These vegetables, courtesy OurFunnyPlanet.com, have brought me tremendous joy. Hope these beauties do same to you as well. Enjoy!

		Vegetables as an art form VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I travelled East Coast of USA extensively last month. My quest for best practices at various retailers for fresh produce category took me to many stores / formats representing by various retailers, particularly in State of Virginia.

One thing that struck me most, particularly at couple of Wal-Mart stores, was presence of many mature persons from both sexes as store associates. This was in sharp contrast with the prevailing practice in India where tendency is to appoint younger and immature staff. Whether the presence of baby boomers at stores was by accident or design I could never know but one thing was very evident – all those moms and pops, particularly at the checkout counters, were very chirpy, efficient and customer centric. Having lived life as demanding customers before serving similar profiles surely instil the values most preferred by customers everywhere.

Are retailers in India listening?

In 2009, total industry produce department sales reached $49 billion, up from $47.9 billion in 2008, with produce department share of store sales at 12 percent (the same this year as it was last year). These findings come from Progressive Grocer’s 2010 Annual Produce Operations Review, which was published in the October 2010 issue. Average weekly sales per store last year for the produce department were $26,623 with average annual sales per store of $1,384,415. Both represented slight increases from 2008.

In terms of problems facing supermarket produce departments, the biggest problem identified by retail executives who responded to the survey was competition from other retailers/retail formats. (Does it not remind you about heavy competition organize retailers face in India from pushcarts, small corner f+v shops or weekly bazars). It was followed by profits, shrink/spoilage, quality, wholesale prices, food safety, and transportation costs. Other challenges noted were training of employees/labor costs, and customer satisfaction/attracting new shoppers.

When it comes to figuring out consumer behavior, PMA members were asked to take a look at their brand-new 2010 study titled Identifying Consumer Trends in the Produce Category. More than a third of shoppers told PMA execs that they’ve purchased more fruits and vegetables this year than they did last, and those shoppers who rely on fresh fruits and vegetables for 85 percent or more of their purchases (rather than on frozen or canned) were more likely to increase their fresh produce purchases overall.

Let us prey and hope, the light of these small Diwali lamps be the harbinger of joy and prosperity. As the holy occasion of Diwali is here and the atmosphere is filled with the spirit of mirth and love, here’s hoping this festival of beauty brings your way, bright sparkles of contentment, that stay with you through the days ahead.

Best wishes on Diwali and New year

Competent Agrisolutions Pvt Ltd announces its strategic partnership with the Netherlands based company, Omnivent, as their sole representative for India and neighboring countries.
 
Active all over the world, Omnivent is specialist in the development, manufacturing and installation of modern ventilation and climate technology systems for storage of agricultural produce like Potato, Onion and Carrots etc.

The power of Omnivent lies in the well-thought storage concepts. Whether new projects or the renovation of existing ones, Omnivent’s specialists work out a design for specific situations. Omnivent offers a total package. Right from first draft to the final implementation. Or shall we say "from design to return on investment". Read more about Omnivent at