People love to have fresh fruits and vegetables, no matter which country they are from. There has always been a high demand for fresh produce worldwide. However, with the passing days as people tend towards healthier eating, the popularity of veggies is rising gradually.
And this rising popularity is providing the vegetable and fruit sectors more importance. Thus, to fulfill the uprising demand a well planned effective marketing strategy is very much required if you are involved in the fresh produce business.
Some basic strategies include assembling of produce, primary processing, and finally distributing.
Along with it, the adoption of better post-harvest exercises like sorting, washing, trimming, grading, and protective & attractive packaging also helps to increase the sales realization.
However, this article aims to provide a complete guide on some effective marketing strategies. That will help you to meet the needs of the generation successfully and increase your sales as well.
Identification of Customers and their Needs
It is very important to identify your target audience. And then what they demand the most. Selecting and selling mostly the type of fresh produce people want could be beneficial for your store.
Since people nowadays believe in healthy living, they demand mostly for fresh seasonal veggies and fruits that are rich in vitamins, proteins, etc. Therefore, the foremost marketing strategy one needs to follow is tracing their customer’s needs.
Packaging
The packaging is another very crucial point that needs to be taken care of. Nowadays, people believe in safety and purity. Hence, most of them avoid buying unpackaged veggies or fruits. Thus proper packaging is very important that will keep the product enclosed.
It also reduces the risk of breakage during transportation, spoilage from dust, and keeps it fresh as if brought from the farm. One such healthy and fresh food distributors are North Bay Produce that produces some of the best fresh produce and distributes them to the market.
Brand
The name of the brand also matters most of the time. It helps to distinguish the product from others. There are certain renowned brands that people can trust blindly. Also, it helps in forming a distant image of the seller in the entire market.
Package Labeling
One most significant selling point for fresh produce is that they are mostly recommended by physicians, dieticians, or sometimes by consumers themselves. Since everybody wants to be healthy and fresh, products are rich in fiber & other essential nutrients and low in calories.
Thus, they prefer to buy products that include nutrition labeling. Standard nutrition labels provide information on the serving size and the number of calories per serving fresh produce contains.
Suppliers can also include some information regarding the potential health benefits and a label of authenticity by a renowned organization.
Recipes Printed on Packages
Another very interesting marketing strategy that could be used is printing recipes on produce packages. Since most of the fresh produce is sold packaged, teenagers or people who are staying alone and don’t know much about cooking find it very helpful.
The packaging can provide tips and recipes that can help consumers prepare tasty vegetables and fruit dishes. The best portion about this strategy is that it can be applied even in minimal packaging by providing some links on how to find recipes online.
Sell Pre-Cut Vegetable
As everybody nowadays has become so busy in their day-to-day lives, it has become very difficult to spend a large amount of time cooking. Thus, they crave things that will not only make their work simple but also save time and energy.
Selling pre-cut vegetables helps consumers by avoiding the work of washing, peeling, and cutting. For such customers, pre-cut, prepackaged produce is the best to go with as they can jump into cooking straight with such products.
Providing Meal Kits
These types of meal services help to increase the demand for the products. A meal kit is a way that allows the customer to prepare their food from scratch.
That is, along with the package of fresh produce suppliers, it can include pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step instructions in the meal kit.
It makes the cooking process easy and convenient for consumers; thus, it can be an efficient strategy to increase the demand for fresh produce packages.
Free Gifts
Sometimes, gifts also help to attract customers. Suppliers can provide serving tools, cooking equipment, or dishes with fresh produce. It will help to enhance the beauty of vegetables and fruits while they are served on attractive bowls and platters.
This strategy can be executed successfully by contracting with the manufacturers of serving pieces, grocers, and suppliers. This way, they can make their fresh produce stuff more attractive and appealing.
Editorial Partnerships
Several renowned names or celebrities can also be used as influencers or mediums for selling your fresh produce.
There are various cookbook authors, social media influencers, television show hosts, vloggers, or bloggers, who might be interested in forming partnerships with fresh produce retailers and suppliers. Working with influential personalities can establish a fresh produce business better.
Promotions
Promotion refers to activities that can be performed to make people aware of your products. Manufacturers are selling fresh produce in different forms, which is something to be known by customers only then they would show their interest.
As mentioned in the above point, specific influencers can be used for advertising or promoting your product over several media platforms. Apart from this, there are sales promotion, personal selling, etc. techniques that are counted as very effective marketing strategies.
Pricing
Pricing is another crucial factor that requires special attention. The prices must be fixed based on the market condition. And for this, one needs to follow surveys to understand the market demand & situation and then fix a price that will convince the buyers to buy your products.
Conclusion
To conclude, above-enlisted ways can be treated as some of the most effective marketing strategies for fresh produce. That will help you to increase your sales in no time.