How to capture 100% of potential revenue from the produce section

The French fruit and vegetable trade show Medfel, held in Perpignan on April 28 and 29, hosted several panel discussions on key industry topics, including “How to Capture 100% of Potential Revenue in the Fruit and Vegetable Sector?” ” Participants in the discussion included Olivier Dauvers, an agronomist and renowned journalist specializing in food distribution; Philippe Goetzmann, an expert in retail and consumer strategy; and Marc-Henri Blarel, a consultant in fruit and vegetable retail distribution and founder of Fresh Data SL. One observation acknowledged by all participants is that at least 10% of the potential sales value of fruits and vegetables in French mass retail is lost due to poor management, particularly at the end of the day when shelves are often incomplete.

Shelves aren’t fully stocked: what are the solutions?

For Goetzemann, the key is to break down the cultural barriers between supermarket chains and learn to share retail sales data, enabling better analysis and management of the shelves. IT tools based on Artificial Intelligence are emerging and allow for the integration of multiple parameters simultaneously, provided the data is available. “AI will be able to integrate factors such as seasonality, climate, and their fluctuations; to do this, we must share information to take advantage of these new tools’ capabilities so they can perform more effectively.” For Blarel, sales receipts are extremely limited in data. “My slightly crazy dream is for retailers to provide me with their shelf sales data weekly in Excel.” He believes that delivery notes can be useful and analyzable, as they contain product information, such as varieties and origins. “The biggest challenges are both the quantity and quality of the data, as well as its analysis,” adds Blarel.

Improving shelf-level expertise and reducing excessive margins

For his part, Olivier Dauvers condemns the recklessness and greed of large retailers regarding fruits and vegetables: the recklessness of having untrained and inexperienced staff workers in the produce section, and the greed of charging excessive retail margins that drive some consumers away from the section. Sources: FreshData, Olivier Dauvers.

For more information on better management of the produce section, you can write here.