people we knew and how the whole crazy produce business has changed.
One holiday sales segment we touched upon: fruit baskets — and the lack thereof.
I can hear the collective groan out there. I’ve certainly overheard some of the laments, excuses actually, over the years from current produce managers: “Fruit baskets are so old school,” or “What a relic that is. Who cares about fruit baskets anymore? It’s just not a thing any longer … Hardly anyone ever asks about them come holiday time. I’m so glad too; we don’t have the time, and well, fruit baskets just don’t sell any more.”
Yeah? Well, if you don’t have a program, or make any effort, they won’t sell at all.
Fruit baskets were, and remain, a great addition to your produce department holiday sales plan. On any given day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s in any of the stores that I managed (even the lower-volume stores), we would sell anywhere from a dozen or so baskets each day. In moderate to larger volume operations? It would be double or triple that amount.
How much does this add saleswise?
That depends on the freshness and quality of fruit baskets, variety of sizes and styles, the merchandising, the number of baskets on display on any given day and the range of prices. Every chain or independent retailer typically sets their standard for sizes, retail price and gross profit margin markup. But suffice to say, your customers are more than happy to see that you’re selling them.
Why? Well, especially as a holiday nears, shoppers are actively searching for great gift ideas, and what can be more welcome than a fresh basket of fruit? This gift segment typically is budget friendly and has a wide range of potential gift recipients, including teachers, coaches, neighbors, holiday party hosts, postal workers, babysitters, hairdressers, friends and more (especially the numerous ones on the last-minute gift list).
In one important way, fruit baskets add a festive and seasonal touch to all the holiday items marketed in a grocery store, and these show off well when merchandised with holiday floral offerings such as poinsettias, stuffed animals and fresh-cut bouquets. Fruit baskets add a nice produce ring to boost your department’s holiday sales mix.
In an ideal successful model, a store will designate a dedicated clerk during peak periods to make baskets in a kiosk-type setting on the sales floor, available to make on the spot, such as theme-based (such as including citrus for a get-well basket or baby items among the fruit mix for a baby shower) or custom fruit baskets complete with fruit, wine, cheese and all the trimmings.
However, this is all going to take time and budgeted labor hours, but the payoff can be very handsome.
The time to plan is now, but even that is closing in fast. Consider, Thanksgiving is just over a month away, and Christmas is a mere 10 weeks away. Plan your needs (baskets, range of sizes and retails, supplies, space, etc.) Plan your merchandising space, your team and your designated fruit basket key person. Train those in need and prepare to show all the naysayers that fruit baskets are, indeed, not just a relic of yesteryear.
They are, in fact, sales just waiting to be realized — but only if you are prepared.
Armand Lobato’s more than 50 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions. He has written a weekly retail column for nearly two decades.
