“I cull the herd. It’s what I do.”
This is a quote gleaned from fictional character Jacob Seed in the video game Far Cry 5. The word “cull” is further defined as to select or control and is sometimes used in conjunction with hunters when controlling or reducing animal herds.
In the produce aisle, culling is an all-too-familiar term.
We use the word “cull” as identifying and removing less-than-desirable produce from a display. Think: bruised apples, blistered tomatoes, potatoes with growth cracks, undersized leafy greens, packaged items with expired dates (or soon to be expired) — things like that.
This question is posed by many a produce manager to their clerks: “Would you let your sweet, silver-haired mother buy this? If not, cull it.”
Granted, what determines what stays on the shelf and what gets yanked is, at best, subjective. It’s not always a pass-or-fail process.
When I was a clerk starting out, my overly gross-profit-minded produce manager inspected my cull box beneath my cart. He pulled out a package of spinach leaves that I had culled, with visible slimy product within.
“Hey buck,” he said with a twitchy wink. “Put this back on the shelf, someone will buy it, heh, heh.”
He was a terrible manager, and no, I would not recommend that my sweet old mom shop there either. As a supervisor years later, I visited the occasional stores with such reputations: higher-than-average gross profit percentage, with lots of subpar produce on the shelf. Managers like that didn’t last long.
Shrink and waste is part of any produce operation. You can count on having anywhere from 6% to 10% shrink on average, and that’s if you’re doing everything correctly. Run a poor operation, and it can be much worse.
You can minimize shrink by sticking to a few points — and doing so consistently.
- First, order closely: That means no more than absolutely necessary until your next truck arrives. Keeping a close inventory means that you are selling everything as fresh as possible.
- Second, rotate faithfully: Rotate new stock in the cooler and rotate your displays with each stocking trip.
- Third, keep a close eye on the invoices: Check each produce order for accurate quantities and pack count. Report any discrepancies to your warehouse or distribution center for credit.
- Fourth, train your crew so that culling, straightening and detailing displays are second nature. Make it everyone’s routine. Cull your produce department closely each morning. Instruct your crew to cull carefully while they stock.
There’s more but you get the gist.
Above all? Don’t let your customers do your culling for you.
When someone inadvertently takes home substandard produce, you’re taking a chance that they’ll never shop with you again. Many a shopping experience has been spoiled because a clerk (or produce manager) overlooked a bag with a spoiled potato within or allowed that the slimy, packaged spinach stay on the shelf thinking (like my old boss) that someone will buy this.
Except when they do, it’s not funny. And it is definitely not good for business.
I thought of this recently after coming home from the lumber yard. A sheet of expensive plywood I bought had damage on one side that I missed. I returned it right away for an exchange, and as I was selecting a new, undamaged sheet, the front-end clerk arrived and tossed the damaged returned sheet back on the shelf right in front of me! I told him I’d just returned it. He just shrugged his shoulders and left.
I wondered if my old, just-put-it-back-on-the-shelf produce manager had taken over here as head of quality control.
The funny thing is that when you run a produce department correctly, following the few but crucial steps mentioned, the amount you cull is minimal. Further, when you do have culls, many times these can be reworked, repacked or sold off to the deli or other perishables for use in salad bars or as garnish. Sometimes it can be packed and reduced in price for quick sale, too.
But the main point I’m trying to instill, especially with newer managers and clerks is this: Never leave poor-quality produce on display. Always carry an empty box beneath your cart to cull into. Cull to start the day, during every shift and at the end of the day.
If your chain is really about freshness and quality, you will stress culling. It’s what we do.
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.
