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3 Leading Ideas for "Local" Fresh Produce Signage Examples for Independent Fresh Produce Markets & Grocers 

12/9/2013

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Tony Kadysewski at Retail Fixtures Close up always has seems to catch every display, signage and fixture ideas out there.  In his posts featuring Wegmans local fresh produce signage I noticed he had captured some great ideas and wanted to pass along with my comments.
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The first is an outdoor large format sign featuring fresh produce items in stock at a local Wegmans Food Markets Store.
  • Produce team members can easily wipe off the sign and update on a daily basis as direct store deliveries arrive from local farms.  Wegmans regularly uses their partnerships with these farms to communicate the freshness, local proximity of their produce, and their "goodwill" in the community.   
  •  If you choose to implement an idea like this consider how you could improve the handwriting and legibility of the signage.  
  • Also remember large format signs require large format writing to be reach from a distance.  As you can see these are located to capture attention at the outside store entrance to deliver messages from the very beginning of the shopping experience and hopefully to slow down the customer as they enter the "decompression zone" commonly used in retail.
  • The background of the sign has a wooden crate graphic to communicate a farm look and feel.
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The next signage idea from another RFCU Post  is the custom branding highlighted on these merchandising crates.  They are a powerful reinforcement of the brand message of freshness and associates the fresh potato offerings with Wegmans rather than another grower shippers label.

  • Implementing this idea is quite simple and could probably be coordinated with any Point of Purchase, (P.O.P) manufacturer.   Often local craftsman such as Amish carpenters could help a smaller independent retailer create such a useful container.
  • If branding wood directly is a challenge, consider making a stencil with cover stock or kraft paper and an exacto knife.  Use black or dark brown spray paint to simulate a brand on the crate.
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Tony captured this photo on his post about Gantt & workflow management.  From a retail perspective orienting the customer is helpful.  In today's age of year round availability fresh produce commodities many customers have lost touch on when local offerings are even available.  With a quick visual review shoppers at Wegmans can easily discover the local season for their favorite crops such as cucumbers corn, peppers, or tomatos.

In my year in retail, I remember customers regularly asking when corn would be available.  Keep in mind this is a great chance to build relationships with customers, rather than say "Go look at that sign over there."   When engaged customer service employees can take the time to tell the customer about your local program and learn about how you've been in touch with the farm regularly to ensure you'll have great sweet corn ready as soon as it's available.

This sign also utilizes and leverages the Jersey Fresh program.  Consider how you could use these types of associations in your marketing for further success.

Great luck building more signs to communicate your compelling points of difference in your stores!
Learn more about how to grow your Fresh Produce Profits
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A Powerful Marketing Lesson from Starbucks!

9/30/2013

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Starbucks is one of the great marketing success stories of the past 10 years! They’ve created, delivered and marketed the “coffee experience” in a truly remarkable way and there’s much to learn from their success.

One of the things that we can all learn from Starbucks is the art of creating premium products and then romancing them with a compelling story that makes customers feel that they’re part of something very special.

Once a year Starbucks creates a “Special Reserve” coffee, then packages it beautifully and prices it at over $20.00 (Cdn) per pound.  To put that price into perspective, according to a recent issue of Consumers Report magazine, you can buy a very good 100% Columbian coffee with “floral and earthy notes” for $6.00 (Cdn) a pound.

But here’s the wonderful story that Starbucks tells us about their premium coffee.  Read this story and, as you do, see how you start to understand that this coffee is worth the 20 plus dollars a pound that they’re asking for it.  Here’s what they tell us…

StarbucksÒ
Special Reserve
Harvest 2004

Once again, coffee farmers of the world participated in our annual Special Reserve competition by sending us their finest beans.  Though many farmers experienced difficult growing conditions, hard work and perseverance helped them overcome the odds to present us with some truly remarkable coffees.  From these we selected four that stood above the rest, then roasted them into StarbucksÒ Special Reserve Blend 2004 – a rare and enticing coffee we created to honor farmers for their dedication, and reward you with a wonderful experience.

This year’s StarbucksÒ Special Reserve is a perfect melding of four distinct coffees into one extraordinary blend:

From Kenya, a coffee that’s unusually full-bodied with striking grapefruit notes.

From Costa Rica’s Naranjo region, a coffee with stunning citrus notes and a delightful sparkle.

From Guatemala’s Huehuetenango region, a coffee that’s perfectly balance; and,

From Chiapas, in Southern Mexico, a coffee with a heady floral aroma.

Combined, they offer a phenomenal taste with unmistakable citrus notes, a luxurious mouthful and a seductive finish.” 

OK, now go back and read it again. Be mindful of their choice of words…

  • “coffee farmers of the world “
  • “hard work and perseverance”
  • “overcome the odds”
  • “truly remarkable coffees”
  • “rare and enticing”
  • “honor farmers for their dedication”
  • “reward you with a wonderful experience”
  • “stunning citrus notes” …and finally, my personal favorite,
  • “a seductive finish”
This is brilliant story telling!  I don’t even drink coffee and I want to go out and pay 20 bucks for this stuff. They’ve created a world-wide competition.  They picked the best of the best, blended them together, created a distinctive package…and told the story wonderfully.

So, what can you learn from this? What special, world-class, award-winning, premium product, service or total experience can you create?  How can you package it distinctively and then price it accordingly? Then, how and where will you tell your wonderful story in a way that “grabs” the minds, hearts and wallets of your most discriminating or demanding customers?

Not only can these effectively marketed premium items make big money, they also create a wonderful “halo effect” that adds emotional value to your entire range of products or services.  That’s why Chrysler has the Viper, why Nissan has the magnificent 350Z roadster… and why Britain still has the royal family.  They class up the place!




Donald Cooper, MBA, has been both a world-class manufacturer and an award-winning retailer. He speaks and coaches internationally on marketing, management and business excellence. Donald can be reached at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.  To read more of his articles, go to www.donaldcooper.com and click on “Free Articles”.


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    Food Merchandising Blog: Ideas & Tips to Help you Grow Your Food Market

    Jonathan Raduns

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    Retail Food  Merchandising Consultant. Some Espresso & a stroll through a Farmers Market and I'm happy. My thoughts on the display of food.

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